Jamaica (2004) | Mayotte (2001) | |
![]() | ![]() | |
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
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 |
none (territorial collectivity of France) |
Age structure | 0-14 years: 28.2% (male 390,966; female 372,961)
15-64 years: 65% (male 883,053; female 880,296) 65 years and over: 6.9% (male 82,788; female 103,066) (2004 est.) |
0-14 years:
46.59% (male 38,188; female 37,920) 15-64 years: 51.73% (male 46,132; female 38,378) 65 years and over: 1.68% (male 1,361; female 1,387) (2001 est.) |
Agriculture - products | sugarcane, bananas, coffee, citrus, yams, vegetables, poultry, goats, milk, crustaceans, and mollusks | vanilla, ylang-ylang (perfume essence), coffee, copra |
Airports | 35 (2003 est.) | 1 (2000 est.) |
Airports - with paved runways | total: 11
2,438 to 3,047 m: 2 914 to 1,523 m: 4 under 914 m: 5 (2004 est.) |
total:
1 1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 (2000 est.) |
Airports - with unpaved runways | total: 24
914 to 1,523 m: 2 under 914 m: 22 (2004 est.) |
- |
Area | total: 10,991 sq km
land: 10,831 sq km water: 160 sq km |
total:
374 sq km land: 374 sq km water: 0 sq km |
Area - comparative | slightly smaller than Connecticut | slightly more than twice 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 drop off in tourism. Elections in 1980 saw the democratic socialists voted out of office. Political violence marred elections during the 1990s. | Mayotte was ceded to France along with the other Comoros in 1843. It was the only island in the archipelago that voted in 1974 to retain its link with France and forgo independence. |
Birth rate | 16.94 births/1,000 population (2004 est.) | 44.39 births/1,000 population (2001 est.) |
Budget | revenues: $2.596 billion
expenditures: $3.111 billion, including capital expenditures of $236 million (2003 est.) |
revenues:
$NA expenditures: $73 million, including capital expenditures of $NA (1991 est.) |
Capital | Kingston | Mamoutzou |
Climate | tropical; hot, humid; temperate interior | tropical; marine; hot, humid, rainy season during northeastern monsoon (November to May); dry season is cooler (May to November) |
Coastline | 1,022 km | 185.2 km |
Constitution | 6 August 1962 | 28 September 1958 (French Constitution) |
Country name | conventional long form: none
conventional short form: Jamaica |
conventional long form:
Territorial Collectivity of Mayotte conventional short form: Mayotte |
Currency | Jamaican dollar (JMD) | French franc (FRF); euro (EUR) |
Death rate | 5.4 deaths/1,000 population (2004 est.) | 8.84 deaths/1,000 population (2001 est.) |
Debt - external | $4.962 billion (2003 est.) | $NA |
Dependency status | - | territorial collectivity of France |
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) 935-6001 |
none (territorial collectivity of France) |
Diplomatic representation in the US | 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 and New York |
none (territorial collectivity of France) |
Disputes - international | none | claimed by Comoros |
Economic aid - recipient | $16 million (2003) | $107.7 million (1995); note - extensive French financial assistance |
Economy - overview | The Jamaican economy is heavily dependent on services, which now account for 70% of GDP. The country continues to derive most of its foreign exchange from tourism, remittances, and bauxite/alumina. The global economic slowdown, particularly after the terrorist attacks in the US on 11 September 2001, stunted economic growth; the economy rebounded moderately in 2003, with one of the best tourist seasons on record. But the economy faces serious long-term problems: high interest rates; increased foreign competition; a pressured, sometimes sliding, exchange rate; a sizable merchandise trade deficit; large-scale unemployment; and a growing internal debt, the result of government bailouts to ailing sectors of the economy. The ratio of debt to GDP is close to 150%. Inflation, previously a bright spot, is expected to remain in the double digits. Depressed economic conditions have led to increased civil unrest, including gang violence fueled by the drug trade. In 2004, 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. | Economic activity is based primarily on the agricultural sector, including fishing and livestock raising. Mayotte is not self-sufficient and must import a large portion of its food requirements, mainly from France. The economy and future development of the island are heavily dependent on French financial assistance, an important supplement to GDP. Mayotte's remote location is an obstacle to the development of tourism. |
Electricity - consumption | 5.833 billion kWh (2001) | NA kWh |
Electricity - exports | 0 kWh (2001) | - |
Electricity - imports | 0 kWh (2001) | - |
Electricity - production | 6.272 billion kWh (2001) | NA kWh |
Electricity - production by source | - | fossil fuel:
NA% hydro: NA% nuclear: NA% other: NA% |
Elevation extremes | lowest point: Caribbean Sea 0 m
highest point: Blue Mountain Peak 2,256 m |
lowest point:
Indian Ocean 0 m highest point: Benara 660 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 | NA |
Environment - international agreements | 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 | black 90.9%, East Indian 1.3%, white 0.2%, Chinese 0.2%, mixed 7.3%, other 0.1% | NA |
