JAMAICA• Officially the Commonwealth of Jamaica, is the 4th largest island nation of

the Greater Antilles, 234 kilometres (145 mi) in length, up to 80 kilometres(50 mi) in width, and 10,990 square kilometres (4,240 sq mi) in area.

• Jamaica is situated in the Caribbean Sea, about 145 kilometres (90 mi) south of Cuba, and 191 kilometres (119 mi) west of Hispaniola, the island harbouring the nation-states of Haiti and the Dominican Republic.

• Jamaica is the 5th largest island country in the Caribbean.• With 2.8 million people, it is the third most populous Anglophone country in

the Americas, after the United States and Canada. It remains a Commonwealth realm in concert with the Monarchy of Jamaica holding ultimate executive power, where Queen Elizabeth II is the current head of state and Queen of Jamaica.

officially the Republic of Nicaragua.

• History: In pre-Columbian times, in what is now known as

Nicaragua, the indigenous people were part of

the Intermediate Area, between the Mesoamerican and

Andeancultural regions, and within the influence of

the Isthmo-Colombian area. It was the point where the

Mesoamerican and South American native cultures met.

• The population of Nicaragua, approximately

6 million, is multiethnic. Roughly a quarter of the

population lives in the capital city, Managua; it is the third-

largest city in Central America.

• The main language is Spanish, although native tribes on the

eastern coast speak their native languages, such as

Miskito, Sumo, and Rama, as well as English Creole.