Blue Mountains (Jamaica)
| Blue Mountains | |
| Range | |
 View of the Blue Mountain Range looking into St. Mary Parish from St.Andrew Parish.
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| Country | Jamaica |
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| Highest point | Blue Mountain Peak |
| - elevation | 2,256 m (7,402 ft) |
| - coordinates | 18°6′N 76°40′W / 18.1°N 76.667°W |
The Blue Mountains form the longest mountain range in Jamaica. They include the island's highest point, Blue Mountain Peak, at 2256 m (7402 ft).[1] From the summit, accessible via a walking track, both the North and South coasts of the island can be seen. On a clear day, the outline of the island Cuba, 210 km (130 mi) away, can also be seen.
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[edit] Geography
The Blue Mountains rise to these elevations from the coastal plain in the space of about sixteen kilometers, thus producing one of the steepest general gradients in the world. The Blue Mountains form a cooling relief from the sweltering heat of Kingston below. These summits rise and fall along for 24 miles long and 14 miles at its widest point, where the temperature decreases from around 27°C (80°F) at sea level to 5°C (40°F) at Blue Mountain Peak, just 16 km (9.9 mi) inland.
As one of the longest continuous mountain ranges in the Caribbean, the Blue Mountains dominate the eastern third of Jamaica, while bordering the eastern parishes of Portland, St. Thomas, St. Mary and St. Andrew to the south. Part of the Blue Mountains is contained in the Blue Mountain John Crow Mountain National Park established in 1992, which is maintained by the Jamaican government.
[edit] Flora and fauna
The island's average rainfall, which is much greater in the mountain areas facing the north and east, is 1,960 millimetres (77.2 in) per year. Where the higher elevations of the Blue Mountains catch the rain from the moisture-laden winds, rainfall exceeds 5,080 millimetres (200 in) per year with some areas have totals of over 7,620 millimetres (300 in). This climatic diversity has enabled the high rainfall that feeds the lush vegetation, which includes towering trees and over 500 species of flowering plants, of which half are found nowhere else on earth.
The Blue Mountains are home to the world's second largest butterfly and the largest in the Americas, the Homerus swallowtail (Papilio homerus). The Jamaican Coney (Geocapromys brownii), a type of rodent, and the Jamaican boa (Epicrates subflavus) are also found there. More than 200 species of birds live in the Blue Mountains, most of which are exclusively neotropical.[clarification needed]
[edit] Jamaican coffee
In past years, when Jamaica's economy was dominated by plantation slavery, some slaves Maroons were able to escape to the Blue Mountains and live independently. Today the famous Jamaican Blue Mountain Coffee is cultivated between 2000 and 5000 feet above sea level,[2] while higher slopes are preserved as forest. Hagley Gap and Mavis Bank are farming communities located on Blue Mountain with Hagley Gap being closest to Blue Mountain Peak. Both towns rely upon the area's rich, fertile soils for growing Blue Mountain Coffee.
[edit] References
- ^ Hamiltom, Janice (2005), Jamaica in Pictures, Lerner Publications, p. 10, ISBN 0822523949
- ^ Rebecca Tortello. "Jamaican Coffee - "A Beverage of Distinction"". A Jamaica Gleaner Feature. http://jamaica-gleaner.com/pages/history/story0029.html. Retrieved 19 March 2011.
[edit] External links
Coordinates: 18°06′N 76°40′W / 18.1°N 76.667°W
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