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Compare Jamaica (2008) - World (2001)

Compare Jamaica (2008) z World (2001)

 Jamaica (2008)World (2001)
 JamaicaWorld
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
267 nations, dependent areas, other, and miscellaneous entries
Age structure 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.)
0-14 years:
29.6% (male 933,647,850; female 886,681,514)

15-64 years:
63.4% (male 1,975,418,386; female 1,931,021,694)

65 years and over:
7% (male 188,760,223; female 241,449,691) (2001 est.)
Agriculture - products sugarcane, bananas, coffee, citrus, yams, ackees, vegetables; poultry, goats, milk; crustaceans, mollusks -
Airports 34 (2007) -
Airports - with paved runways 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: 23


914 to 1,523 m: 2


under 914 m: 21 (2007)
-
Area total: 10,991 sq km


land: 10,831 sq km


water: 160 sq km
total:
510.072 million sq km

land:
148.94 million sq km

water:
361.132 million sq km

note:
70.8% of the world's surface is water, 29.2% is land
Area - comparative slightly smaller than Connecticut land area about 16 times the size of the US
Background 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 and replaced by African slaves. England seized the island in 1655 and established a plantation economy based on sugar, cocoa, and coffee. 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. Violent crime, drug trafficking, and poverty pose significant challenges to the government today. Nonetheless, many rural and resort areas remain relatively safe and contribute substantially to the economy. Globally, the 20th century was marked by: (a) two devastating world wars; (b) the Great Depression of the 1930s; (c) the end of vast colonial empires; (d) rapid advances in science and technology, from the first airplane flight at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina (US) to the landing on the moon; (e) the Cold War between the Western alliance and the Warsaw Pact nations; (f) a sharp rise in living standards in North America, Europe, and Japan; (g) increased concerns about the environment, including loss of forests, shortages of energy and water, the drop in biological diversity, and air pollution; (h) the onset of the AIDS epidemic; and (i) the ultimate emergence of the US as the only world superpower. The planet's population continues to explode: from 1 billion in 1820, to 2 billion in 1930, 3 billion in 1960, 4 billion in 1974, 5 billion in 1988, and 6 billion in 2000. For the 21st century, the continued exponential growth in science and technology raises both hopes (e.g., advances in medicine) and fears (e.g., development of even more lethal weapons of war).
Birth rate 20.44 births/1,000 population (2007 est.) 21.37 births/1,000 population (2001 est.)
Budget revenues: $3.441 billion


expenditures: $3.905 billion (2007 est.)
-
Capital name: Kingston


geographic coordinates: 18 00 N, 76 48 W


time difference: UTC-5 (same time as Washington, DC during Standard Time)
-
Climate tropical; hot, humid; temperate interior two large areas of polar climates separated by two rather narrow temperate zones from a wide equatorial band of tropical to subtropical climates
Coastline 1,022 km 356,000 km
Constitution 6 August 1962 -
Country name conventional long form: none


conventional short form: Jamaica
-
Death rate 6.59 deaths/1,000 population (2007 est.) 8.93 deaths/1,000 population (2001 est.)
Debt - external $7.138 billion (31 December 2007 est.) $2 trillion for less developed countries (2000 est.)
Diplomatic representation from the US 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 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 none -
Economic aid - recipient $35.74 million (2005) traditional worldwide foreign aid $50 billion (1997 est.)
Economy - overview 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. Remittances account for nearly 20% of GDP and are equivalent to tourism revenues. Jamaica's economy, already saddled with a record of sluggish growth, will suffer an economic setback from damages caused by Hurricane Dean in August 2007. 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 debt-to-GDP ratio of 135%. Jamaica's onerous debt burden - the fourth highest per capita - is the result of government bailouts to ailing sectors of the economy, most notably the financial sector in the mid-to-late 1990s. Inflation also has declined, standing at about 7% at the end of 2007. High unemployment exacerbates the serious crime problem, including gang violence that is fueled by the drug trade. The GOLDING administration 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. Growth in global output (gross world product, GWP) rose to 4.8% in 2000 from 3.5% in 1999, despite continued low growth in Japan, severe financial difficulties in other East Asian countries, and widespread dislocations in several transition economies. The US economy continued its remarkable sustained prosperity, growing at 5% in 2000, although growth slowed in fourth quarter 2000; the US accounted for 23% of GWP. The EU economies grew at 3.3% and produced 20% of GWP. China, the second largest economy in the world, continued its strong growth and accounted for 10% of GWP. Japan grew at only 1.3% in 2000; its share in GWP is 7%. As usual, the 15 successor nations of the USSR and the other old Warsaw Pact nations experienced widely different rates of growth. The developing nations also varied in their growth results, with many countries facing population increases that eat up gains in output. Externally, the nation-state, as a bedrock economic-political institution, is steadily losing control over international flows of people, goods, funds, and technology. Internally, the central government often finds its control over resources slipping as separatist regional movements - typically based on ethnicity - gain momentum, e.g., in many of the successor states of the former Soviet Union, in the former Yugoslavia, in India, and in Canada. In Western Europe, governments face the difficult political problem of channeling resources away from welfare programs in order to increase investment and strengthen incentives to seek employment. The addition of 80 million people each year to an already overcrowded globe is exacerbating the problems of pollution, desertification, underemployment, epidemics, and famine. Because of their own internal problems and priorities, the industrialized countries devote insufficient resources to deal effectively with the poorer areas of the world, which, at least from the economic point of view, are becoming further marginalized. Continued financial difficulties in East Asia, Russia, and many African nations, as well as the slowdown in US economic growth, cast a shadow over short-term global economic prospects; GWP probably will grow at 3-4% in 2001. The introduction of the euro as the common currency of much of Western Europe in January 1999, while paving the way for an integrated economic powerhouse, poses serious economic risks because of varying levels of income and cultural and political differences among the participating nations. (For specific economic developments in each country of the world in 2000, see the individual country entries.)
Electricity - consumption 6.131 billion kWh (2005) -
Electricity - exports 0 kWh (2005) -
Electricity - imports 0 kWh (2005) -
Electricity - production 6.985 billion kWh (2005) -
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:
Bentley Subglacial Trench -2,540 m

