Jamaica (2001) | Saint Helena (2002) | |
![]() | ![]() | |
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 | 1 administrative area and 2 dependencies*; Ascension*, Saint Helena, Tristan da Cunha* |
Age structure | 0-14 years:
29.7% (male 405,189; female 386,555) 15-64 years: 63.52% (male 845,226; female 847,944) 65 years and over: 6.78% (male 80,667; female 100,055) (2001 est.) |
0-14 years: 18.8% (male 698; female 678)
15-64 years: 71.9% (male 2,727; female 2,531) 65 years and over: 9.3% (male 296; female 387) (2002 est.) |
Agriculture - products | sugarcane, bananas, coffee, citrus, potatoes, vegetables; poultry, goats, milk | corn, potatoes, vegetables; timber; fish, crawfish (on Tristan da Cunha) |
Airports | 35 (2000 est.) | 1 (2001) |
Airports - with paved runways | total:
11 2,438 to 3,047 m: 2 1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 914 to 1,523 m: 3 under 914 m: 5 (2000 est.) |
total: 1
over 3,047 m: 1 (2002) |
Airports - with unpaved runways | total:
24 914 to 1,523 m: 2 under 914 m: 22 (2000 est.) |
- |
Area | total:
10,990 sq km land: 10,830 sq km water: 160 sq km |
total: 410 sq km
land: 410 sq km water: 0 sq km note: includes St. Helena Island, Ascension, and the island group of Tristan da Cunha, which consists of Tristan da Cunha Island, Gough Island, Inaccessible Island, and the three Nightingale Islands |
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 dropoff in tourism. Elections in 1980 saw the democratic socialists voted out of office. Subsequent governments have been open market oriented. Political violence marred elections during the 1990s. | Uninhabited when first discovered by the Portuguese in 1502, Saint Helena was garrisoned by the British during the 17th century. It acquired fame as the place of Napoleon BONAPARTE's exile, from 1815 until his death in 1821, but its importance as a port of call declined after the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869. Ascension Island is the site of a US Air Force auxiliary airfield; Gough Island has a meteorological station. |
Birth rate | 18.12 births/1,000 population (2001 est.) | 13.26 births/1,000 population (2002 est.) |
Budget | revenues:
$2.23 billion expenditures: $2.56 billion, including capital expenditures of $232.5 million (FY99/00 est.) |
revenues: $11.2 million
expenditures: $11 million, including capital expenditures of $NA (FY92) |
Capital | Kingston | Jamestown |
Climate | tropical; hot, humid; temperate interior | Saint Helena - tropical; marine; mild, tempered by trade winds; Tristan da Cunha - temperate; marine, mild, tempered by trade winds (tends to be cooler than Saint Helena) |
Coastline | 1,022 km | 60 km |
Constitution | 6 August 1962 | 1 January 1989 |
Country name | conventional long form:
none conventional short form: Jamaica |
conventional long form: none
conventional short form: Saint Helena |
Currency | Jamaican dollar (JMD) | Saint Helenian pound (SHP) |
Death rate | 5.48 deaths/1,000 population (2001 est.) | 6.29 deaths/1,000 population (2002 est.) |
Debt - external | $4.7 billion (2000 est.) | $NA |
Dependency status | - | overseas territory of the UK |
Diplomatic representation from the US | chief of mission:
Ambassador Stanley Louis MCLELLAND 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) 926-6743 |
none (overseas territory of the UK) |
Diplomatic representation in the US | chief of mission:
Ambassador Richard Leighton BERNAL 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 (overseas territory of the UK) |
Disputes - international | none | none |
Economic aid - recipient | $102.7 million (1995) | $12.6 million (1995); note - $5.3 million from UK (1997) |
