DailyGeo › Atlas › Capitals of the world
Capitals of the world
Kingston, capital of Jamaica: facts and figures
Kingston is the capital of Jamaica. It has about 670,000 residents, which makes it the 127th most populous capital of the 172 in DailyGeo's atlas, and it sits 14 m above sea level. Its nearest neighbouring capital is Port-au-Prince, 478 km away.
Key figures
| Figure | Value |
|---|---|
| Country | Jamaica |
| Continent | North America |
| City population | 670,000 residents |
| World rank by population | 127th of 172 |
| Elevation | 14 m |
| Founded | 1692 |
| Time zone | America/Jamaica |
| Coordinates | 17.97° N, 76.79° W |
| Country population | 2,837,077 residents |
| Country GDP | 22.7 billion US dollars |
| GDP per capita | $8,003 |
| Life expectancy | 71.6 years |
| Internet users | 90.1 % |
| Big Mac price | not reported |
Climate through the year
Kingston averages 25.1 °C from December to February and 28.0 °C from June to August. February is the coldest month of the year and August the warmest, and the city receives 608 mm of precipitation in an average year.
| Month | Mean temperature |
|---|---|
| January | 25.0 °C |
| February | 24.8 °C |
| March | 25.4 °C |
| April | 26.1 °C |
| May | 27.0 °C |
| June | 27.7 °C |
| July | 28.1 °C |
| August | 28.2 °C |
| September | 27.9 °C |
| October | 26.9 °C |
| November | 25.9 °C |
| December | 25.4 °C |
What makes it stand out
- Rainfall: driest capital in North America (608 mm).
Nearest capitals
Distances are great-circle distances between city centres, which is what the Capitals game measures when it tells you how far a guess was from the answer. Port-au-Prince is the closest capital to Kingston.
| Capital | Country | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Port-au-Prince | Haiti | 478 km |
| Santo Domingo | Dominican Republic | 727 km |
| Nassau | Bahamas | 790 km |
| Havana | Cuba | 815 km |
| Panama City | Panama | 1,042 km |
How to remember it
Reading a figure once rarely fixes it in memory. Attach Kingston to a place and a number you already know: it is 478 km from Port-au-Prince, and it is the 127th largest capital in the atlas. Then practise retrieving it. DailyGeo Capitals gives you one mystery capital a day with distance, direction, language and population clues, the memorising method explains the review schedule, and the capitals index lists all 172.
To see how Jamaica compares with every other country on figures like these, the richest countries by GDP per capita ranks them on geopolitix, a country-ranking game by the same maker as DailyGeo.
Sources
- City population and coordinates: DailyGeo's own game data, the same figures the Capitals game plays with. Population follows the urban area rather than the commune, which is why no density is quoted.
- Temperature and rainfall: ten-year means (2015 to 2024) computed from ERA5 reanalysis, retrieved through Open-Meteo. Hersbach, H., et al. (2020). The ERA5 global reanalysis. Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society.
- Elevation: terrain height at the city's coordinates in the Copernicus DEM, read through Open-Meteo rather than taken from a curated claim.
- Time zone: resolved from the same coordinates.
- Country figures: the World Bank, latest reported year for each series: Country GDP, GDP per capita, Country population, Life expectancy, Internet users.
- Founding date: Wikidata, earliest recorded founding claim.
- This capital elsewhere: Wikipedia, UNdata, Wikidata.
- Method and limits: How this data was collected explains how each figure was collected and what it does not cover.
The short answer
Kingston is the capital of Jamaica, in North America, with about 670,000 residents, averaging 25.1 °C from December to February and 28.0 °C from June to August.
Turn the reading into recall. A new capital and country are waiting today.
Play today's DailyGeo puzzleFrequently asked questions
What is the capital of Jamaica?
Kingston is the capital of Jamaica. It has about 670,000 residents and lies in North America.
How many people live in Kingston?
About 670,000, which ranks Kingston 127th of the 172 capitals in DailyGeo's atlas by city population.
What is the weather like in Kingston?
Kingston averages 25.1 °C from December to February and 28.0 °C from June to August, with 608 mm of precipitation a year. These are ten-year means from ERA5 reanalysis.
How expensive is Kingston?
GDP per capita in the country is $8,003, the latest year the World Bank reports.
Keep learning
- Port-au-Prince, capital of Haiti: facts and figures
Port-au-Prince is the capital of Haiti: 2,800,000 residents, 14 m above sea level, 26.5 °C from December to February and 30.0 °C from June to August.
- Santo Domingo, capital of Dominican Republic: facts and figures
Santo Domingo is the capital of Dominican Republic: 3,300,000 residents, 50 m above sea level, 24.1 °C from December to February and 26.7 °C from June to August.
- Nassau, capital of Bahamas: facts and figures
Nassau is the capital of Bahamas: 270,000 residents, 3 m above sea level, 23.3 °C in winter and 28.5 °C in summer. Key figures and sources.
- Capitals of the world: the full list by continent
Every capital in DailyGeo's atlas, grouped by continent, with population, elevation and winter and summer temperatures, each linking to its own data page.