highest point:
Mount Everest 8,850 m (1999 est.)
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 large areas subject to overpopulation, industrial disasters, pollution (air, water, acid rain, toxic substances), loss of vegetation (overgrazing, deforestation, desertification), loss of wildlife, soil degradation, soil depletion, erosion
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 91.2%, mixed 6.2%, other or unknown 2.6% (2001 census) -
Exchange rates Jamaican dollars per US dollar - 69.034 (2007), 65.768 (2006), 62.51 (2005), 61.197 (2004), 57.741 (2003) -
Executive branch 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 1,531 bbl/day (2004) $6 trillion (f.o.b., 2000 est.)
Exports - commodities alumina, bauxite, sugar, bananas, rum, coffee, yams, beverages, chemicals, wearing apparel, mineral fuels the whole range of industrial and agricultural goods and services
Exports - partners US 30.2%, Canada 15.6%, China 15.2%, UK 10.3%, Netherlands 7%, Norway 4.6% (2006) in value, about 75% of exports from the developed countries
Fiscal year 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) -
GDP - GWP (gross world product) - purchasing power parity - $43.6 trillion (2000 est.)
GDP - composition by sector agriculture: 5%


industry: 34%


services: 61% (2007 est.)
agriculture:
4%

industry:
32%

services:
64% (1999 est.)
GDP - per capita - purchasing power parity - $7,200 (2000 est.)
GDP - real growth rate 1.5% (2007 est.) 4.8% (2000 est.)
Geographic coordinates 18 15 N, 77 30 W -
Geography - note strategic location between Cayman Trench and Jamaica Channel, the main sea lanes for the Panama Canal -
Highways - total:
NA km

paved:
NA km

unpaved:
NA km
Household income or consumption by percentage share lowest 10%: 2.1%


highest 10%: 35.8% (2004)
lowest 10%:
NA%

highest 10%:
NA%
Illicit drugs 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 71,420 bbl/day (2004) $6 trillion (f.o.b., 2000 est.)
Imports - commodities food and other consumer goods, industrial supplies, fuel, parts and accessories of capital goods, machinery and transport equipment, construction materials the whole range of industrial and agricultural goods and services
Imports - partners US 39.3%, Trinidad and Tobago 13.6%, Venezuela 9.5% (2006) in value, about 75% of imports by the developed countries
Independence 6 August 1962 (from UK) -
Industrial production growth rate 2% (2007 est.) 6% (2000 est.)
Industries tourism, bauxite/alumina, agro processing, light manufactures, rum, cement, metal, paper, chemical products, telecommunications dominated by the onrush of technology, especially in computers, robotics, telecommunications, and medicines and medical equipment; most of these advances take place in OECD nations; only a small portion of non-OECD countries have succeeded in rapidly adjusting to these technological forces; the accelerated development of new industrial (and agricultural) technology is complicating already grim environmental problems
Infant mortality rate 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.)
52.61 deaths/1,000 live births (2001 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices) 7.1% (2007 est.) all countries 25%; developed countries 1% to 3% typically; developing countries 5% to 60% typically (2000 est.)

