Jamaica is an island in the West Indies, 90 mi (145 km) south of Cuba and 100 mi (161 km) west of Haiti. It is a little smaller than Connecticut. The island is made up of coastal lowlands, a limestone plateau, and the Blue Mountains, a group of volcanic hills, in the east.
Country lead by Sovereign: Queen Elizabeth II (1952)
Governor-General: Kenneth Hall (2006)
Prime Minister: Portia Simpson Miller (2006)
Population
2,758,124 (growth rate: 0.8%); birth rate: 20.8/1000; infant mortality rate: 16.0/1000; life expectancy: 73.2; density per sq mi: 660
Land Area
4,181 sq mi (10,829 sq km); total area: 4,244 sq mi (10,991 sq km)
Monetary unit
Jamaican dollar Language
English, Jamaican Creole
Ethnicity black 90.9%, East Indian 1.3%, white 0.2%, Chinese 0.2%, mixed 7.3%, other 0.1%
Religion 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%
Transportation Railways: 272 km; note: 207 km belonging to the Jamaica Railway Corporation, were in common carrier service but are no longer operational; the remaining track is privately owned and used to transport bauxite (2003). Highways: total: 18,700 km; paved: 13,109 km; unpaved: 5,591 km (1999 est.). Ports and harbors: Kingston, Port Esquivel, Port Kaiser, Port Rhoades, Rocky Point. Airports: 35 (2004 est.).
