Editing Jamaica (section)

==Demographics==
{{Further|Demographics of Jamaica|Jamaican people}}

===Ethnic origins===
[[File:Street in Montigo Bay Jamaica Photo D Ramey Logan.jpg|thumb|[[Montego Bay]], Jamaica's second-largest city]]

Breakdown of responses to the [[Census in Jamaica|2011 census]] by the University of the West Indies.<ref name="uwi.edu" />
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:left"
|-
! Ethnic origin
! Percentage
! Approx. Population
|-
| [[Afro-Jamaican|African descent]] || 76.3 || 2,047,668
|-
| [[Mulatto#Mulattoes_in_Jamaica|Afro-European]] || 15.1 || 405,240
|-
| [[Indo-Jamaicans|East Indian and Afro-East Indian]] ||3.4 || 91,246
|-
| [[White Jamaican|White]] ||3.2 || 85,878
|-
| [[Chinese Jamaican|Chinese]] || 1.2 || 32,224
|-
| Other || 0.8 || 21,470
|-
| Total || 100.0% || 2,683,707
|}

Jamaica's diverse ethnic roots are reflected in the national motto [[Coat of arms of Jamaica|"Out of Many One People"]]. Some dispute the appropriateness of the motto because Jamaicans are overwhelmingly of a single race. The Jamaican founding fathers were mostly White or [[Brown (racial classification)|brown]] men and unrepresentative of the views of the country's majority Black population.<ref>{{cite journal | url=https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/09213740211014331?icid=int.sj-full-text.similar-articles.3 | doi=10.1177/09213740211014331 | title=Jamaica, Covid-19 and Black freedom | date=2021 | last1=Thame | first1=Maziki | journal=Cultural Dynamics | volume=33 | issue=3 | pages=220–232 | url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.jamaicaobserver.com/2015/08/01/out-of-many-one-people-motto-or-myth/ | title=Out of many, one people: Motto or myth? – Jamaica Observer | date=2 August 2015 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://jamaica-gleaner.com/article/focus/20240526/maziki-thame-race-and-legitimacy-jamaican-politics | title=Maziki Thame &#124; Race and legitimacy in Jamaican politics | date=26 May 2024 }}</ref>

Most of the population of 2,812,000 (July 2018 est.)<ref name="CIA World Factbook – Jamaica"/> are of African or partially African descent, with many being able to trace their origins to the West African countries of present-day [[Ghana]] and [[Nigeria]].<ref name="EBJ"/><ref>{{cite book|title=Liverpool and Transatlantic Slavery |first1=David |last1=Richardson |first2=Anthony |last2=Tibbles |first3=Suzanne |last3=Schwarz |publisher=Liverpool University Press |year=2007 |page=141 |isbn=978-1-84631-066-9 |url={{Google books|IeM1rrKiQosC|page=PA141|keywords=|text=|plainurl=yes}}}}</ref> Other major ancestral areas are [[Europe]],<ref name=tortello/> [[South Asia]], and [[East Asia]].{{citation needed|date=August 2023}} It is uncommon for Jamaicans to identify themselves by race as is prominent in other countries such as the United States, with most Jamaicans seeing Jamaican nationality as an identity in and of itself, identifying as simply being "Jamaican" regardless of ethnicity.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://jamaicans.com/jamaicanrace/|title=Out of Many One People, We Are A Race Apart|first=George|last=Graham|date=30 July 2007|website=Jamaicans.com|access-date=7 April 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180616204108/http://jamaicans.com/jamaicanrace/|archive-date=16 June 2018|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="jamaicans.com">{{cite web |url=http://jamaicans.com/reasons-many-jamaicans-dont-understand-racism/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180304113229/http://jamaicans.com/reasons-many-jamaicans-dont-understand-racism/ |archive-date=4 March 2018 |title= 5 Reasons Many Jamaicans Don't Understand Racism |website=jamaicans.com |last=Benjamin |first=Glen|date=17 May 2016 }}</ref> A study found that the average admixture on the island was 78.3% Sub-Saharan African, 16.0% [[White Jamaican|European]], and 5.7% [[East Asians|East Asian]].<ref name=autogenerated1>{{cite journal|author1=Simms, Tanya M.|author2=Rodríguez, Carol E.|author3=Rodríguez, Rosa|author4=Herrera, René J.|title=The genetic structure of populations from Haiti and Jamaica reflect divergent demographic histories|date=May 2010|doi=10.1002/ajpa.21194|pmid=19918989|url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/38094802|access-date=18 May 2015|journal=Am J Phys Anthropol|volume=142|issue=1|pages=49–66|archive-date=20 May 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210520042520/https://www.researchgate.net/publication/38094802_The_Genetic_Structure_of_Populations_from_Haiti_and_Jamaica_Reflect_Divergent_Demographic_Histories|url-status=live}}</ref>