Exchange rates | Jamaican dollars per US dollar - 57.7409 (2003), 48.4159 (2002), 45.9962 (2001), 42.7011 (2000), 39.0435 (1999) | euros per US dollar - 1.0659 (January 2001), 1.0854 (2000), 0.9386 (1999); French francs per US dollar - 5.8995 (1998), 5.8367 (1997), 5.1155 (1996) |
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) 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:
President Jacques CHIRAC of France (since 17 May 1995), represented by Prefect Pierre BAYLE (since 15 July 1998) head of government: President of the General Council Younoussa BAMANA (since NA 1977) cabinet: NA elections: French president elected by popular vote for a seven-year term; prefect appointed by the French president on the advice of the French Ministry of the Interior; president of the General Council elected by the members of the General Council for a six-year term |
Exports | NA (2001) | $3.44 million (f.o.b., 1997) |
Exports - commodities | alumina, bauxite, sugar, bananas, rum, coffee, yams, beverages, chemicals, wearing apparel, mineral fuels | ylang-ylang (perfume essence), vanilla, copra, coconuts, coffee, cinnamon |
Exports - partners | US 29.6%, UK 11%, Canada 10.8%, France 7.9%, Norway 6.8%, Germany 6.2%, China 6%, Netherlands 4.4% (2003) | France 80%, Comoros 15%, Reunion |
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) | the flag of France is used |
GDP | purchasing power parity - $10.61 billion (2003 est.) | purchasing power parity - $85 million (1998 est.) |
GDP - composition by sector | agriculture: 6.7%
industry: 37.2% services: 56.2% (2003 est.) |
agriculture:
NA% industry: NA% services: NA% |
GDP - per capita | purchasing power parity - $3,900 (2003 est.) | purchasing power parity - $600 (1998 est.) |
GDP - real growth rate | 1.9% (2003 est.) | NA% |
Geographic coordinates | 18 15 N, 77 30 W | 12 50 S, 45 10 E |
Geography - note | strategic location between Cayman Trench and Jamaica Channel, the main sea lanes for the Panama Canal | part of Comoro Archipelago; 18 islands |
Highways | total: 18,700 km
paved: 13,109 km unpaved: 5,591 km (1999 est.) |
total:
93 km paved: 72 km unpaved: 21 km |
Household income or consumption by percentage share | lowest 10%: 2.7%
highest 10%: 30.3% (2000) |
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 | NA (2001) | $141.3 million (f.o.b., 1997) |
Imports - commodities | food and other consumer goods, industrial supplies, fuel, parts and accessories of capital goods, machinery and transport equipment, construction materials | food, machinery and equipment, transportation equipment, metals, chemicals |
Imports - partners | US 39.8%, Trinidad and Tobago 9.7%, Germany 5.6%, Venezuela 4.5%, France 4.5%, Japan 4.2% (2003) | France 66%, Africa 14%, Southeast Asia 11% (1997) |
Independence | 6 August 1962 (from UK) | none (territorial collectivity of France) |
Industrial production growth rate | -2% (2000 est.) | NA% |
Industries | tourism, bauxite/alumina, textiles, agro processing, wearing apparel, light manufactures, rum, cement, metal, paper, chemical products, telecommunications | newly created lobster and shrimp industry, construction |
Infant mortality rate | total: 12.81 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 13.82 deaths/1,000 live births female: 11.75 deaths/1,000 live births (2004 est.) |
69.54 deaths/1,000 live births (2001 est.) |
Inflation rate (consumer prices) | 10.3% (2003 est.) | NA% |
International organization participation | ACP, C, Caricom, CDB, FAO, G-15, G-77, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICCt (signatory), ICFTU, ICRM, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM (observer), ISO, ITU, LAES, MIGA, NAM, OAS, OPANAL, OPCW, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTO | FZ |
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) | - | NA |
Irrigated land | 250 sq km (1998 est.) | NA sq km |
Judicial branch | Supreme Court (judges appointed by the governor general on the advice of the prime minister); Court of Appeal | Supreme Court or Tribunal Superieur d'Appel |
Labor force | 1.13 million (2003) | NA |
Labor force - by occupation | agriculture 21%, industry 19%, services 60% (1998) | - |
Land boundaries | 0 km | 0 km |
Land use | arable land: 16.07%
permanent crops: 10.16% other: 73.77% (2001) |
arable land:
NA% permanent crops: NA% permanent pastures: NA% forests and woodland: NA% other: NA% |
Languages | English, patois English | Mahorian (a Swahili dialect), French (official language) spoken by 35% of the population |
Legal system | based on English common law; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction | French 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 16 October 2002 (next to be held in October 2007) election results: percent of vote by party - PNP 52%, JLP 47.3%; seats by party - PNP 34, JLP 26 |
unicameral General Council or Conseil General (19 seats; members are elected by popular vote to serve three-year terms)
elections: last held 7 October 2000 (next to be held NA 2003) election results: percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - NA note: Mayotte elects one member of the French Senate; elections last held 24 September 1995 (next to be held 24 September 2001); results - percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - MPM 1; Mayotte also elects one member to the French National Assembly; elections last held 25 May and 1 June 1997 (next to be held as a special election on NA May 2002); results - percent of vote by party - UDF/FD 51.7%, RPR 48.3%; seats by party - UDF/FD 1 |