Economy - overview | Key sectors in this island economy are bauxite (alumina and bauxite account for more than half of exports) and tourism. Since assuming office in 1992, Prime Minister PATTERSON has eliminated most price controls, streamlined tax schedules, and privatized government enterprises. Continued tight monetary and fiscal policies have helped slow inflation - although inflationary pressures are mounting - and stabilize the exchange rate, but have resulted in the slowdown of economic growth (moving from 1.5% in 1992 to 0.5% in 1995). In 1996, GDP showed negative growth (-1.4%) and remained negative through 1999. Serious problems include: high interest rates; increased foreign competition; the weak financial condition of business in general resulting in receiverships or closures and downsizings of companies; the shift in investment portfolios to non-productive, short-term high yield instruments; a pressured, sometimes sliding, exchange rate; a widening merchandise trade deficit; and a growing internal debt for government bailouts to various ailing sectors of the economy, particularly the financial sector. Depressed economic conditions in 1999-2000 led to increased civil unrest, including a mounting crime rate. Jamaica's medium-term prospects will depend upon encouraging investment in the productive sectors, maintaining a competitive exchange rate, stabilizing the labor environment, selling off reacquired firms, and implementing proper fiscal and monetary policies. | The economy depends largely on financial assistance from the UK, which amounted to about $5 million in 1997 or almost one-half of annual budgetary revenues. The local population earns income from fishing, the raising of livestock, and sales of handicrafts. Because there are few jobs, 25% of the work force has left to seek employment on Ascension Island, on the Falklands, and in the UK. |
Electricity - consumption | 6.073 billion kWh (1999) | 4.65 million kWh (2000) |
Electricity - exports | 0 kWh (1999) | 0 kWh (2000) |
Electricity - imports | 0 kWh (1999) | 0 kWh (2000) |
Electricity - production | 6.53 billion kWh (1999) | 5 million kWh (2000) |
Electricity - production by source | fossil fuel:
92.28% hydro: 1.36% nuclear: 0% other: 6.36% (1999) |
fossil fuel: 100%
hydro: 0% nuclear: 0% other: 0% (2000) |
Elevation extremes | lowest point:
Caribbean Sea 0 m highest point: Blue Mountain Peak 2,256 m |
lowest point: Atlantic Ocean 0 m
highest point: Queen Mary's Peak on Tristan da Cunha 2,060 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, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Marine Life Conservation, Nuclear Test Ban, 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% | African descent 50%, white 25%, Chinese 25% |
Exchange rates | Jamaican dollars per US dollar - 45.557 (January 2001), 42.701 (2000), 39.044 (1999), 36.550 (1998), 35.404 (1997), 37.120 (1996) | Saint Helenian pounds per US dollar - 0.6981 (January 2002), 0.6944 (2001), 0.6596 (2000), 0.6180 (1999), 0.6037 (1998), 0.6047 (1997); note - the Saint Helenian pound is at par with the British pound |
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) and Deputy Prime Minister Seymour MULLINGS (since NA 1993) 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; prime minister and deputy prime minister appointed by the governor general |
chief of state: Queen ELIZABETH II (since 6 February 1952)
head of government: Governor and Commander in Chief David HOLLAMBY (since NA June 1999) cabinet: Executive Council consists of the governor, two ex officio officers, and six elected members of the Legislative Council elections: none; the monarch is hereditary; governor is appointed by the monarch |
Exports | $1.7 billion (f.o.b., 2000 est.) | $704,000 f.o.b. (1995) |
Exports - commodities | alumina, bauxite; sugar, bananas, rum | fish (frozen, canned, and salt-dried skipjack, tuna), coffee, handicrafts |
Exports - partners | US 35.7%, EU (excluding UK) 15.8%, UK 13%, Canada 10.5% (1999) | South Africa, UK |
Fiscal year | 1 April - 31 March | 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) | blue with the flag of the UK in the upper hoist-side quadrant and the Saint Helenian shield centered on the outer half of the flag; the shield features a rocky coastline and three-masted sailing ship |
GDP | purchasing power parity - $9.7 billion (2000 est.) | purchasing power parity - $18 million (1998 est.) |
GDP - composition by sector | agriculture:
7.4% industry: 35.2% services: 57.4% (1999 est.) |
agriculture: NA%
industry: NA% services: NA% |
GDP - per capita | purchasing power parity - $3,700 (2000 est.) | purchasing power parity - $2,500 (1998 est.) |
GDP - real growth rate | 0.2% (2000 est.) | NA% |
Geographic coordinates | 18 15 N, 77 30 W | 15 56 S, 5 42 W |
