| Jamaica |
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| Background: The island - discovered by Christopher COLUMBUS in 1494 - was settled by the Spanish early in the 16th century. The native Taino Indians, who had inhabited Jamaica for centuries, were gradually exterminated, replaced by African slaves. England seized the island in 1655 and a plantation economy - based on sugar, cocoa, and coffee - was established. The abolition of slavery in 1834 freed a quarter million slaves, many of whom became small farmers. Jamaica gradually obtained increasing independence from Britain, and in 1958 it joined other British Caribbean colonies in forming the Federation of the West Indies. Jamaica gained full independence when it withdrew from the Federation in 1962. Deteriorating economic conditions during the 1970s led to recurrent violence as rival gangs affiliated with the major political parties evolved into powerful organized crime networks involved in international drug smuggling and money laundering. The cycle of violence, drugs, and poverty has served to impoverish large sectors of the populace. Nonetheless, many rural and resort areas remain relatively safe and contribute substantially to the economy. |
| Geography and Environmental |
Capital: name: Kingston
geographic coordinates: 18 00 N, 76 48 W
time difference: UTC-5 (same time as Washington, DC during Standard Time) |
| Area Total: 10,991 sq km |
| Area Land: 10,831 sq km |
| Area Water: 160 sq km |
| Area Comparative: slightly smaller than Connecticut |
| Coastline: 1,022 km |
| Climate: tropical; hot, humid; temperate interior |
| Terrain: mostly mountains, with narrow, discontinuous coastal plain |
| Elevation Extremes Lowest Point: Caribbean Sea 0 m |
| Elevation Extremes Highest Point: Blue Mountain Peak 2,256 m |
| Natural Resources: bauxite, gypsum, limestone |
| Land Use Arable Land: 15.83% |
| Land Use Permanent Crops: 10.01% |
| Land Use Other: 74.16% (2005) |
| Irrigated Land: 250 sq km (2002) |
| 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 |
| Geography Note: strategic location between Cayman Trench and Jamaica Channel, the main sea lanes for the Panama Canal |
| Population |
| Population: 2,780,132 (July 2007 est.) |
| Age Structure 0 to 14 Years: 32.5% (male 459,968/female 444,963) |
| Age Structure 15 to 64 Years: 60.1% (male 822,486/female 848,310) |
| Age Structure 65 Years And Over: 7.4% (male 91,856/female 112,549) (2007 est.) |
| Median Age Total: 23.2 years |
| Median Age Male: 22.6 years |
| Median Age Female: 23.7 years (2007 est.) |
| Population Growth Rate: 0.777% (2007 est.) |
| Birth Rate: 20.44 births/1,000 population (2007 est.) |
| Death Rate: 6.59 deaths/1,000 population (2007 est.) |
| Sex Ratio At Birth: 1.05 male(s)/female |
| Sex Ratio Under 15 Years: 1.034 male(s)/female |
| Sex Ratio 15 to 64 Years: 0.97 male(s)/female |
| Sex Ratio 65 Years And Over: 0.816 male(s)/female |
| Sex Ratio Total Population: 0.978 male(s)/female (2007 est.) |
| Infant Mortality Rate Total: 15.73 deaths/1,000 live births |
| Infant Mortality Rate Male: 16.4 deaths/1,000 live births |
| Infant Mortality Rate Female: 15.01 deaths/1,000 live births (2007 est.) |
| Life Expectancy At BirthTotalPopulation: 73.12 years |
| Life Expectancy At Birth Male: 71.43 years |
| Life Expectancy At Birth Female: 74.9 years (2007 est.) |
| Total Fertility Rate: 2.36 children born/woman (2007 est.) |
| HIV AIDS Adult Prevalence Rate: 1.2% (2003 est.) |
| HIV AIDS People Living With HIV AIDS: 22,000 (2003 est.) |
| HIV AIDS Deaths: 900 (2003 est.) |
| Religions: Protestant 62.5% (Seventh-Day Adventist 10.8%, Pentecostal 9.5%, Other Church of God 8.3%, Baptist 7.2%, New Testament Church of God 6.3%, Church of God in Jamaica 4.8%, Church of God of Prophecy 4.3%, Anglican 3.6%, other Christian 7.7%), Roman Catholic 2.6%, other or unspecified 14.2%, none 20.9%, (2001 census) |
| Languages: English, English patois |
| Literacy Definition: age 15 and over has ever attended school |
| Literacy Total Population: 87.9% |
| Literacy Male: 84.1% |
