Canada (2007) | Jamaica (2007) | |
Administrative divisions | 10 provinces and 3 territories*; Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, Northwest Territories*, Nova Scotia, Nunavut*, Ontario, Prince Edward Island, Quebec, Saskatchewan, Yukon Territory* | 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 |
Age structure | 0-14 years: 17.3% (male 2,967,383/female 2,824,189)
15-64 years: 69.2% (male 11,604,723/female 11,490,839) 65 years and over: 13.5% (male 1,927,035/female 2,575,972) (2007 est.) |
0-14 years: 32.5% (male 459,968/female 444,963)
15-64 years: 60.1% (male 822,486/female 848,310) 65 years and over: 7.4% (male 91,856/female 112,549) (2007 est.) |
Agriculture - products | wheat, barley, oilseed, tobacco, fruits, vegetables; dairy products; forest products; fish | sugarcane, bananas, coffee, citrus, yams, ackees, vegetables; poultry, goats, milk; crustaceans, mollusks |
Airports | 1,343 (2007) | 34 (2007) |
Airports - with paved runways | total: 509
over 3,047 m: 18 2,438 to 3,047 m: 16 1,524 to 2,437 m: 149 914 to 1,523 m: 248 under 914 m: 78 (2007) |
total: 11
2,438 to 3,047 m: 2 914 to 1,523 m: 4 under 914 m: 5 (2007) |
Airports - with unpaved runways | total: 834
1,524 to 2,437 m: 68 914 to 1,523 m: 356 under 914 m: 410 (2007) |
total: 23
914 to 1,523 m: 2 under 914 m: 21 (2007) |
Area | total: 9,984,670 sq km
land: 9,093,507 sq km water: 891,163 sq km |
total: 10,991 sq km
land: 10,831 sq km water: 160 sq km |
Area - comparative | somewhat larger than the US | slightly smaller than Connecticut |
Background | A land of vast distances and rich natural resources, Canada became a self-governing dominion in 1867 while retaining ties to the British crown. Economically and technologically the nation has developed in parallel with the US, its neighbor to the south across an unfortified border. Canada faces the political challenges of meeting public demands for quality improvements in health care and education services, as well as responding to separatist concerns in predominantly francophone Quebec. Canada also aims to develop its diverse energy resources while maintaining its commitment to the environment. | 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, replaced by African slaves. England seized the island in 1655 and a plantation economy - based on sugar, cocoa, and coffee - was established. The abolition of slavery in 1834 freed a quarter million slaves, many of whom became small farmers. Jamaica gradually obtained increasing independence from Britain, and 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. The cycle of violence, drugs, and poverty has served to impoverish large sectors of the populace. Nonetheless, many rural and resort areas remain relatively safe and contribute substantially to the economy. |
Birth rate | 10.75 births/1,000 population (2007 est.) | 20.44 births/1,000 population (2007 est.) |
Budget | revenues: $510.6 billion
expenditures: $501 billion (2006 est.) |
revenues: $3.214 billion
expenditures: $3.772 billion (2006 est.) |
Capital | name: Ottawa
geographic coordinates: 45 25 N, 75 42 W time difference: UTC-5 (same time as Washington, DC during Standard Time) daylight saving time: +1hr, begins second Sunday in March; ends first Sunday in November note: Canada is divided into six time zones |
name: Kingston
geographic coordinates: 18 00 N, 76 48 W time difference: UTC-5 (same time as Washington, DC during Standard Time) |
Climate | varies from temperate in south to subarctic and arctic in north | tropical; hot, humid; temperate interior |
Coastline | 202,080 km | 1,022 km |
Constitution | made up of unwritten and written acts, customs, judicial decisions, and traditions; the written part of the constitution consists of the Constitution Act of 29 March 1867, which created a federation of four provinces, and the Constitution Act of 17 April 1982, which transferred formal control over the constitution from Britain to Canada, and added a Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms as well as procedures for constitutional amendments | 6 August 1962 |
Country name | conventional long form: none
conventional short form: Canada |
