From: bb@generali.harvard.edu (Brent Byer)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.caribbean
Subject: Healthy, wealthy and wise  [ long - 12k ]
Summary: data (CIA) for Caribbean area
Date: 9 Apr 92 16:21:57 GMT
Organization: Textware, Cambridge, MA


Whatcha,

Here is some potentially interesting data for the Caribbean.
(I include Costa Rica & Nicaragua since they have Afro-Carib communities).

I think that readers here might find the entire country reports
interesting, both to see what the CIA thinks about your own
special place, and to gain some insight on your neighbors.
Each report is about 7500 characters long; I have appended the
report for Jamaica as an example of what is included.

Would you all like to see the rest?
If so, would 1-2 per week or the "whole heap" at once be preferable?
  (If response is positive, I'll try to track down a 1991 version;
   I'll also post the FTP location of the entire (world) file,
   about 2 million characters, for those who want to grab it.)

My e-mail address is: bb@generali.harvard.edu  or  uunet!harvard!generali!bb

Have patience, me gone for a week; just a likkle visit down-so.
When I return, I'll have a "man in the hills" report on the (JA)
people's feelings about the new Prime Minister, PJ Patterson
(it might be biased, though, since I spend my time in
Westmoreland parish, which is PJ's old yard).

[ Oh, please allow a little "poetic license" on my use of
  "Healthy, wealthy and wise" .  I know very well that
  literacy and wisedom are not related. ]

And, a closing word from Peter Tosh:
  "Everybody want to go to heaven, but nobody want to die."

        Brent Byer

==================

[ Source of Data :  CIA World Factbook, 1990 ]

Country                         Avg Life Expect.  Inf. Mort.  Literacy% Avg GDP

Anguilla                        73.5 (71 M, 76 F)     18         80     $ 3,350
Antigua and Barbuda             72   (70 M, 74 F)     23         90e    $ 5,550
Aruba                           76   (72 M, 80 F)      8         95     $10,600

Bahamas, The                    71.5 (68 M, 75 F)     21         95     $ 9,875
Belize                          69.5 (67 M, 72 F)     35         93e    $ 1,285
Bermuda                         75   (72 M, 78 F)     12         98     $23,000

British Virgin Islands          74   (71 M, 77 F)     14         98     $ 8,900
Cayman Islands                  77   (74 M, 80 F)     10         98     $10,600
Costa Rica                      76.5 (74 M, 79 F)     16         93     $ 1,630

Cuba                            75.5 (73 M, 78 F)     12         98.5   $ 2,000
Dominica                        76   (73 M, 79 F)     13         80e    $ 1,408
Dominican Republic              67   (65 M, 69 F)     62         74     $   790

Grenada                         71.5 (69 M, 74 F)     30         85     $ 1,535
Guadeloupe                      73.5 (70 M, 77 F)     17         70+    $ 3,300
Guyana                          67.5 (65 M, 70 F)     40         85     $   420

Haiti                           53.5 (52 M, 55 F)    107         23     $   380
Jamaica                         77   (75 M, 79 F)     16         74     $ 1,529
Martinique                      74   (71 M, 77 F)     11         70+    $ 3,650

Montserrat                      77   (74 M, 80 F)      9         77     $ 3,780
Netherlands Antilles            76.5 (74 M, 79 F)      9         95     $ 5,500
Nicaragua                       61.5 (61 M, 62 F)     68         88o    $   470

Puerto Rico                     72   (68 M, 76 F)     17         89     $ 5,574
St. Kitts and Nevis             67.5 (64 M, 71 F)     40         80     $ 3,240
St. Lucia                       71.5 (69 M, 74 F)     18         78     $ 1,258

St. Vincent and the Grenadines  70   (68 M, 72 F)     32         82     $ 1,305
Trinidad and Tobago             71.5 (69 M, 74 F)     10         98     $ 3,070
Turks and Caicos Islands        75   (72 M, 78 F)     14         99e    $ 5,000

