Jamaica (2001) | Anguilla (2005) | |
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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 | none (overseas territory of the UK) |
Age structure | 0-14 years:
29.7% (male 405,189; female 386,555) 15-64 years: 63.52% (male 845,226; female 847,944) 65 years and over: 6.78% (male 80,667; female 100,055) (2001 est.) |
0-14 years: 23.2% (male 1,561/female 1,517)
15-64 years: 69.9% (male 4,767/female 4,501) 65 years and over: 6.9% (male 405/female 503) (2005 est.) |
Agriculture - products | sugarcane, bananas, coffee, citrus, potatoes, vegetables; poultry, goats, milk | small quantities of tobacco, vegetables; cattle raising |
Airports | 35 (2000 est.) | 3 (2004 est.) |
Airports - with paved runways | total:
11 2,438 to 3,047 m: 2 1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 914 to 1,523 m: 3 under 914 m: 5 (2000 est.) |
total: 1
914 to 1,523 m: 1 (2004 est.) |
Airports - with unpaved runways | total:
24 914 to 1,523 m: 2 under 914 m: 22 (2000 est.) |
total: 2
under 914 m: 2 (2004 est.) |
Area | total:
10,990 sq km land: 10,830 sq km water: 160 sq km |
total: 102 sq km
land: 102 sq km water: 0 sq km |
Area - comparative | slightly smaller than Connecticut | about half the size of Washington, DC |
Background | Jamaica gained full independence within the British Commonwealth in 1962. Deteriorating economic conditions during the 1970s led to recurrent violence and a dropoff in tourism. Elections in 1980 saw the democratic socialists voted out of office. Subsequent governments have been open market oriented. Political violence marred elections during the 1990s. | Colonized by English settlers from Saint Kitts in 1650, Anguilla was administered by Great Britain until the early 19th century, when the island - against the wishes of the inhabitants - was incorporated into a single British dependency, along with Saint Kitts and Nevis. Several attempts at separation failed. In 1971, two years after a revolt, Anguilla was finally allowed to secede; this arrangement was formally recognized in 1980, with Anguilla becoming a separate British dependency. |
Birth rate | 18.12 births/1,000 population (2001 est.) | 14.26 births/1,000 population (2005 est.) |
Budget | revenues:
$2.23 billion expenditures: $2.56 billion, including capital expenditures of $232.5 million (FY99/00 est.) |
revenues: $22.8 million
expenditures: $22.5 million, including capital expenditures of NA (2000 est.) |
Capital | Kingston | The Valley |
Climate | tropical; hot, humid; temperate interior | tropical; moderated by northeast trade winds |
Coastline | 1,022 km | 61 km |
Constitution | 6 August 1962 | Anguilla Constitutional Order 1 April 1982; amended 1990 |
Country name | conventional long form:
none conventional short form: Jamaica |
conventional long form: none
conventional short form: Anguilla |
Currency | Jamaican dollar (JMD) | - |
Death rate | 5.48 deaths/1,000 population (2001 est.) | 5.43 deaths/1,000 population (2005 est.) |
Debt - external | $4.7 billion (2000 est.) | $8.8 million (1998) |
Dependency status | - | overseas territory of the UK |
Diplomatic representation from the US | chief of mission:
Ambassador Stanley Louis MCLELLAND embassy: Jamaica Mutual Life Center, 2 Oxford Road, 3rd floor, Kingston 5 mailing address: use embassy street address telephone: [1] (876) 929-4850 through 4859 FAX: [1] (876) 926-6743 |
none (overseas territory of the UK) |
Diplomatic representation in the US | chief of mission:
Ambassador Richard Leighton BERNAL chancery: 1520 New Hampshire Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20036 telephone: [1] (202) 452-0660 FAX: [1] (202) 452-0081 consulate(s) general: Miami and New York |
none (overseas territory of the UK) |
Disputes - international | none | none |
Economic aid - recipient | $102.7 million (1995) | $9 million (2004 est.) |
Economy - overview | Key sectors in this island economy are bauxite (alumina and bauxite account for more than half of exports) and tourism. Since assuming office in 1992, Prime Minister PATTERSON has eliminated most price controls, streamlined tax schedules, and privatized government enterprises. Continued tight monetary and fiscal policies have helped slow inflation - although inflationary pressures are mounting - and stabilize the exchange rate, but have resulted in the slowdown of economic growth (moving from 1.5% in 1992 to 0.5% in 1995). In 1996, GDP showed negative growth (-1.4%) and remained negative through 1999. Serious problems include: high interest rates; increased foreign competition; the weak financial condition of business in general resulting in receiverships or closures and downsizings of companies; the shift in investment portfolios to non-productive, short-term high yield instruments; a pressured, sometimes sliding, exchange