Jamaica

The Taíno called the island Xaymaca, 'land of wood and water'. Columbus arrived in 1494, and Spain ruled until England captured Jamaica in 1655. Under British rule the island became one of the world's largest sugar producers, built on the labour of hundreds of thousands of enslaved Africans. Resistance was fierce: the Maroons, who escaped into the mountains, fought the British to a standstill, and in 1831 Sam Sharpe led a huge uprising near Montego Bay that helped bring about the abolition of slavery in 1834 to 1838. Jamaica became independent in 1962. In the following decades, the island's music, from ska and rocksteady to reggae and dancehall, carried its culture around the world.

Jamaica's motto is 'Out of many, one people', and its culture punches far above its size. Reggae, made famous by Bob Marley, is the heartbeat, alongside dancehall and the booming sound systems of street parties. Patois, a creole based on English and West African languages, is spoken everywhere. Food is bold: jerk chicken and pork smoked over pimento wood, ackee and saltfish (the national dish), patties, curry goat and Blue Mountain coffee. The Rastafari movement, born here in the 1930s, has deeply shaped the island's identity.