A more precise study was conducted by the local University of the West Indies – Jamaica's population is more accurately  76.3% African descent or Black, 15.1% Afro-European (or locally called the Brown Man or Browning Class), 3.4% East Indian and Afro-East Indian, 3.2% White, 1.2% Chinese and 0.8% Other.<ref name="uwi.edu" />

The [[Jamaican Maroons]] of Accompong and other settlements are the descendants of African slaves who fled the plantations for the interior, where they set up their own autonomous communities.<ref>Michael Sivapragasam, [http://explore.bl.uk/primo_library/libweb/action/display.do?tabs=moreTab&ct=display&fn=search&doc=BLL01019153409&indx=1&recIds=BLL01019153409&recIdxs=0&elementId=0&renderMode=poppedOut&displayMode=full&frbrVersion=&frbg=&&dscnt=0&scp.scps=scope%3A%28BLCONTENT%29&vl(2084770704UI0)=any&tb=t&vid=BLVU1&mode=Basic&srt=rank&tab=local_tab&dum=true&vl(freeText0)=michael%20sivapragasam&dstmp=1546605833202 ''After the Treaties: A Social, Economic and Demographic History of Maroon Society in Jamaica, 1739–1842''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210520042522/https://l.sharethis.com/sc?event=pview&version=buttons.js&lang=en&sessionID=1621484722616.41079&hostname=explore.bl.uk&location=%2Fprimo_library%2Flibweb%2Faction%2Fdisplay.do&product=widget&fcmp=false&fcmpv2=false&publisher=ad1af46f-5d2b-4f49-aa8c-10f1ffaecf51&bsamesite=true&consent_cookie_duration=188&consent_duration=189&gdpr_domain=.consensu.org&gdpr_method=cookie&url=http%3A%2F%2Fexplore.bl.uk%2Fprimo_library%2Flibweb%2Faction%2Fdisplay.do%3Ftabs%3DmoreTab%26ct%3Ddisplay%26fn%3Dsearch%26doc%3DBLL01019153409%26indx%3D1%26recIds%3DBLL01019153409%26recIdxs%3D0%26elementId%3D0%26renderMode%3DpoppedOut%26displayMode%3Dfull%26frbrVersion%3D%26frbg%3D%26dscnt%3D0%26scp.scps%3Dscope%253A(BLCONTENT)%26vl(2084770704UI0)%3Dany%26&nbsp;tb%3Dt%26vid%3DBLVU1%26mode%3DBasic%26srt%3Drank%26tab%3Dlocal_tab%26dum%3Dtrue%26vl(freeText0)%3Dmichael%2Bsivapragasam%26dstmp%3D1546605833202&title=After%20the%20treaties%20%3A%20a%20social%2C%20economic%20and%20demographic%20history%20of%20Maroon%20society%20in%20Jamaica%2C%201739-1842.%20-%20British%20Library&sop=false&samesite=None |date=20 May 2021 }}, PhD Dissertation, African-Caribbean Institute of Jamaica library (Southampton: Southampton University, 2018), pp. 23–24.</ref><ref>E. Kofi Agorsah, "Archaeology of Maroon Settlements in Jamaica", ''Maroon Heritage: Archaeological, Ethnographic and Historical Perspectives'', ed. E. Kofi Agorsah (Kingston: University of the West Indies Canoe Press, 1994), pp. 180–81.</ref><ref name="Craton, Michael 1982, p. 70">Craton, Michael. ''Testing the Chains''. Cornell University Press, 1982, p. 70.</ref> Many Maroons continue to have their own traditions and speak their own language, known locally as [[Kromanti]].<ref>{{cite journal|author=Bilby, Kenneth|year=1983|title= How the "older heads" talk: A Jamaican Maroon spirit possession language and its relationship to the creoles of Suriname and Sierra Leone |journal= New West Indian Guide / Nieuwe West-Indische Gids|volume=57|issue=1/2|pages=37–88|doi=10.1163/13822373-90002097|doi-access=free}}</ref>

