Jamaica

• tropical;
• hot, humid;
• temperate interior

• third largest island in the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola);
• strategic location between Cayman Trench and Jamaica Channel, the main sea lanes for the Panama Canal

noun:

Jamaican(s)

adjective:

Jamaican

total:

30.5 years (2023 est.)

male:

29.7 years

female:

31.3 years

at birth:

1.05 male(s)/female

0-14 years:

1.04 male(s)/female

15-64 years:

0.97 male(s)/female

65 years and over:

0.91 male(s)/female

total population:

0.98 male(s)/female (2023 est.)

total:

10.9 deaths/1,000 live births (2023 est.)

male:

12.2 deaths/1,000 live births

female:

9.6 deaths/1,000 live births

total population:

76 years (2023 est.)

male:

74.3 years

female:

77.9 years

total:

3.46 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)

beer:

1.19 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)

wine:

0.25 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)

spirits:

1.66 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)

other alcohols:

0.35 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)

total:

9.4% (2020 est.)

male:

15% (2020 est.)

female:

3.8% (2020 est.)

total:

26.1% (2021 est.)

male:

22.1%

female:

31.4%

• 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;
• land erosion

party to:

Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Climate Change-Paris Agreement, Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping-London Convention, Marine Life Conservation, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands

signed, but not ratified:

none of the selected agreements

• tropical;
• hot, humid;
• temperate interior

urban population:

57.4% of total population (2023)

rate of urbanization:

0.79% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.)

particulate matter emissions:

14.83 micrograms per cubic meter (2019 est.)

carbon dioxide emissions:

8.23 megatons (2016 est.)

methane emissions:

1.08 megatons (2020 est.)

municipal:

140 million cubic meters (2020 est.)

industrial:

1.1 billion cubic meters (2020 est.)

agricultural:

110 million cubic meters (2020 est.)

conventional long form:

none

conventional short form:

Jamaica

etymology:

from the native Taino word "haymaca" meaning "Land of Wood and Water" or possibly "Land of Springs"

name:

Kingston

geographic coordinates:

18 00 N, 76 48 W

time difference:

UTC-5 (same time as Washington, DC, during Standard Time)

etymology:

the name is a blending of the words "king's" and "town"; the English king at the time of the city's founding in 1692 was WILLIAM III (r. 1689-1702)

history:

several previous (preindependence); latest drafted 1961-62, submitted to British Parliament 24 July 1962, entered into force 6 August 1962 (at independence)

amendments:

• proposed by Parliament;
• passage of amendments to "non-entrenched" constitutional sections, such as lowering the voting age, requires majority vote by the Parliament membership;
• passage of amendments to "entrenched" sections, such as fundamental rights and freedoms, requires two-thirds majority vote of Parliament;
• passage of amendments to "specially entrenched" sections such as the dissolution of Parliament or the executive authority of the monarch requires two-thirds approval by Parliament and approval in a referendum;
• amended many times, last in 2017

citizenship by birth:

yes

citizenship by descent only:

yes

dual citizenship recognized:

yes

residency requirement for naturalization:

4 out of the previous 5 years

chief of state:

• King CHARLES III (since 8 September 2022);
• represented by Governor General Sir Patrick L. ALLEN (since 26 February 2009);
• the Jamaican Government, in May 2023, announced plans to transition to a republic and to hold a referendum in 2024 to remain in the Commonwealth or become a republic

head of government:

Prime Minister Andrew HOLNESS (since 3 March 2016)

cabinet:

Cabinet appointed by the governor general on the advice of the prime minister

elections/appointments:

• 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 majority coalition in the House of Representatives is appointed prime minister by the governor general

highest court(s):

• Court of Appeal (consists of president of the court and a minimum of 4 judges);
• Supreme Court (40 judges organized in specialized divisions);
• note - appeals beyond Jamaica's highest courts are referred to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council (in London) rather than to the Caribbean Court of Justice (the appellate court for member states of the Caribbean Community)

judge selection and term of office:

• chief justice of the Supreme Court and president of the Court of Appeal appointed by the governor-general on the advice of the prime minister;
• other judges of both courts appointed by the governor-general on the advice of the Judicial Service Commission;
• judges of both courts serve till age 70

subordinate courts:

resident magistrate courts, district courts, and petty sessions courts

• Jamaica Labor Party or JLP [Andrew Michael HOLNESS]
• Jamaica Progressive Party or JPP [Gilbert Alexander EDWARDS]
• People's National Party or PNP [Mark GOLDING]
• United Independents' Congress or UIC [Joseph L. PATTERSON]

chief of mission:

