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Jamaica: Hispanic Reading Room Country Guide

This guide provides curated Library of Congress resources for researching Jamaica, including digitized primary source materials in a wide variety of formats, books and periodicals, online databases, and tips for searching.

Introduction

William Berryman, artist. Sugar plantation in Jamaica. [between 1808 and 1816]. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division.

The Library of Congress holds thousands of collection materials about and from Jamaica. Curated by librarians in the Hispanic Reading Room, this guide is part of a series of Country Guides that provide quick references for countries and regions from the Luso-Hispanic world. The Hispanic Reading Room is the Library’s portal to the Caribbean, Latin America, Spain and Portugal; the indigenous cultures of those areas; and peoples throughout the world historically influenced by Luso-Hispanic heritage, including Latinos in the U.S. This guide offers links to diverse resources on Jamaica from across the Library including digitized primary sources, selected books and periodicals, online databases, and tips for searching. For specific questions or assistance using the Library’s resources, use the Ask a Librarian service to contact a reference librarian.

Jamaica: Quick Facts

United States. Central Intelligence Agency. Jamaica. 2002. Library of Congress Geography and Map Division.

Official Name: Jamaica

Capital: Kingston

Date of Independence: August 6, 1962

Head of Government: Prime Minister Andrew Holness

Population: 2.8 million

Languages: English, English patois

Parishes: 14; Clarendon, Hanover, Kingston, Manchester, Portland, Saint Andrew, Saint Ann, Saint Catherine, Saint Elizabeth, Saint James, Saint Mary, Saint Thomas, Trelawny, Westmoreland