]! ^! 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. 
]" ^" Caribbean, island in the Caribbean Sea, south of Cuba ^# 18 15 N, 77 30 W ^$ Central America and the Caribbean ^% `! 10,991 sq km `" 10,831 sq km `# 160 sq km ^& slightly smaller than Connecticut ^' 0 km ^( 1,022 km ^) measured from claimed archipelagic straight baselines `$ 12 nm `H 24 nm `I 200 nm `J 200 nm or to edge of the continental margin ^* tropical; hot, humid; temperate interior ^+ mostly mountains, with narrow, discontinuous coastal plain ^, `% Caribbean Sea 0 m `& Blue Mountain Peak 2,256 m ^- bauxite, gypsum, limestone ^. `' 16.07% `( 10.16% `) 73.77% (2001) ^/ 250 sq km (1998 est.) ^0 hurricanes (especially July to November) ^1 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 _J `K 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 `L none of the selected agreements ^2 strategic location between Cayman Trench and Jamaica Channel, the main sea lanes for the Panama Canal 
]# ^3 2,731,832 (July 2005 est.) ^4 `* 27.5% (male 385,099/female 367,398) `+ 65.6% (male 897,953/female 893,509) `, 6.9% (male 83,632/female 104,241) (2005 est.) ^5 `! 27.25 years `- 26.55 years `. 27.97 years (2005 est.) ^6 0.71% (2005 est.) ^7 16.56 births/1,000 population (2005 est.) ^8 5.37 deaths/1,000 population (2005 est.) ^9 -4.07 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2005 est.) ^: `/ 1.05 male(s)/female `0 1.05 male(s)/female `+ 1.01 male(s)/female `, 0.8 male(s)/female `1 1 male(s)/female (2005 est.) ^; `! 12.36 deaths/1,000 live births `- 13.35 deaths/1,000 live births `. 11.32 deaths/1,000 live births (2005 est.) ^< `1 73.33 years `- 71.63 years `. 75.12 years (2005 est.) ^= 1.95 children born/woman (2005 est.) ^> 1.2% (2003 est.) ^? 22,000 (2003 est.) ^@ 900 (2003 est.) ^A `2 Jamaican(s) `3 Jamaican ^B black 90.9%, East Indian 1.3%, white 0.2%, Chinese 0.2%, mixed 7.3%, other 0.1% ^C 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% ^D English, patois English ^E `M age 15 and over has ever attended school `1 87.9% `- 84.1% `. 91.6% (2003 est.) 
]$ ^F `4 none `5 Jamaica ^H constitutional parliamentary democracy ^I Kingston ^J 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 ^K 6 August 1962 (from UK) ^L Independence Day, 6 August (1962) ^M 6 August 1962 ^N based on English common law; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction ^O 18 years of age; universal ^P `6 Queen ELIZABETH II (since 6 February 1952), represented by Governor General Sir Howard Felix COOKE (since 1 August 1991) `7 Prime Minister Percival James PATTERSON (since 30 March 1992) `8 Cabinet appointed by the governor general on the advice of the prime minister `9 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 ^Q 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) `9 last held 16 October 2002 (next to be held in October 2007) `: percent of vote by party - PNP 52%, JLP 47.3%; seats by party - PNP 34, JLP 26 ^R Supreme Court (judges appointed by the governor general on the advice of the prime minister); Court of Appeal ^S Jamaica Labor Party or JLP [Bruce GOLDING]; National Democratic Movement or NDM [Hyacinth BENNETT]; People's National Party or PNP [Percival James PATTERSON] ^T New Beginnings Movement or NBM; Rastafarians (black religious/racial cultists, pan-Africanists) ^U 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 ^V `N Ambassador Gordon SHIRLEY `O 1520 New Hampshire Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20036 `P [1] (202) 452-0660 `Q [1] (202) 452-0081 `R Miami and New York ^W `N Ambassador Sue McCourt COBB `Z Jamaica Mutual Life Center, 2 Oxford Road, 3rd floor, Kingston 5 `[ use embassy street address `P [1] (876) 929-4850 through 4859 `Q [1] (876) 935-6001 ^X diagonal yellow cross divides the flag into four triangles - green (top and bottom) and black (hoist side and outer side) 
