Jamaica

Jamaica is the third most populous Anglophone country in the Americas, after the United States and Canada. It is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, situated in the Caribbean Sea, east of the Central American mainland, south of Cuba, and west of the island of Hispaniola on which Haiti and the Dominican Republic are situated. Its indigenous Arawakan speaking Ta├¡no inhabitants named the island Xaymaca, meaning either the “land of springs,” or the “land of wood and water.” Formerly a Spanish possession known as Santiago, then the British West Indies Crown colony of Jamaica, the country’s population is composed mainly of the descendants of former African slaves. 

 

Population (2014 est) – 2,930,050

Area – 6829 miles

Capital – Kingston

Ethnic Background 

     Black – 92%

     Mixed – 6.1%

     East Indian – .8%

     Other – .7%

Exports – alumina, bauxite, sugar, rum, coffee, yams, beverages, chemicals, wearing apparel, mineral fuels

Imports – food and other consumer goods, industrial supplies, fuel, parts and accessories of capital goods, machinery and transport equipment, construction materials

Life Expectancy (2014 est) – M 72 years     F 75 years

Infant Mortality (2014 est) – 13.69 deaths/1,000 live births

Adult Illiteracy Rate (2011 est) – 13%