1. According to recent statistics, 56% of Jamaicans have access to the internet and 39% are on Facebook. (*Source: Internet World Stats)
2. The official name of the MBJ airport in Montego Bay is Sangster International Airport, NOT Donald Sangster Airport, the former Prime Minister for whom the facility was named. The airport processes an average of 300,000 passengers every month.
3. Neither ackee nor saltfish, the two components of Jamaica’s national dish, are native to the island. Ackee was brought to the country from west Africa in the 1700s and now grows abundantly all over the island.
4. Jamaica’s Arthur Wint won the country’s first Olympic medal in 1948, the first time the country took part in the games. His record of winning gold in the 400 and silver in the 800 stood until 1976.
5. Before he became an eight-time world champion, Usain Bolt failed to advance from the preliminary rounds at his first Olympic Games appearance in 2004.
6. Marijuana (ganja, weed, chronic, sensimelia) is NOT legal in Jamaica. Though a law has been passed to allow the possession of small amounts for personal use, it is still illegal to smoke it in public.
7. The legal drinking age in Jamaica is 18.
8. Roughly 3 million Jamaicans live permanently outside the country, the same as the total population who live on the island.
9. General elections are held in Jamaica every five years. The country uses the British Parliamentary system and elects all 63 members of parliament at once. The leader of the political party with the most seats in parliament is then sworn in as Prime Minister.