Jamaica (2002) | Libya (2001) | |
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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 | 25 municipalities (baladiyat, singular - baladiyah); Ajdabiya, Al 'Aziziyah, Al Fatih, Al Jabal al Akhdar, Al Jufrah, Al Khums, Al Kufrah, An Nuqat al Khams, Ash Shati', Awbari, Az Zawiyah, Banghazi, Darnah, Ghadamis, Gharyan, Misratah, Murzuq, Sabha, Sawfajjin, Surt, Tarabulus, Tarhunah, Tubruq, Yafran, Zlitan; note - the 25 municipalities may have been replaced by 13 regions |
Age structure | 0-14 years: 29.1% (male 399,249; female 380,864)
15-64 years: 64.1% (male 858,433; female 859,174) 65 years and over: 6.8% (male 81,321; female 100,988) (2002 est.) |
0-14 years:
35.41% (male 947,645; female 907,854) 15-64 years: 60.64% (male 1,645,085; female 1,533,066) 65 years and over: 3.95% (male 101,701; female 105,248) (2001 est.) |
Agriculture - products | sugarcane, bananas, coffee, citrus, potatoes, vegetables; poultry, goats, milk | wheat, barley, olives, dates, citrus, vegetables, peanuts, soybeans; cattle |
Airports | 35 (2001) | 136 (2000 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 (2002) |
total:
58 over 3,047 m: 23 2,438 to 3,047 m: 6 1,524 to 2,437 m: 22 914 to 1,523 m: 5 under 914 m: 2 (2000 est.) |
Airports - with unpaved runways | total: 24
914 to 1,523 m: 2 under 914 m: 22 (2002) |
total:
78 over 3,047 m: 4 2,438 to 3,047 m: 2 1,524 to 2,437 m: 14 914 to 1,523 m: 40 under 914 m: 18 (2000 est.) |
Area | total: 10,991 sq km
land: 10,831 sq km water: 160 sq km |
total:
1,759,540 sq km land: 1,759,540 sq km water: 0 sq km |
Area - comparative | slightly smaller than Connecticut | slightly larger than Alaska |
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. | Since he took power in a 1969 military coup, Col. Muammar Abu Minyar al-QADHAFI has espoused his own political system - a combination of socialism and Islam - which he calls the Third International Theory. Viewing himself as a revolutionary leader, he used oil funds during the 1970s and 1980s to promote his ideology outside Libya, even supporting subversives and terrorists abroad to hasten the end of Marxism and capitalism. Libyan military adventures failed, e.g., the prolonged foray of Libyan troops into the Aozou Strip in northern Chad was finally repulsed in 1987. Libyan support for terrorism decreased after UN sanctions were imposed in 1992. Those sanctions were suspended in April 1999. |
Birth rate | 17.74 births/1,000 population (2002 est.) | 27.67 births/1,000 population (2001 est.) |
Budget | revenues: $2.23 billion
expenditures: $2.56 billion, including capital expenditures of $232.5 million |
revenues:
$6.85 billion expenditures: $4.4 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (2000 est.) |
Capital | Kingston | Tripoli |
Climate | tropical; hot, humid; temperate interior | Mediterranean along coast; dry, extreme desert interior |
Coastline | 1,022 km | 1,770 km |
Constitution | 6 August 1962 | 11 December 1969, amended 2 March 1977 |
Country name | conventional long form: none
conventional short form: Jamaica |
conventional long form:
Great Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya conventional short form: Libya local long form: Al Jumahiriyah al Arabiyah al Libiyah ash Shabiyah al Ishtirakiyah al Uzma local short form: none |
Currency | Jamaican dollar (JMD) | Libyan dinar (LYD) |
Death rate | 5.45 deaths/1,000 population (2002 est.) | 3.51 deaths/1,000 population (2001 est.) |
Debt - external | $5.2 billion (2001 est.) | $4.1 billion (2000 est.) |
Diplomatic representation from the US | chief of mission: Ambassador Sue McCourt COBB
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 |
the US suspended all embassy activities in Tripoli on 2 May 1980 |
Diplomatic representation in the US | chief of mission: Ambassador Seymour MULLINGS
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 |
Libya does not have an embassy in the US |
