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 obtained increasing 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.

Caribbean, island in the Caribbean Sea, south of Cuba

18 15 N, 77 30 W

Central America and the Caribbean

slightly smaller than Connecticut

0 km

1,022 km

measured from claimed archipelagic straight baselines

tropical; hot, humid; temperate interior

mostly mountains, with narrow, discontinuous coastal plain

bauxite, gypsum, limestone

250 sq km (2008)

9.4 cu km (2000)

hurricanes (especially July to November)

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

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

2,868,380 (July 2011 est.)

0.733% (2011 est.)

19.2 births/1,000 population (2011 est.)

6.54 deaths/1,000 population (July 2011 est.)

-5.34 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2011 est.)

KINGSTON (capital) 580,000 (2009)

2.17 children born/woman (2011 est.)

1.7% (2009 est.)

32,000 (2009 est.)

1,200 (2009 est.)

urban: 98% of population

rural: 89% of population

total: 94% of population

urban: 2% of population

rural: 11% of population

total: 6% of population (2008)

urban: 82% of population

rural: 84% of population

total: 83% of population

urban: 18% of population

rural: 16% of population

total: 17% of population (2008)

black 91.2%, mixed 6.2%, other or unknown 2.6% (2001 census)

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)

English, English patois

5.8% of GDP (2009)

constitutional parliamentary democracy and a Commonwealth realm

14 parishes; Clarendon, Hanover, Kingston, Manchester, Portland, Saint Andrew, Saint Ann, Saint Catherine, Saint Elizabeth, Saint James, Saint Mary, Saint Thomas, Trelawny, Westmoreland

6 August 1962 (from the UK)

Independence Day, 6 August (1962)

6 August 1962

common law system based on the English model

has not submitted an ICJ jurisdiction declaration; non-party state to the ICCt

18 years of age; universal

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 (60 seats; members elected by popular vote to serve five-year terms)

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)

Jamaica Labor Party or JLP [Bruce GOLDING]; People's National Party or PNP [Portia SIMPSON-MILLER]; National Democratic Movement or NDM [Michael WILLIAMS]

New Beginnings Movement or NBM; Rastafarians (black religious/racial cultists, pan-Africanists)

ACP, AOSIS, C, Caricom, CDB, FAO, G-15, G-77, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICRM, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO, ITSO, ITU, LAES, MIGA, NAM, OAS, OPANAL, OPCW, PetroCaribe, RG, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNITAR, UNWTO, UPU, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO

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

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. 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. The Economic growth faces many challenges: 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 - the fourth highest in the world on a per capita basis - is the result of government bailouts to ailing sectors of the economy, most notably to the financial sector in the mid-to-late 1990s. In early 2010, the Jamaican government created the Jamaica Debt Exchange (JDX) in order to retire high-priced domestic bonds and significantly reduce annual debt servicing. The Government of Jamaica signed a $1.27 billion, 27-month Standby Agreement with the International Monetary Fund for balance of payment support in February 2010. Other multilaterals have also provided millions of dollars in loans and grants. 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. The GOLDING 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.

$23.72 billion (2010 est.)

$23.99 billion (2009 est.)

$24.74 billion (2008 est.)

$13.69 billion (2010 est.)

-1.1% (2010 est.)

-3% (2009 est.)

-0.9% (2008 est.)

$8,300 (2010 est.)

$8,500 (2009 est.)

$8,800 (2008 est.)

1.317 million (2010 est.)

12.9% (2010 est.)

11.4% (2009 est.)

16.5% (2009 est.)

45.5 (2004)

37.9 (2000)

25.1% of GDP (2010 est.)

123.2% of GDP (2010 est.)

124.4% of GDP (2009 est.)

13% (2010 est.)

9.6% (2009 est.)

NA%

16.43% (31 December 2009 est.)

16.83% (31 December 2008 est.)

$1.432 billion (31 December 2010 est.)

$1.371 billion (31 December 2009 est.)

$5.782 billion (31 December 2010 est.)

$5.472 billion (31 December 2009 est.)

$7.922 billion (31 December 2010 est.)

$7.282 billion (31 December 2009 est.)

$6.201 billion (31 December 2009)

$7.513 billion (31 December 2008)

$12.33 billion (31 December 2007)

sugarcane, bananas, coffee, citrus, yams, ackees, vegetables; poultry, goats, milk; crustaceans, mollusks

tourism, bauxite/alumina, agro processing, light manufactures, rum, cement, metal, paper, chemical products, telecommunications

-2% (2010 est.)

7.324 billion kWh (2007 est.)

6.345 billion kWh (2007 est.)

0 kWh (2008 est.)

0 kWh (2008 est.)

0 bbl/day (2008 est.)

77,000 bbl/day (2009 est.)

0 bbl/day (2007 est.)

77,720 bbl/day (2007 est.)

0 bbl (1 January 2010 est.)

0 cu m (2008 est.)

0 cu m (2008 est.)

0 cu m (2008 est.)

0 cu m (2008 est.)

0 cu m (1 January 2010 est.)

$-1.382 billion (2010 est.)

$-876 million (2009 est.)

$1.487 billion (2010 est.)

$1.263 billion (2009 est.)

alumina, bauxite, sugar, rum, coffee, yams, beverages, chemicals, wearing apparel, mineral fuels

US 38.19%, Canada 12.2%, UK 10.79%, Norway 4.89%, Netherlands 4.69% (2009)

$5.378 billion (2010 est.)

$4.581 billion (2009 est.)

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

US 28.32%, Trinidad and Tobago 22.98%, Venezuela 12.14%, China 4.61%, Brazil 4.18% (2009)

$1.85 billion (31 December 2010 est.)

$2.081 billion (31 December 2009 est.)

$12.66 billion (31 December 2010 est.)

$10.56 billion (31 December 2009 est.)

Jamaican dollars (JMD) per US dollar -

87.41 (2010)

87.89 (2009)

72.236 (2008)

69.034 (2007)

65.768 (2006)

302,300 (2009)

2.971 million (2009)

privately-owned Radio Jamaica Limited and its subsidiaries operate multiple television stations, subscription cable services, and radio stations; 2 other privately-owned television stations broadcast; roughly 70 radio stations (2007)

.jm

3,099 (2010)

1.581 million (2009)

27 (2010)

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

Jamaica Defense Force: Ground Forces, Coast Guard, Air Wing (2010)

18 years of age for voluntary military service; younger recruits may be conscripted with parental consent (2001)

0.6% of GDP (2006 est.)

none

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