Jamaicans are the citizens of Jamaica and their descendants in the Jamaican diaspora. The vast majority of Jamaicans are of Sub-Saharan African descent, with minorities of Europeans, Indians, Chinese, Middle Eastern, and others of mixed ancestry. The bulk of the Jamaican diaspora resides in other Anglophone countries, namely Canada, the United States and the United Kingdom. Jamaican populations are also prominent in other Caribbean countries, territories and Commonwealth realms, where in the Cayman Islands, born Jamaicans, as well as Caymanians of Jamaican origin, make up 26.8% of the population.[15] Outside of Anglophone countries, the largest Jamaican diaspora community lives in Central America, where Jamaicans make up a significant percentage of the population.[16]
Total population | |
---|---|
c. 4.4 million 2,683,707 (2011 census)[1] | |
Regions with significant populations | |
Jamaica 2,827,695[2][3] | |
United States | 1,100,000+[4] |
United Kingdom | 800,000+[5] |
Canada | 309,485[6] |
Cayman Islands | 21,888[7] |
Trinidad and Tobago | 15,000 |
Antigua and Barbuda | 12,000[8] |
The Bahamas | 5,572[9] |
Germany | 4,000[10] |
The Netherlands | 1,971[11] |
Australia | 1,092[5] |
Japan | 945[12] |
Brazil | 704[13] |
Languages | |
English, Jamaican Patois | |
Religion | |
Primarily Protestantism[14] | |
Related ethnic groups | |
Caribbean people |
History
editAccording to the official Jamaica Population Census of 1970, ethnic origins categories in Jamaica include: Black (Mixed); Chinese; East Indian; White; and 'Other' (e.g.: Syrian or Lebanese).[1] Jamaicans who consider themselves Black (according to the United States' One-drop rule definition of Black), made up 92% of the working population. Those of non-African descent or mixed race made up the remaining 8% of the population.[17]
But according to a more precise study conducted by the local University of the West Indies - Jamaica's population is more accurately 76.3% African descent or Black, 15.1% Afro-European (or locally called the Brown Man or Browning Class), 3.4% East Indian and Afro-East Indian, 3.2% Caucasian, 1.2% Chinese and 0.8% Other.[18]
Wealth or economic power in Jamaica is disproportionately held by the White Jamaicans, Chinese Jamaicans and the Afro-European (or locally called the Brown Man or Browning Class) - i.e. despite being a minority group(s) (less than 25% of the country's population) controls most of the country's wealth.[19][20]
Self-identified ethnic origin
editResponses of the 2011 official census.[1]
Ethnic origin | Population | Males | Females | Percentage | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Black | 2,471,946 | 1,226,026 | 1,245,920 | 92.1 | |
Chinese | 5,228 | 2,880 | 2,348 | 0.2 | |
Mixed | 162,718 | 73,293 | 89,425 | 6.0 | |
East Indian | 20,066 | 10,491 | 9,575 | 0.7 | |
White | 4,365 | 2,192 | 2,173 | 0.2 | |
Other | 1,898 | 970 | 928 | 0.1 | |
Not Reported | 17,486 | 8,638 | 8,848 | 0.6 | |
Total | 2,683,707 | 1,324,490 | 1,359,217 | 100.0% | |
source[1] |
A more precise breakdown of the Responses of the 2011 official census by the University of the West Indies [21]
Ethnic origin | Population | Percentage | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Black | 2,047,668 | 76.3 | |||
Chinese | 32,224 | 1.2 | |||
Afro-European or Browning Class | 405,240 | 15.1 | |||
East Indian and Afro-East Indian | 91,246 | 3.4 | |||
White | 85,878 | 3.2 | |||
Other | 21,470 | 0.8 | |||
Total | 2,683,707 | 100.0% | |||
source [21] |
Religion
editDenomination | 2011 census[1] | |
---|---|---|
Number | Percentage | |
Christian | ||
Anglicanism | 74,891 | |
Baptists | 180,640 | |
Brethren | 23,647 | |
Baptists | 20,872 | - |
Brethren | 9,758 | 1.0 |
Church of God in Jamaica | 129,544 | - |
Church of God of Prophecy | 121,400 | - |
New Testament Church of God | 192,086 | - |
Other Church of God | 246,838 | - |
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (2021)[22] | 6,718 | - |
Jehovah's Witnesses | 50,849 | 2.0 |
Methodist | 43,336 | 2.0 |
Moravian | 18,351 | |
Pentecostal | 295,195 | |
Rastafari | 29,026 | |
Revivalist | 36,296 | |
Roman Catholic | 57,946 | |
Seventh-day Adventist | 322,228 | - |
United Church | 56,360 | |
Baháʼí | 269 | |
Hinduism | 1,836 | - |
Islam | 1,513 | - |
Judaism | 506 | |
Other Religion/Denomination | 169,014 | - |
Totals, specified religions | 100.00 | |
No Religion/Denomination | 572,008 | - |
Not reported | 60,326 | - |
Totals, Jamaica | 2,683,105 | 100.00 |
Diaspora
editMany Jamaicans now live overseas and outside Jamaica, while many have migrated to Anglophone countries, including over 400,000 Jamaicans in the United Kingdom, over 300,000 in Canada and 1,100,000 in the United States.[23]
There are about 30,500 Jamaicans residing in other CARICOM member including the Bahamas, Antigua & Barbuda (12,000),[8] Barbados and Trinidad & Tobago.[24] There are also communities of Jamaican descendants in Central America, particularly Costa Rica, Nicaragua, and Panama. Most of Costa Rica's Afro-Costa Rican and Mulatto population, which combined represents about 7% of the total population, is of Jamaican descent.[25][26]
Notable Jamaicans
editSee also
editReferences
edit- ^ a b c d e "2011 Census of Population by Sex and Religious Affiliation/Denomination by Parish (P. 80)". issuu.com. Archived from the original on April 14, 2020. Retrieved April 12, 2020.
