People of Jamaica

"Out of many, One people", the national motto of Jamaica speaks volume about the ethnic diversity of the Jamaican society as well as the national pride that keeps them united. The Arawak tribe was the aboriginal inhabitants of Jamaica.

The population of Jamaica consists mostly of descendants of Central Africans, East Indian, Chinese and European minorities. The main concentration of population is on the coastal plains while the highlands are mostly uninhabited. A high birthrate and low death rate in recent times have resulted in high population densities.  

The freed slaves known as ‘Maroons’ have up to four ancestral lines, namely, from Ghana (formerly the Gold Coast), the area from Burkina Faso to Benin (formerly the Slave Coast), Creoles born in Jamaica and Arawak & Miskito indigenous peoples from Central America. Maroons have fought against slavery and for Jamaican independence from the British. They have successfully kept their ancestral traditions alive. The Kumina is another unique group in Jamaica who are descended from freed slaves and later indentured workers who came from Central Africa.

The Roman Catholics, Church of God, Baptists, Anglicans, Seventh-day Adventists and Pentecostalists are the main religious groups. Approximately 5% of the population of Jamaica are Roman Catholics. Several well-established communities such as Jewish, Muslim and Hindu also exist in the island.

The Rastafarians are the most visible of numerous Afro-Caribbean syncretic religious groups. They honor Haile Selassie, a former emperor of Ethiopia. Rastafarianism began in the 1930s in poor sections of cities in Jamaica inspired by the teachings of Marcus Garvey. He taught that the people of African descent would find peace, dignity, self-expression, and self-reliance by embracing Africa as their ancestral home, even though they may live somewhere else.