conventional long form: none
conventional short form: Jamaica |
Death rate | 7.86 deaths/1,000 population (2007 est.) | 6.59 deaths/1,000 population (2007 est.) |
Debt - external | $684.7 billion (30 June 2006) | $6.926 billion (2006 est.) |
Diplomatic representation from the US | chief of mission: Ambassador David H. WILKINS
embassy: 490 Sussex Drive, Ottawa, Ontario K1N 1G8 mailing address: P. O. Box 5000, Ogdensburgh, NY 13669-0430; P.O. Box 866, Station B, Ottawa, Ontario K1P 5T1 telephone: [1] (613) 688-5335 FAX: [1] (613) 688-3082 consulate(s) general: Calgary, Halifax, Montreal, Quebec, Toronto, Vancouver, Winnipeg |
chief of mission: Ambassador Brenda LaGrange JOHNSON
embassy: 142 Old Hope Road, Kingston 6 mailing address: P.O. Box 541, Kingston 5 telephone: [1] (876) 702-6000 FAX: [1] (876) 702-6348 |
Diplomatic representation in the US | chief of mission: Ambassador Michael WILSON
chancery: 501 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20001 telephone: [1] (202) 682-1740 FAX: [1] (202) 682-7701 consulate(s) general: Atlanta, Boston, Buffalo, Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Detroit, Los Angeles, Miami, Minneapolis, New York, Phoenix, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle, Tucson consulate(s): Anchorage, Houston, Philadelphia, Princeton (New Jersey), Raleigh, San Jose (California) |
chief of mission: Ambassador Gordon SHIRLEY
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 |
Disputes - international | managed maritime boundary disputes with the US at Dixon Entrance, Beaufort Sea, Strait of Juan de Fuca, and around the disputed Machias Seal Island and North Rock; US works closely with Canada to intensify security measures to monitor and control legal and illegal personnel, transport, and commodities across the international border; sovereignty dispute with Denmark over Hans Island in the Kennedy Channel between Ellesmere Island and Greenland | none |
Economic aid - donor | ODA, $2.6 billion (2004) | - |
Economic aid - recipient | - | $35.74 million (2005) |
Economy - overview | As an affluent, high-tech industrial society in the trillion-dollar class, Canada resembles the US in its market-oriented economic system, pattern of production, and affluent living standards. Since World War II, the impressive growth of the manufacturing, mining, and service sectors has transformed the nation from a largely rural economy into one primarily industrial and urban. The 1989 US-Canada Free Trade Agreement (FTA) and the 1994 North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) (which includes Mexico) touched off a dramatic increase in trade and economic integration with the US. Given its great natural resources, skilled labor force, and modern capital plant, Canada enjoys solid economic prospects. Top-notch fiscal management has produced consecutive balanced budgets since 1997, although public debate continues over how to manage the rising cost of the publicly funded healthcare system. Exports account for roughly a third of GDP. Canada enjoys a substantial trade surplus with its principal trading partner, the US, which absorbs about 85% of Canadian exports. Canada is the US' largest foreign supplier of energy, including oil, gas, uranium, and electric power. | 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. Jamaica's economy, already saddled with a record of sluggish growth, was hit hard by Hurricane Ivan in late 2004, but has made a gradual recovery. The economy faces serious long-term problems: high but declining interest rates, increased foreign competition, exchange rate instability, a sizable merchandise trade deficit, large-scale unemployment and underemployment, and a high debt burden - the result of government bailouts to ailing sectors of the economy, most notably the financial sector in the mid-to-late 1990s. Following a strategy begun in 2004, Jamaica has reduced its public debt to 133.3% of GDP. Inflation also had declined to 5.8% at the end of 2006. High unemployment exacerbates the serious crime problem, including gang violence fueled by the drug trade. The government faces the difficult prospect of having to achieve fiscal discipline in order to maintain debt payments while simultaneously attacking a serious and growing crime problem that is hampering economic growth. |