Disputes - international | none | Libya claims about 19,400 sq km in northern Niger and also a part of southeastern Algeria |
Economic aid - recipient | $102.7 million (1995) (1995) | $8.4 million (1995) |
Economy - overview | The economy, which depends heavily on tourism and bauxite, has been stagnant since 1995. After five years of recession, the economy grew 0.8% in 2000 and 1.1% in 2001, but the global economic slowdown, particularly in the United States after the 11 September terrorist attacks, has stunted the economic recovery. Serious problems include: high interest rates; increased foreign competition; a pressured, sometimes sliding, exchange rate; a widening merchandise trade deficit; and a growing internal debt, the result of government bailouts to various ailing sectors of the economy, particularly the financial sector. Depressed economic conditions have led to increased civil unrest, including a mounting crime rate. Jamaica's medium-term prospects will depend upon encouraging investment, maintaining a competitive exchange rate, selling off reacquired firms, and implementing proper fiscal and monetary policies. | The socialist-oriented economy depends primarily upon revenues from the oil sector, which contributes practically all export earnings and about one-quarter of GDP. These oil revenues and a small population give Libya one of the highest per capita GDPs in Africa, but little of this income flows down to the lower orders of society. In this statist society, import restrictions and inefficient resource allocations have led to periodic shortages of basic goods and foodstuffs. The nonoil manufacturing and construction sectors, which account for about 20% of GDP, have expanded from processing mostly agricultural products to include the production of petrochemicals, iron, steel, and aluminum. Climatic conditions and poor soils severely limit agricultural output, and Libya imports about 75% of its food requirements. Higher oil prices in 1999 and 2000 led to an increase in export revenues, which improved macroeconomic balances and helped to stimulate the economy. Following the suspension of UN sanctions in 1999, Libya has been trying to increase its attractiveness to foreign investors, and several foreign companies have visited in search of contracts. |
Electricity - consumption | 6.27 billion kWh (2000) | 17.577 billion kWh (1999) |
Electricity - exports | 0 kWh (2000) | 0 kWh (1999) |
Electricity - imports | 0 kWh (2000) | 0 kWh (1999) |
Electricity - production | 6.74 billion kWh (2000) | 18.9 billion kWh (1999) |
Electricity - production by source | fossil fuel: 89%
hydro: 3% nuclear: 0% other: 7% (2000) |
fossil fuel:
100% hydro: 0% nuclear: 0% other: 0% (1999) |
Elevation extremes | lowest point: Caribbean Sea 0 m
highest point: Blue Mountain Peak 2,256 m |
lowest point:
Sabkhat Ghuzayyil -47 m highest point: Bikku Bitti 2,267 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 | desertification; very limited natural fresh water resources; the Great Manmade River Project, the largest water development scheme in the world, is being built to bring water from large aquifers under the Sahara to coastal cities |
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 |
party to:
Climate Change, Desertification, Marine Dumping, Ozone Layer Protection, Wetlands signed, but not ratified: Biodiversity, Law of the Sea, Nuclear Test Ban |
Ethnic groups | black 90.9%, East Indian 1.3%, white 0.2%, Chinese 0.2%, mixed 7.3%, other 0.1% | Berber and Arab 97%, Greeks, Maltese, Italians, Egyptians, Pakistanis, Turks, Indians, Tunisians |
Exchange rates | Jamaican dollars per US dollar - 47.277 (December 2001), 45.996 (2001), 42.701 (2000), 39.044 (1999), 36.550 (1998), 35.404 (1997) | Libyan dinars per US dollar - 0.5101 (January 2001), 0.5081 (2000), 0.4616 (1999), 0.3785 (1998), 0.3891 (1997), 0.3651 (1996)
note: Libya currently has two rates for foreign trade; one for government operations and foreign companies and one for Libyan individuals (0.45 dinars per US dollar in December 1998) |
