(I) Devaluation of the Jamaican dollar made Jamaican products more competitive on the world market, and the country achieved record growth in tourism and agriculture. (II) Jamaica was inhabited by Arawak Indians when Columbus explored it in 1494 and named it St. Iago. (III) It remained under Spanish rule until 1655, when it became a British possession. (IV) In the following decades disease decimated the Arawaks. (V) As a result, slaves were brought from Africa to work on the sugar plantations.