Jamaica

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Current government officials

Languages: English, Jamaican Creole

Ethnicity/race: black 91.2%, mixed 6.2%, other or unknown 2.6% (2001 census)

Religions: Protestant 62.5% (Seventh-Day Adventist 10.8%, Pentecostal 9.5%, Other Church of God 8.3%, Baptist 7.2%, New Testament Church of God 6.3%, Church of God in Jamaica 4.8%, Church of God of Prophecy 4.3%, Anglican 3.6%, other Christian 7.7%), Roman Catholic 2.6%, other or unspecified 14.2%, none 20.9%, (2001 census)

National Holiday: Independence Day, August 6

Literacy rate: 88% (2003 est.)

Economic summary: GDP/PPP (2011 est.): $25.07 billion; per capita $9,100. Real growth rate: 1.5%. Inflation: 7.7%. Unemployment: 12.7%. Arable land: 15.83%. Agriculture: sugarcane, bananas, coffee, citrus, yams, ackees, vegetables; poultry, goats, milk; crustaceans, mollusks. Labor force: 1.324 million; agriculture 17%, industry 19%, services 64% (2011). Industries: tourism, bauxite/alumina, agro processing, light manufactures, rum, cement, metal, paper, chemical products, telecommunications. Natural resources: bauxite, gypsum, limestone. Exports: $1.65 billion (2011 est.): alumina, bauxite, sugar, bananas, rum, coffee, yams, beverages, chemicals, wearing apparel, mineral fuels. Imports: $6.356 billion (2011 est.): food and other consumer goods, industrial supplies, fuel, parts and accessories of capital goods, machinery and transport equipment, construction materials. Major trading partners: U.S., Canada, China, UK, Netherlands, Norway, Trinidad and Tobago, Venezuela (2011).

Member of Commonwealth of Nations

Communications: Telephones: main lines in use: 263,100 (2009); mobile cellular: 3.103 million (2009). Broadcast media: privately-owned Radio Jamaica Limited and its subsidiaries operate multiple TV stations, subscription cable services, and radio stations; 2 other privately-owned television stations; roughly 70 radio stations (2007). Internet hosts: 3,897 (2010). Internet users: 1.581 (2009).

Transportation: Roadways: 22,121 km (includes 44 km of expressways). Ports and terminals: Discovery Bay (Port Rhoades), Kingston, Montego Bay, Port Antonio, Port Esquivel, Port Kaiser, Rocky Point. Airports: 27 (2012 est.).

International disputes: none.

Major sources and definitions