Location: Caribbean, island in the Caribbean Sea, south of Cuba

Geographic coordinates: 18 15 N, 77 30 W

Map references: Central America and the Caribbean

Area:
total: 10,990 sq km
land: 10,830 sq km
water: 160 sq km

Area-comparative: slightly smaller than Connecticut

Land boundaries: 0 km

Coastline: 1,022 km

Maritime claims: measured from claimed archipelagic baselines
continental shelf: 200-m depth or to the depth of exploitation
exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
territorial sea: 12 nm

Climate: tropical; hot, humid; temperate interior

Terrain: mostly mountains with narrow, discontinuous coastal plain

Elevation extremes:
lowest point: Caribbean Sea 0 m
highest point: Blue Mountain Peak 2,256 m

Natural resources: bauxite, gypsum, limestone

Land use:
arable land: 14%
permanent crops: 6%
permanent pastures: 24%
forests and woodland: 17%
other: 39% (1993 est.)
note: irrigated land-3% (350 sq km)(1993 est.)

Irrigated land: 350 sq km (1993 est.)

Natural hazards: hurricanes (especially July to November)

Environment-current issues: deforestation; coastal waters polluted by
industrial waste, sewage, and oil spills; damage to coral reefs; air
pollution in Kingston results from vehicle emissions

Environment-international agreements:
party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Law of the
Sea, Marine Dumping, Marine Life Conservation, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone
Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Whaling
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements

Geography-note: strategic location between Cayman Trench and Jamaica
Channel, the main sea lanes for Panama Canal

@Jamaica:People

Population: 2,634,678 (July 1998 est.)

Age structure:
0-14 years: 32% (male 425,233; female 406,529)
15-64 years: 62% (male 806,846; female 817,145)
65 years and over: 6% (male 79,125; female 99,800) (July 1998 est.)

Population growth rate: 0.7% (1998 est.)

Birth rate: 20.91 births/1,000 population (1998 est.)

Death rate: 5.45 deaths/1,000 population (1998 est.)

Net migration rate: -8.45 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1998 est.)

Sex ratio:
at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 0.99 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.79 male(s)/female (1998 est.)

Infant mortality rate: 14.47 deaths/1,000 live births (1998 est.)

Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 75.37 years
male: 73.01 years
female: 77.84 years (1998 est.)

Total ferti