Jamaica
constitutional parliamentary democracy and a Commonwealth realmIndependence 6 August 1962 (from the UK)
Jamaica as the 2012 edition of the CIA World Factbook published it: 153 fields, one of 36 editions from 1990 to 2025.
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Introduction
1 fieldBackground
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 and replaced by African slaves. England seized the island in 1655 and established a plantation economy based on sugar, cocoa, and coffee. The abolition of slavery in 1834 freed a quarter million slaves, many of whom became small farmers.
Jamaica gradually increased its independence from Britain. 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.
Violent crime, drug trafficking, and poverty pose significant challenges to the government today. Nonetheless, many rural and resort areas remain relatively safe and contribute substantially to the economy.
Geography
Caribbean, island in the Caribbean Sea, south of Cuba
20 fieldsLand useshare of 10,991 sq km
Freshwater withdrawal (domestic/industrial/agricultural)
- total:
- 0.41 cu km/yr (34%/17%/49%)
- per capita:
- 155 cu m/yr (2000)
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 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 and Society
30 fieldsAge structuremale left, female right · (2012 est.)
Per 1,000 population
Male · female
Ethnic groups(2001 census)
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)
Sex ratio
- at birth:
- 1.05 male(s)/female
- under 15 years:
- 1.03 male(s)/female
- 15-64 years:
- 0.98 male(s)/female
- 65 years and over:
- 0.81 male(s)/female
- total population:
- 0.98 male(s)/female (2011 est.)
Government
Constitutional parliamentary democracy and a Commonwealth realm; Queen ELIZABETH II (since 6 February 1952); Prime Minister Portia SIMPSON-MILLER (since 5 January 2012)
21 fieldsPresidential electionpercent of vote
Legislature, 63 seats, elected 29 December 2011one dot, one seat
Percent of vote
Capital
- name:
- Kingston
- geographic coordinates:
- 18 00 N, 76 48 W
- time difference:
- UTC-5 (same time as Washington, DC during Standard Time)
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
International law organization participation
has not submitted an ICJ jurisdiction declaration; non-party state to the ICCt
Executive branch
- chief of state:
- Queen ELIZABETH II (since 6 February 1952); represented by Governor General Dr. Patrick L. ALLEN (since 26 February 2009)
- head of government:
- Prime Minister Portia SIMPSON-MILLER (since 5 January 2012)
- cabinet:
- Cabinet is appointed by the governor general on the advice of the prime minister; (For more information visit theWorld Leaders website)
- elections:
- the monarchy 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
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 8 seats) and the House of Representatives (63 seats; members elected by popular vote to serve five-year terms)
- elections:
- last held on 29 December 2011 (next to be held no later than December 2016)
- election results:
- percent of vote by party - PNP 53.3%, JLP 46.6%; seats by party - PNP 41, JLP 22
Judicial branch
- Supreme Court (judges appointed by the governor general on the advice of the prime minister);
- Court of Appeal;
- Privy Council in UK;
- member of the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ)
Political parties and leaders
- Jamaica Labor Party or JLP [Andrew HOLNESS];
- People's National Party or PNP [Portia SIMPSON-MILLER];
- National Democratic Movement or NDM [Michael WILLIAMS]
Political pressure groups and leaders
New Beginnings Movement or NBM; Rastafarians (black religious/racial cultists, pan-Africanists)
International organization participation
ACP, AOSIS, C, Caricom, CDB, CELAC, FAO, G-15, G-77, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO, ITSO, ITU, LAES, MIGA, NAM, OAS, OPANAL, OPCW, Petrocaribe, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNITAR, UNWTO, UPU, WCO, WFTU (NGOs), WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO
Diplomatic representation in the US
- chief of mission:
- Ambassador Stephen VASCIANNIE
- chancery:
- 1520 New Hampshire Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20036
- telephone:
- [1] (202) 452-0660
- FAX:
- [1] (202) 452-0081
- consulate(s) general:
- Miami, New York
Diplomatic representation from the US
- chief of mission:
- Ambassador Pamela BRIDGEWATER
- embassy:
- 142 Old Hope Road, Kingston 6
- mailing address:
- P.O. Box 541, Kingston 5
- telephone:
- [1] (876) 702-6000
- FAX:
- [1] (876) 702-6001
Flag description
- diagonal yellow cross divides the flag into four triangles - green (top and bottom) and black (hoist side and outer side);
- green represents hope, vegetation, and agriculture, black reflects hardships overcome and to be faced, and yellow recalls golden sunshine and the island's natural resources
National anthem
- name:
- "Jamaica, Land We Love"
- lyrics/music:
- Hugh Braham SHERLOCK/Robert Charles LIGHTBOURNE
note: adopted 1962
Economy
The Jamaican economy is heavily dependent on services, which now account for nearly 65% of GDP. The country continues to derive most of its foreign exchange from tourism, remittances, and bauxite/alumina.
37 fieldsGDP - composition by sector(2012 est.)