Asians form the third-largest group (after the Browning Class – i.e. descendants of the mulattos during slavery and other interracial mixtures subsequent to emancipation) and include Indo-Jamaicans and Chinese Jamaicans.<ref name="cia.gov">[https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/jamaica/ The World Factbook] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210124190707/https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/jamaica/ |date=24 January 2021 }} CIA (The World Factbook): Jamaica</ref> Most are descended from indentured workers brought by the British colonial government to fill labour shortages following the abolition of slavery in 1838.  Along with their Indian counterparts, [[Chinese Jamaicans]] have also played an integral part in Jamaica's community and history.{{citation needed|date=August 2024}}

There are about 20,000 Jamaicans who have [[Lebanese Jamaicans|Lebanese]] and [[Syrian]] ancestry.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://old.jamaica-gleaner.com/pages/history/story0056.htm|title=Jamaica Gleaner: Pieces of the Past:The Arrival of the Lebanese|website=old.jamaica-gleaner.com|access-date=7 April 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190918051912/http://old.jamaica-gleaner.com/pages/history/story0056.htm|archive-date=18 September 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> Most were Christian immigrants who fled the [[Ottoman Empire|Ottoman]] occupation of Lebanon in the early 19th century. Eventually, their descendants became very successful politicians and businessmen.{{citation needed|date=August 2024}}

The first wave of English immigrants arrived on the island in 1655 after conquering the Spanish, and they have historically been the dominant group. The first Irish immigrants came to Jamaica in the 1600s as war prisoners and, later, as indentured laborers. The Scots have also made a significant impact on the island. According to the [[The Herald (Glasgow)|Scotland Herald newspaper]], Jamaica has more people using the Campbell surnames than the population of Scotland itself, and the highest percentage of Scottish surnames outside of Scotland. Scottish surnames account for about 60% of the Jamaican telephone directories.{{citation needed|date=July 2019}} The first Jamaican inhabitants from Scotland were exiled "rebels". They were later followed by ambitious businessmen who spent time between their great country estates in Scotland and the island. As a result, many of the slave-owning plantations on the island were owned by Scottish men, leading to a large number of mixed-race Jamaicans with Scottish ancestry. High immigration from Scotland continued until well after independence.{{citation needed|date=July 2019}} 
[[File:Northern suburbs of Kingston, Jamaica.jpg|alt=|thumb|Northern suburbs of [[Kingston, Jamaica|Kingston]], Jamaica's capital and largest city]]
There is also a significant Jamaican population of Portuguese descent that is predominantly of [[History of the Jews in Jamaica|Sephardic Jewish heritage]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Portuguese In Jamaica {{!}} Why and When Did They Arrive? |url=https://www.my-island-jamaica.com/portuguese_in_jamaica.html |access-date=2023-05-14 |website=My-Island-Jamaica.com |archive-date=14 May 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230514130718/https://www.my-island-jamaica.com/portuguese_in_jamaica.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Mirvis |first=Stanley |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctv10sm932 |title=The Jews of Eighteenth-Century Jamaica: A Testamentary History of a Diaspora in Transition |date=2020 |publisher=Yale University Press |doi=10.2307/j.ctv10sm932 |jstor=j.ctv10sm932 |isbn=978-0-300-23881-5 |s2cid=219044870 |access-date=14 May 2023 |archive-date=14 May 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230514130717/https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctv10sm932 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Community |date=2020-10-13 |title=Jews in Jamaica |url=https://jewishmuseum.org.uk/2020/10/13/jews-in-jamaica/ |access-date=2023-05-14 |website=The Jewish Museum London |language=en-US |archive-date=14 May 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230514130718/https://jewishmuseum.org.uk/2020/10/13/jews-in-jamaica/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=PORTUGALITY in Jamaica |url=https://portugality.yolasite.com/jamaica-en.php |access-date=2023-05-14 |website=portugality.yolasite.com |archive-date=1 December 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221201085840/https://portugality.yolasite.com/jamaica-en.php |url-status=live }}</ref> The first Jews arrived as explorers from Spain in the 15th century after being forced to choose between expulsion or [[Converso|conversion to Christianity]]. A small number of them became slave owners or pirates.<ref>{{cite news |last=Urken |first=Ross Kenneth |title=The Forgotten Jewish Pirates of Jamaica |url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/travel/forgotten-jewish-pirates-jamaica-180959252/ |work=Smithsonian Magazine |date=7 July 2016|access-date=28 January 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190129181306/https://www.smithsonianmag.com/travel/forgotten-jewish-pirates-jamaica-180959252/ |archive-date=29 January 2019 |url-status=live }}</ref> Judaism eventually became very influential in Jamaica and can be seen today with many Jewish cemeteries around the country. During [[the Holocaust]], Jamaica became a refuge for Jews fleeing persecution in Europe.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Newman |first=Joanna |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1117311744 |title=Nearly the new world: the British West Indies and the flight from Nazism, 1933-1945 |date=2019 |isbn=978-1-78920-334-9| publisher=Berghahn |location=New York |pages=14 |oclc=1117311744}}</ref>