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; 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 |
chief of state:
Revolutionary Leader Col. Muammar Abu Minyar al-QADHAFI (since 1 September 1969); note - holds no official title, but is de facto chief of state head of government: Secretary of the General People's Committee (Premier) Mubarak al-SHAMEKH (since 2 March 2000) cabinet: General People's Committee established by the General People's Congress elections: national elections are indirect through a hierarchy of people's committees; head of government elected by the General People's Congress; election last held 2 March 2000 (next to be held NA) election results: Mubarak al-SHAMEKH elected premier; percent of General People's Congress vote - NA% |
Exports | $1.6 billion f.o.b. (2001 est.) | $13.9 billion (f.o.b., 2000 est.) |
Exports - commodities | alumina, bauxite; sugar, bananas, rum | crude oil, refined petroleum products |
Exports - partners | US 35.7%, EU (excluding UK) 15.9%, UK 13%, Canada 10.5% (1999) | Italy 33%, Germany 24%, Spain 10%, France 5%, Turkey 4%, Tunisia 4% (1999) |
Fiscal year | 1 April - 31 March | calendar year |
Flag description | diagonal yellow cross divides the flag into four triangles - green (top and bottom) and black (hoist side and outer side) | plain green; green is the traditional color of Islam (the state religion) |
GDP | purchasing power parity - $9.8 billion (2001 est.) | purchasing power parity - $45.4 billion (2000 est.) |
GDP - composition by sector | agriculture: 7%
industry: 28% services: 65% (2000 est.) |
agriculture:
7% industry: 47% services: 46% (1997 est.) |
GDP - per capita | purchasing power parity - $3,700 (2001 est.) | purchasing power parity - $8,900 (2000 est.) |
GDP - real growth rate | 1.1% (2001 est.) | 6.5% (2000 est.) |
Geographic coordinates | 18 15 N, 77 30 W | 25 00 N, 17 00 E |
Geography - note | strategic location between Cayman Trench and Jamaica Channel, the main sea lanes for the Panama Canal | - |
Highways | total: 19,000 km
paved: 13,433 km unpaved: 5,567 km (1997) |
total:
24,484 km paved: 6,800 km unpaved: 17,684 km (1996) |
Household income or consumption by percentage share | lowest 10%: 3%
highest 10%: 29% (1996) (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; substantial money-laundering activity; Colombian narcotics traffickers favor Jamaica for illicit financial transactions | - |
Imports | $3.1 billion f.o.b. (2001 est.) | $7.6 billion (f.o.b., 2000 est.) |
Imports - commodities | machinery and transport equipment, construction materials, fuel, food, chemicals, fertilizers | machinery, transport equipment, food, manufactured goods |
Imports - partners | US 47.8%, Caricom countries 12.4%, Latin America 7.2%, EU (excluding UK) 4.7% (1999) | Italy 24%, Germany 12%, Tunisia 9%, UK 7%, France 6%, South Korea 5% (1999) |
Independence | 6 August 1962 (from UK) | 24 December 1951 (from Italy) |
Industrial production growth rate | -2% (2000 est.) | NA% |
Industries | tourism, bauxite, textiles, food processing, light manufactures, rum, cement, metal, paper, chemical products | petroleum, food processing, textiles, handicrafts, cement |
Infant mortality rate | 13.71 deaths/1,000 live births (2002 est.) | 28.99 deaths/1,000 live births (2001 est.) |
Inflation rate (consumer prices) | 6.9% (2001 est.) | 18.5% (2000 est.) |
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, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM (observer), ISO, ITU, LAES, NAM, OAS, OPANAL, OPCW, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO | ABEDA, AfDB, AFESD, AL, AMF, AMU, CAEU, CCC, ECA, FAO, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICRM, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Inmarsat, Intelsat, Interpol, IOC, ISO, ITU, MONUC, NAM, OAPEC, OAU, OIC, OPEC, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO |
