JAMAICA
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| (See reference map III) |
LAND
11,422 km2; 21% arable, 23% meadows and pastures, 19% forested, 37% waste, urban, or other
WATER
Limits of territorial waters (claimed): 12 nm
Coastline: 1,022 km
PEOPLE
Population: 2,295,000 (July 1982), average annual growth rate 1.2%
Nationality: noun—Jamaican(s); adjective—Jamaican
Ethnic divisions: African 76.3%, Afro-European 15.1%, East Indian and Afro-East Indian 3.4%, white 3.2%, Chinese and Afro-Chinese 1.2%, other 0.9%
Religion: predominantly Protestant, some Roman Catholic, some spiritualist cults
Language: English
Literacy: government claims 82%, but probably only about one-half of that number are functionally literate
Labor force: 1,006,900, including 269,000 unemployed (1980); 30% in agriculture, forestry, fishing and mining, 10% manufacturing/mining, 14% public administration, 4% construction, 11% commerce, 4% transportation and utilities, 16% services; 26% unemployed; shortage of technical and managerial personnel
Organized labor: about 33% of labor force (1980)
GOVERNMENT
Official name: Jamaica
Type: independent state within Commonwealth since August 1962, recognizing Elizabeth II as head of state
Capital: Kingston
Political subdivisions: 12 parishes and the Kingston-St. Andrew corporate area
Legal system: based on English common law; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction
National holiday: 7 August
Branches: Cabinet headed by Prime Minister; 60-member elected House of Representatives; 21-member Senate (13 nominated by the Prime Minister, eight by opposition leader); judiciary follows British tradition under a Chief Justice
Government leader: Prime Minister Edward P. G. SEAGA; Governor General Florizel GLASSPOLE
Suffrage: universal, age 18 and over
Elections: at discretion of Governor General upon advice of Prime Minister but within five years; latest held 30 October 1980
Political parties and leaders: Jamaica Labor Party (JLP), Edward Seaga; People's National Party (PNP), Michael Manley
Voting strength: (1980 general elections) approx. 58.8% JLP (51 seats in House), 41.2% PNP (9 seats)
Communists: Communist Party of Jamaica; Worker's Party of Jamaica; Worker's Party of Jamaica, Trevor Munroe
Other political or pressure groups: New World Group (Caribbean regionalists, nationalists, and leftist intellectual fraternity); Rastafarians (Negro religious/racial cultists, pan-Africanists); New Creation International Peacemakers Tabernacle (leftist group); Workers Liberation League (a Marxist coalition of students/labor)
Member of: CARICOM, FAO, G-77, GATT, IADB, IAEA, IBA, IBRD, ICAO, ICO, IDB, IFAD, IPC, ILO, IMCO, IMF, ISO, ITU, NAM, OAS, Pan American Health Organization, SELA, UN, UNESCO, UPU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO
ECONOMY
GNP: $2.4 billion (1980), $1,089 per capita; real growth rate 1981, 1% est.
Agriculture: main crops—sugarcane, citrus fruits, bananas, pimento, coconuts, coffee, cocoa, tobacco
Major industries: bauxite mining, textiles, food processing, light manufactures, tourism
Electric power: 1,400,000 kW capacity (1981); 2.2 billion kWh produced (1981), 974 kWh per capita
Exports: $1 billion (f.o.b., 1981 est.); alumina, bauxite, sugar, bananas, citrus fruits and fruit products, rum, cocoa
Imports: $1.5 billion (c.i.f., 1981 prov.); fuels, machinery, transportation and electrical equipment, food, fertilizer
Major trade partners: exports—US 37%, UK 25%, Canada 8%; imports—US 37%, UK 10%, Canada 6% (1978)
Budget: revenue $0.8 billion, expenditure $1.3 billion (1981)
Monetary conversion rate: 1 Jamaican dollar=US$0.5613
Fiscal year: 1 April-31 March
