Jamaica
From reggae rhythms to Blue Mountain peaks, an island culture that reaches every corner of the world.
Marcus Garvey, born in St. Ann's Bay in 1887, became Jamaica's first National Hero for a life spent urging people to know their own history and stand together. He built one of the largest global movements of his era from a small parish on Jamaica's north coast, decades before the island gained its independence.
"A people without knowledge of their past history, origin and culture is like a tree without roots," Garvey wrote, a conviction Jamaica carried into its own coat of arms in 1962: Out of Many, One People. That same idea, that a nation's many roots can hold up one shared identity, is the common ground Strong Americas carries across every border in the hemisphere.
Get to Know Jamaica
Capital: Kingston. Official language: English (Jamaican Patois is widely spoken). Currency: Jamaican dollar. Jamaica gained independence from the United Kingdom on August 6, 1962, the same year its motto was adopted.
Fun Facts
- Jamaica is the birthplace of reggae music and Bob Marley, whose songs remain among the most performed in the world.
- The Blue Mountains grow some of the world's most prized coffee, cultivated above 3,000 feet in cool, misty peaks.
- Jamaica has produced more Olympic sprint champions per capita than any other nation, led by Usain Bolt's world records.
Why Visit
From the white sands of Negril and Montego Bay to the misty peaks of the Blue Mountains, Jamaica pairs classic Caribbean beaches with a musical and cultural legacy few islands can match. Dunn's River Falls, the rolling hills of the interior, and the birthplace of reggae in Trench Town give visitors reasons to explore well past the coastline.
Made in Jamaica
Jamaican rum, Blue Mountain coffee, and reggae music travel the world, from Appleton Estate's storied distillery to the record labels that carried Kingston's sound across the globe. This space is reserved for a future Local Marketplace Spotlight, featuring Trust Standard certified Jamaican businesses once that pillar of the Americas Ecosystem exists. Soon.