Where is Jamaica?
About Jamaica
The Land
The People
Life and Death
Health, Energy and the Environment
Education and Work
Travel, Communication and the Media
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Jamaica is an island country in the south of North America.
Jamaica has a border on all sides with the Caribbean Sea.
The land is mostly mountains with narrow coastal plains.
The geographical coordinates for the centre of Jamaica, also known as lines of latitude and longtitude, are:-
Latitude - 18 15N
Longitude - 77 30W
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Check the weather in Kingston now.
This is the time in Kingston now
The Jamaican flag is a diagonal yellow cross
with green triangles top and bottom and black triangles left and right.
The capital of Jamaica is Kingston.
Jamaica is a parliamentary democracy with a Prime Minister as head of government. The British monarch is Head of State represented by a governor general.
In elections everyone over the age of 18 can vote.
The currency in Jamaica is the Jamaican dollar. Jamaica is a member of the Commonwealth.
English is the official language.
Hear the National Anthem
These are the anthem words
Jamaica is a parliamentary democracy with a Prime Minister as head of government. The British monarch is Head of State represented by a governor general.
In elections everyone over the age of 18 can vote.
The currency in Jamaica is the Jamaican dollar. Jamaica is a member of the Commonwealth.
English is the official language.
Hear the National Anthem
These are the anthem words
We have already written our own history of England but are asking schools in Jamaica to provide us with a detailed history of
their own country. Check how here.
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The total land area of Jamaica is 10,831 sq kms which is the 14th largest in North America.
Jamaica has lakes, rivers and canals which total 160 sq kms.
Jamaica has no boundaries with other countries
Jamaica has a coastline of 1,022 kms which is the 10th longest in North America.
The highest point in Jamaica is Blue Mountain Peak at 2,256 metres.
The pie chart below shows how the land is split between agricultural land (crops and pastures), forests and other, which can be towns, villages, desert or frozen waste called tundra.
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The total population of Jamaica is 2.97 million people, making it the 13th largest country in North America by population.
Of this number 1.50 million are females and 1.47 million are males.
A person from Jamaica is called a Jamaican.
To be a citizen of Jamaica you must be born in Jamaica or one of your parents must be a citizen of Jamaica. It is not sufficient to be born in Jamaica. You have to live in Jamaica for
4 out of the previous 5 years before you can begin to apply for citizenship.
The largest five cities in Jamaica, by population are:-
- Kingston 937,700 people
- Spanish Town 145,018
- Portmore 102,861
- Montego Bay 82,867
- Mandeville 47,115
For each country we will give you a diagram showing the population density. This is the average number of people for each square kilometre.
Each little Owlbut is 1 person and
the big yellow rectangle is 1 sq km. After a while you can compare countries and see which ones are the most crowded. Remember it is only an average as
more people live closer together in towns and cities than in villages out in the country.
54.8% of the people live in cities or towns.
Each little Owlbut is 1 person and
the big yellow rectangle is 1 sq km. After a while you can compare countries and see which ones are the most crowded. Remember it is only an average as
more people live closer together in towns and cities than in villages out in the country.
54.8% of the people live in cities or towns.
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The birth rate in Jamaica is 18.0 births per 1,000 of population
The death rate in Jamaica is 6.7 deaths per 1,000 people.
Check this against the birth rate. If the death rate is higher than the birth rate then
the population will decrease unless immigrants arrive in the country.
There are 12.5 deaths of girls under 1 year per 1,000 of births and 13.7 deaths of boys.
The median age for females is 26.1 and for males is 25.1. The median age is that age which divides the population exactly in half so there are the same number
of people above the median age as below it.
The average age of a woman when she has her first child is 21.2.
The elderly dependency ratio is 13.8. This is the number of elderly people (ages 65+) per 100 people of working age (ages 15-64).
The potential support ratio is 7.2. This is the number of working-age people (ages 15-64) per one elderly person (ages 65+). As a population ages, the potential support ratio tends to fall, meaning there are fewer potential workers to support the elderly.
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Jamaica spends 5.4% of its total income on health care.
There are 0.41 doctors per 1,000 people.
There are 1.7 hospital beds per 1,000 people.
24.7% of the population are estimated as obese.
97.5% of the urban population and 89.4% of the rural population have drinking water that is either piped into their home or they have access to a public tap, a protected borehole, well, spring or
protected rainwater collection facility.
79.9% of the urban population and 84.1% of the rural population have access to a flushing toilet that is connected to a sewer. a pit latrine (that is a
permanent hole in the ground that is looked after) or a composting toilet.
Jamaica releases 13.0 million metric tons of carbon dioxide by burning fossil fuels in the process of producing and consuming energy. This puts it as the 9th highest in North America.
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Jamaica spends 5.4% of its total income on education.
Children usually start school at age 6 in Jamaica. Primary education is for six years until age 12 and is compulsory. Secondary education can
continue till 17 or even 19. This may be followed
by further education at a university or college.
Generally the school year consists of 3 terms and starts in the first week of September and finishes at the beginning of July. There is usually a 2 week
break at Christmas and 1 week break at Easter.
93.1% of females ad 84.0% of males are able to read and write by the age of 15.
28.3% of all people aged between 16 and 24 are not in work. Among females 34.4% are unemployed while with males 23.2% can't find work.
The total number of people available for work in Jamaica is 1.31 million.
They work in the following sectors.
- Agriculture includes farming, fishing and forestry work
- Industry includes mining, manufacturing, construction and energy workers
- Services is everything else
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There are 11 paved airports in Jamaica, which is the 12th highest number in North America.
There are no railways in Jamaica.
There are 16,148 kilometres of roads in Jamaica, which means Jamaica is in 5th place for the most kilometres of roads in North America.
There are 3 major national newspapers in Jamaica.
There are 3.14 million mobile phone users.
9% of the people have a fixed landline.
1.27 million people have access to the internet at home via any device (computer or mobile).
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