Trading partnersexports left, imports right
Economy - overview
The Jamaican economy is heavily dependent on services, which now account for nearly 65% of GDP. The country continues to derive most of its foreign exchange from tourism, remittances, and bauxite/alumina. Remittances account for nearly 15% of GDP and exports of bauxite and alumina make up about 10%. The bauxite/alumina sector was most affected by the global downturn while the tourism industry was resilient, experiencing an increase of 4% in tourist arrivals.
Tourism revenues account for roughly 10% of GDP, and both arrivals and revenues grew in 2010, up 4% and 6% respectively. Jamaica's economy faces many challenges to growth: high crime and corruption, large-scale unemployment and underemployment, and a debt-to-GDP ratio of more than 120%. Jamaica's onerous public debt burden is the result of government bailouts to ailing sectors of the economy, most notably to the financial sector.
In early 2010, the Jamaican government created the Jamaica Debt Exchange in order to retire high-priced domestic bonds and significantly reduce annual debt servicing. Despite the improvement, debt servicing costs still hinder the government's ability to spend on infrastructure and social programs, particularly as job losses rise in a shrinking economy.
Jamaica was hard hit by the effects of the global economic crisis, experiencing economic contractions from 2008-10 and growth remains low. The SIMPSON-MILLER administration faces the difficult prospect of having to achieve fiscal discipline in order to maintain debt payments, while simultaneously attacking a serious crime problem that is hampering economic growth.
High unemployment exacerbates the crime problem, including gang violence that is fueled by the drug trade. As of late 2012, the SIMPSON-MILLER government was working to negotiate a new IMF Stand-by agreement to gain access to additional funds.
Distribution of family income - Gini index
45.5 (2004) · 37.9 (2000) country comparison to the world: 38
Commercial bank prime lending rate
13.1% (31 December 2012 est.) · 19.51% (31 December 2011 est.) country comparison to the world: 17
Stock of narrow money
$2.028 billion (31 December 2012 est.) · $1.962 billion (31 December 2011 est.) country comparison to the world: 125
Stock of broad money
$7.309 billion (31 December 2011 est.) · $7.012 billion (31 December 2010 est.) country comparison to the world: 117
Stock of domestic credit
$7.229 billion (31 December 2012 est.) · $7.131 billion (31 December 2011 est.) country comparison to the world: 109
Agriculture - products
- sugarcane, bananas, coffee, citrus, yams, ackees, vegetables;
- poultry, goats, milk;
- shellfish
Current account balance
-$1.523 billion (2012 est.) · -$1.723 billion (2011 est.) country comparison to the world: 130
Exports - commodities
alumina, bauxite, sugar, rum, coffee, yams, beverages, chemicals, wearing apparel, mineral fuels
Imports - commodities
food and other consumer goods, industrial supplies, fuel, parts and accessories of capital goods, machinery and transport equipment, construction materials
Reserves of foreign exchange and gold
$1.9 billion (31 December 2012 est.) · $2.282 billion (31 December 2011 est.) country comparison to the world: 122
Debt - external
$14.6 billion (31 December 2012 est.) · $14.62 billion (31 December 2011 est.) country comparison to the world: 84
Exchange rates
Jamaican dollars (JMD) per US dollar - 88.59 (2012 est.) · 85.893 (2011 est.) · 87.196 (2010 est.) · 87.89 (2009) · 72.236 (2008)
Energy
23 fieldsInstalled generating capacity, 1.198 million kW(2009 est.)
Carbon dioxide emissions from consumption of energy
9.217 million Mt (2010 est.) country comparison to the world: 103
Communications
7 fieldsTelephone system
- general assessment:
- fully automatic domestic telephone network
- domestic:
- the 1999 agreement to open the market for telecommunications services resulted in rapid growth in mobile-cellular telephone usage while the number of fixed-lines in use has declined;
- combined mobile-cellular teledensity exceeded 110 per 100 persons in 2011
- international:
- country code - 1-876;
- the Fibralink submarine cable network provides enhanced delivery of business and broadband traffic and is linked to the Americas Region Caribbean Ring System (ARCOS-1) submarine cable in the Dominican Republic;
- the link to ARCOS-1 provides seamless connectivity to US, parts of the Caribbean, Central America, and South America;
- satellite earth stations - 2 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean)
Broadcast media
- privately-owned Radio Jamaica Limited and its subsidiaries operate multiple TV stations, subscription cable services, and radio stations;
- 2 other privately-owned television stations;
- roughly 70 radio stations (2007)
Transportation
6 fieldsMerchant marine, 14 ships by typeone square, one ship
Airports by runway lengthpaved only
Roadways
total: 22,121 km (includes 44 km of expressways) (2005) country comparison to the world: 103
Ports and terminals
Discovery Bay (Port Rhoades), Kingston, Montego Bay, Port Antonio, Port Esquivel, Port Kaiser, Rocky Point
Military
Jamaica Defense Force: Ground Forces, Coast Guard, Air Wing (2010)
6 fieldsMilitary service age and obligation
18 years of age for voluntary military service; younger recruits may be conscripted with parental consent (2001)
Transnational Issues
2 fieldsIllicit drugs
- 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
Cite this entry
Central Intelligence Agency. “Jamaica.” The World Factbook 2012. Archived by The Factbook, thefactbook.org/jamaica/2012.