rate; a widening merchandise trade deficit; and a growing internal debt for government bailouts to various ailing sectors of the economy, particularly the financial sector. Depressed economic conditions in 1999-2000 led to increased civil unrest, including a mounting crime rate. Jamaica's medium-term prospects will depend upon encouraging investment in the productive sectors, maintaining a competitive exchange rate, stabilizing the labor environment, selling off reacquired firms, and implementing proper fiscal and monetary policies. | Anguilla has few natural resources, and the economy depends heavily on luxury tourism, offshore banking, lobster fishing, and remittances from emigrants. Increased activity in the tourism industry, which has spurred the growth of the construction sector, has contributed to economic growth. Anguillan officials have put substantial effort into developing the offshore financial sector, which is small, but growing. In the medium term, prospects for the economy will depend largely on the tourism sector and, therefore, on revived income growth in the industrialized nations as well as on favorable weather conditions. |
Electricity - consumption | 6.073 billion kWh (1999) | 42.6 million kWh |
Electricity - exports | 0 kWh (1999) | - |
Electricity - imports | 0 kWh (1999) | - |
Electricity - production | 6.53 billion kWh (1999) | NA |
Electricity - production by source | fossil fuel:
92.28% hydro: 1.36% nuclear: 0% other: 6.36% (1999) |
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Elevation extremes | lowest point:
Caribbean Sea 0 m highest point: Blue Mountain Peak 2,256 m |
lowest point: Caribbean Sea 0 m
highest point: Crocus Hill 65 m |
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 results from vehicle emissions | supplies of potable water sometimes cannot meet increasing demand largely because of poor distribution system |
Environment - international agreements | party to:
Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Marine Life Conservation, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements |
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Ethnic groups | black 90.9%, East Indian 1.3%, white 0.2%, Chinese 0.2%, mixed 7.3%, other 0.1% | black (predominant) 90.1%, mixed, mulatto 4.6%, white 3.7%, other 1.6% (2001 Census) |
Exchange rates | Jamaican dollars per US dollar - 45.557 (January 2001), 42.701 (2000), 39.044 (1999), 36.550 (1998), 35.404 (1997), 37.120 (1996) | East Caribbean dollars per US dollar - 2.7 (2004), 2.7 (2003), 2.7 (2002), 2.7 (2001), 2.7 (2000)
note: fixed rate since 1976 |
Executive branch | chief of state:
Queen ELIZABETH II (since 6 February 1952), represented by Governor General Sir Howard Felix COOKE (since 1 August 1991) head of government: Prime Minister Percival James PATTERSON (since 30 March 1992) and Deputy Prime Minister Seymour MULLINGS (since NA 1993) 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; prime minister and deputy prime minister appointed by the governor general |
chief of state: Queen ELIZABETH II (since 6 February 1952); represented by Governor Alan Eden HUCKLE (since 28 May 2004)
head of government: Chief Minister Osbourne FLEMING (since 3 March 2000) cabinet: Executive Council appointed by the governor from among the elected members of the House of Assembly elections: none; the monarch is hereditary; governor appointed by the monarch; following legislative elections, the leader of the majority party or the leader of the majority coalition is usually appointed chief minister by the governor |
Exports | $1.7 billion (f.o.b., 2000 est.) | $2.6 million (1999) |
Exports - commodities | alumina, bauxite; sugar, bananas, rum | lobster, fish, livestock, salt, concrete blocks, rum |
Exports - partners | US 35.7%, EU (excluding UK) 15.8%, UK 13%, Canada 10.5% (1999) | UK, US, Puerto Rico, Saint-Martin (2000) |
Fiscal year | 1 April - 31 March | 1 April - 31 March |
Flag description | diagonal yellow cross divides the flag into four triangles - green (top and bottom) and black (hoist side and outer side) | blue, with the flag of the UK in the upper hoist-side quadrant and the Anguillan coat of arms centered in the outer half of the flag; the coat of arms depicts three orange dolphins in an interlocking circular design on a white background with blue wavy water below |
GDP | purchasing power parity - $9.7 billion (2000 est.) | - |
GDP - composition by sector | agriculture:
7.4% industry: 35.2% services: 57.4% (1999 est.) |
agriculture: 4%
industry: 18% services: 78% (2002 est.) |
GDP - per capita | purchasing power parity - $3,700 (2000 est.) | purchasing power parity - $7,500 (2002 est.) |
GDP - real growth rate | 0.2% (2000 est.) | 2.8% (2001 est.) |
Geographic coordinates | 18 15 N, 77 30 W | 18 15 N, 63 10 W |