By 2015 immigration had increased, coming mainly from China, Haiti, Cuba, Colombia, and Latin America; 20,000 Latin Americans lived in Jamaica.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.tozion.org/Rastafari%20Jamaica.html|title=Jamaica *Rastafari * ToZion.org *|website=www.tozion.org|date=2015-07-28|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180115110423/http://www.tozion.org/Rastafari%20Jamaica.html|archive-date=15 January 2018|url-status=dead}}</ref> In 2016, Prime Minister Andrew Holness suggested making Spanish Jamaica's second official language.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/PM-wants-Spanish-to-be-Jamaica-s-second-language|title=Jamaica Observer Limited|website=Jamaica Observer|access-date=2019-08-05|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180304172406/http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/PM-wants-Spanish-to-be-Jamaica-s-second-language|archive-date=4 March 2018|url-status=live}}</ref> About 7,000 Americans live in Jamaica.{{citation needed|date=October 2014}}

===Languages===
{{Main|Jamaican Patois|Jamaican English}}

Jamaica is regarded as a [[bilingual]] country, with two major languages used by the population.<ref>Ronald C. Morren and Diane M. Morren (2007). [http://www-01.sil.org/silewp/2007/silewp2007-009.pdf Are the goals and objectives of Jamaica's Bilingual Education Project being met?"] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170516230512/http://www-01.sil.org/silewp/2007/silewp2007-009.pdf |date=16 May 2017}} – [[SIL International]] (working paper). Retrieved 31 August 2015.</ref><ref name="cia.gov"/> The official language is [[Jamaican English|(Jamaican) English]], which is "used in all domains of public life", including the government, the legal system, the media, and education. However, the primary spoken language is an [[English-based creole languages|English-based creole language]] called [[Jamaican Patois]] (or Patwa). The two exist in a dialect continuum, with speakers using a different speech register depending on the context and to whom they speak. "Pure" Patois, though sometimes perceived as merely a particularly aberrant dialect of English, is essentially mutually unintelligible with standard English and linguists consider it a distinct language, though most of its vocabulary originally derives from English.<ref name="EBJ"/> A 2007 survey by the Jamaican Language Unit found that 17.1 percent of the population were [[Monolingualism|monolingual]] in Jamaican Standard English (JSE), 36.5 percent were monolingual in Patois, and 46.4 percent were bilingual, although earlier surveys had pointed to a greater degree of bilingualism (up to 90 percent).<ref>{{cite journal |last=Jettka |first=Daniel |date=2010 |title=English in Jamaica: The Coexistence of Standard Jamaican English and the English-based Jamaican Creole |url=http://www.daniel-jettka.de/pdf/JETTKA-The_language_situation_of_Jamaica.pdf |journal=Hamburg Centre for Language Corpora |publisher=[[Hamburg University]] |access-date=31 August 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151115010332/http://www.daniel-jettka.de/pdf/JETTKA-The_language_situation_of_Jamaica.pdf |archive-date=15 November 2015 |url-status=dead}}</ref> The Jamaican education system had only in about 2015 begun to offer formal instruction in Patois while retaining JSE as the "official language of instruction".<ref>Claude Robinson (30 March 2014). [http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/columns/English-lessons-for-Jamaica_16372740 "English lessons for Jamaica"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151010104228/http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/columns/English-lessons-for-Jamaica_16372740 |date=10 October 2015 }} – ''[[Jamaica Observer]]''. Retrieved 31 August 2015.</ref>

