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The World Factbook 2002
| Jamaica |

Introduction | Jamaica

Background: | Jamaica gained full independence within the British Commonwealth in 1962. Deteriorating economic conditions during the 1970s led to recurrent violence and a dropoff in tourism. Elections in 1980 saw the democratic socialists voted out of office. Subsequent governments have been open market oriented. Political violence marred elections during the 1990s.

Geography | Jamaica

Location: | Caribbean, island in the Caribbean Sea, south of Cuba
Geographic coordinates: | 18 15 N, 77 30 W
Map references: | Central America and the Caribbean
Area: | total: 10,991 sq km land: 10,831 sq km water: 160 sq km
Area - comparative: | slightly smaller than Connecticut
Land boundaries: | 0 km
Coastline: | 1,022 km
Maritime claims: | measured from claimed archipelagic baselines exclusive economic zone: 200 NM territorial sea: 12 NM continental shelf: 200 NM or to edge of the continental margin contiguous zone: 24 NM
Climate: | tropical; hot, humid; temperate interior
Terrain: | mostly mountains, with narrow, discontinuous coastal plain
Elevation extremes: | lowest point: Caribbean Sea 0 m highest point: Blue Mountain Peak 2,256 m
Natural resources: | bauxite, gypsum, limestone
Land use: | arable land: 16% permanent crops: 9% other: 75% (1998 est.)
Irrigated land: | 250 sq km (1998 est.)
Natural hazards: | hurricanes (especially July to November)
Environment - current issues: | heavy rates of deforestation; coastal waters polluted by industrial waste, sewage, and oil spills; damage to coral reefs; air pollution in Kingston results from vehicle emissions
Environment - international agreements: | party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Marine Life Conservation, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements
Geography - note: | strategic location between Cayman Trench and Jamaica Channel, the main sea lanes for the Panama Canal

People | Jamaica

Population: | 2,680,029 (July 2002 est.)
Age structure: | 0-14 years: 29.1% (male 399,249; female 380,864) 15-64 years: 64.1% (male 858,433; female 859,174) 65 years and over: 6.8% (male 81,321; female 100,988) (2002 est.)
Population growth rate: | 0.56% (2002 est.)
Birth rate: | 17.74 births/1,000 population (2002 est.)
Death rate: | 5.45 deaths/1,000 population (2002 est.)
Net migration rate: | -6.65 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2002 est.)
Sex ratio: | at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.81 male(s)/female total population: 1 male(s)/female (2002 est.)
Infant mortality rate: | 13.71 deaths/1,000 live births (2002 est.)
Life expectancy at birth: | total population: 75.64 years female: 77.73 years (2002 est.) male: 73.65 years
Total fertility rate: | 2.05 children born/woman (2002 est.)
HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate: | 0.71% (1999 est.)
HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS: | 9,900 (1999 est.)
HIV/AIDS - deaths: | 650 (1999 est.)
Nationality: | noun: Jamaican(s) adjective: Jamaican
Ethnic groups: | black 90.9%, East Indian 1.3%, white 0.2%, Chinese 0.2%, mixed 7.3%, other 0.1%
Religions: | Protestant 61.3% (Church of God 21.2%, Baptist 8.8%, Anglican 5.5%, Seventh-Day Adventist 9%, Pentecostal 7.6%, Methodist 2.7%, United Church 2.7%, Brethren 1.1%, Jehovah's Witness 1.6%, Moravian 1.1%), Roman Catholic 4%, other, including some spiritual cults 34.7%
Languages: | English, patois English
Literacy: | definition: age 15 and over has ever attended school total population: 85% male: 80.8% female: 89.1% (1995 est.)

