Jamaica

Geography

Location: Caribbean, island in the Caribbean Sea, south of Cuba

Map references: Central America and the Caribbean

Area:
total area: 10,990 sq km
land area: 10,830 sq km
comparative area: slightly smaller than Connecticut

Land boundaries: 0 km

Coastline: 1,022 km

Maritime claims:
continental shelf: 200-m depth or to the depth of exploitation
exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
territorial sea: 12 nm

International disputes: none

Climate: tropical; hot, humid; temperate interior

Terrain: mostly mountains with narrow, discontinuous coastal plain

Natural resources: bauxite, gypsum, limestone

Land use:
arable land: 19%
permanent crops: 6%
meadows and pastures: 18%
forest and woodland: 28%
other: 29%

Irrigated land: 350 sq km (1989 est.)

Environment:
current issues: deforestation; coastal waters polluted by industrial waste, sewage, and oil spills; damage to coral reefs; air pollution in Kingston results from vehicle emissions
natural hazards: hurricanes (especially July to November)
international agreements: party to - Biodiversity, Climate Change, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Marine Life Conservation, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution

Note: strategic location between Cayman Trench and Jamaica Channel, the main sea lanes for Panama Canal

People

Population: 2,574,291 (July 1995 est.)

Age structure:
0-14 years: 33% (female 412,565; male 431,043)
15-64 years: 60% (female 786,700; male 770,681)
65 years and over: 7% (female 96,348; male 76,954) (July 1995 est.)

Population growth rate: 0.78% (1995 est.)

Birth rate: 22.03 births/1,000 population (1995 est.)

Death rate: 5.62 deaths/1,000 population (1995 est.)

Net migration rate: -8.65 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1995 est.)

Infant mortality rate: 16.1 deaths/1,000 live births (1995 est.)

Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 74.65 years
male: 72.39 years
female: 77.01 years (1995 est.)

Total fertility rate: 2.42 children born/woman (1995 est.)

Nationality:
noun: Jamaican(s)
adjective: Jamaican

Ethnic divisions: African 76.3%, Afro-European 15.1%, East Indian and Afro-East Indian 3%, white 3.2%, Chinese and Afro-Chinese 1.2%, other 1.2%

Religions: Protestant 55.9% (Church of God 18.4%, Baptist 10%, Anglican 7.1%, Seventh-Day Adventist 6.9%, Pentecostal 5.2%, Methodist 3.1%, United Church 2.7%, other 2.5%), Roman Catholic 5%, other, including some spiritual cults 39.1% (1982)

Languages: English, Creole

Literacy: age 15 and over has ever attended school (1987)
total population: 82%
male: 77%
female: 86%

Labor force: 1,062,100
by occupation: services 41%, agriculture 22.5%, industry 19%, unemployed 17.5% (1989)

Government

Names:
conventional long form: none
conventional short form: Jamaica

Digraph: JM

Type: 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 COOKE (since 1 August 1991)
head of government: Prime Minister P. J. PATTERSON (since 30 March 1992); Deputy Prime Minister Seymour MULLINGS (since NA 1993)
cabinet: Cabinet; appointed by the governor general on the advice of the prime minister

Legislative branch: bicameral Parliament
Senate: consists of a 21-member body appointed by the governor general
House of Representatives: elections last held 30 March 1993 (next to be held by March 1998); results - percent of vote by party NA; seats - (60 total) PNP 52, JLP 8

Judicial branch: Supreme Court

Political parties and leaders: People's National Party (PNP) P. J. PATTERSON; Jamaica Labor Party (JLP), Edward SEAGA

Other political or pressure groups: Rastafarians (black religious/racial cultists, pan-Africanists); New Beginnings Movement (NBM)

Member of: ACP, C, CARICOM, CCC, CDB, ECLAC, FAO, G-15, G-19, G-77, GATT, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICFTU, ICRM, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IOC, ISO, ITU, LAES, NAM, OAS, OPANAL, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNITAR, UPU, WCL, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO

Diplomatic representation in US:
chief of mission: Ambassador Richard Leighton BERNAL
chancery: 1520 New Hampshire Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20036
telephone: [1] (202) 452-0660
FAX: [1] (202) 452-0081
consulate(s) general: Miami and New York

