Backgrounder: Key facts about Jamaica

Source: Xinhua | 02-10-2009 09:14

BEIJING, Feb. 10 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping is to arrive in Jamaica on Wednesday for an official visit.

National Flag of Jamaica

Coat of arms of Jamaica

The following are basic facts about Jamaica.

Jamaica is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, 234 kilometers in length and as much as 80 kilometers in width situated in the Caribbean Sea.

It is about 145 kilometers south of Cuba, and 190 kilometers west of the island of Hispaniola, on which Haiti and the Dominican Republic are situated. Its indigenous Arawakan-speaking Taíno inhabitants named the island Xaymaca, meaning the "Land of Wood and Water", or the "Land of Springs".

Bilateral relations between China and Jamaica (From www.fmprc.gov.cn Latest update: 2003/09/26)