female: 14.92 deaths/1,000 live births (2008 est.)

Life expectancy at birth:

total population: 73.59 years
male: 71.88 years
female: 75.38 years (2008 est.)

Total fertility rate:

2.3 children born/woman (2008 est.)

HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate:

1.2% (2003 est.)

HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS:

22,000 (2003 est.)

HIV/AIDS - deaths:

900 (2003 est.)

Nationality:

noun: Jamaican(s)
adjective: Jamaican

Ethnic groups:

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)

Languages:

English, English patois

Literacy:

definition: age 15 and over has ever attended school
total population: 87.9%
male: 84.1%
female: 91.6% (2003 est.)

School life expectancy (primary to tertiary education):

total: 12 years
male: 11 years
female: 12 years (2003)

Education expenditures:

5.3% of GDP (2005)

Government
Jamaica

Country name:

conventional long form: none
conventional short form: Jamaica

Government type:

constitutional parliamentary democracy

Capital:

name: Kingston
geographic coordinates: 18 00 N, 76 48 W
time difference: UTC-5 (same time as Washington, DC during Standard
Time)

Administrative divisions:

14 parishes; Clarendon, Hanover, Kingston, Manchester, Portland,
Saint Andrew, Saint Ann, Saint Catherine, Saint Elizabeth, Saint
James, Saint Mary, Saint Thomas, Trelawny, Westmoreland
note: for local government purposes, Kingston and Saint Andrew were
amalgamated in 1923 into the present single corporate body known as
the Kingston and Saint Andrew Corporation

Independence:

6 August 1962 (from UK)

National holiday:

Independence Day, 6 August (1962)

Constitution:

6 August 1962

Legal system:

based on English common law; has not accepted compulsory ICJ
jurisdiction

Suffrage:

18 years of age; universal

Executive branch:

chief of state: Queen ELIZABETH II (since 6 February 1952);
represented by Governor General Kenneth O. HALL (since 15 February
2006)
head of government: Prime Minister Bruce GOLDING (since 11 September
2007)
cabinet: Cabi