JAMAICA Official name: Jamaica Location: Caribbean International organisations:The African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States, The Commonwealth of Nations, The Non-Aligned Movement, >The Organisation of American States, The United Nations, The World Trade Organisation

Borders: None
Coastline: Caribbean Sea
Land area: 10,991 Km2
Population: 2,600,000
Ethnicity: More than 90% of the population is wholly or predominantly of African descent. There are small minorities of Europeans, Indonesians, Indians and Chinese.
Languages: English is the official language and is generally understood. Most of the population speaks a local creole called Patois or Patwa.
Religion: Christian 65% (Protestant 61%, Catholic 4%), local or African-derived religions 35%.
Form of government: Parliamentary democratic republic. Jamaica is divided into 14 parishes.

Capital: Kingston Constitution: The Constitution of Jamaica came into effect on 6 August 1962. Head of state: Queen Elizabeth II, Queen of Jamaica. The Queen came to the British throne on 6 February 1952, and has held the title Queen of Jamaica since 6 August 1962. The Queen's functions in Jamaica are excercised by a Governor-General, appointed by the Queen on the advice of the Prime Minister. The current Governor-General, Sir Howard Cooks, took office on 1 August 1991.

Head of government: The Prime Minister, appointed by the Governor-General. The Prime Minister is the leader of the largest party in the legislature and is accountable to it.
Legislature: Jamaica has a bicameral legislature, the Parliament. The House of Representatives has 60 members, elected for five-year terms from single-member constituencies. The Senate has 21 members, 13 appointed by the Prime Minister and eight appointed by the Leader of the Opposition. The legislature does not have a website.
Electoral authority: The Electoral Office of Jamaica administers national elections
Freedom House rating: Political Rights 2, Civil Liberties 3

Political history

Jamaica was discovered by Columbus in 1494 and claimed for Spain, but the island was seized by the English in 1655 and became the main British base in the Caribbean for 300 years. The English brought African slaves to Jamaica and they soon became the majority of the population. Slavery was abolished in 1807 but the island continued to be ruled by a small group of English planters. In 1866 there was a serious African revolt, which led to reforms in the government of the country.

Michael Manley

In 1944 a constitution was introduced and progress towards self-government continued until independence in 1962. Jamaican politics has always been dominated by conflict between two parties, the conservative Jamaica Labour Party of the first prime minister, Sir Alexander Bustamante, and the socialist People's National Party, led first by Norman Manley and later by his son Michael Manley. In 1972 the PNP under Michael Manley gained power and introduced a radical socialist policy, also allowing greater Cuban influence in the country. The resulting economic difficulties led to the PNP's defeat by the JLP under Edward Seaga in 1980. The PNP returned to power on a more moderate platform in 1989 and has held office ever since.