note:
national inflation rates vary widely in individual cases, from stable prices in Japan to hyperinflation in a number of Third World countries
International organization participation ACP, C, Caricom, CDB, FAO, G-15, G-77, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICCt (signatory), ICRM, IDA, 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 -
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) - 10,350 (2000 est.)
Irrigated land 250 sq km (2002) 2,481,250 sq km (1993 est.)
Judicial branch Supreme Court (judges appointed by the governor general on the advice of the prime minister); Court of Appeal -
Labor force 1.255 million (2007 est.) NA
Labor force - by occupation agriculture: 17%


industry: 19%


services: 64% (2006)
agricultue NA%, industry NA%, services NA%
Land boundaries 0 km the land boundaries in the world total 251,480.24 km (not counting shared boundaries twice)
Land use arable land: 15.83%


permanent crops: 10.01%


other: 74.16% (2005)
arable land:
10%

permanent crops:
1%

permanent pastures:
26%

forests and woodland:
32%

other:
31% (1993 est.)
Languages English, English patois -
Legal system based on English common law; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction all members of the UN plus Switzerland are parties to the statute that established the International Court of Justice (ICJ) or World Court
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 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: 73.12 years


male: 71.43 years


female: 74.9 years (2007 est.)
total population:
63.79 years

male:
62.15 years

female:
65.51 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.)
-
Location Caribbean, island in the Caribbean Sea, south of Cuba -
Map references Central America and the Caribbean World, Time Zones
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
contiguous zone:
24 NM claimed by most, but can vary

continental shelf:
200-m depth claimed by most or to depth of exploitation; others claim 200 NM or to the edge of the continental margin

exclusive fishing zone:
200 NM claimed by most, but can vary

exclusive economic zone:
200 NM claimed by most, but can vary

territorial sea:
12 NM claimed by most, but can vary

note:
boundary situations with neighboring states prevent many countries from extending their fishing or economic zones to a full 200 NM; 43 nations and other areas that are landlocked include Afghanistan, Andorra, Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bhutan, Bolivia, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Central African Republic, Chad, Czech Republic, Ethiopia, Holy See (Vatican City), Hungary, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Lesotho, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Malawi, Mali, Moldova, Mongolia, Nepal, Niger, Paraguay, Rwanda, San Marino, Slovakia, Swaziland, Switzerland, Tajikistan, The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Turkmenistan, Uganda, Uzbekistan, West Bank, Zambia, Zimbabwe
Merchant marine 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 Jamaica Defense Force: Ground Forces, Coast Guard, Air Wing (2007) -
Military expenditures - dollar figure - aggregate real expenditure on arms worldwide in 1999 remained at approximately the 1998 level, about three-quarters of a trillion dollars (1999 est.)
Military expenditures - percent of GDP 0.6% (2006 est.) roughly 2% of gross world product (1999 est.)
National holiday Independence Day, 6 August (1962) -
Nationality noun: Jamaican(s)


adjective: Jamaican
-
Natural hazards hurricanes (especially July to November) large areas subject to severe weather (tropical cyclones), natural disasters (earthquakes, landslides, tsunamis, volcanic eruptions)
Natural resources bauxite, gypsum, limestone the rapid using up of nonrenewable mineral resources, the depletion of forest areas and wetlands, the extinction of animal and plant species, and the deterioration in air and water quality (especially in Eastern Europe, the former USSR, and China) pose serious long-term problems that governments and peoples are only beginning to address
Net migration rate -6.07 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2007 est.) -
Political parties and leaders 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 New Beginnings Movement or NBM; Rastafarians (black religious/racial cultists, pan-Africanists) -
Population 2,780,132 (July 2007 est.) 6,157,400,560 (July 2001 est.)
Population below poverty line 14.8% (2003 est.) -
Population growth rate 0.777% (2007 est.) 1.25% (2001 est.)
Ports and harbors - Chiba, Houston, Kawasaki, Kobe, Marseille, Mina' al Ahmadi (Kuwait), New Orleans, New York, Rotterdam, Yokohama
Radio broadcast stations AM 10, FM 13, shortwave 0 (1998) AM NA, FM NA, shortwave NA
Radios - NA
Railways - total:
1,201,337 km includes about 190,000 to 195,000 km of electrified routes of which 147,760 km are in Europe, 24,509 km in the Far East, 11,050 km in Africa, 4,223 km in South America, and 4,160 km in North America; note - fastest speed in daily service is 300 km/hr attained by France's Societe Nationale des Chemins-de-Fer Francais (SNCF) Le Train a Grande Vitesse (TGV) - Atlantique line

broad gauge:
251,153 km

standard gauge:
710,754 km

narrow gauge:
239,430 km
Religions 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: 1.034 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.)
at birth:
1.05 male(s)/female

under 15 years:
1.05 male(s)/female

15-64 years:
1.02 male(s)/female

65 years and over:
0.78 male(s)/female

total population:
1.05 male(s)/female (2001 est.)
Suffrage 18 years of age; universal -
Telephone system 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)
general assessment:
NA

domestic:
NA

international:
NA
Telephones - main lines in use 319,000 (2005) NA
Telephones - mobile cellular 2.804 million (2005) NA
Television broadcast stations 7 (1997) NA
Terrain mostly mountains, with narrow, discontinuous coastal plain the greatest ocean depth is the Mariana Trench at 10,924 m in the Pacific Ocean
Total fertility rate 2.36 children born/woman (2007 est.) 2.73 children born/woman (2001 est.)
Unemployment rate 10.2% (2007 est.) 30% combined unemployment and underemployment in many non-industrialized countries; developed countries typically 4%-12% unemployment (2000 est.)
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