The Island of Jamaica Essay -- Jamaica Countries Geography

The Island of Jamaica The island of Jamaica is the third largest Caribbean island. It is ina group of islands called the greater antilles. It has an area of 10 991km squared or 4 244 sq. miles. Jamaica spans 230 km tocopherol to west and from80-36 from north to south. It is third only to Cuba, which is the largest,and Hispaniola which is the second largest island. Jamaica lies in theCaribbean sea which is a part of the much larger Atlantic ocean. Theisland is 960 km south of Florida, one hundred sixty km southwest of Haiti, and 140 kmsouth of Cuba. Jamaica is mainly a mountainous island but there are 320 km of finesandy beaches, swamps, moist fern- forests, sprawling open plains, plateaus,rushing rivers, and magnificent waterfalls. The Blue Mountains are thehighest mountains in Jamaica and Blue Mountain Peak which is the highestpeak in Jamaica rises to 2256 m or 7 402 feet. They are made up primarilyof limestone. Farther to the west in the cockpit country the limest one haseroded over many years to form large depressions, reduce valleys,underground caverns and rivers. Most of the surface rivers are short, swiftflowing and descend quickly to the coast and consist of a series of rapidsand waterfalls. The island is ringed by plains isolated by mountain andsea. The country is divided into three counties. They are Cornwall to thewest, Middlesex is central, and Surrey is to the east. Middlesex is thelargest county. Jamaica is also divided into 14 parishes which arebasically like provinces or states. The parishes are capital of Jamaica, St. Andrew,St. Thomas, Portland, St. Mary, St. Ann, Trelawny, St. James, Hanover,Westmoreland, St. Elizabeth, Manchester, Clarendon, and St. Catherine.... ... Kingston, Jamaica Kingston Publishers, 1976 Macpherson, John. Carribean Lands. Spain Longman Group Ltd, 1974Sherlock, Philip. The Land and People of the West Indies. U.S.A J.B. Lippinc ott Company, 1967 Wilkins, Francis. Jamaica. Hong Kong Chelsea House Publishers, 1987Zach, Paul., and Hoefer, Hans Insight Guides Jamaica. Singapore APA Productions, 1987 Jamaica Information Service. Jamaica An Overview. Kingston Jamaica Information Service, 1990 Potter, Mitch. New Album Kicks off Marley Blitz. The Toronto Star. 6 February, 1991, Sec. E, p. 4 Jamaica. Merit Students Encyclopedia. 16th ed., 1980 Jamaica. The World Book Encyclopedia 14th ed., 1989