Additionally, some Jamaicans use one or more of [[Jamaican Sign Language]] (JSL), [[American Sign Language]] (ASL) or the declining indigenous [[Jamaican Country Sign Language]] (Konchri Sain).<ref name=e25jcs>{{e25|jcs|Konchri Sain}}</ref> Both JSL and ASL are rapidly replacing Konchri Sain for a variety of reasons.<ref name=e25jcs/>

===Emigration===
{{main|Jamaican diaspora}}

Many Jamaicans have [[emigrated]] to other countries, especially the United Kingdom, the United States, and Canada. In the case of the United States, about 20,000 Jamaicans per year are granted permanent residence.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.dhs.gov/immigrationstatistics |title=United States immigration statistics |publisher=Dhs.gov |date=23 June 2009 |access-date=4 July 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081204130555/http://www.dhs.gov/immigrationstatistics |archive-date=4 December 2008 |url-status=live }}</ref> There has also been emigration of Jamaicans to other Caribbeans countries such as Cuba,<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |url=http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761569844_2/Cuba.html |title=Jamaicans to Cuba |publisher=Encarta.msn.com |access-date=4 July 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091029160356/http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761569844_2/Cuba.html |archive-date=29 October 2009 |url-status=dead}}</ref> Puerto Rico, Guyana, and The Bahamas. It was estimated in 2004 that up to 2.5 million Jamaicans and Jamaican descendants lived abroad.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20050427212932/http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/columns/html/20040620T150000-0500_61511_OBS_LINKING_THE_JAMAICAN_DIASPORA.asp Linking the Jamaican Diaspora]. Jamaica Observer. 20 June 2004.</ref>

