* This article aims to provide a quick and dirty statistical snapshot of Jamaica and so is relevant to now (hence the year on the title). I did not personally carry out any form of data collection beyond the using of Google, so please do not email or post any comments complaining about the accuracy of my data. If you would like further information I have posted my sources at the bottom of this post…warning stay away from the Statin website unless you are trying to kill brain cells.

General Knowledge

Capital City: Kingston
Area: 10,991 sq km
Country code: 876
Climate: Tropical, hot, humid
Terrain: mostly mountainous
Highest point: Blue Mountain Peak – 2,256 m
Natural resources: bauxite, gypsum, limestone
Natural hazards: susceptible to hurricanes
Major airports: Norman Manley International Airport & Sangster International Airport

People

Population: 2,825,928 (July 2009 est.)
Ethnic groups: Black 91.2%, Mixed 6.2%, Other 2.6%
Languages: English, Patois
Life expectancy at birth: 73.5 years
Literacy rate: 87.9%
Urbanization: 53% of the population
Net migration rate: -5.7 migrants/1,000 population
HIV/AIDS – 1.6% of adult population
Religion: Protestant – 62%, Roman Catholic – 2.6%, Other/Unspecified – 14.2%, None – 20.6%

Aerial Photo

Economy

Jamaica’s economy is based primarily on services, which account for over 60% of the country’s GDP. Additionally, the majority of the country’s foreign exchange comes from tourism, remittances from abroad and the export of bauxite/alumina.

Exchange rate: Jamaican dollar (JMD) per US Dollar – 88.62
Unemployment rate: 11.3%
Major industries: sugarcane, bananas, rum, coffee, yams, alumina, bauxite, cement
Inflation rate: 8.6%
GDP per capita: $8,300

Illegal issues

Jamaica faces negative image issues and some of the major concerns include:
Corruption, money-laundering, illicit cultivation and consumption of cannabis, better known as weed, and being a transshipment point for cocaine between South America to North America and Europe.

Government

Administrative divisions: 14 parishes
Clarendon, Hanover, Kingston, Manchester, Portland, St. Andrew, St. Catherine, St. Elizabeth, St. James, St. Mary, St. Thomas, Trelawny, Westmoreland.

Independence: August 6, 1962 from England
Legal system: based on English common law
Political parties: Jamaica Labor Party (JLP), People’s National Party (PNP), National Democratic Movement (NDM)

Flag: Yellow diagonals separating the flag into four triangles – green top and bottom, black left and right. Green represents hope, vegetation and agriculture; Black reflects hardships overcome and to be faced; Yellow is used for golden sunshine and the island’s natural resources.

Government Leaders

Governor General – Patrick Linton Allen
Prime Minister – Bruce Golding
Deputy Prime Minister – Dr. Kenneth Baugh
Leader of the Opposition – Portia Simpson Miller

Environment

Environment issues: high deforestation, coastal waters polluted by industrial waste, sewage and oil spills, coral reef damage, air pollution from vehicle emissions

For more Detailed information visit:

https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/world-leaders-1/world-leaders-j/jamaica.html
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