Ambassador N. Nickolas PERRY (since 13 May 2022)

embassy:

142 Old Hope Road, Kingston 6

mailing address:

3210 Kingston Place, Washington DC 20521-3210

telephone:

(876) 702-6000 (2018)

FAX:

(876) 702-6348 (2018)

email address and website:

[email protected]; https://jm.usembassy.gov/

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

name:

"Jamaica, Land We Love"

lyrics/music:

Hugh Braham SHERLOCK/Robert Charles LIGHTBOURNE

note: adopted 1962

total World Heritage Sites:

1 (mixed)

selected World Heritage Site locales:

Blue and John Crow Mountains

• upper middle-income Caribbean island economy;
• ongoing debt restructuring;
• hurricane-vulnerable economy;
• high crime, youth unemployment, and poverty;
• susceptible to commodity shocks from ongoing Russia invasion of Ukraine

Fitch rating:

B+ (2019)

Moody's rating:

B2 (2019)

Standard & Poors rating: B+ (2019)

note: The year refers to the year in which the current credit rating was first obtained.

agriculture:

16.1%

industry:

16%

services:

67.9% (2017)

total:

26.1% (2021 est.)

male:

22.1%

female:

31.4%

lowest 10%:

2.6%

highest 10%:

29.3% (2015)

production:

0 metric tons (2020 est.)

consumption:

61,000 metric tons (2020 est.)

exports:

0 metric tons (2020 est.)

imports:

82,000 metric tons (2020 est.)

proven reserves:

0 metric tons (2019 est.)

total petroleum production:

3,000 bbl/day (2021 est.)

refined petroleum consumption:

61,100 bbl/day (2019 est.)

crude oil and lease condensate exports:

0 bbl/day (2018 est.)

crude oil and lease condensate imports:

20,100 bbl/day (2018 est.)

crude oil estimated reserves:

0 barrels (2021 est.)

production:

0 cubic meters (2021 est.)

consumption:

693.422 million cubic meters (2020 est.)

exports:

0 cubic meters (2021 est.)

imports:

667.115 million cubic meters (2020 est.)

proven reserves:

0 cubic meters (2021 est.)

general assessment:

• Jamaica’s telecom sector has for many years been propped up by the mobile sector, which accounts for the vast majority of internet connections and voice lines;
• it also accounts for just over half of telecom sector revenue;
• in December 2020, the government announced the rollout of a national broadband network costing up to $237 million;
• the funding will be spent on improving connectivity in under served areas, improving access to education, and deploying networks to public locations such as hospitals, municipal institutions, and police stations;
• to aid in this national broadband effort, the government received a donation of 650km of fiber cabling from local cable TV providers and the two main toll road operators;
• to encourage the use of digital channels as the country deals with the Covid-19 pandemic (2021)

domestic:

fixed-line subscriptions nearly 17 per 100, cellular-mobile roughly 103 per 100 subscriptions (2021)

international:

• country code - 1-876 and 1-658;
• landing points for the ALBA-1, CFX-1, Fibralink, East-West, and Cayman-Jamaican Fiber System submarine cables providing connections to South America, parts of the Caribbean, Central America and the US;
• satellite earth stations - 2 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean) (2019)

total:

22,121 km (2011) (includes 44 km of expressways)

paved:

16,148 km (2011)

unpaved:

5,973 km (2011)

major seaport(s):

Discovery Bay (Port Rhoades), Kingston, Montego Bay, Port Antonio, Port Esquivel, Port Kaiser, Rocky Point

cruise port(s):

Falmouth, Montego Bay, Port Antonio, Ocho Rios,

container port(s) (TEUs):

Kingston (2,004,302) (2021)

• no conscription;
• 18-23 for voluntary military service (17 with parental consent) for men and women;
• 18-28 for the reserves;
• since 2017, the JDF's standard mode of recruitment is to enroll recruits ages 18-23 through the Jamaica National Service Corps (JNSC);
• in the JNSC, soldiers receive basic military, vocational, and life skills training;
• upon completion of 12 months of service, soldiers can continue on with the JDF or seek other opportunities with other government agencies (2023)

note: as of 2022, women made up about 20% of the JDF's uniformed personnel

• Jamaica is the largest Caribbean source of marijuana and a transit point for cocaine trafficked from South America to North America and other international markets;
• criminal gangs in Jamaica, Haiti, and Central America use marijuana for currency to obtain guns or other contraband from criminal entities in Haiti and Central America