Jamaica is a tropical island state. Its unvarying year round warm temperature coaxes a wealth of fruits and vegetables from the rich earth and beautiful trees. It is said "to starve here you must be a lazy man, one who can no be bothered to raise his arm to pluck a prize." Its complex background, fusing Spanish and English colonial rule with enslaved West Africans and immigrants from India, China, Germany, Scotland, Ireland and the Middle East has created unique religious and culinary traditions and helped to forget its contribution to world culture.