Electricity - consumption | 540.2 billion kWh (2005) | 6.131 billion kWh (2005) |
Electricity - exports | 42.93 billion kWh (2005) | 0 kWh (2005) |
Electricity - imports | 19.33 billion kWh (2005) | 0 kWh (2005) |
Electricity - production | 609.6 billion kWh (2005) | 6.985 billion kWh (2005) |
Elevation extremes | lowest point: Atlantic Ocean 0 m
highest point: Mount Logan 5,959 m |
lowest point: Caribbean Sea 0 m
highest point: Blue Mountain Peak 2,256 m |
Environment - current issues | air pollution and resulting acid rain severely affecting lakes and damaging forests; metal smelting, coal-burning utilities, and vehicle emissions impacting on agricultural and forest productivity; ocean waters becoming contaminated due to agricultural, industrial, mining, and forestry activities | 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 |
Environment - international agreements | party to: Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air Pollution-Persistent Organic Pollutants, Air Pollution-Sulfur 85, Air Pollution-Sulfur 94, Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Antarctic-Marine Living Resources, Antarctic Seals, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands
signed, but not ratified: Air Pollution-Volatile Organic Compounds, Marine Life Conservation |
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 |
Ethnic groups | British Isles origin 28%, French origin 23%, other European 15%, Amerindian 2%, other, mostly Asian, African, Arab 6%, mixed background 26% | black 91.2%, mixed 6.2%, other or unknown 2.6% (2001 census) |
Exchange rates | Canadian dollars per US dollar - 1.1334 (2006), 1.2118 (2005), 1.301 (2004), 1.4011 (2003), 1.5693 (2002) | Jamaican dollars per US dollar - 65.768 (2006), 62.51 (2005), 61.197 (2004), 57.741 (2003), 48.416 (2002) |
Executive branch | chief of state: Queen ELIZABETH II (since 6 February 1952); represented by Governor General Michaelle JEAN (since 27 September 2005)
head of government: Prime Minister Stephen HARPER (since 6 February 2006) cabinet: Federal Ministry chosen by the prime minister usually from among the members of his own party sitting in Parliament elections: none; the monarchy is hereditary; governor general appointed by the monarch on the advice of the prime minister for a five-year term; following legislative elections, the leader of the majority party or the leader of the majority coalition in the House of Commons is automatically designated prime minister by the governor general |
chief of state: Queen ELIZABETH II (since 6 February 1952); represented by Governor General Kenneth O. HALL (since 15 February 2006)
head of government: Prime Minister Bruce GOLDING (since 11 September 2007) cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the governor general on the advice of the prime minister elections: none; the monarch 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; the deputy prime minister is recommended by the prime minister |
Exports | 2.274 million bbl/day (2004) | NA bbl/day |
Exports - commodities | motor vehicles and parts, industrial machinery, aircraft, telecommunications equipment; chemicals, plastics, fertilizers; wood pulp, timber, crude petroleum, natural gas, electricity, aluminum | alumina, bauxite, sugar, bananas, rum, coffee, yams, beverages, chemicals, wearing apparel, mineral fuels |
Exports - partners | US 81.6%, UK 2.3%, Japan 2.1% (2006) | US 30.2%, Canada 15.6%, China 15.2%, UK 10.3%, Netherlands 7%, Norway 4.6% (2006) |
Fiscal year | 1 April - 31 March | 1 April - 31 March |
Flag description | two vertical bands of red (hoist and fly side, half width), with white square between them; an 11-pointed red maple leaf is centered in the white square; the official colors of Canada are red and white | diagonal yellow cross divides the flag into four triangles - green (top and bottom) and black (hoist side and outer side) |
GDP - composition by sector | agriculture: 2.1%
industry: 29% services: 68.9% (2006 est.) |
agriculture: 5.4%
