Editing Jamaica (section)

===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}}