| Literacy Female: 91.6% (2003 est.) |
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 |
| Legal System: based on English common law; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction |
| Economy |
| Overview: The Jamaican economy is heavily dependent on services, which now account for more than 60% of GDP. The country continues to derive most of its foreign exchange from tourism, remittances, and bauxite/alumina. Jamaica's economy, already saddled with a record of sluggish growth, was hit hard by Hurricane Ivan in late 2004, but has made a gradual recovery. The economy faces serious long-term problems: high but declining interest rates, increased foreign competition, exchange rate instability, a sizable merchandise trade deficit, large-scale unemployment and underemployment, and a high debt burden - the result of government bailouts to ailing sectors of the economy, most notably the financial sector in the mid-to-late 1990s. Following a strategy begun in 2004, Jamaica has reduced its public debt to 133.3% of GDP. Inflation also had declined to 5.8% at the end of 2006. High unemployment exacerbates the serious crime problem, including gang violence fueled by the drug trade. 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: $12.71 billion (2006 est.) |
| GDP Real Growth Rate: 2.7% (2006 est.) |
| GDP Composition By Sector Agriculture: 5.2% |
| GDP Composition By Sector Industry: 27.3% |
| GDP Composition By Sector Services: 67.5% (2006 est.) |
| Labor Force: 1.1 million (2006 est.) |
Labor Force By Occupation: agriculture: 18.1%
industry: 17.3%
services: 64.6% (2004) |
| Unemployment Rate: 11.3% (2006 est.) |
Household Income Or Consumption By Percentage Share: lowest 10%: 2.4%
highest 10%: 30.3% (2000) |
| Inflation Rate Consumer Prices: 5.8% (2006 est.) |
| Industries: tourism, bauxite/alumina, agro processing, light manufactures, rum, cement, metal, paper, chemical products, telecommunications |
| Industrial Production Growth Rate: -2% (2000 est.) |
| Energy |
| Electricity Production: 6.913 billion kWh (2004) |
| Electricity Production By Source Fossil Fuel: 96.8% |
| Electricity Production By Source Hydro: 1.8% |
| Electricity Production By Source Nuclear: 0% |
| Electricity Production By Source Other: 1.4% (2001) |
| Electricity Consumption: 6.429 billion kWh (2004) |
| Electricity Exports: 0 kWh (2004) |
| Electricity Imports: 0 kWh (2004) |
| Oil Production: 0 bbl/day (2004 est.) |
| Oil Consumption: 72,080 bbl/day (2004 est.) |
| Natural Gas Production: 0 cu m (2004 est.) |
| Natural Gas Consumption: 0 cu m (2004 est.) |
| Exports: $2.087 billion f.o.b. (2006 est.) |
| Exports Commodities: alumina, bauxite, sugar, bananas, rum, coffee, yams, beverages, chemicals, wearing apparel, mineral fuels |
| Exports Partners: US 25.8%, Canada 19.3%, UK 10.7%, Netherlands 8.6%, China 7%, Norway 6.4%, Germany 5.6% (2005) |
| Imports: $4.682 billion f.o.b. (2006 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 41.4%, Trinidad and Tobago 14%, Venezuela 5.5%, Japan 4.6% (2005) |
| Debt External: $7.384 billion (2006 est.) |
| Economic Aid Recipient: $254.7 million (2004) |
| Communications |
| Telephones Main Lines In Use: 342,000 (2005) |
| TelephonesMobileCellular: 2.7 million (2005) |
| Telephone System General Assessment: fully automatic domestic telephone network |
| Telephone System Domestic: NA |
| Telephone System International: country code - 1-876; 3 coaxial submarine cables; satellite earth stations - 2 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean) |
| 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 Service Providers-ISPs: 21 (2000) |
| Internet Users: 1.067 million (2005) |
| Transportation |
| Railways Total: 272 km |
| Railways Standard Gauge: 272 km 1.435-m gauge |
| Airports: 35 (2006) |
| Military Expenditures Percent Of GDP: 0.6% (2006 est.) |
| Disputes International: none |
| IllicitDrugs: transshipment point for cocaine from South America to North America and Europe; illicit cultivation and consumption 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 |