Geography - note | strategic location between Cayman Trench and Jamaica Channel, the main sea lanes for Panama Canal | the most northerly of the Leeward Islands in the Lesser Antilles |
Highways | total:
19,000 km paved: 13,433 km unpaved: 5,567 km (1997) |
total: 105 km
paved: 65 km unpaved: 40 km (1997) |
Household income or consumption by percentage share | lowest 10%:
2.9% highest 10%: 28.9% (1996) |
lowest 10%: NA
highest 10%: NA |
Illicit drugs | major transshipment point for cocaine from South America to North America and Europe; illicit cultivation of cannabis; government has an active manual cannabis eradication program; corruption is a major concern | transshipment point for South American narcotics destined for the US and Europe |
Imports | $3 billion (f.o.b., 2000 est.) | $80.9 million (1999) |
Imports - commodities | machinery and transport equipment, construction materials, fuel, food, chemicals, fertilizers | fuels, foodstuffs, manufactures, chemicals, trucks, textiles |
Imports - partners | US 47.8%, Caricom countries 12.4%, Latin America 7.2%, EU (excluding UK) 4.7% (1999) | US, Puerto Rico, UK (2000) |
Independence | 6 August 1962 (from UK) | none (overseas territory of the UK) |
Industrial production growth rate | -2% (2000 est.) | 3.1% (1997 est.) |
Industries | tourism, bauxite, textiles, food processing, light manufactures, rum, cement, metal, paper, chemical products | tourism, boat building, offshore financial services |
Infant mortality rate | 14.16 deaths/1,000 live births (2001 est.) | total: 21.03 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 27.59 deaths/1,000 live births female: 14.27 deaths/1,000 live births (2005 est.) |
Inflation rate (consumer prices) | 8.8% (2000 est.) | 2.3% |
International organization participation | ACP, C, Caricom, CCC, CDB, ECLAC, FAO, G-15, G-19, G-77, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICFTU, ICRM, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO (pending member), ILO, IMF, IMO, Intelsat, Interpol, IOC, IOM (observer), ISO, ITU, LAES, NAM, OAS, OPANAL, OPCW, UN, UN Security Council (temporary), UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO | Caricom (associate), CDB, Interpol (subbureau), OECS (associate), UPU |
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) | 21 (2000) | - |
Irrigated land | 350 sq km (1993 est.) | NA |
Judicial branch | Supreme Court (judges appointed by the governor general on the advice of the prime minister); Court of Appeal | High Court (judge provided by Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court) |
Labor force | 1.13 million (1998) | 6,049 (2001) |
Labor force - by occupation | services 60%, agriculture 21%, industry 19% (1998) | agriculture/fishing/forestry/mining 4%, manufacturing 3%, construction 18%, transportation and utilities 10%, commerce 36%, services 29% (2000 est.) |
Land boundaries | 0 km | 0 km |
Land use | arable land:
14% permanent crops: 6% permanent pastures: 24% forests and woodland: 17% other: 39% (1993 est.) |
arable land: 0%
permanent crops: 0% other: 100% (mostly rock with sparse scrub oak, few trees, some commercial salt ponds) (2001) |
Languages | English, Creole | English (official) |
Legal system | based on English common law; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction | based on English common law |
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 eight seats) and the House of Representatives (60 seats; members are elected by popular vote to serve five-year terms)
elections: last held 18 December 1997 (next to be held by March 2002) election results: percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - PNP 50, JLP 10 |
unicameral House of Assembly (11 seats total, 7 elected by direct popular vote, 2 ex officio members, and 2 appointed; members serve five-year terms)
elections: last held 21 February 2005 (next to be held 2010) election results: percent of vote by party - AUF 38.9%, ANSA 19.2%, AUM 19.4%, APP 9.5 %, independents 13%; seats by party - AUF 4, ANSA 2, AUM 1 |
Life expectancy at birth | total population:
75.42 years male: 73.45 years female: 77.49 years (2001 est.) |
total population: 77.11 years
male: 74.18 years female: 80.12 years (2005 est.) |
Literacy | definition:
age 15 and over has ever attended school total population: 85% male: 80.8% female: 89.1% (1995 est.) |
definition: age 12 and over can read and write
total population: 95% male: 95% female: 95% (1984 est.) |
Location | Caribbean, island in the Caribbean Sea, south of Cuba | Caribbean, islands between the Caribbean Sea and North Atlantic Ocean, east of Puerto Rico |
Map references | Central America and the Caribbean | Central America and the Caribbean |
Maritime claims | measured from claimed archipelagic baselines
contiguous zone: 24 NM continental shelf: 200-m depth or to the depth of exploitation exclusive economic zone: 200 NM territorial sea: 12 NM |