Geography - note | strategic location between Cayman Trench and Jamaica Channel, the main sea lanes for Panama Canal | harbors at least 40 species of plants unknown anywhere else in the world; Ascension is a breeding ground for sea turtles and sooty terns |
Highways | total:
19,000 km paved: 13,433 km unpaved: 5,567 km (1997) |
total: 158 km (Saint Helena 118 km, Ascension 40 km, Tristan da Cunha 0 km)
paved: 138 km (Saint Helena 98km, Ascension 40 km, Tristan da Cunha 0 km) unpaved: 20 km (Saint Helena 20 km, Ascension 0 km, Tristan da Cunha 0 km) |
Household income or consumption by percentage share | lowest 10%:
2.9% highest 10%: 28.9% (1996) |
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 | - |
Imports | $3 billion (f.o.b., 2000 est.) | $14.434 million c.i.f. (1995) |
Imports - commodities | machinery and transport equipment, construction materials, fuel, food, chemicals, fertilizers | food, beverages, tobacco, fuel oils, animal feed, building materials, motor vehicles and parts, machinery and parts |
Imports - partners | US 47.8%, Caricom countries 12.4%, Latin America 7.2%, EU (excluding UK) 4.7% (1999) | UK, South Africa |
Independence | 6 August 1962 (from UK) | none (overseas territory of the UK) |
Industrial production growth rate | -2% (2000 est.) | NA% |
Industries | tourism, bauxite, textiles, food processing, light manufactures, rum, cement, metal, paper, chemical products | construction, crafts (furniture, lacework, fancy woodwork), fishing |
Infant mortality rate | 14.16 deaths/1,000 live births (2001 est.) | 21.54 deaths/1,000 live births (2002 est.) |
Inflation rate (consumer prices) | 8.8% (2000 est.) | 3.2% (1997 est.) |
International organization participation | ACP, C, Caricom, CCC, CDB, ECLAC, FAO, G-15, G-19, G-77, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICFTU, ICRM, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO (pending member), ILO, IMF, IMO, Intelsat, Interpol, IOC, IOM (observer), ISO, ITU, LAES, NAM, OAS, OPANAL, OPCW, UN, UN Security Council (temporary), UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO | ICFTU |
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) | 21 (2000) | 1 (2000) |
Irrigated land | 350 sq km (1993 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; Magistrate's Court; Small Debts Court; Juvenile Court |
Labor force | 1.13 million (1998) | 3,500
note: 1,200 work offshore (1998 est.) |
Labor force - by occupation | services 60%, agriculture 21%, industry 19% (1998) | agriculture and fishing 6%, industry (mainly construction) 48%, services 46% (1987 est.) |
Land boundaries | 0 km | 0 km |
Land use | arable land:
14% permanent crops: 6% permanent pastures: 24% forests and woodland: 17% other: 39% (1993 est.) |
arable land: 12.9%
permanent crops: 0% other: 87.1% (1998 est.) |
Languages | English, Creole | English |
Legal system | based on English common law; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction | NA |
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 18 December 1997 (next to be held by March 2002) election results: percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - PNP 50, JLP 10 |
unicameral Legislative Council (16 seats, including the speaker, 3 ex officio and 12 elected members; members are elected by popular vote to serve four-year terms)
elections: last held 27 June 2001 (next to be held NA June 2005) election results: percent of vote - NA%; seats - independents 15 |
Life expectancy at birth | total population:
75.42 years male: 73.45 years female: 77.49 years (2001 est.) |
total population: 77.2 years
male: 74.31 years female: 80.23 years (2002 est.) |
Literacy | definition:
age 15 and over has ever attended school total population: 85% male: 80.8% female: 89.1% (1995 est.) |
definition: age 20 and over can read and write
total population: 97% male: 97% female: 98% (1987 est.) |
Location | Caribbean, island in the Caribbean Sea, south of Cuba | islands in the South Atlantic Ocean, about midway between South America and Africa |
Map references | Central America and the Caribbean | Africa |
Maritime claims | measured from claimed archipelagic baselines
contiguous zone: 24 NM continental shelf: 200-m depth or to the depth of exploitation exclusive economic zone: 200 NM territorial sea: 12 NM |
exclusive fishing zone: 200 NM
