Pre-Colombian Jamaica: Caribbean Archeology and Ethnohistory

4 / Environment, Fauna, and Flora
Jamaica is the third largest island in the Greater Antilles. Its maximum length
from east to west is 235 km and its maximum width from north to south is
80 km. The total area of the island amounts to 11,264 km 2 (Porter et al. 1982;
Robinson, in Donovan and Jackson 1994). It is situated 150 km south of Cuba
and 180 km west of Hispaniola. For conventional purposes, the Jamaican map
projection has its origin at 18° N latitude and 77° W longitude, at a point of
intersection just west of Spanish Town (Mugnier 2003; Stewart 2002, 2003a,
2003b). As a whole, Jamaica is situated between 17° 43´ and 18° 32´ N latitude,
and 76° 11´ and 78° 21´ W longitude (Senior 2003). The physical geography
of the island has been well described in a number of sources (Clarke and
Hodgkiss 1974; Downer and Sutton 1990) as well as in the National Atlas of
Jamaica (1971).
Geography
Jamaica is a mountainous island, half of it being over 300 m (1,000 ft) above
sea level. The highest point is the Blue Mountain peak at 2,256 m (7,402 ft).
In general one can speak of a highland interior surrounded by a flat coastal
periphery, but the terrain is much broken up, with a number of separate features
over 600 m (2,000 ft) in height, as shown in Figure 6. On the east are
the John Crow, the Port Royal, and the Blue mountains, the tallest on the island.
Then there is an east- west trending ridge of hills in the form of the Bull
Head and Dry Harbour mountains, the Cockpit country, and Dolphin Head.