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) | 21 (2000) | 1 (2000) |
Irrigated land | 250 sq km (1998 est.) | 4,700 sq km (1993 est.) |
Judicial branch | Supreme Court (judges appointed by the governor general on the advice of the prime minister); Court of Appeal | Supreme Court |
Labor force | 1.13 million (1998) (1998) | 1.5 million (2000 est.) |
Labor force - by occupation | services 60%, agriculture 21%, industry 19% (1998) (1998) | services and government 54%, industry 29%, agriculture 17% (1997 est.) |
Land boundaries | 0 km | total:
4,383 km border countries: Algeria 982 km, Chad 1,055 km, Egypt 1,150 km, Niger 354 km, Sudan 383 km, Tunisia 459 km |
Land use | arable land: 16.07%
permanent crops: 9.23% other: 74.7% (1998 est.) |
arable land:
1% permanent crops: 0% permanent pastures: 8% forests and woodland: 0% other: 91% (1993 est.) |
Languages | English, patois English | Arabic, Italian, English, all are widely understood in the major cities |
Legal system | based on English common law; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction | based on Italian civil law system and Islamic law; separate religious courts; no constitutional provision for judicial review of legislative acts; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction |
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 16 October 2002 (next to be held NA October 2007) election results: percent of vote by party - PNP 52%, JLP 47.3%; seats by party - PNP 34, JLP 26 |
unicameral General People's Congress (NA seats; members elected indirectly through a hierarchy of people's committees) |
Life expectancy at birth | total population: 75.64 years
male: 73.65 years female: 77.73 years (2002 est.) |
total population:
75.65 years male: 73.53 years female: 77.88 years (2001 est.) |
Literacy | definition: age 15 and over has ever attended school
total population: 85% male: 80.8% female: 89.1% (1995 est.) |
definition:
age 15 and over can read and write total population: 76.2% male: 87.9% female: 63% (1995 est.) |
Location | Caribbean, island in the Caribbean Sea, south of Cuba | Northern Africa, bordering the Mediterranean Sea, between Egypt and Tunisia |
Map references | Central America and the Caribbean | Africa |
Maritime claims | measured from claimed archipelagic baselines
contiguous zone: 24 NM continental shelf: 200 NM or to edge of the continental margin exclusive economic zone: 200 NM territorial sea: 12 NM |
territorial sea:
12 NM note: Gulf of Sidra closing line - 32 degrees, 30 minutes north |
Merchant marine | total: 1 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 21,954 GRT/25,250 DWT
ships by type: petroleum tanker 1, includes some foreign-owned ships registered here as a flag of convenience: Latvia 2, United States 2 (2002 est.) |
total:
28 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 399,725 GRT/654,843 DWT ships by type: cargo 10, chemical tanker 1, liquefied gas 3, petroleum tanker 6, roll on/roll off 4, short-sea passenger 4 (2000 est.) |
Military branches | Jamaica Defense Force (including Ground Forces, Coast Guard, and Air Wing), Jamaica Constabulary Force | Army, Navy, Air and Air Defense Command |
Military expenditures - dollar figure | $30 million (FY95/96 est.) | $1.3 billion (FY99/00) |
Military expenditures - percent of GDP | NA% | 3.9% (FY99/00) |
Military manpower - availability | males age 15-49: 747,043 (2002 est.) | males age 15-49:
1,459,400 (2001 est.) |
Military manpower - fit for military service | males age 15-49: 523,550 (2002 est.) | males age 15-49:
866,012 (2001 est.) |
Military manpower - military age | 18 years of age (2002 est.) | 17 years of age |
Military manpower - reaching military age annually | males: 27,729 (2002 est.) | males:
61,694 (2001 est.) |
National holiday | Independence Day, first Monday in August (1962) | Revolution Day, 1 September (1969) |
Nationality | noun: Jamaican(s)
adjective: Jamaican |
noun:
Libyan(s) adjective: Libyan |
