Jamaica

Background:

Jamaica gained full independence within the British Commonwealth in 1962. Deteriorating economic conditions during the 1970s led to recurrent violence and a drop off in tourism. Elections in 1980 saw the democratic socialists voted out of office. 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 - as described in UNCLOS 1982 (see Notes and Definitions):
measured from claimed archipelagic straight baselines
exclusive economic zone: 200 NM
continental shelf: 200 NM or to edge of the continental margin
contiguous zone: 24 NM
territorial sea: 12 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: 16.07%
permanent crops: 9.23%
other: 74.7% (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, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Marine Life Conservation, 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:
2,713,130 (July 2004 est.)

Age structure:
0-14 years: 28.2% (male 390,966; female 372,961)
15-64 years: 65% (male 883,053; female 880,296)
65 years and over: 6.9% (male 82,788; female 103,066) (2004 est.)

Median age:
total: 26.8 years
male: 26.2 years
female: 27.6 years (2004 est.)

Population growth rate:
0.66% (2004 est.)

Birth rate:
16.94 births/1,000 population (2004 est.)

Death rate:
5.4 deaths/1,000 population (2004 est.)

Net migration rate:
-4.92 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2004 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: 0.8 male(s)/female
total population: 1 male(s)/female (2004 est.)

Infant mortality rate:
total: 12.81 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 11.75 deaths/1,000 live births (2004 est.)
male: 13.82 deaths/1,000 live births

Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 76.07 years
male: 74.04 years
female: 78.21 years (2004 est.)

Total fertility rate:
1.98 children born/woman (2004 est.)

HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate:
1.2% (2001 est.)

HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS:
20,000 (2001 est.)

HIV/AIDS - deaths:
980 (2001 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: 87.9%
male: 84.1%
female: 91.6% (2003 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
note: for local government purposes, Kingston and Saint Andrew were amalgamated in 1923 into the present single corporate body known as the Kingston and Saint Andrew Corporation

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)
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; following legislative elections, the leader of the majority party or the leader of the majority coalition in the House of Representatives is appointed prime minister by the governor general; the deputy prime minister is recommended by the prime minister

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 16 October 2002 (next to be held in October 2007)
election results: percent of vote by party - PNP 52%, JLP 47.3%; seats by party - PNP 34, JLP 26

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 [Hyacinth BENNETT]; 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, CDB, FAO, G-15, G-77, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICCt (signatory), 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, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO

Diplomatic representation in the US:
chief of mission: Ambassador Seymour Edward 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) 935-6001

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 Jamaican economy is heavily dependent on services, which now account for 70% of GDP. The country continues to derive most of its foreign exchange from tourism, remittances, and bauxite/alumina. The global economic slowdown, particularly after the terrorist attacks in the US on 11 September 2002, stunted economic growth; the economy rebounded moderately in 2003, with one of the best tourist seasons on record. But the economy faces serious long-term problems: high interest rates; increased foreign competition; a pressured, sometimes sliding, exchange rate; a sizable merchandise trade deficit; large-scale unemployment; and a growing internal debt, the result of government bailouts to ailing sectors of the economy. The ratio of debt to GDP is close to 150%. Inflation, previously a bright spot, is expected to remain in the double digits. Depressed economic conditions have led to increased civil unrest, including gang violence fueled by the drug trade. In 2004, the government faces the difficult prospect of having to achieve fiscal discipline in order to maintain debt payments while simultaneously attacking a serious and growing crime problem that is hampering economic growth.

GDP:
purchasing power parity - $10.21 billion (2003 est.)

GDP - real growth rate:
1.9% (2003 est.)

GDP - per capita:
purchasing power parity - $3,800 (2003 est.)

GDP - composition by sector:
agriculture: 6%
industry: 24%
services: 70% (2003 est.)

Population below poverty line:
19.7% (2002 est.)

Household income or consumption by percentage share:
lowest 10%: 2.7%
highest 10%: 30.3% (2000)

Distribution of family income - Gini index:
37.9 (2000)

Inflation rate (consumer prices):
14.1% (2003 est.)

