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thumb|500px|Jamaica's parishes, rivers and population centres and other features

Jamaica lies 140&nbsp;km (87&nbsp;mi) south of Cuba and west of Haiti. At its greatest extent, Jamaica is long, and its width varies between . Jamaica has a small area of . The swamplands of the Great Morass and the Upper Morass fill much of the plains. and Hurricane Gilbert in 1988. Several other powerful hurricanes have passed near to the island with damaging effects. In 1980, for example, Hurricane Allen destroyed nearly all Jamaica's banana crop. Hurricane Ivan (2004) swept past the island causing heavy damage and a number of deaths; in 2005, Hurricanes Dennis and Emily brought heavy rains to the island. A Category 4 hurricane, Hurricane Dean, caused some deaths and heavy damage to Jamaica in August 2007. In 2025, the western part of the country was struck by the full force of Hurricane Melissa, which made landfall in New Hope, Westmoreland Parish, far surpassing any previous tropical cyclone landfall in the country.

The first recorded hurricane to hit Jamaica was in 1519. The island has been struck by tropical cyclones regularly. During two of the coldest periods in the last 250 years (1780s and 1810s), the frequency of hurricanes in the Jamaica region was unusually high. Another peak of activity occurred in the 1910s, the coldest decade of the 20th century. On the other hand, hurricane formation was greatly diminished from 1968 to 1994, which coincides with the great Sahel drought.

Vegetation and wildlife

Although most of Jamaica's native vegetation has been stripped in order to make room for cultivation, some areas have been left virtually undisturbed since the time of European colonization. Mongooses (Urva auropunctata), introduced to Jamaica in 1872 to reduce rat populations that damaged commercial sugarcane (Saccharum officinarum) crops, prey on several Jamaican species, including the critically endangered Jamaican iguana (Cyclura collei), and have been implicated in the historical population declines and extinctions of many others.

Other wildlife species inhabiting the island include the West Indian manatee (Trichechus manatus), the American crocodile (Crocodylus acutus), and the endemic and endangered Homerus swallowtail butterfly (Papilio homerus), which is the largest butterfly species in the Western Hemisphere.

Extreme points

  • Northernmost point: Half Moon Point, Saint James Parish
  • Westernmost point: South Negril Point, Westmoreland Parish Developing an underdeveloped country can impact the ocean's ecosystem because of all the construction that would be done to develop the country. Over-building, driven by powerful market forces as well as poverty among some sectors of the population, and destructive exploitation contribute to the decline of ocean and coastal resources. The development of a user fee system would help fund environmental management and protection. The results show that tourists have a high consumer surplus associated with a vacation in Jamaica, and have a significantly lower willingness to pay for a tourism tax when compared to an environmental tax. The findings of the study show that the "label" of the tax and as well as the respondent's awareness of the institutional mechanisms for environmental protection and tourism are important to their decision framework.