About 800,000 [[British Jamaican|Jamaicans live in the United Kingdom]], making them by far the country's largest [[British African-Caribbean community|African-Caribbean group]]. Large-scale migration from Jamaica to the UK occurred primarily in the 1950s and 1960s when the country was still under British rule. There are Jamaican communities in most large UK cities.<ref name=IOMMapping>{{cite web|url=http://www.iomlondon.org/doc/mapping/IOM_JAMAICA.pdf |title=Jamaica: Mapping exercise |publisher=[[International Organization for Migration]] |location=London |date=July 2007 |access-date=27 May 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110511105031/http://www.iomlondon.org/doc/mapping/IOM_JAMAICA.pdf |archive-date=11 May 2011 }}</ref> Concentrations of [[expatriate]] Jamaicans are quite considerable in numerous cities in the United States, including [[New York City]], [[Buffalo, New York|Buffalo]], the [[South Florida|Miami]] metro area, [[Atlanta, Georgia|Atlanta]], [[Chicago, Illinois|Chicago]], [[Orlando, Florida|Orlando]], [[Tampa, Florida|Tampa]], [[Washington, D.C.]], [[Philadelphia]], [[Hartford, Connecticut|Hartford]], [[Providence, Rhode Island|Providence]] and [[Los Angeles, California|Los Angeles]].<ref>Jones, Terry-Ann. ''Jamaican Immigrants in the United States and Canada: Race, Transnationalism, and Social Capital''. New York, NY: LFB Scholarly Publishing LLC, 2008. 2–3; 160–3. Print.</ref> In Canada, the Jamaican population is centred in [[Toronto]],<ref name="Toronto">{{cite web|title=Census Profile, 2016 Census – Toronto (CMA)|publisher=Statistics Canada|url=https://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2016/dp-pd/prof/details/page.cfm?Lang=E&Geo1=CMACA&Code1=535&Geo2=PR&Code2=35&Data=Count&SearchText=toronto&SearchType=Begins&SearchPR=01&B1=Ethnic%20origin&TABID=1|access-date=2018-08-13|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180813114501/https://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2016/dp-pd/prof/details/page.cfm?Lang=E&Geo1=CMACA&Code1=535&Geo2=PR&Code2=35&Data=Count&SearchText=toronto&SearchType=Begins&SearchPR=01&B1=Ethnic%20origin&TABID=1|archive-date=13 August 2018|url-status=live}}</ref> with smaller communities in cities such as [[Hamilton, Ontario|Hamilton]], [[Montreal]], [[Winnipeg]], [[Vancouver]] and [[Ottawa]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Census Profile, 2016 Census | date=8 February 2017 |url=https://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2016/dp-pd/prof/details/page.cfm?Lang=E&Geo1=CSD&Geo2=PR&Code2=01&SearchType=Begins&SearchPR=01&TABID=1&B1=All&type=0&Code1=3506008&SearchText=ottawa |access-date=2020-06-21 |archive-date=6 August 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200806063218/https://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2016/dp-pd/prof/details/page.cfm?Lang=E&Geo1=CSD&Geo2=PR&Code2=01&SearchType=Begins&SearchPR=01&TABID=1&B1=All&type=0&Code1=3506008&SearchText=ottawa |url-status=live }}</ref> Jamaican Canadians comprise about 30% of the entire [[Black Canadians|Black Canadian population]].<ref name=jamaicans>[http://www12.statcan.ca/census-recensement/2006/dp-pd/hlt/97-562/pages/page.cfm?Lang=E&Geo=PR&Code=01&Table=2&Data=Count&StartRec=1&Sort=3&Display=All&CSDFilter=5000 Ethnic origins, 2006 counts, for Canada, provinces and territories—20% sample data] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160818195955/http://www12.statcan.ca/census-recensement/2006/dp-pd/hlt/97-562/pages/page.cfm?Lang=E&Geo=PR&Code=01&Table=2&Data=Count&StartRec=1&Sort=3&Display=All&CSDFilter=5000 |date=18 August 2016 }}, Statistics Canada (2006). Retrieved on 11 August 2008.</ref><ref>[http://www12.statcan.ca/census-recensement/2006/dp-pd/hlt/97-562/pages/page.cfm?Lang=E&Geo=PR&Code=01&Table=1&Data=Count&StartRec=1&Sort=2&Display=Page Visible minority groups, 2006 counts, for Canada, provinces and territories—20% sample data] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171114042710/http://www12.statcan.ca/census-recensement/2006/dp-pd/hlt/97-562/pages/page.cfm?Lang=E&Geo=PR&Code=01&Table=1&Data=Count&StartRec=1&Sort=2&Display=Page |date=14 November 2017 }}, Statistics Canada (2006). Retrieved on 19 March 2011.</ref>
A notable though much smaller group of emigrants are [[Jamaicans in Ethiopia]]. These are mostly Rastafarians, in whose theological worldview Africa is the promised land, or "Zion", or more specifically Ethiopia, due to reverence in which former Ethiopian Emperor [[Haile Selassie]] is held.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20100618/news/news4.html|first=Patrina|last=Pink|title=Jamaican Rastas Bring Cultural Diversity To 'Promised Land'|newspaper=Jamaica Gleaner|date=2010-06-18|access-date=2013-03-11|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190730210828/http://jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20100618/news/news4.html|archive-date=30 July 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> Most live in the small town of [[Shashamane]] about 150 miles (240&nbsp;km) south of the capital [[Addis Ababa]].<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/1639646.stm|first=Nita|last=Bhalla|title=The town that Rastafarians built|work=BBC News|date=2001-11-05|access-date=2013-03-11|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190730210816/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/1639646.stm|archive-date=30 July 2019|url-status=live}}</ref>

===Crime===
{{Main|Crime in Jamaica}}
{{see also|Prisons in Jamaica|LGBT rights in Jamaica}}

When Jamaica gained independence in 1962, the murder rate was 3.9 per 100,000 inhabitants, one of the lowest in the world.<ref name="focal.ca">{{cite web|url=https://www.focal.ca/en/publications/focalpoint/307-september-2010-don-robotham|title=Crime and crisis in Jamaica|website=www.focal.ca|access-date=2019-06-28|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190730212158/https://www.focal.ca/en/publications/focalpoint/307-september-2010-don-robotham|archive-date=30 July 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> By 2009, the rate was 62 per 100,000 inhabitants, one of the highest in the world.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.focal.ca/en/publications/focalpoint/307-september-2010-don-robotham |title=Crime and crisis in Jamaica |publisher=Focal.ca |access-date=2017-09-25 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160421211313/http://www.focal.ca/en/publications/focalpoint/307-september-2010-don-robotham |archive-date=21 April 2016 |url-status=live }}</ref> Gang violence became a serious problem, with organised crime being centred around [[Jamaican posses]] or "[[Yardies]]". Jamaica has had one of the highest murder rates in the world for many years, according to [[United Nations|UN]] estimates.<ref name="Nationmaster Crime Stats">{{cite web |url=http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/cri_mur_percap-crime-murders-per-capita |title=Nationmaster Crime Stats |publisher=Nationmaster.com |access-date=4 July 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080929181837/http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/cri_mur_percap-crime-murders-per-capita |archive-date=29 September 2008 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name="un37820">{{cite web |url=http://www.unodc.org/documents/data-and-analysis/Caribbean-study-en.pdf |title=Crime, violence and development: trends, costs, and policy options in the Caribbean |access-date=26 December 2007 |page=37 |publisher=United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080228023900/http://www.unodc.org/documents/data-and-analysis/Caribbean-study-en.pdf |archive-date=28 February 2008 |url-status=live }}</ref> Some areas of Jamaica, particularly poor areas in [[Kingston, Jamaica|Kingston]], [[Montego Bay]] and elsewhere experience high levels of crime and violence.<ref>{{cite web |title=Jamaica Travel Advice: Safety and Security |work=Foreign Travel Advice |publisher=Government of the United Kingdom |url=https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/jamaica/safety-and-security |access-date=25 June 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140614052657/https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/jamaica/safety-and-security |archive-date=14 June 2014 |url-status=live }}</ref>

