Statistical information Jamaica 1998Jamaica

Map of Jamaica | Geography | People | Government | Economy | Energy | Communication
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Jamaica in the World
Jamaica in the World

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Jamaica - Introduction 1998
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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 and a more conservative government installed. Political violence marred elections during the 1990s.


Jamaica - Geography 1998
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Location: Caribbean, island in the Caribbean Sea, south of Cuba

Geographic coordinates: 18 15 N, 77 30 W

Map referenceCentral America and the Caribbean

Area
Total: 10,990 km²
Land: 10,830 km²
Water: 160 km²
Comparative: slightly smaller than Connecticut

Land boundaries: 0 km

Coastline: 1,022 km

Maritime claims: measured from claimed archipelagic baselines
Continental shelf: 200-m depth or to the depth of exploitation
Exclusive economic zone: 200 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
Extremes highest point: Blue Mountain Peak 2,256 m

Natural resources: bauxite, gypsum, limestone
Land use

Land use
Arable land: 14%
Permanent crops: 6%
Permanent pastures: 24%
Forests and woodland: 17%
Other: 39% (1993 est.)
Note: irrigated land_3% (350 km²)(1993 est.)

Irrigated land: 350 km² (1993 est.)

Major rivers

Major watersheds area km²

Total water withdrawal

Total renewable water resources

Natural hazards: hurricanes (especially July to November)

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


Jamaica - People 1998
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Population: 2,634,678 (July 1998 est.)
Growth rate: 0.7% (1998 est.)

Nationality
Noun: Jamaican(s)
Adjective: Jamaican

Ethnic groups: black 90.4%, East Indian 1.3%, white 0.2%, Chinese 0.2%, mixed 7.3%, other 0.6%

Languages: English, Creole

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%

Demographic profile
Age structure

Age structure
0-14 years: 32% (male 425,233; female 406,529)
15-64 years: 62% (male 806,846; female 817,145)
65 years and over: 6% (male 79,125; female 99,800) (July 1998 est.)

Dependency ratios

Median age

Population growth rate: 0.7% (1998 est.)

Birth rate: 20.91 births/1000 population (1998 est.)

Death rate: 5.45 deaths/1000 population (1998 est.)

Net migration rate: -8.45 migrant(s)/1000 population (1998 est.)

Population distribution

Urbanization

Major urban areas

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
International agreements party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Marine Life Conservation, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Whaling
International agreements signed but not ratified: none of the selected agreements

Air pollutants

Sex ratio
At birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
Under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 0.99 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.79 male(s)/female (1998 est.)

Mothers mean age at first birth

Maternal mortality ratio

Infant mortality rate: 14.47 deaths/1000 live births (1998 est.)

Life expectancy at birth
Total population: 75.37 years
Male: 73.01 years
Female: 77.84 years (1998 est.)

Total fertility rate: 2.33 children born/woman (1998 est.)

Contraceptive prevalence rate

Drinking water source

Current health expenditure

Physicians density

Hospital bed density

Sanitation facility access

Hiv/Aids

Major infectious diseases

Obesity adult prevalence rate

Alcohol consumption

Tobacco use

Children under the age of 5 years underweight

Education expenditures

Literacy
Definition: age 15 and over has ever attended school
Total population: 85%
Male: 80.8%
Female: 89.1% (1995 est.)

School life expectancy primary to tertiary education

Youth unemployment


Jamaica - Government 1998
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Country name
Conventional long form: none
Conventional short form: Jamaica

Government 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

Dependent areas

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

International law organization participation

Citizenship

Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal

Executive branch
Chief of state: Queen ELIZABETH II of the UK (since 6 February 1952), represented by Governor General Sir Howard Felix COOKE (since 1 August 1991): ead 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 queen is a hereditary monarch; governor general appointed by the queen 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 13 seats, opposition 8 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 advice of the prime minister

Political parties and leaders

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 (pending member), ILO, IMF, IMO, Intelsat, Interpol, IOC, ISO, ITU, LAES, NAM, OAS, OPANAL, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNITAR, UPU, WCL, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO

Diplomatic representation
In the us chief of mission: Ambassador Richard Leighton BERNAL
In the us chancery: 1520 New Hampshire Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20,036
In the us telephone: [1] (202) 452-0660
In the us fax: [1] (202) 452-0081
In the us consulates general: Miami and New York
From the us chief of mission: Ambassador Stanley Louis MCLELLAND
From the us embassy: Jamaica Mutual Life Center, 2 Oxford Road, 3rd floor, Kingston
From the us mailing address: use embassy street address
From the us telephone: [1] (809) 929-4,850 through 4,859
From the us fax: [1] (809) 926-6,743

Flag descriptionflag of Jamaica: diagonal yellow cross divides the flag into four triangles_green (top and bottom) and black (hoist side and outer side)