US diplomatic representation:
chief of mission: Ambassador J. Gary COOPER (since October 1994)
embassy: Jamaica Mutual Life Center, 2 Oxford Road, 3rd floor, Kingston
mailing address: use embassy street address
telephone: [1] (809) 929-4850 through 4859
FAX: [1] (809) 926-6743

Flag: diagonal yellow cross divides the flag into four triangles - green (top and bottom) and black (hoist side and fly side)

Economy

Overview: Key sectors in this island economy are bauxite (alumina and bauxite account for more than half of exports) and tourism. The government's tight fiscal and monetary policies, which have been partially successful in curbing inflation, have held growth to 1.2% in 1993 and 2.0% in 1994.

National product: GDP - purchasing power parity - $7.8 billion (1994 est.)

National product real growth rate: 2% (1994 est.)

National product per capita: $3,050 (1994 est.)

Inflation rate (consumer prices): 26.7% (1994)

Unemployment rate: 15.7% (1992)

Budget:
revenues: $600 million
expenditures: $736 million, including capital expenditures of $NA (FY90/91 est.)

Exports: $1.2 billion (f.o.b., 1994 est.)
commodities: alumina, bauxite, sugar, bananas, rum
partners: US 47%, UK 11%, Canada 9%, Norway 7%; France 4% (1993)

Imports: $2.2 billion (f.o.b., 1994 est.)
commodities: machinery and transport equipment, construction materials, fuel, food, chemicals
partners: US 54%, Japan 4.0%, Mexico 6%, UK 4%, Venezuela 3% (1993)

External debt: $3.6 billion (1994 est.)

Industrial production: growth rate 0.4% (1992); accounts for almost 30% of GDP

Electricity:
capacity: 730,000 kW
production: 2.6 billion kWh
consumption per capita: 988 kWh (1993)

Industries: bauxite mining, tourism, textiles, food processing, light manufactures

Agriculture: accounts for about 7% of GDP, 22% of work force, and 17% of exports; commercial crops - sugarcane, bananas, coffee, citrus, potatoes, vegetables; livestock and livestock products include poultry, goats, milk; not self-sufficient in grain, meat, and dairy products

Illicit drugs: transshipment point for cocaine from Central and South America to North America and Europe; illicit cultivation of cannabis; government has an active cannabis eradication program

Economic aid:
recipient: US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70-89), $1.2 billion; other countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments (1970-89), $1.6 billion

Currency: 1 Jamaican dollar (J$) = 100 cents

Exchange rates: Jamaican dollars (J$) per US$1 - 33.195 (December 1994), 33.986 (1994), 24.949 (1993), 22.960 (1992), 12.116 (1991), 7.184 (1990)

Fiscal year: 1 April - 31 March

Transportation

Railroads:
total: 370 km
standard gauge: 370 km 1.435-m gauge

Highways:
total: 18,200 km
paved: 12,600 km
unpaved: gravel 3,200 km; improved earth 2,400 km

Pipelines: petroleum products 10 km

Ports: Alligator Pond, Discovery Bay, Kingston, Montego Bay, Ocho Rios, Port Antonio, Longs Wharf, Rocky Point

Merchant marine:
total: 3 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 5,931 GRT/10,545 DWT
ships by type: bulk 1, oil tanker 1, roll-on/roll-off cargo 1

Airports:
total: 41
with paved runways 2,438 to 3,047 m: 2
with paved runways 1,524 to 2,437 m: 1
with paved runways 914 to 1,523 m: 3
with paved runways under 914 m: 31
with unpaved runways 914 to 1,523 m: 4

Communications

Telephone system: 127,000 telephones; fully automatic domestic telephone network
local: NA
intercity: NA
international: 2 INTELSAT (Atlantic Ocean) earth stations; 3 coaxial submarine cables

Radio:
broadcast stations: AM 10, FM 17, shortwave 0
radios: NA

Television:
broadcast stations: 8
televisions: NA

Defense Forces

Branches: Jamaica Defense Force (includes Ground Forces, Coast Guard and Air Wing), Jamaica Constabulary Force

Manpower availability: males age 15-49 670,958; males fit for military service 475,235; males reach military age (18) annually 26,244 (1995 est.)

Defense expenditures: exchange rate conversion - $19.3 million, 1% of GDP (FY91/92)