Adjacent Words

Jamaica definitions

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CIA World Factbook, 2008

Background
The island - discovered by Christopher COLUMBUS in 1494 - was settled by the Spanish early in the 16th century. The native Taino Indians, who had inhabited Jamaica for centuries, were gradually exterminated and replaced by African slaves. England seized the island in 1655 and established a plantation economy based on sugar, cocoa, and coffee. The abolition of slavery in 1834 freed a quarter million slaves, many of whom became small farmers. Jamaica gradually obtained increasing independence from Britain, and in 1958 it joined other British Caribbean colonies in forming the Federation of the West Indies. Jamaica gained full independence when it withdrew from the Federation in 1962. Deteriorating economic conditions during the 1970s led to recurrent violence as rival gangs affiliated with the major political parties evolved into powerful organized crime networks involved in international drug smuggling and money laundering. Violent crime, drug trafficking, and poverty pose significant challenges to the government today. Nonetheless, many rural and resort areas remain relatively safe and contribute substantially to the economy.

Location
total: 10,991 sq km land: 10,831 sq km water: 160 sq km

Area - comparative
territorial sea: 12 nm contiguous zone: 24 nm exclusive economic zone: 200 nm continental shelf: 200 nm or to edge of the continental margin

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

Natural resources
arable land: 15.83% permanent crops: 10.01% other: 74.16% (2005)

Irrigated land
Total: 0.41 cu km/yr (34%/17%/49%) Per capita: 155 cu m/yr (2000)

Natural hazards
party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Marine Life Conservation, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements

Geography - note
0-14 years: 32.5% (male 459,968/female 444,963) 15-64 years: 60.1% (male 822,486/female 848,310) 65 years and over: 7.4% (male 91,856/female 112,549) (2007 est.)

Median age
total: 23.2 years male: 22.6 years female: 23.7 years (2007 est.)

Population growth rate
at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.034 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.97 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.816 male(s)/female total population: 0.978 male(s)/female (2007 est.)

Infant mortality rate
total: 15.73 deaths/1,000 live births male: 16.4 deaths/1,000 live births female: 15.01 deaths/1,000 live births (2007 est.)

Life expectancy at birth
total population: 73.12 years male: 71.43 years female: 74.9 years (2007 est.)

Total fertility rate
noun: Jamaican(s) adjective: Jamaican

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

Country name
conventional long form: none conventional short form: Jamaica

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

Administrative divisions
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
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: Cabinet appointed by the governor general on the advice of the prime minister elections: none; the monarch is hereditary; governor general appointed by the monarch on the recommendation of the prime minister; following legislative elections, the leader of the majority party or the leader of the majority coalition in the House of Representatives is appointed prime minister by the governor general; the deputy prime minister is recommended by the prime minister

Legislative branch
elections: last held 3 September 2007 (next to be held no later than October 2012) election results: percent of vote by party - JLP 50.1%, PNP 49.8%; seats by party - JLP 33, PNP 27

Judicial branch
chief of mission: Ambassador Gordon SHIRLEY chancery: 1520 New Hampshire Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20036 telephone: [1] (202) 452-0660 FAX: [1] (202) 452-0081 consulate(s) general: Miami, New York

Diplomatic representation from the US
chief of mission: Ambassador Brenda LaGrange JOHNSON embassy: 142 Old Hope Road, Kingston 6 mailing address: P.O. Box 541, Kingston 5 telephone: [1] (876) 702-6000 FAX: [1] (876) 702-6348

Flag description
agriculture: 5% industry: 34% services: 61% (2007 est.)

Labor force
agriculture: 17% industry: 19% services: 64% (2006)

Unemployment rate
lowest 10%: 2.1% highest 10%: 35.8% (2004)

Distribution of family income - Gini index
revenues: $3.441 billion expenditures: $3.905 billion (2007 est.)

Public debt
general assessment: fully automatic domestic telephone network domestic: the 1999 agreement to open the market for telecommunications services resulted in rapid growth in mobile-cellular telephone usage; mobile-cellular teledensity now exceeds 100 per 100 persons; the number of fixed-lines in use has been declining international: country code - 1-876; the Fibralink submarine cable network provides enhanced delivery of business and broadband traffic and is linked to the Americas Region Caribbean Ring System (ARCOS-1) submarine cable in the Dominican Republic; the link to ARCOS-1 provides seamless connectivity to US, parts of the Caribbean, Central America, and South America; satellite earth stations - 2 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean)

