Jamaica is the largest and most populous Commonwealth Caribbean country. Initially colonised by the Spanish, it was seized by the British in 1655. Under British rule, Jamaica became a major producer of sugar using enslaved people from West Africa to provide labour on the plantations. The island experienced a major slave revolt in 1831, an event which helped to expedite the abolition of slavery. Following emancipation, the British imported indentured workers from India and China to fill the labour gap. A further revolt in 1865 was savagely suppressed by the British authorities. Major unrest in 1938 prompted a reappraisal of British policy in the Caribbean. It gained independence from the UK in 1962 and remains a Commonwealth Realm. In the post-war period, far more migrants came to Britain from Jamaica than from any other Caribbean nation. This is reflected in applications to the Windrush Scheme, established in May 2018 to provide documentation proving the recipient’s right to remain in the UK. According to Home Office figures, by November 2023 there had been 3485 successful applications by people of Jamaican origin. This compares with 2123 successful applications from the whole of the rest of the Caribbean and 2456 from India. Current population c. 2,735,000.