However, there were 1,683 reported murders in 2009 and 1,447 in 2010.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Crime Statistics |url=https://jcf.gov.jm/stats/ |access-date=April 25, 2023 |website=Jamaica Constabulary Force |date=12 October 2020 |archive-date=25 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230425170025/https://jcf.gov.jm/stats/ |url-status=live }}</ref> After 2011 the murder rate continued to fall, following the downward trend in 2010, after a strategic programme was launched.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://go-jamaica.com/news/read_article.php?id=29278 |title=Prime Minister Golding Speaks on Crime Reduction |date=9 June 2011 |website=The Gleaner |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170104074825/http://jamaica-gleaner.com/power/29278 |archive-date=4 January 2017 |url-status=dead |access-date=16 December 2017 }}</ref> In 2012, the Ministry of National Security reported a 30 percent decrease in murders.<ref>Pachico, Elyssa (2012-3-30). "Jamaica Murder Rate Dropped 30% in 2012". InSightCrime: Organized Crime in the Americas. Retrieved 2012-12-1.</ref> Nevertheless, in 2017, murders rose by 22% over the previous year.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://rjrnewsonline.com/local/jamaicas-murder-tally-over-1500-this-year |title=Jamaica's Murder Tally Over 1,500 This Year |website=rjrnewsonline.com |access-date=15 December 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171215111501/http://rjrnewsonline.com/local/jamaicas-murder-tally-over-1500-this-year |archive-date=15 December 2017 |url-status=live }}</ref>

