Climate: tropical; hot, humid; temperate interior
Terrain: mostly mountains with narrow, discontinuous coastal plain
Natural resources: bauxite, gypsum, limestone
Land use: arable land: 19% permanent crops: 6% meadows and pastures: 18% forest and woodland: 28% other: 29%
Irrigated land: 350 sq km (1989 est.)
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
natural hazards: hurricanes (especially July to November)
international agreements: party to - Biodiversity, Climate Change, Law
of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Marine Life Conservation, Nuclear Test
Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution
Note: strategic location between Cayman Trench and Jamaica Channel,
the main sea lanes for Panama Canal
@Jamaica:People
Population: 2,574,291 (July 1995 est.)
Age structure:
0-14 years: 33% (female 412,565; male 431,043)
15-64 years: 60% (female 786,700; male 770,681)
65 years and over: 7% (female 96,348; male 76,954) (July 1995 est.)