Natural hazards | hurricanes (especially July to November) | hot, dry, dust-laden ghibli is a southern wind lasting one to four days in spring and fall; dust storms, sandstorms |
Natural resources | bauxite, gypsum, limestone | petroleum, natural gas, gypsum |
Net migration rate | -6.65 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2002 est.) | 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2001 est.) |
Pipelines | petroleum products 10 km | crude oil 4,383 km; petroleum products 443 km (includes liquefied petroleum gas or LPG 256 km); natural gas 1,947 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] | none |
Political pressure groups and leaders | New Beginnings Movement or NBM; Rastafarians (black religious/racial cultists, pan-Africanists) | various Arab nationalist movements with almost negligible memberships may be functioning clandestinely, as well as some Islamic elements |
Population | 2,680,029 (July 2002 est.) | 5,240,599
note: includes 662,669 non-nationals, of which an estimated 500,000 or more are Africans living in Libya (July 2001 est.) |
Population below poverty line | 34% (1992 est.) | NA% |
Population growth rate | 0.56% (2002 est.) | 2.42% (2001 est.) |
Ports and harbors | Alligator Pond, Discovery Bay, Kingston, Montego Bay, Ocho Rios, Port Antonio, Rocky Point, Port Esquivel (Longswharf) | Al Khums, Banghazi, Darnah, Marsa al Burayqah, Misratah, Ra's Lanuf, Tobruk, Tripoli, Zuwarah |
Radio broadcast stations | AM 10, FM 13, shortwave 0 (1998) | AM 17, FM 4, shortwave 3 (1998) |
Radios | 1.215 million (1997) | 1.35 million (1997) |
Railways | total: 272 km
standard gauge: 272 km 1.435-m gauge; note - 207 km, belonging to the Jamaica Railway Corporation, were in common carrier service but are no longer operational; the remaining track is privately owned and used to transport bauxite (2000) |
note:
Libya has had no railroad in operation since 1965, all previous systems having been dismantled; current plans are to construct a 1.435-m standard gauge line from the Tunisian frontier to Tripoli and Misratah, then inland to Sabha, center of a mineral-rich area, but there has been little progress; other plans made jointly with Egypt would establish a rail line from As Sallum, Egypt, to Tobruk with completion originally set for mid-1994; Libya signed contracts with two private companies - Bahne of Egypt and Jez Sistemas Ferroviarios of Spain - in 1998 for the supply of crossings and pointwork (1001) |
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% | Sunni Muslim 97% |
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 (2002 est.) |
at birth:
1.05 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.04 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.07 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.97 male(s)/female total population: 1.06 male(s)/female (2001 est.) |
Suffrage | 18 years of age; universal | 18 years of age; universal and compulsory |
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:
telecommunications system is being modernized; mobile cellular telephone system became operational in 1996 domestic: microwave radio relay, coaxial cable, cellular, tropospheric scatter, and a domestic satellite system with 14 earth stations international: satellite earth stations - 4 Intelsat, NA Arabsat, and NA Intersputnik; submarine cables to France and Italy; microwave radio relay to Tunisia and Egypt; tropospheric scatter to Greece; participant in Medarabtel (1999) |
Telephones - main lines in use | 353,000 (1996) | 380,000 (1996) |
Telephones - mobile cellular | 54,640 (1996) | NA |
Television broadcast stations | 7 (1997) | 12 (plus one low-power repeater) (1998) |
Terrain | mostly mountains, with narrow, discontinuous coastal plain | mostly barren, flat to undulating plains, plateaus, depressions |
Total fertility rate | 2.05 children born/woman (2002 est.) | 3.64 children born/woman (2001 est.) |
Unemployment rate | 16% (2000 est.) | 30% (2000 est.) |
Waterways | none | none |