Life expectancy at birth | total population: 76.07 years
male: 74.04 years female: 78.21 years (2004 est.) |
total population:
59.83 years male: 57.77 years female: 61.96 years (2001 est.) |
Literacy | definition: age 15 and over has ever attended school
total population: 87.9% male: 84.1% female: 91.6% (2003 est.) |
definition:
NA total population: NA% male: NA% female: NA% |
Location | Caribbean, island in the Caribbean Sea, south of Cuba | Southern Africa, island in the Mozambique Channel, about one-half of the way from northern Madagascar to northern Mozambique |
Map references | Central America and the Caribbean | Africa |
Maritime claims | 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 |
exclusive economic zone:
200 NM territorial sea: 12 NM |
Merchant marine | total: 6 ships (1,000 GRT or over) 74,881 GRT/100,682 DWT
by type: bulk 2, petroleum tanker 1, refrigerated cargo 2, short-sea/passenger 1 foreign-owned: Greece 2, Iceland 1, Latvia 1, United States 2 (2004 est.) |
none (2000 est.) |
Military - note | - | defense is the responsibility of France; small contingent of French forces stationed on the island |
Military branches | Jamaica Defense Force: Ground Forces, Coast Guard, Air Wing | - |
Military expenditures - dollar figure | $31 million (2003) | - |
Military expenditures - percent of GDP | 0.4% (2003) | - |
Military manpower - availability | males age 15-49: 764,266 (2004 est.) | - |
Military manpower - fit for military service | males age 15-49: 533,768 (2004 est.) | - |
Military manpower - reaching military age annually | males: 27,126 (2004 est.) | - |
National holiday | Independence Day, first Monday in August (1962) | Bastille Day, 14 July (1789) |
Nationality | noun: Jamaican(s)
adjective: Jamaican |
noun:
Mahorais (singular and plural) adjective: Mahoran |
Natural hazards | hurricanes (especially July to November) | cyclones during rainy season |
Natural resources | bauxite, gypsum, limestone | NEGL |
Net migration rate | -4.92 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2004 est.) | 10.28 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2001 est.) |
Political parties and leaders | Jamaica Labor Party or JLP [Edward SEAGA]; National Democratic Movement or NDM [Hyacinth BENNETT]; People's National Party or PNP [Percival James PATTERSON] | Democratic Front or FD [Youssouf MOUSSA]; Mahoran Popular Movement or MPM [Younoussa BAMANA]; Mahoran Rally for the Republic or RPR [Mansour KAMARDINE]; Movement for Department Status Mayotte or MDM [Henri JEAN-BAPTISTE]; Socialist Party or PS (local branch of French Parti Socialiste) [Ibrahim ABUBACAR]; Union for French Democracy or UDF [Henri JEAN-BAPTISTE] |
Political pressure groups and leaders | New Beginnings Movement or NBM; Rastafarians (black religious/racial cultists, pan-Africanists) | NA |
Population | 2,713,130 (July 2004 est.) | 163,366 (July 2001 est.) |
Population below poverty line | 19.7% (2002 est.) | NA% |
Population growth rate | 0.66% (2004 est.) | 4.58% (2001 est.) |
Ports and harbors | Alligator Pond, Discovery Bay, Kingston, Montego Bay, Ocho Rios, Port Antonio, Rocky Point, Port Esquivel (Longswharf) | Dzaoudzi |
Radio broadcast stations | AM 10, FM 13, shortwave 0 (1998) | AM 1, FM 4, shortwave 0 (1998) |
Radios | - | NA |
Railways | total: 272 km
standard gauge: 272 km 1.435-m gauge note: 207 of these km belonging to the Jamaica Railway Corporation had been in common carrier service until 1992 but are no longer operational; 57 km of the remaining track is privately owned and used by ALCAN to transport bauxite (2003) |
0 km |
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% | Muslim 97%, Christian (mostly Roman Catholic) |
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: 0.8 male(s)/female total population: 1 male(s)/female (2004 est.) |
at birth:
1.03 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.01 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.2 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.98 male(s)/female total population: 1.1 male(s)/female (2001 est.) |
Suffrage | 18 years of age; universal | 18 years of age; universal |
Telephone system | general assessment: fully automatic domestic telephone network
domestic: NA international: country code - 1-876; satellite earth stations - 2 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean); 3 coaxial submarine cables |
general assessment:
small system administered by French Department of Posts and Telecommunications domestic: NA international: microwave radio relay and HF radiotelephone communications to Comoros and other international connections |
Telephones - main lines in use | 444,400 (2002) | 9,314 (1997) |
Telephones - mobile cellular | 1.4 million (2002) | 0 (2000) |
Television broadcast stations | 7 (1997) | 3 (1997) |
Terrain | mostly mountains, with narrow, discontinuous coastal plain | generally undulating, with deep ravines and ancient volcanic peaks |
Total fertility rate | 1.98 children born/woman (2004 est.) | 6.24 children born/woman (2001 est.) |
Unemployment rate | 15.9% (2003 est.) | 45% (1997) |
Waterways | - | none |