my buddie and me

            The country of Jamaica has an ideal location. Located just south of Cuba, it is the third largest island in the Caribbean Sea with 10,990 km. Although the capital is Kingston, there are many other important centers of trade and business. The official language is English and the major religion is Protestantism. Transportation in Jamaica connects the entire country and movement thought out the island is very easy. There is a coastal highway traveling the whole coast. Air Jamaica and cruise ships make traveling to and from the island very easy. But despite all of the joys, there are very serious human-environmental interactions present. Mining on the island causes serve pollution and soil erosion. Most of the natural rainforest is destroyed. But the many beautiful beaches seem to make all of the worries disappear.
             I. History The history of Jamaica starts at about 1000 AD when a Tiano tribe called the Arawaks crossed the Caribbean Sea in canoes to settle on the island. The Arawaks lived in simple villages, relying on fishing and hunting for substance. They lived there peacefully for 500 years until Columbus landed at Discovery Bay in 1494. When Christopher Columbus first visited Jamaica, he described it as the fairest isle that eyes had ever seen. The contact with the Spanish was very traumatic to the ArawaksFive hundred years later, more than a million visitors travel to Jamaica annually to see for themselves this island in all its beauty. As an introduction to this paper I have compiled a series of facts on the island and the culture of the people of Jamaica. The questions asked on the economy of the island will then be answered. Discovered by Christopher Columbus, Jamaica is one of the three islands in the Northern Caribbean forming the Greater Antilles. It is the largest English-speaking country in the Caribbean Sea, stretching one hundred and forty six (146) miles from East to West. It lies five hundred and fifty (550) miles North of the Panama Canal and seven hundred (700) miles South of Miami.