Jamaica | Facts & Information

Updated September 9, 2022 | Infoplease Staff
Infoplease has everything you need to know about Jamaica. Check out our country profile, full of essential information about Jamaica's geography, history, government, economy, population, culture, religion and languages. If that's not enough, click over to our collection of world maps and flags.

Facts & Figures

  • Official name: Jamaica

    Land area: 4,181 sq mi (10,829 sq km)

    Total area: 4,244 sq mi (10,991 sq km)

    Sovereign: Queen Elizabeth II (1952)

    Governor-General: Patrick Allen (2009)

    Prime Minister: Portia Simpson-Miller (2012)

    Current government officials

    Capital: Kingston, 571,000

    Currency: Jamaican Dollar

    National Holiday: Independence Day, August 6

     

    Population: 2,930,050 (2014 est.)

    Population Change: Growth rate: 0.69%; 18.41 births/1,000 population (2017 est.); infant mortality rate: 13.69/1,000 live births;

    Life Expectancy: 73.48 years

     

    Nationality/Demonym: Jamaican

    Languages: English, Jamaican Creole

    Ethnicity/race: black 92.1%, mixed 6.1%, East Indian 0.8%, other 0.4%, unspecified 0.7% (2011 est.)

    Religions: Protestant 64.8% (includes Seventh Day Adventist 12.0%, Pentecostal 11.0%, Other Church of God 9.2%, New Testament Church of God 7.2%, Baptist 6.7%, Church of God in Jamaica 4.8%, Church of God of Prophecy 4.5%, Anglican 2.8%, United Church 2.1%, Methodist 1.6%, Revived 1.4%, Brethren .9%, and Moravian .7%), Roman Catholic 2.2%, Jehovah's Witness 1.9%, Rastafari 1.1%, other 6.5%, none 21.3%, unspecified 2.3% (2011 est.)

    Literacy rate: 87% (2011 est.)

     

    Major sources and definitions