Radio broadcast stations
total: 11 2,438 to 3,047 m: 2 914 to 1,523 m: 4 under 914 m: 5 (2007)

Airports - with unpaved runways
total: 23 914 to 1,523 m: 2 under 914 m: 21 (2007)

Roadways
total: 20,996 km paved: 15,386 km (includes 33 km of expressways) unpaved: 5,610 km (2004)

Merchant marine
total: 13 ships (1000 GRT or over) 161,700 GRT/241,663 DWT by type: bulk carrier 6, cargo 2, carrier 1, petroleum tanker 1, roll on/roll off 3 foreign-owned: 12 (Denmark 1, Germany 1, Greece 8, Latvia 2) registered in other countries: 1 (Panama 1) (2007)

Ports and terminals
males age 18-49: 592,018 females age 18-49: 616,500 (2005 est.)

Manpower fit for military service
males age 18-49: 478,761 females age 18-49: 504,541 (2005 est.)

Manpower reaching military service age annually
males age 18-49: 27,923 females age 18-49: 27,889 (2005 est.)

Military expenditures - percent of GDP
0.6% (2006 est.)

Disputes - international
none

Illicit drugs
transshipment point for cocaine from South America to North America and Europe; illicit cultivation and consumption of cannabis; government has an active manual cannabis eradication program; corruption is a major concern; substantial money-laundering activity; Colombian narcotics traffickers favor Jamaica for illicit financial transactions

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: a country on the island of Jamaica; became independent of England in 1962; much poverty; the major industry is tourism
2: an island in the West Indies to the south of Cuba and to the west of Haiti

Merriam Webster's

geographical name island West Indies in the Greater Antilles; a dominion of the Commonwealth of Nations since 1962; formerly a British colony capital Kingston area 4471 square miles (11,580 square kilometers), population 2,464,000 • Jamaican adjective or noun

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Jamaica Ja*mai"ca, n. One of the West India is islands. Jamaica ginger, a variety of ginger, called also white ginger, prepared in Jamaica from the best roots, which are deprived of their epidermis and dried separately. Jamaica pepper, allspice. Jamaica rose (Bot.), a West Indian melastomaceous shrub (Blakea trinervis), with showy pink flowers.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Nutmeg Nut"meg, n. [OE. notemuge; note nut + OF. muge musk, of the same origin as E. musk; cf. OF. noix muguette nutmeg, F. noix muscade. See Nut, and Musk.] (Bot.) The kernel of the fruit of the nutmeg tree (Myristica fragrans), a native of the Molucca Islands, but cultivated elsewhere in the tropics. Note: This fruit is a nearly spherical drupe, of the size of a pear, of a yellowish color without and almost white within. This opens into two nearly equal longitudinal valves, inclosing the nut surrounded by its aril, which is mace The nutmeg is an aromatic, very grateful to the taste and smell, and much used in cookery. Other species of Myristica yield nutmegs of inferior quality. American, Calabash, or Jamaica, nutmeg, the fruit of a tropical shrub (Monodora Myristica). It is about the size of an orange, and contains many aromatic seeds imbedded in pulp. Brazilian nutmeg, the fruit of a lauraceous tree, Cryptocarya moschata. California nutmeg, tree of the Yew family (Torreya Californica), growing in the Western United States, and having a seed which resembles a nutmeg in appearance, but is strongly impregnated with turpentine. Clove nutmeg, the Ravensara aromatica, a laura ceous tree of Madagascar. The foliage is used as a spice, but the seed is acrid and caustic. Jamaica nutmeg. See American nutmeg (above). Nutmeg bird (Zo["o]l.), an Indian finch (Munia punctularia). Nutmeg butter, a solid oil extracted from the nutmeg by expression. Nutmeg flower (Bot.), a ranunculaceous herb (Nigella sativa) with small black aromatic seeds, which are used medicinally and for excluding moths from furs and clothing. Nutmeg liver (Med.), a name applied to the liver, when, as the result of heart or lung disease, it undergoes congestion and pigmentation about the central veins of its lobules, giving it an appearance resembling that of a nutmeg. Nutmeg melon (Bot.), a small variety of muskmelon of a rich flavor. Nutmeg pigeon (Zo["o]l.), any one of several species of pigeons of the genus Myristicivora, native of the East Indies and Australia. The color is usually white, or cream-white, with black on the wings and tail. Nutmeg wood (Bot.), the wood of the Palmyra palm. Peruvian nutmeg, the aromatic seed of a South American tree (Laurelia sempervirens). Plume nutmeg (Bot.), a spicy tree of Australia (Atherosperma moschata).