industry: 33.8% services: 60.8% (2006 est.) |
GDP - real growth rate | 2.8% (2006 est.) | 2.5% (2006 est.) |
Geographic coordinates | 60 00 N, 95 00 W | 18 15 N, 77 30 W |
Geography - note | second-largest country in world (after Russia); strategic location between Russia and US via north polar route; approximately 90% of the population is concentrated within 160 km of the US border | strategic location between Cayman Trench and Jamaica Channel, the main sea lanes for the Panama Canal |
Heliports | 11 (2007) | - |
Household income or consumption by percentage share | lowest 10%: 2.6%
highest 10%: 24.8% (2000) |
lowest 10%: 2.1%
highest 10%: 35.8% (2004) |
Illicit drugs | illicit producer of cannabis for the domestic drug market and export to US; use of hydroponics technology permits growers to plant large quantities of high-quality marijuana indoors; increasing ecstasy production, some of which is destined for the US; vulnerable to narcotics money laundering because of its mature financial services sector | 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 |
Imports | 1.185 million bbl/day (2004) | NA bbl/day |
Imports - commodities | machinery and equipment, motor vehicles and parts, crude oil, chemicals, electricity, durable consumer goods | food and other consumer goods, industrial supplies, fuel, parts and accessories of capital goods, machinery and transport equipment, construction materials |
Imports - partners | US 54.9%, China 8.7%, Mexico 4% (2006) | US 39.3%, Trinidad and Tobago 13.6%, Venezuela 9.5% (2006) |
Independence | 1 July 1867 (union of British North American colonies); 11 December 1931 (recognized by UK) | 6 August 1962 (from UK) |
Industrial production growth rate | 0.7% (2006 est.) | -2% (2000 est.) |
Industries | transportation equipment, chemicals, processed and unprocessed minerals, food products, wood and paper products, fish products, petroleum and natural gas | tourism, bauxite/alumina, agro processing, light manufactures, rum, cement, metal, paper, chemical products, telecommunications |
Infant mortality rate | total: 4.63 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 5.08 deaths/1,000 live births female: 4.17 deaths/1,000 live births (2007 est.) |
total: 15.73 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 16.4 deaths/1,000 live births female: 15.01 deaths/1,000 live births (2007 est.) |
Inflation rate (consumer prices) | 2% (2006 est.) | 8.6% (2006 est.) |
International organization participation | ACCT, AfDB, APEC, Arctic Council, ARF, AsDB, ASEAN (dialogue partner), Australia Group, BIS, C, CDB, CE (observer), EAPC, EBRD, ESA (cooperating state), FAO, G-7, G-8, G-10, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICCt, ICRM, IDA, IEA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, IMSO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO, ITSO, ITU, ITUC, MIGA, MINUSTAH, MONUC, NAFTA, NAM (guest), NATO, NEA, NSG, OAS, OECD, OIF, OPCW, OSCE, Paris Club, PCA, PIF (partner), SECI (observer), UN, UNAMSIL, UNCTAD, UNDOF, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNMOVIC, UNRWA, UNTSO, UNWTO, UPU, WCL, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO, ZC | ACP, C, Caricom, CDB, FAO, G-15, G-77, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICCt (signatory), ICRM, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO, ITSO, ITU, LAES, MIGA, NAM, OAS, OPANAL, OPCW, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNWTO, UPU, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO |
Irrigated land | 7,850 sq km (2003) | 250 sq km (2002) |
Judicial branch | Supreme Court of Canada (judges are appointed by the prime minister through the governor general); Federal Court of Canada; Federal Court of Appeal; Provincial Courts (these are named variously Court of Appeal, Court of Queens Bench, Superior Court, Supreme Court, and Court of Justice) | Supreme Court (judges appointed by the governor general on the advice of the prime minister); Court of Appeal |
Labor force | 17.59 million (2006 est.) | 1.249 million (2006 est.) |
Labor force - by occupation | agriculture 2%, manufacturing 14%, construction 5%, services 75%, other 3% (2004) | agriculture: 18.1%
