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People
With slavery out of the picture, the English brought in Indians
and Chinese to help the mainly African population work the plantations.
Over the years new people arrived from England, France and Scotland,
Spain and Portugal, Syria and Nepal - producing a unique and exciting
mixture of races, including Jews whose families dated back to the
early Spanish settlements.
While most Jamaicans are of African descent, there has been much
inter-marriage over the centuries. This is reflected in the diverse
appearance of Jamaicans.
And in the complex cultural heritage that forms the high-spirited,
warm-hearted psyche of the Jamaican people.
Language
The past can be heard in their talk - and our music. While their
official language is English, most Jamaicans speak a Creole patois
- a mixture of Elizabethan English and West African that's often
hard to understand, but always absolutely charming.
As for music, theirs is the island where reggae was born - created
by the late, great Bob Marley, one of Jamaica's national heroes.
Religion
Jamaicians are mostly Anglican (Episcopalian), Baptist, Jewish,
Methodist, Moravian, Roman Catholic, Pentecostal, United Church
(Presbyterian and Congregational), and Rastafarian. (Rastafarians
believe in the divinity of Haile Selassie, late Emperor of Ethiopia.)
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