Jamaica is a Caribbean island nation located in the Greater Antilles, the third-largest island in the region after Hispaniola and Cuba. First colonized by Spain in 1494, Jamaica (known as Xaymaca, "land of wood and water", by the natives) was populated by African slaves that were imported as free labor after the local Native Americans were killed off due to disease. The island, known as Santiago under Spanish rule, was conquered by England in 1655, and Great Britain would develop a plantocracy that saw African slaves work on sugar plantations on the island. The cities of Kingston and Port Royal developed into major Caribbean port cities, and the British imported laborers from China and India to work on the island during the 1840s. On 6 August 1962, the United Kingdom gave Jamaica its independence as a domain, and Jamaica became the fourth-most populous country in the Caribbean, having a population of 2,950,210 people in July 2015.
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