Today’s destination is Jamaica. And after the last-minute rush of yesterday’s post about The Ivory Coast, Jamaica is the perfect place to take a more laid-back approach.

Jamaica was originally home to the Taíno people. This was brought to an abrupt end when Jamaica came under Spanish rule following the arrival of the well-known Italian wrecker, Christopher Columbus in 1494.

Jamaica remained a Spanish colony named Santiago until 1655 when England conquered it and renamed it Jamaica. Jamaica eventually achieved independence in 1962 and was the first British Caribbean territory to gain independence.

Jamaica is one of the few Caribbean islands almost everyone knows a little about. Jamaica’s global influence is significant, being the birthplace of Jerk Chicken, the Rastafari religion, reggae music and its more recent descendants such as dub, ska and dancehall.

This volume of cultural exports is pretty staggering when you consider that Jamaica isn’t even a particularly large Caribbean island. Jamaica is smaller than the Bahamas, Kuwait and Montenegro. Montenegro is a wonderful place, but I struggle to name even a single famous Montenegrin person, or dish, and it’s a country I’ve actually visited!

Jamaica is also known for its sporting achievements. For example, Jamaica was the first Caribbean nation to enter the Winter Olympics with the Jamaican bobsleigh team making their debut at the 1988 games in Calgary. Jamaica is also known for its lightning-fast runners, the likes of Usain Bolt winning 77 Olympic medals in athletics since entering the games in 1948.

Jamaica is also the only Caribbean country with a beer brand I can remember without prompting. The sun’s out in Copenhagen this afternoon, it’s time for a cold Red Stripe (or at least something cold and larger-like).