Government | Jamaica

Country name: | conventional long form: none conventional short form: Jamaica
Government type: | constitutional parliamentary democracy
Capital: | Kingston
Administrative divisions: | 14 parishes; Clarendon, Hanover, Kingston, Manchester, Portland, Saint Andrew, Saint Ann, Saint Catherine, Saint Elizabeth, Saint James, Saint Mary, Saint Thomas, Trelawny, Westmoreland
Independence: | 6 August 1962 (from UK)
National holiday: | Independence Day, first Monday in August (1962)
Constitution: | 6 August 1962
Legal system: | based on English common law; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction
Suffrage: | 18 years of age; universal

Executive branch:

chief of state: Queen ELIZABETH II (since 6 February 1952), represented by Governor General Sir Howard Felix COOKE (since 1 August 1991)
head of government: Prime Minister Percival James PATTERSON (since 30 March 1992) and Deputy Prime Minister Seymour MULLINGS (since NA 1993)
cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the governor general on the advice of the prime minister
elections: none; the monarch is hereditary; governor general appointed by the monarch on the recommendation of the prime minister; prime minister and deputy prime minister appointed by the governor general

Legislative branch:

bicameral Parliament consists of the Senate (a 21-member body appointed by the governor general on the recommendations of the prime minister and the leader of the opposition; ruling party is allocated 13 seats, and the opposition is allocated eight seats) and the House of Representatives (60 seats; members are elected by popular vote to serve five-year terms)
elections: last held 18 December 1997 (next to be held by March 2002)
election results: percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - PNP 50, JLP 10

Judicial branch: | Supreme Court (judges appointed by the governor general on the advice of the prime minister); Court of Appeal
Political parties and leaders: | Jamaica Labor Party or JLP [Edward SEAGA]; National Democratic Movement or NDM [Bruce GOLDING]; People's National Party or PNP [Percival James PATTERSON]
Political pressure groups and leaders: | New Beginnings Movement or NBM; Rastafarians (black religious/racial cultists, pan-Africanists)
International organization participation: | ACP, C, Caricom, CCC, CDB, ECLAC, FAO, G-15, G-19, G-77, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICFTU, ICRM, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM (observer), ISO, ITU, LAES, NAM, OAS, OPANAL, OPCW, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO
Diplomatic representation in the US: | chief of mission: Ambassador Seymour MULLINGS consulate(s) general: Miami and New York FAX: [1] (202) 452-0081 telephone: [1] (202) 452-0660 chancery: 1520 New Hampshire Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20036
Diplomatic representation from the US: | chief of mission: Ambassador Sue McCourt COBB embassy: Jamaica Mutual Life Center, 2 Oxford Road, 3rd floor, Kingston 5 mailing address: use embassy street address telephone: [1] (876) 929-4850 through 4859 FAX: [1] (876) 926-6743
Flag description: | diagonal yellow cross divides the flag into four triangles - green (top and bottom) and black (hoist side and outer side)

Economy | Jamaica

Economy - overview:

The economy, which depends heavily on tourism and bauxite, has been stagnant since 1995. After five years of recession, the economy grew 0.8% in 2000 and 1.1% in 2001, but the global economic slowdown, particularly in the United States after the 11 September terrorist attacks, has stunted the economic recovery. Serious problems include: high interest rates; increased foreign competition; a pressured, sometimes sliding, exchange rate; a widening merchandise trade deficit; and a growing internal debt, the result of government bailouts to various ailing sectors of the economy, particularly the financial sector. Depressed economic conditions have led to increased civil unrest, including a mounting crime rate. Jamaica's medium-term prospects will depend upon encouraging investment, maintaining a competitive exchange rate, selling off reacquired firms, and implementing proper fiscal and monetary policies.