National symbols

National anthem

National heritage


Jamaica - Economy 1998
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Economy overview: Key sectors in this island economy are bauxite (alumina and bauxite account for more than half of exports) and tourism. Since assuming office in 1992, Prime Minister PATTERSON has eliminated most price controls, streamlined tax schedules, and privatized government enterprises. Continued tight monetary and fiscal policies have helped slow inflation and stabilize the exchange rate, but have resulted in the slow-down of economic growth (moving from 1.5% in 1992 to 0.5% in 1995. In 1996, GDP was in negative growth (-1.4%) and remained so in 1997. Serious problems include:high interest rates; increased foreign competition; the weak financial condition of business in general resulting in receiverships or closures and downsizings of companies; the shift in investment portfolios to non-productive, short-term high yield instruments; a pressured, sometimes sliding, exchange rate; a widening merchandise trade deficit; and a growing internal debt for government bailouts to various ailing sectors of the economy. Jamaica's medium-term prospects will depend upon encouraging investment in the productive sectors, maintaining a competitive exchange rate, stabilizing the labor environment, and implementing proper fiscal and monetary policies.

Real gdp purchasing power parity

Real gdp growth rate: -1.4% (1996 est.)

Real gdp per capita: purchasing power parity: $3,660 (1996 est.)

Gross national saving
Gdp composition by sector of origin

Gdp composition by end use

Gdp composition by sector of origin
Agriculture: 8%
Industry: 37%
Services: 55% (1996 est.)

Agriculture products: sugarcane, bananas, coffee, citrus, potatoes, vegetables; poultry, goats, milk

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

Industrial production growth rate: NA%

Labor force
Total: 1.14 million (1996)
By occupation services: 41%
By occupation agriculture: 22.5%
By occupation industry: 19%
By occupation unemployed: 17.5% (1989)
Labor force

Unemployment rate: 16% (1996 est.)

Youth unemployment

Population below poverty line

Gini index

Household income or consumption by percentage share

Distribution of family income gini index

Budget
Revenues: $3 billion
Expenditures: $3 billion, including capital expenditures of $1.163 billion (FY97/98 est.)

Taxes and other revenues

Public debt

Revenue

Fiscal year: 1 April_31 March

Inflation rate consumer prices

Central bank discount rate

Commercial bank prime lending rate

Stock of narrow money

Stock of broad money

Stock of domestic credit

Market value of publicly traded shares

Current account balance

Exports: total value:$1.4 billion (f.o.b., 1996)
Commodoties: alumina, bauxite, sugar, bananas, rum
Partners: US 37%, UK 13%, Canada 12%, Netherlands 9%, Norway 7%

Imports: total value:$2.9 billion (f.o.b., 1996 est.)
Commodoties: machinery and transport equipment, construction materials, fuel, food, chemicals
Partners: US 52%, Trinidad and Tobago 8%, Japan 6%, UK 4%, Canada 3%

Reserves of foreign exchange and gold

Debt external: $3.2 billion (1997 est.)

Stock of direct foreign investment at home

Stock of direct foreign investment abroad

Exchange rates: Jamaican dollars (J$) per US$1_36.051 (November 1997), 37.120 (1996), 35.142 (1995), 33.086 (1994), 24.949 (1993)


Jamaica - Energy 1998
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Electricity
Capacity: 1.182 million kW (1995)
Production: 3.87 billion kWh (1995)
Consumption per capita: 1,503 kWh (1995)

Coal

Petroleum

Crude oil

Refined petroleum

Natural gas

Carbon dioxide emissions

Energy consumption per capita


Jamaica - Communication 1998
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Telephones: 350,000 (1997 est.)

Telephone system: fully automatic domestic telephone network
Domestic: NA
International: satellite earth stations_2 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean); 3 coaxial submarine cables

Broadcast media

Internet

Broadband fixed subscriptions


Jamaica - Military 1998
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Military expenditures
Dollar figure: $47.9 million (FY97/98 est.)
Percent of gdp: NA%

Military and security forces

Military service age and obligation

Space program

Terrorist groups


Jamaica - Transportation 1998
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National air transport system

Civil aircraft registration country code prefix

Airports: 36 (1997 est.)
With paved runways total: 11
With paved runways 2438 to 3047 m: 2
With paved runways 15-24 to 2437 m: 1
With paved runways 914 to 1523 m: 3
With paved runways under 914 m: 5 (1997 est.)
With unpaved runways total: 25
With unpaved runways 914 to 1523 m: 2
With unpaved runways under 914 m: 23 (1997 est.)

Heliports

Pipelines: petroleum products 10 km

Railways
Total: 370 km
Standard gauge: 370 km 1.435-m gauge; note_207 km belong to the Jamaica Railway Corporation in common carrier service, but are no longer operational; the remaining track is privately owned and used to transport bauxite

Roadways

Waterways

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 (1997 est.)

Ports and terminals


Jamaica - Transnational issues 1998
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Disputes international: none

Refugees and internally displaced persons

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


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