territorial sea: 12 NM |
Merchant marine | total:
1 ship (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 1,930 GRT/3,065 DWT ships by type: petroleum tanker 1 (2000 est.) |
none (2002 est.) |
Military - note | - | defense is the responsibility of the UK |
Military branches | Jamaica Defense Force (includes Ground Forces, Coast Guard, and Air Wing), Jamaica Constabulary Force | - |
Military expenditures - dollar figure | $30 million (FY95/96 est.) | - |
Military expenditures - percent of GDP | NA% | - |
Military manpower - availability | males age 15-49:
736,627 (2001 est.) |
- |
Military manpower - fit for military service | males age 15-49:
517,077 (2001 est.) |
- |
Military manpower - military age | 18 years of age | - |
Military manpower - reaching military age annually | males:
27,729 (2001 est.) |
- |
National holiday | Independence Day, first Monday in August (1962) | Birthday of Queen ELIZABETH II, second Saturday in June (1926) |
Nationality | noun:
Jamaican(s) adjective: Jamaican |
noun: Saint Helenian(s)
adjective: Saint Helenian |
Natural hazards | hurricanes (especially July to November) | active volcanism on Tristan da Cunha |
Natural resources | bauxite, gypsum, limestone | fish |
Net migration rate | -7.52 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2001 est.) | 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2002 est.) |
Pipelines | petroleum products 10 km | - |
Political parties and leaders | Jamaica Labor Party or JLP [Edward SEAGA]; National Democratic Movement or NDM [Bruce GOLDING]; People's National Party or PNP [Percival James PATTERSON] | none |
Political pressure groups and leaders | New Beginnings Movement or NBM; Rastafarians (black religious/racial cultists, pan-Africanists) | none |
Population | 2,665,636 (July 2001 est.) | 7,317 (July 2002 est.) |
Population below poverty line | 34.2% (1992 est.) | NA% |
Population growth rate | 0.51% (2001 est.) | 0.7% (2002 est.) |
Ports and harbors | Alligator Pond, Discovery Bay, Kingston, Montego Bay, Ocho Rios, Port Antonio, Rocky Point, Port Esquivel (Longswharf) | Georgetown (on Ascension), Jamestown |
Radio broadcast stations | AM 10, FM 13, shortwave 0 (1998) | AM 1, FM 0, shortwave 0 (1998) |
Radios | 1.215 million (1997) | 3,000 (1997) |
Railways | total:
370 km standard gauge: 370 km 1.435-m gauge; note - 207 km belong to the Jamaica Railway Corporation in common carrier service, but are no longer operational; the remaining track is privately owned and used to transport bauxite |
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% | Anglican (majority), Baptist, Seventh-Day Adventist, 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: 0.81 male(s)/female total population: 1 male(s)/female (2001 est.) |
at birth: 1.04 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.03 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.08 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.77 male(s)/female total population: 1.04 male(s)/female (2002 est.) |
Suffrage | 18 years of age; universal | NA years of age |
Telephone system | general assessment:
fully automatic domestic telephone network domestic: NA international: satellite earth stations - 2 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean); 3 coaxial submarine cables |
general assessment: can communicate worldwide
domestic: automatic network international: HF radiotelephone from Saint Helena to Ascension which is a major coaxial submarine cable relay point between South Africa, Portugal, and UK ; satellite earth stations - 2 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean) |
Telephones - main lines in use | 353,000 (1996) | 2,000 (1997) |
Telephones - mobile cellular | 54,640 (1996) | 0 (1997) |
Television broadcast stations | 7 (1997) | 0
note: television programs are received in St. Helena via satellite and distributed by cable (2002) |
Terrain | mostly mountains, with narrow, discontinuous coastal plain | Saint Helena - rugged, volcanic; small scattered plateaus and plains
note: the other islands of the group have a volcanic origin |
Total fertility rate | 2.08 children born/woman (2001 est.) | 1.53 children born/woman (2002 est.) |
Unemployment rate | 16% (2000 est.) | 14% (1998 est.) |
Waterways | none | none |