industry: 17.3% services: 64.6% (2004) |
Land boundaries | total: 8,893 km
border countries: US 8,893 km (includes 2,477 km with Alaska) |
0 km |
Land use | arable land: 4.57%
permanent crops: 0.65% other: 94.78% (2005) |
arable land: 15.83%
permanent crops: 10.01% other: 74.16% (2005) |
Languages | English (official) 59.3%, French (official) 23.2%, other 17.5% | English, English patois |
Legal system | based on English common law, except in Quebec, where civil law system based on French law prevails; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction, with reservations | based on English common law; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction |
Legislative branch | bicameral Parliament or Parlement consists of the Senate or Senat (105 seats; members appointed by the governor general with the advice of the prime minister and serve until reaching 75 years of age) and the House of Commons or Chambre des Communes (308 seats; members elected by direct, popular vote to serve four-year terms starting in 2009 elections)
elections: House of Commons - last held 23 January 2006 (next to be held in 2009) election results: House of Commons - percent of vote by party - Conservative Party 36.3%, Liberal Party 30.2%, New Democratic Party 17.5%, Bloc Quebecois 10.5%, Greens 4.5%, other 1%; seats by party - Conservative Party 124, Liberal Party 102, New Democratic Party 29, Bloc Quebecois 51, other 2; seats by party as of February 2007 - Conservative Party 125, Liberal Party 100, New Democratic Party 29, Bloc Quebecois 51, other 2 |
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 are elected by popular vote to serve five-year terms)
elections: last held 3 September 2007 (next to be held no later than October 2012) election results: percent of vote by party - JLP 50.1%, PNP 49.8%; seats by party - JLP 33, PNP 27 |
Life expectancy at birth | total population: 80.34 years
male: 76.98 years female: 83.86 years (2007 est.) |
total population: 73.12 years
male: 71.43 years female: 74.9 years (2007 est.) |
Literacy | definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 99% male: 99% female: 99% (2003 est.) |
definition: age 15 and over has ever attended school
total population: 87.9% male: 84.1% female: 91.6% (2003 est.) |
Location | Northern North America, bordering the North Atlantic Ocean on the east, North Pacific Ocean on the west, and the Arctic Ocean on the north, north of the conterminous US | Caribbean, island in the Caribbean Sea, south of Cuba |
Map references | North America | Central America and the Caribbean |
Maritime claims | territorial sea: 12 nm
contiguous zone: 24 nm exclusive economic zone: 200 nm continental shelf: 200 nm or to the edge of the continental margin |
measured from claimed archipelagic straight baselines
territorial sea: 12 nm contiguous zone: 24 nm exclusive economic zone: 200 nm continental shelf: 200 nm or to edge of the continental margin |
Merchant marine | total: 171 ships (1000 GRT or over) 2,191,099 GRT/2,815,416 DWT
by type: bulk carrier 60, cargo 10, carrier 1, chemical tanker 9, combination ore/oil 1, container 2, passenger 6, passenger/cargo 64, petroleum tanker 12, roll on/roll off 6 foreign-owned: 8 (Germany 3, Netherlands 1, Norway 1, US 3) registered in other countries: 130 (Australia 2, Bahamas 13, Barbados 9, Cambodia 6, Cyprus 2, Denmark 1, Honduras 1, Hong Kong 39, Liberia 3, Malta 15, Marshall Islands 4, Panama 17, St Vincent and The Grenadines 6, Taiwan 3, US 4, Vanuatu 5) (2007) |
total: 13 ships (1000 GRT or over) 161,700 GRT/241,663 DWT
by type: bulk carrier 6, cargo 2, carrier 1, petroleum tanker 1, roll on/roll off 3 foreign-owned: 12 (Denmark 1, Germany 1, Greece 8, Latvia 2) registered in other countries: 1 (Panama 1) (2007) |
Military branches | Canadian Forces: Land Forces Command, Maritime Command, Air Command, Canada Command (homeland security) (2006) | Jamaica Defense Force: Ground Forces, Coast Guard, Air Wing (2007) |
Military expenditures - percent of GDP | 1.1% (2005 est.) | 0.6% (2006 est.) |
National holiday | Canada Day, 1 July (1867) | Independence Day, 6 August (1962) |