GDP: | purchasing power parity - $9.8 billion (2001 est.)
GDP - real growth rate: | 1.1% (2001 est.)
GDP - per capita: | purchasing power parity - $3,700 (2001 est.)
GDP - composition by sector: | agriculture: 7% industry: 28% services: 65% (2000 est.)
Population below poverty line: | 34.2% (1992 est.)
Household income or consumption by percentage share: | lowest 10%: 2.9% highest 10%: 28.9% (1996)
Distribution of family income - Gini index: | 36.4 (1996)
Inflation rate (consumer prices): | 6.9% (2001 est.)
Labor force: | 1.13 million (1998)
Labor force - by occupation: | services 60%, agriculture 21%, industry 19% (1998)
Unemployment rate: | 16% (2000 est.)
Budget: | revenues: $2.23 billion expenditures: $2.56 billion, including capital expenditures of $232.5 million (FY99/00 est.)
Industries: | tourism, bauxite, textiles, food processing, light manufactures, rum, cement, metal, paper, chemical products
Industrial production growth rate: | -2% (2000 est.)
Electricity - production: | 6.74 billion kWh (2000)
Electricity - production by source: | fossil fuel: 89.44% hydro: 3.22% other: 7.34% (2000) nuclear: 0%
Electricity - consumption: | 6.27 billion kWh (2000)
Electricity - exports: | 0 kWh (2000)
Electricity - imports: | 0 kWh (2000)
Agriculture - products: | sugarcane, bananas, coffee, citrus, potatoes, vegetables; poultry, goats, milk
Exports: | $1.6 billion (f.o.b., 2001 est.)
Exports - commodities: | alumina, bauxite; sugar, bananas, rum
Exports - partners: | US 35.7%, EU (excluding UK) 15.9%, UK 13%, Canada 10.5% (1999)
Imports: | $3.1 billion (f.o.b., 2001 est.)
Imports - commodities: | machinery and transport equipment, construction materials, fuel, food, chemicals, fertilizers
Imports - partners: | US 47.8%, Caricom countries 12.4%, Latin America 7.2%, EU (excluding UK) 4.7% (1999)
Debt - external: | $5.2 billion (2001 est.)
Economic aid - recipient: | $102.7 million (1995)
Currency: | Jamaican dollar (JMD)
Currency code: | JMD
Exchange rates: | Jamaican dollars per US dollar - 47.277 (December 2001), 45.996 (2001), 42.701 (2000), 39.044 (1999), 36.550 (1998), 35.404 (1997)
Fiscal year: | 1 April - 31 March

Communications | Jamaica

Telephones - main lines in use: | 353,000 (1996)
Telephones - mobile cellular: | 54,640 (1996)
Telephone system: | general assessment: fully automatic domestic telephone network domestic: NA international: satellite earth stations - 2 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean); 3 coaxial submarine cables
Radio broadcast stations: | AM 10, FM 13, shortwave 0 (1998)
Radios: | 1.215 million (1997)
Television broadcast stations: | 7 (1997)
Televisions: | 460,000 (1997)
Internet country code: | .jm
Internet Service Providers (ISPs): | 21 (2000)
Internet users: | 60,000 (2000)

Transportation | Jamaica

Railways: | total: 272 km standard gauge: 272 km 1.435-m gauge; note - 207 km, belonging to the Jamaica Railway Corporation, were in common carrier service but are no longer operational; the remaining track is privately owned and used to transport bauxite (2000)
Highways: | total: 19,000 km paved: 13,433 km unpaved: 5,567 km (1997)
Waterways: | none
Pipelines: | petroleum products 10 km
Ports and harbors: | Alligator Pond, Discovery Bay, Kingston, Montego Bay, Ocho Rios, Port Antonio, Rocky Point, Port Esquivel (Longswharf)
Merchant marine: | total: 1 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 21,954 GRT/25,250 DWT ships by type: petroleum tanker 1, includes some foreign-owned ships registered here as a flag of convenience: Latvia 2, United States 2 (2002 est.)
Airports: | 35 (2001)
Airports - with paved runways: | total: 11 2,438 to 3,047 m: 2 1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 914 to 1,523 m: 3 under 914 m: 5 (2001)
Airports - with unpaved runways: | total: 24 914 to 1,523 m: 2 under 914 m: 22 (2001)

Military | Jamaica

Military branches: | Jamaica Defense Force (including Ground Forces, Coast Guard, and Air Wing), Jamaica Constabulary Force
Military manpower - military age: | 18 years of age (2002 est.)
Military manpower - availability: | males age 15-49: 747,043 (2002 est.)
Military manpower - fit for military service: | males age 15-49: 523,550 (2002 est.)
Military manpower - reaching military age annually: | males: 27,729 (2002 est.)
Military expenditures - dollar figure: | $30 million (FY95/96 est.)
Military expenditures - percent of GDP: | NA%

Transnational Issues | Jamaica

Disputes - international: | none
Illicit drugs: | major transshipment point for cocaine from South America to North America and Europe; illicit cultivation of cannabis; government has an active manual cannabis eradication program; corruption is a major concern

This page was last updated on 1 January 2002