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.)

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, Wetlands, 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

People

Population: 2,652,443 (July 1999 est.)

Age structure:
0-14 years: 31% (male 421,127; female 402,593)
15-64 years: 62% (male 819,956; female 828,176)
65 years and over: 7% (male 79,747; female 100,844) (1999 est.)

Population growth rate: 0.64% (1999 est.)

Birth rate: 20.22 births/1,000 population (1999 est.)

Death rate: 5.39 deaths/1,000 population (1999 est.)

Net migration rate: -8.39 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1999 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
total population: 0.99 male(s)/female (1999 est.)

Infant mortality rate: 13.93 deaths/1,000 live births (1999 est.)

Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 75.62 years
male: 73.22 years
female: 78.13 years (1999 est.)

Total fertility rate: 2.26 children born/woman (1999 est.)

Nationality:
noun: Jamaican(s)
adjective: Jamaican

Ethnic groups: black 90.4%, East Indian 1.3%, white 0.2%, Chinese
0.2%, mixed 7.3%, other 0.6%

Religions: Protestant 61.3% (Church of God 21.2%, Baptist 8.8%,
Anglican 5.5%