]% ^Y The Jamaican economy is heavily dependent on services, which now account for 60% 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 2003-04, with brisk tourist seasons. 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. Uncertain economic conditions have led to increased civil unrest, including gang violence fueled by the drug trade. In 2004, the government faced the difficult prospect of having to achieve fiscal discipline in order to maintain debt payments while simultaneously attacking a serious and growing crime problem which is hampering economic growth. Attempts at deficit control were derailed by Hurricane Ivan in September 2004, which required substantial government spending to repair the damage. Despite the hurricane, tourism looks set to enjoy solid growth for the foreseeable future. ^Z $11.13 billion (2004 est.) ^[ 1.9% (2004 est.) ^\ purchasing power parity - $4,100 (2004 est.) ^] `; 6.1% `< 32.7% `= 61.3% (2004 est.) ^^ 1.14 million (2004 est.) ^_ agriculture 20.1%, industry 16.6%, services 63.4% (2003) ^` 15% (2004 est.) ^a 19.7% (2002 est.) _! `> 2.7% `? 30.3% (2000) _d 37.9 (2000) _" 12.4% (2004 est.) _P 32% of GDP (2004 est.) _# `@ $2.793 billion `A $3.157 billion, including capital expenditures of $236 million (2004 est.) _Q 146.1% of GDP (2004 est.) _$ sugarcane, bananas, coffee, citrus, yams, vegetables, poultry, goats, milk, crustaceans, and mollusks _% tourism, bauxite/alumina, textiles, agro processing, wearing apparel, light manufactures, rum, cement, metal, paper, chemical products, telecommunications _& -2% (2000 est.) _' 6.289 billion kWh (2002) _( 5.849 billion kWh (2002) _) 0 kWh (2002) _* 0 kWh (2002) _+ 0 bbl/day (2001 est.) _, 66,000 bbl/day (2001 est.) _- NA _. NA _X $-830.7 million (2004 est.) _/ $1.679 billion f.o.b. (2004 est.) _0 alumina, bauxite, sugar, bananas, rum, coffee, yams, beverages, chemicals, wearing apparel, mineral fuels _1 US 17.4%, Canada 14.8%, France 13%, China 10.5%, UK 8.7%, Netherlands 7.5%, Norway 6%, Germany 5.9% (2004) _2 $3.624 billion f.o.b. (2004 est.) _3 food and other consumer goods, industrial supplies, fuel, parts and accessories of capital goods, machinery and transport equipment, construction materials _4 US 38.7%, Trinidad and Tobago 13.2%, France 5.6%, Japan 4.7% (2004) _Y $1.4 billion (2004 est.) _5 $5.964 billion (2004 est.) _6 $16 million (2003) _7 Jamaican dollar (JMD) _8 Jamaican dollars per US dollar - 61.197 (2004), 57.741 (2003), 48.416 (2002), 45.996 (2001), 42.986 (2000) _9 1 April - 31 March 
]& _: 444,400 (2002) _; 1.4 million (2002) _< `B fully automatic domestic telephone network `C NA `D country code - 1-876; satellite earth stations - 2 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean); 3 coaxial submarine cables _= AM 10, FM 13, shortwave 0 (1998) _> 7 (1997) _? .jm _@ 1,480 (2003) _A 600,000 (2002) 
]' _e `! 272 km `b 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) _B `! 18,700 km `E 13,109 km `F 5,591 km (1999 est.) _C Kingston, Port Esquivel, Port Kaiser, Port Rhoades, Rocky Point _K `! 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 `S 8 (Germany 2, Greece 5, UAE 1) (2005) _D 35 (2004 est.) _E `! 11 `G 2 `_ 4 `T 5 (2004 est.) _L `! 24 `_ 2 `T 22 (2004 est.) 
]( _F Jamaica Defense Force: Ground Forces, Coast Guard, Air Wing _M 18 years of age for voluntary military service; younger recruits may be conscripted with parental consent (2001) _] males age 18-49: 696,900 (2005 est.) Manpower fit for military service: males age 18-49: 587,006 (2005 est.) _^ `` 26,080 (2005 est.) _N $31.2 million (2003) _O 0.4% (2003) 
]) _H none _I 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 