Fascinating Geographical Facts About •Jamaica is the third-largest Caribbean island, covering an area of 4, 411 square miles (11,424 square kilometres). It is 146 miles (235km) long, with widths varying between 22 and 51 miles (35-82km). •The island is divided into 3 coun琀椀es and 14 parishes, each of which has its own capital town. •More mountainous than most Caribbean countries, nearly half of Jamaica sits over 1,000 feet (305m) above sea level. •The longest mountain range in Jamaica is the Blue Mountains. Blue Mountain Peak is the highest point on the island, with an eleva琀椀on of 7,402 feet (2,256m). •Jamaica has a tropical climate with humid weather and temperatures averaging 27ºC. The ho琀琀est months are during the summer from June through August, and the coolest months are January and February. Areas at higher eleva琀椀ons are much cooler, such as the Blue Mountain Peak, which has an average annual temperature of 13ºC. •The Blue Mountains in Jamaica got their name from the blueish mist that covers its peaks. •The average rainfall in Jamaica is 78 inches, and while that seems like a lot, the bulk of the rain falls on the island’s hilly interior. October is the we琀琀est month on the island, averaging around 7 inches of rainfall. •Jamaica’s warm tropical climate is ideal for farming. The island’s original inhabitants, the Tanio, cul琀椀vated corn and yams. Today, they primarily grow sugar cane, bananas and mangoes, all of which are non-indigenous to the area. •There are an es琀椀mated 120 rivers in Jamaica, most of which 昀氀ow out- wards from the central mountain ranges. The longest river on the island is the Rio Minho while the widest river is the Black River. •There are several mineral baths and hot springs in Jamaica which are said to have therapeu琀椀c proper琀椀es. Five of these legendary loca琀椀ons have been developed as tourist a琀琀rac琀椀ons, featuring facili琀椀es for bathing and/or accommoda琀椀on. One is connected to the Couples Sans Souci Resort, another is at the Bath Fountain Hotel & Spa in St. Thomas and the other three are public. They are the Bath Mineral Spring in St. Thomas, the Milk River in Clarendon and the Rockfort Mineral Bath in Kingston. •The Milk River Bath is known to be the most radioac琀椀ve mineral spa in the world with radioac琀椀vity levels of 16m curries per litre. It’s rec- ommended to spend no more than 20 minutes in this mineral spa at a maximum of three 琀椀mes per day. 30 34