Notice: SSI.php was unable to load a session! This may cause problems with logout and other functions - please make sure SSI.php is included before *anything* else in all your scripts! in /home/blurwqr/public_html/community/SSI.php on line 158
1BluePlanet Jamaica
Jamaica flag of Jamaica
Print this pages
Email to a friend Add to Favorites
 
 
Welcome, Guest. Please login or register here




map of Jamaica
Introduction: JAMAICA
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.
GEOGRAPHY
Country name: conventional long form: none
conventional short form: Jamaica
Capital: Kingston
Location: Caribbean, island in the Caribbean Sea, south of Cuba
Geographic Coordinates: 18 15 N, 77 30 W
Area: total: 10,991 sq km
land: 10,831 sq km
water: 160 sq km
Area Comparative: slightly smaller than Connecticut
Land Boundaries: 0 km
Coastline: 1,022 km
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
Climate: tropical; hot, humid; temperate interior
Terrain: mostly mountains, with narrow, discontinuous coastal plain
Elavation Extremes: lowest point: Caribbean Sea 0 m
highest point: Blue Mountain Peak 2,256 m
Natural Resources: bauxite, gypsum, limestone
GOVERNEMENT
Governement Type: constitutional parliamentary democracy
Administratives 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
Independence 6 August 1962 (from UK)
National Holiday: Independence Day, 6 August (1962)
Constitution: 6 August 1962
Legal System; based on English common law; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction
Suffrage 18 years of age; universal
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
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
Judicial Branch: Supreme Court (judges appointed by the governor general on the advice of the prime minister); Court of Appeal
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]
PEOPLE
Population: 2,731,832 (July 2005 est.)
Age structure: 0-14 years: 27.5% (male 385,099/female 367,398)
15-64 years: 65.6% (male 897,953/female 893,509)
65 years and over: 6.9% (male 83,632/female 104,241) (2005 est.)
Median age: total: 27.25 years
male: 26.55 years
female: 27.97 years (2005 est.)
Nationality: noun: Jamaican(s)
adjective: Jamaican
Ethnic groups: black 90.9%, East Indian 1.3%, white 0.2%, Chinese 0.2%, mixed 7.3%, other 0.1%
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%
Languages: English, patois English
COMUNICATIONS
Telephones - main lines in use: 444,400 (2002)
Telephones - mobile cellular: 1.4 million (2002)
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
Radio broadcast stations: AM 10, FM 13, shortwave 0 (1998)
Television broadcast stations: 7 (1997)
Internet country code: .jm
Internet hosts: 1,480 (2003)
Internet users: 600,000 (2002)
TRANSPORT
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)
Highways: total: 18,700 km
paved: 13,109 km
unpaved: 5,591 km (1999 est.)
Waterways:  
Pipelines:  
Ports and harbors: Alligator Pond, Discovery Bay, Kingston, Montego Bay, Ocho Rios, Port Antonio, Rocky Point, Port Esquivel (Longswharf)
Merchant marine: total: 9 ships (1,000 GRT or over) 74,881 GRT/100,682 DWT
by type: bulk carrier 5, petroleum tanker 1, roll on/roll off 3
foreign-owned: 8 (Germany 2, Greece 5, UAE 1) (2005)
Airports: 35 (2004 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.)
Airports - with unpaved runways: total: 24
914 to 1,523 m: 2
under 914 m: 22 (2004 est.)
Heliports:  
 
 
Copyright © 1blueplanet.com