- ^ "World Population Prospects 2022". United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division. Retrieved July 17, 2022.
- ^ "World Population Prospects 2022: Demographic indicators by region, subregion and country, annually for 1950-2100" (XSLX) ("Total Population, as of 1 July (thousands)"). United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division. Retrieved July 17, 2022.
- ^ "2013 census". United States Census. Archived from the original on 2020-02-12. Retrieved 2016-06-16.
- ^ a b "World Migration". iom.int. 15 January 2015. Archived from the original on 1 May 2019. Retrieved 20 December 2015.
- ^ "Census Profile, 2016 Census – Canada". Statistics Canada. Archived from the original on 2018-04-22. Retrieved 2020-04-24.
- ^ "Labour Force Survey Spring 2022" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 2023-07-20. Retrieved 2023-06-15.
- ^ a b "PM Golding Calls on Jamaicans in Antigua & Barbuda to Co-Operate with Government & People There". Jamaica Information Service. Archived from the original on 2020-11-28. Retrieved 2021-05-14.
- ^ "The Nassau Guardian Home - The Nassau Guardian". The Nassau Guardian. Archived from the original on 2016-10-17. Retrieved 2017-06-10.
- ^ "Immigrant and Emigrant Populations by Country of Origin and Destination". Archived from the original on 2021-04-14. Retrieved 2023-10-31.
- ^ Bevolking; herkomstgroepering, generatie, geslacht en leeftijd, 1 januari Archived 2016-03-04 at the Wayback Machine, CBS, geraadpleegd op 5 juli 2014, 20 oktober 2018 en 9 februari 2020, 24 mei 2020.
- ^ "在留外国人統計" (in Japanese). 15 December 2023. Archived from the original on 28 April 2024. Retrieved 28 April 2024.
- ^ Immigrants in Brazil (2024, in Portuguese)
- ^ "Jamaica - Religion" Archived 2023-08-03 at the Wayback Machine, Encyclopædia Britannica online.
- ^ "Demographic Characteristics" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 2022-07-31. Retrieved 2022-08-01.
- ^ "THE STORY BEHIND JAMAICANS IN COSTA RICA". www.linkedin.com. Archived from the original on 2023-08-03. Retrieved 2022-04-18.
- ^ Jamaica Population Census 1970.
- ^ "Jamaica | The University of the West Indies". www.uwi.edu. Archived from the original on 2024-08-01. Retrieved 2024-07-31.
- ^ Stone, Carl (August 1, 1972). "Stratification and political change in Trinidad and Jamaica". Beverly Hills [Calif.] Sage Publications – via Internet Archive.
- ^ "Essays on Power and Change in Jamaica". August 1, 1977 – via Internet Archive.
- ^ a b "Jamaica | the University of the West Indies". Archived from the original on 2024-07-21. Retrieved 2024-07-21.
- ^ "Statistics and Church Facts | Total Church Membership". newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org. Archived from the original on 2023-04-01. Retrieved 2023-04-14.
- ^ "Article: Jamaica: From Diverse Beginning to Diaspora in the Developed World". Migration Policy. Archived from the original on 2016-04-20. Retrieved 2023-08-14.
- ^ "30,000 Jamaicans residing in other CARICOM member states". caricomnews.net. Archived from the original on 2017-06-20. Retrieved 2014-04-24.
- ^ Schulman, Bob. "'Little Jamaica' Rocks on the Caribbean Coast of Costa Rica". Huffington Post. Archived from the original on 25 January 2019. Retrieved 22 January 2019.
- ^ Koch, Charles W. (1977). "Jamaican Blacks and Their Descendants in Costa Rica". Social and Economic Studies. 26 (3). Jamaica: Sir Arthur Lewis Institute of Social and Economic Studies, University of the West Indies: 339–361. JSTOR 27861669.