Many Jamaicans are hostile towards [[LGBT]] and [[intersex]] people,<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Padgett |first=Tim |title=The Most Homophobic Place on Earth? |url=http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1182991,00.html |magazine=Time |date=12 April 2006 |access-date=26 April 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060619081126/http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1182991,00.html |archive-date=19 June 2006 |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="State">{{cite web |url=https://2009-2017.state.gov/documents/organization/204673.pdf |title=2012 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices: Jamaica|publisher= Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor, U.S. Department of State| pages=20–22 |access-date=25 May 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170326151431/https://2009-2017.state.gov/documents/organization/204673.pdf |archive-date=26 March 2017 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Jamaica Travel Advice: Local Laws and Customs |work=Foreign Travel Advice |publisher=Government of the United Kingdom |url=https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/jamaica/local-laws-and-customs |access-date=25 June 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140614052706/https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/jamaica/local-laws-and-customs |archive-date=14 June 2014 |url-status=live }}</ref> and mob attacks against gay people have been reported.<ref name="NewYorkTimes">{{cite news |last=Lacey |first=Marc |title=Attacks Show Easygoing Jamaica Is Dire Place for Gays |newspaper=The New York Times |date=24 February 2008 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/24/world/americas/24jamaica.html |access-date=19 March 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090416022316/http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/24/world/americas/24jamaica.html |archive-date=16 April 2009 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="HumanRightsWatch">{{cite web |title=Jamaica: Shield Gays from Mob Attacks |publisher=Human Rights Watch |date=31 January 2008 |url=https://www.hrw.org/en/news/2008/01/31/jamaica-shield-gays-mob-attacks |access-date=19 March 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090312143653/http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2008/01/31/jamaica-shield-gays-mob-attacks |archive-date=12 March 2009 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="AmnestyInternational">{{cite press release |title=Document – Jamaica: Amnesty International condemns homophobic violence |publisher=Amnesty International |date=15 April 2007 |url=https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/amr38/004/2007/en/ |access-date=19 March 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190112150026/https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/amr38/004/2007/en/ |archive-date=12 January 2019 |url-status=live }}</ref> Numerous high-profile dancehall and [[ragga]] artists have produced songs featuring explicitly homophobic lyrics.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ccprcentre.org/doc/2012/05/G1147116.pdf |title=Concluding Observations of the Human Rights Committee: Jamaica, United Nations Human Rights Committee, CCPR/C/JAM/CO/3, paragraph 8, pages 2-3, 17 November 2011 |access-date=11 November 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131111093406/http://www.ccprcentre.org/doc/2012/05/G1147116.pdf |archive-date=11 November 2013 |url-status=live}}</ref> This has prompted the formations of LGBT rights organisations, such as [[Stop Murder Music]].<ref>"[https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/intelligence-report/2015/jamaicas-anti-gay-murder-music-carries-violent-message Jamaica's Anti-Gay 'Murder Music' Carries Violent Message] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150707073902/http://www.splcenter.org/get-informed/intelligence-report/browse-all-issues/2010/winter/harmonies-of-hate |date=7 July 2015 }}" by Leah Nelson, The Intelligence Report, The Southern Poverty Law Center. 27 February 2011</ref> Homosexuality is [[LGBT rights by country or territory|illegal]] and punishable by imprisonment.<ref>{{cite web |title=State Sponsored Homophobia 2016: A world survey of sexual orientation laws: criminalisation, protection and recognition |url=http://ilga.org/downloads/02_ILGA_State_Sponsored_Homophobia_2016_ENG_WEB_150516.pdf |work=[[International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association]] |date=17 May 2016 |access-date=10 April 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170902183618/http://ilga.org/downloads/02_ILGA_State_Sponsored_Homophobia_2016_ENG_WEB_150516.pdf |archive-date=2 September 2017 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=71 Countries Where Homosexuality is Illegal |url=https://www.newsweek.com/73-countries-where-its-illegal-be-gay-1385974 |work=Newsweek |date=4 April 2019 |access-date=16 August 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191211204842/https://www.newsweek.com/73-countries-where-its-illegal-be-gay-1385974 |archive-date=11 December 2019 |url-status=live }}</ref>

===Major cities===
{{see also|List of cities and towns in Jamaica}}
{{Largest cities
| country      = Jamaica
| stat_ref     = [http://wups.statinja.gov.jm/WUP/2016Annual%20Publications_2016%20Demographic%20Statistics.pdf_STATINJa.pdf Demographic Statistics 2016], pp. 15–16 (2011 Census)
| list_by_pop  = 
| div_name     = 
| div_link     = Parishes of Jamaica{{!}}Parish

|city_1 = Kingston, Jamaica{{!}}Kingston
|div_1 = Kingston Parish{{!}}Kingston
|pop_1 = 661,862
|img_1 = PortofKingston.jpg

|city_2 = Portmore, Jamaica{{!}}Portmore
|div_2 = Saint Catherine Parish{{!}}Saint Catherine
|pop_2 = 182,153
|img_2 =

|city_3 = Spanish Town
|div_3 = Saint Catherine Parish{{!}}Saint Catherine
|pop_3 = 147,152
|img_3 =

|city_4 = Montego Bay
|div_4 = Saint James Parish, Jamaica{{!}}Saint James
|pop_4 = 110,115
|img_4 = Montego bay-1001.jpg

|city_5 = May Pen
|div_5 = Clarendon Parish, Jamaica{{!}}Clarendon
|pop_5 = 61,548

|city_6 = Mandeville, Jamaica{{!}}Mandeville
|div_6 = Manchester Parish{{!}}Manchester
|pop_6 = 49,695

|city_7 = Old Harbour, Jamaica{{!}}Old Harbour
|div_7 = Saint Catherine Parish{{!}}Saint Catherine
|pop_7 = 28,912

|city_8 = Savanna-la-Mar
|div_8 = Westmoreland Parish{{!}}Westmoreland
|pop_8 = 22,633

|city_9 = Ocho Rios
|div_9 = Saint Ann Parish{{!}}Saint Ann
|pop_9 = 16,671

|city_10 = Linstead
|div_10 = Saint Catherine Parish{{!}}Saint Catherine
|pop_10 = 15,231

}}