Jamaica Channel

{{Short description|Strait in the Caribbean Sea}}

{{Infobox body of water

| name = Jamaica Channel

| native_name =

| native_name_lang =

| other_name =

| image = Jamaica Passage.png

| alt = A map of the Northern Caribbean, with Jamaica and Hispaniola located below Cuba and other small islands. The water between the eastern coast of Jamaica and the western tip of Haiti is circled in red to show the location of the Jamaica channel.

| caption = The northern Caribbean showing in red the location of Jamaica Channel.

| image_bathymetry =

| alt_bathymetry =

| caption_bathymetry =

| location =

| group =

| coordinates = {{coord|18|09|41.5|N|75|17|13.6|W|type:waterbody_scale:2500000|display=it}}

| type =

| etymology =

| part_of =

| inflow =

| rivers =

| outflow =

| oceans =

| catchment =

| basin_countries = United States
Jamaica
Haiti

| agency =

| designation =

| date-built =

| engineer =

| date-flooded =

| length =

| width =

| area =

| depth =

| max-depth =

| volume =

| residence_time =

| salinity =

| shore =

| elevation =

| temperature_high =

| temperature_low =

| frozen =

| islands =

| islands_category =

| sections =

| trenches =

| benches =

| cities =

| pushpin_map = Caribbean

| pushpin_label =

| pushpin_label_position = right

| pushpin_map_alt =

| pushpin_relief = 1

| pushpin_map_caption =

| website =

| reference =

}}

The Jamaica Channel is a strait separating the islands of Jamaica and Hispaniola, in the Caribbean Sea. Along with the Windward Passage to its north. Due to its location about {{convert|1000|km|mi}} north-east of the Panama Canal, it is a main sea lane through which vessels with Pacific Ocean destinations sailing from the eastern seaboards of the United States and Canada, as well as from Europe, frequently pass.[https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/jamaica/ CIA World Factbook.]

The strait is about {{convert|190|km|mi}} wide with depths of up to {{convert|1200|m|ft}}.[http://content.cdlib.org/xtf/view?docId=kt167nb66r&doc.view=content&chunk.id=d3_8_ch02&toc.depth=1&anchor.id=0&brand=eschol The Earth and the Ocean Basins], eScholarship.org.