territorial sea: 3 nm
exclusive fishing zone: 200 nm |
Merchant marine | total:
1 ship (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 1,930 GRT/3,065 DWT ships by type: petroleum tanker 1 (2000 est.) |
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Military - note | - | defense is the responsibility of the UK |
Military branches | Jamaica Defense Force (includes Ground Forces, Coast Guard, and Air Wing), Jamaica Constabulary Force | - |
Military expenditures - dollar figure | $30 million (FY95/96 est.) | - |
Military expenditures - percent of GDP | NA% | - |
Military manpower - availability | males age 15-49:
736,627 (2001 est.) |
- |
Military manpower - fit for military service | males age 15-49:
517,077 (2001 est.) |
- |
Military manpower - military age | 18 years of age | - |
Military manpower - reaching military age annually | males:
27,729 (2001 est.) |
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National holiday | Independence Day, first Monday in August (1962) | Anguilla Day, 30 May |
Nationality | noun:
Jamaican(s) adjective: Jamaican |
noun: Anguillan(s)
adjective: Anguillan |
Natural hazards | hurricanes (especially July to November) | frequent hurricanes and other tropical storms (July to October) |
Natural resources | bauxite, gypsum, limestone | salt, fish, lobster |
Net migration rate | -7.52 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2001 est.) | 8.83 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2005 est.) |
Pipelines | petroleum products 10 km | - |
Political parties and leaders | Jamaica Labor Party or JLP [Edward SEAGA]; National Democratic Movement or NDM [Bruce GOLDING]; People's National Party or PNP [Percival James PATTERSON] | Anguilla United Movement or AUM [Hubert HUGHES]; The Anguilla United Front or AUF [Osbourne FLEMING, Victor BANKS], a coalition of the Anguilla Democratic Party or ADP and the Anguilla National Alliance or ANA; Anguilla Progressive Party or APP [Roy ROGERS]; Anguilla Strategic Alternative or ANSA [Edison BAIRD] |
Political pressure groups and leaders | New Beginnings Movement or NBM; Rastafarians (black religious/racial cultists, pan-Africanists) | NA |
Population | 2,665,636 (July 2001 est.) | 13,254 (July 2005 est.) |
Population below poverty line | 34.2% (1992 est.) | 23% (2002) |
Population growth rate | 0.51% (2001 est.) | 1.77% (2005 est.) |
Ports and harbors | Alligator Pond, Discovery Bay, Kingston, Montego Bay, Ocho Rios, Port Antonio, Rocky Point, Port Esquivel (Longswharf) | Blowing Point, Road Bay |
Radio broadcast stations | AM 10, FM 13, shortwave 0 (1998) | AM 2, FM 7, shortwave 0 (2004) |
Radios | 1.215 million (1997) | - |
Railways | total:
370 km standard gauge: 370 km 1.435-m gauge; note - 207 km belong to the Jamaica Railway Corporation in common carrier service, but are no longer operational; the remaining track is privately owned and used to transport bauxite |
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Religions | Protestant 61.3% (Church of God 21.2%, Baptist 8.8%, Anglican 5.5%, Seventh-Day Adventist 9%, Pentecostal 7.6%, Methodist 2.7%, United Church 2.7%, Brethren 1.1%, Jehovah's Witness 1.6%, Moravian 1.1%), Roman Catholic 4%, other, including some spiritual cults 34.7% | Anglican 29%, Methodist 23.9%, other Protestant 30.2%, Roman Catholic 5.7%, other Christian 1.7%, other 5.2%, none or unspecified 4.3% (2001 Census) |
Sex ratio | at birth:
1.05 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.81 male(s)/female total population: 1 male(s)/female (2001 est.) |
at birth: 1.03 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.03 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.06 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.8 male(s)/female total population: 1.03 male(s)/female (2005 est.) |
Suffrage | 18 years of age; universal | 18 years of age; universal |
Telephone system | general assessment:
fully automatic domestic telephone network domestic: NA international: satellite earth stations - 2 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean); 3 coaxial submarine cables |
general assessment: NA
domestic: modern internal telephone system international: country code - 1-264; microwave radio relay to island of Saint Martin (Guadeloupe and Netherlands Antilles) |
Telephones - main lines in use | 353,000 (1996) | 6,200 (2002) |
Telephones - mobile cellular | 54,640 (1996) | 1,800 (2002) |
Television broadcast stations | 7 (1997) | 1 (1997) |
Terrain | mostly mountains, with narrow, discontinuous coastal plain | flat and low-lying island of coral and limestone |
Total fertility rate | 2.08 children born/woman (2001 est.) | 1.73 children born/woman (2005 est.) |
Unemployment rate | 16% (2000 est.) | 8% (2002) |
Waterways | none | - |