Jamaican Culture

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Jamaican Culture Probably one of the most lively and rich cultures of the world is of the Jamaican culture. It is perhaps due to its exotic surroundings and the various regions of its origin. Today in Jamaica, there are obvious influences of African, English, Spanish, and Indian. Being only the third biggest island in the Caribbean its impact is huge on the rest of the world.

The official language of Jamaica is English. However, most civilians in Jamaica speak patois. Think of it as an extremely slurred accented speech of English with hints of African, Portuguese, and Spanish appearing here and there. Most of the time just knowing English will help you understand what people basically are saying.

The religions in Jamaica are wide and varied. However, statistics show that over half (61.3%) of all Jamaicans are Protestant. There is also a good deal of participation in spiritual cults of not-really-defined religion (almost 35%).

Religion is highly held in Jamaica and can affect from what people where to what they eat. Sometimes cults in Jamaica resort to violence against other cults.

The education system in Jamaica has four basic levels: early childhood, primary, secondary, and tertiary. Presently, 703,600 of Jamaica's estimated 2,650,000 people are enrolled in the education system. About 80% of all teachers are professionally trained. Jamaica currently holds an 85% literacy rate for total population (81% for men alone and 89% for women alone). Currently in Jamaica, only 3% of the enrolled education students are enrolled for college level education, 32% for junior high and high school level, 45% for elementary level, and 20% for ages 3-5 yrs.

The majority of the people in Jamaica usually live in or near the cities in low-income housing. However, some still live rurally for agricultural purposes.

There are many holidays...