Nationality | noun: Canadian(s)
adjective: Canadian |
noun: Jamaican(s)
adjective: Jamaican |
Natural hazards | continuous permafrost in north is a serious obstacle to development; cyclonic storms form east of the Rocky Mountains, a result of the mixing of air masses from the Arctic, Pacific, and North American interior, and produce most of the country's rain and snow east of the mountains | hurricanes (especially July to November) |
Natural resources | iron ore, nickel, zinc, copper, gold, lead, molybdenum, potash, diamonds, silver, fish, timber, wildlife, coal, petroleum, natural gas, hydropower | bauxite, gypsum, limestone |
Net migration rate | 5.79 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2007 est.) | -6.07 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2007 est.) |
Pipelines | crude and refined oil 23,564 km; liquid petroleum gas 74,980 km (2005) | - |
Political parties and leaders | Bloc Quebecois [Gilles DUCEPPE]; Conservative Party of Canada [Stephen HARPER] (a merger of the Canadian Alliance and the Progressive Conservative Party); Green Party [Elizabeth MAY]; Liberal Party [Stephane DION]; New Democratic Party [Jack LAYTON] | Jamaica Labor Party or JLP [Bruce GOLDING]; People's National Party or PNP [Portia SIMPSON-MILLER]; National Democratic Movement or NDM [Michael WILLIAMS] |
Political pressure groups and leaders | NA | New Beginnings Movement or NBM; Rastafarians (black religious/racial cultists, pan-Africanists) |
Population | 33,390,141 (July 2007 est.) | 2,780,132 (July 2007 est.) |
Population below poverty line | 15.9%; note - this figure is the Low Income Cut-Off (LICO), a calculation that results in higher figures than found in many comparable economies; Canada does not have an official poverty line (2003) | 14.8% (2003 est.) |
Population growth rate | 0.869% (2007 est.) | 0.777% (2007 est.) |
Radio broadcast stations | AM 245, FM 582, shortwave 6 (2004) | AM 10, FM 13, shortwave 0 (1998) |
Railways | total: 48,068 km
standard gauge: 48,068 km 1.435-m gauge (2006) |
- |
Religions | Roman Catholic 42.6%, Protestant 23.3% (including United Church 9.5%, Anglican 6.8%, Baptist 2.4%, Lutheran 2%), other Christian 4.4%, Muslim 1.9%, other and unspecified 11.8%, none 16% (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) |
Sex ratio | at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.051 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.01 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.748 male(s)/female total population: 0.977 male(s)/female (2007 est.) |
at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.034 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.97 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.816 male(s)/female total population: 0.978 male(s)/female (2007 est.) |
Suffrage | 18 years of age; universal | 18 years of age; universal |
Telephone system | general assessment: excellent service provided by modern technology
domestic: domestic satellite system with about 300 earth stations international: country code - 1; submarine cables provide links to the US and Europe; satellite earth stations - 5 Intelsat (4 Atlantic Ocean and 1 Pacific Ocean) and 2 Intersputnik (Atlantic Ocean region) (2007) |
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; mobile-cellular teledensity now exceeds 100 per 100 persons; the number of fixed-lines in use has been declining 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) |
Telephones - main lines in use | 20.78 million (2005) | 319,000 (2005) |
Telephones - mobile cellular | 17.017 million (2005) | 2.804 million (2005) |
Television broadcast stations | 80 (plus many repeaters) (1997) | 7 (1997) |
Terrain | mostly plains with mountains in west and lowlands in southeast | mostly mountains, with narrow, discontinuous coastal plain |
Total fertility rate | 1.61 children born/woman (2007 est.) | 2.36 children born/woman (2007 est.) |
Unemployment rate | 6.4% (2006 est.) | 11.3% (2006 est.) |
Waterways | 636 km
note: Saint Lawrence Seaway of 3,769 km, including the Saint Lawrence River of 3,058 km, shared with United States (2007) |
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