Jamaica College (abbreviated J.C. or JC) is a prominent all-male secondary school located in Kingston, Jamaica. It provides traditional classroom education to its students in a variety of subject areas. The institution caters to students aged 10 to 19 years. First established as a boarding school for boys, Jamaica College has remained a single-sex school with the boarding facilities removed. The school provides education to around 1,800 boys and has over 100 teaching and administrative staff.

During the 18th century when Jamaica prospered as a sugar colony of the British Empire, several large donations were made for the funding of schools. The objective of these bequests was usually to provide free education for the poor of the parish to which the benefactor belonged. Jamaica College is a product of such a bequest.

The institution is widely known in Jamaica for both its academic and sports achievements, and has had the privilege of producing many influential members of Jamaican society, notably former Prime Ministers of Jamaica, Michael Manley and Bruce Golding, and former Chief Minister and Premier of Jamaica, Norman Washington Manley, who is also the father of Michael Manley and the founder of the People's National Party.

Jamaica (ⁱ/dʒəˈmeɪkə/) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea, comprising the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles. The island, 10,990 square kilometres (4,240 sq mi) in area, lies about 145 kilometres (90 mi) south of Cuba, and 191 kilometres (119 mi) west of Hispaniola, the island containing the nation-states of Haiti and the Dominican Republic. Jamaica is the fifth-largest island country in the Caribbean.

Previously inhabited by the indigenous Arawak and Taíno peoples, the island came under Spanish rule following the arrival of Christopher Columbus in 1494. Named Santiago, it remained a possession of Spain until 1655, when England (later Great Britain) conquered the island and renamed it Jamaica. Under British rule, Jamaica became a leading sugar exporter, with its plantation economy highly dependent on slaves imported from Africa, followed later by Chinese and Indian indentured labour. All slaves were fully emancipated in 1838, with independence from the United Kingdom achieved on 6 August 1962.

"Jamaica" is a song by Canadian rock group Bachman–Turner Overdrive that appears on the 1979 album Rock n' Roll Nights. It features Jim Clench on lead vocals. It was written by well-known songwriter Jim Vallance. It was released as a single but did not chart. The song, along with "Heartaches," was played live on American Bandstand in February 1979 to support the Rock n' Roll Nights album release.

Using different lyrics, Rick Springfield remade the song under the title "Kristina" on his 1982 album Success Hasn't Spoiled Me Yet.

References

Jamaica : A Novel (2007) is a novel by Australian author Malcolm Knox. It won the Colin Roderick Award in 2007, and was shortlisted for the Fiction category of the 2008 Prime Minister's Literary Awards.

Plot summary

A group of 6 Australian friends - white, middle-aged males - combine to compete in a marathon relay swim in treacherous waters off Jamaica. But even before the race begins fractures appear in the relationships, with drug-taking, hidden secrets and personal crises coming to dominate.

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