Labor force:
1.12 million (1998)

Labor force - by occupation:
services 60%, agriculture 21%, industry 19% (1998)

Unemployment rate:
15.9% (2003 est.)

Budget:
revenues: $2.23 billion
expenditures: $2.56 billion, including capital expenditures of $236 million (FY99/00 est.)

Industries:
tourism, bauxite/alumina, textiles, agro processing, wearing apparel, light manufactures, rum, cement, metal, paper, chemical products, telecommunications

Industrial production growth rate:
-2% (2000 est.)

Electricity - production:
6.272 billion kWh (2001)

Electricity - production by source:
fossil fuel: 96.8%
hydro: 1.8%
other: 1.4% (2001)
nuclear: 0%

Electricity - consumption:
5.833 billion kWh (2001)

Electricity - exports:
0 kWh (2002)

Electricity - imports:
0 kWh (2002)

Oil - production:
0 bbl/day (2002 est.)

Oil - consumption:
66,000 bbl/day (2002 est.)

Oil - exports:
NA

Oil - imports:
NA (2001)

Agriculture - products:
sugarcane, bananas, coffee, citrus, yams, vegetables, poultry, goats, milk, crustaceans, and mollusks

Exports:
$1.355 billion f.o.b. (2003 est.)

Exports - commodities:
alumina, bauxite, sugar, bananas, rum, coffee, yams, beverages, chemicals, wearing apparel, mineral fuels

Exports - partners:
US 28.3%, Canada 14.1%, Netherlands 12.2%, UK 12.1%, Norway 8.4% (2002)

Imports:
$3.265 billion f.o.b. (2003 est.)

Imports - commodities:
food and other consumer goods, industrial supplies, fuel, parts and accessories of capital goods, machinery and transport equipment, construction materials

Imports - partners:
US 44%, Trinidad and Tobago 9.1%, Japan 5.9%, Venezuela 4% (2002)

Debt - external:
$4.3 billion (2003 est.)

Economic aid - recipient:
$16 million (2003)

Currency:
Jamaican dollar (JMD)

Currency code:
JMD

Exchange rates:
Jamaican dollars per US dollar - 57.74 (2003), 48.42 (2002), 46 (2001), 42.7 (2000), 39.04 (1999)

Fiscal year:
1 April - 31 March

Communications Jamaica

Telephones - main lines in use:
444,400 (2002)

Telephones - mobile cellular:
1.4 million (2002)

Telephone system:
general assessment: fully automatic domestic telephone network
domestic: NA
international: country code - 1-876; 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 hosts:
1,276 (2002)

Internet Service Providers (ISPs):
21 (2000)

Internet users:
600,000 (2002)

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 (2002)

Highways:
total: 18,700 km
paved: 13,109 km
unpaved: 5,591 km (1999 est.)

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: 6 ships (1,000 GRT or over) 74,881 GRT/100,682 DWT
by type: bulk 2, petroleum tanker 1, refrigerated cargo 2, short-sea/passenger 1
foreign-owned: Greece 2, Iceland 1, Latvia 1, United States 2 (2003 est.)

Airports:
35 (2003 est.)

Airports - with paved runways:
total: 11
2,438 to 3,047 m: 2
914 to 1,523 m: 4
under 914 m: 5 (2003 est.)

Airports - with unpaved runways:
total: 24
914 to 1,523 m: 2
under 914 m: 22 (2003 est.)

Military Jamaica

Military branches:
Jamaica Defense Force: Ground Forces, Coast Guard, Air Wing

Military manpower - military age:
18 years of age (2004 est.)

Military manpower - availability:
males age 15-49: 764,266 (2004 est.)

Military manpower - fit for military service:
males age 15-49: 533,768 (2004 est.)

Military manpower - reaching military age annually:
males: 27,126 (2004 est.)

Military expenditures - dollar figure:
$31 million (2003)

Military expenditures - percent of GDP:
0.4% (2003)

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; substantial money-laundering activity; Colombian narcotics traffickers favor Jamaica for illicit financial transactions