Germany–Jamaica relations are the current and historical relations between

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

and

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...

. Part of the cooperation takes places through the

Caribbean Community The Caribbean Community (CARICOM or CC) is an intergovernmental organization that is a political and economic union of 15 member states (14 nation-states and one dependency) throughout the Caribbean. They have primary objectives to promote econom ...

and

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...

- Community of Latin American and Caribbean States framework. There are 160 people of German descent living in Jamaica.

History

After the abolition of

slavery Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...

ordered by the British colonial power, there was a shortage of labor in Jamaica, which is why German workers were recruited. Over a thousand immigrants migrated from Germany to Jamaica and lived in the German settlement founded in 1835 in

Seaford Town Seaford may refer to: Places Australia * Seaford, Victoria ** Seaford railway station, Melbourne * Seaford, South Australia ** Seaford railway station, Adelaide United Kingdom * Seaford, East Sussex **Seaford (UK Parliament constituency) ** Sea ...

in Westmoreland Parish, Jamaica Westmoreland. German-Jamaican relations have been friendly since Jamaica's independence in 1962. On February 14, 1986, the Agreement on Financial Cooperation between the Government of the Federal Republic of Germany and the Government of Jamaica was concluded in Kingston. After the economic situation in Jamaica had improved, development cooperation, which until then had totaled 255 million euros, was terminated in 2003. Within the framework of EU grants, however, Germany continues to make the highest contributions among the member states of the European Union, with a share of around 20 percent.

Culture

The Jamaican German Society was founded in 1966 and is based in Kingston. The organization receives funding from the

German Federal Foreign Office , logo = DEgov-AA-Logo en.svg , logo_width = 260 px , image = Auswaertiges Amt Berlin Eingang.jpg , picture_width = 300px , image_caption = Entrance to the Foreign Office building , headquarters = Werderscher Mark ...

and works together with the German Embassy in the cultural sector. It also offers German courses, the certificates of which are recognized by the

Goethe-Institut The Goethe-Institut (, GI, en, Goethe Institute) is a non-profit German cultural association operational worldwide with 159 institutes, promoting the study of the German language abroad and encouraging international cultural exchange and ...

. The non-profit ''Deutsch-Jamaikanische Gesellschaft'' has existed since 1976 with the aim of deepening relations between Germany and Jamaica. Jamaican musicians and bands like Boney M became very popular in Germany.

Trade and tourism

Total trade between the two countries stood at around €75 million.Largest trade partners of Germany (2023)
/ref> Some German companies have invested in hotels and solar power in Jamaica. In 2022, Germany ranked 5th in the ranking of the largest tourist groups in Jamaica, with around 15,000 visitors.

People

* Dustin Brown - German professional tennis player. * Daniel Gordon - Football player

References

External links

"Jamaica"
from the German Federal Foreign Office
Jamaican German Society