 GDP = Gross Domestic Product (per capita)
 Inf Mort = Infant Mortality, # Deaths per 1000 live births
 Literacy notes:  e = estimated ; o = old data, 1981

-------
(For comparison)

Country				Avg Life Expect.  Inf. Mort.  Literacy	Avg GDP

Canada				77.5 (74 M, 81 F)      7         99	$19,600
France				77.5 (73 M, 82 F)      6         99	$14,600
Germany, Federal Republic of	77   (73 M, 81 F)      7         99	$15,300

Japan				79   (76 M, 82 F)      5         99	$15,600
Netherlands			77.5 (74 M, 81 F)      7         99	$13,900

United Kingdom			76   (73 M, 79 F)      7         99	$14,300
United States			76.5 (73 M, 80 F)     10         99	$21,082

==================

Country:  Jamaica
- Geography
Total area: 10,990 km2; land area: 10,830 km2
 
Comparative area: slightly smaller than Connecticut
 
Land boundaries: none
 
Coastline: 1,022 km
 
Maritime claims:
 
Territorial sea: 12 nm
 
Climate: tropical; hot, humid; temperate interior
 
Terrain: mostly mountains with narrow, discontinuous coastal plain
 
Natural resources: bauxite, gypsum, limestone
 
Land use: 19% arable land; 6% permanent crops; 18% meadows and pastures;
28% forest and woodland; 29% other; includes 3% irrigated
 
Environment: subject to hurricanes (especially July to November);
deforestation; water pollution
 
Note: strategic location between Cayman Trench and Jamaica
Channel, the main sea lanes for Panama Canal
 
- People
Population: 2,441,396 (July 1990), growth rate 0.6% (1990)
 
Birth rate: 21 births/1,000 population (1990)
 
Death rate: 5 deaths/1,000 population (1990)
 
Net migration rate: - 10 migrants/1,000 population (1990)
 
Infant mortality rate: 16 deaths/1,000 live births (1990)
 
Life expectancy at birth: 75 years male, 79 years female (1990)
 
Total fertility rate: 2.3 children born/woman (1990)
 
Nationality: noun--Jamaican(s); adjective--Jamaican
 
Ethnic divisions: 76.3% African, 15.1% Afro-European, 3.4% East Indian and
Afro-East Indian, 3.2% white, 1.2% Chinese and Afro-Chinese, 0.8% other
 
Religion: predominantly Protestant (including Anglican and Baptist), some
Roman Catholic, some spiritualist cults
 
Language: English, Creole
 
Literacy: 74%
 
Labor force: 728,700; 32% agriculture, 28% industry and commerce,
27% services, 13% government; shortage of technical and managerial personnel
(1984)
 
Organized labor: 25% of labor force (1989)
 
- Government
Long-form name: none
 
Type: parliamentary democracy
 
Capital: Kingston
 
Administrative divisions: 14 parishes; Clarendon, Hanover, Kingston,
Manchester, Portland, Saint Andrew, Saint Ann, Saint Catherine, Saint
Elizabeth, Saint James, Saint Mary, Saint Thomas, Trelawny, Westmoreland
 
Independence: 6 August 1962 (from UK)
 
Constitution: 6 August 1962
 
Legal system: based on English common law; has not accepted compulsory ICJ
jurisdiction
 
National holiday: Independence Day (first Monday in August), 6 August 1990
 
Executive branch: British monarch, governor general, prime minister,
Cabinet
 
Legislative branch: bicameral Parliament consists of an upper house
or Senate and a lower house or House of Representatives
 
Judicial branch: Supreme Court
 
Leaders:
Chief of State--Queen ELIZABETH II (since 6 February 1952), represented
by Governor General Sir Florizel A. GLASSPOLE (since 2 March 1973);
 
Head of Government--Prime Minister Michael MANLEY (since 9 February 1989)
 
Political parties and leaders: People's National Party (PNP), Michael
Manley; Jamaica Labor Party (JLP), Edward Seaga; Workers' Party of Jamaica
(WPJ), Trevor Munroe
 
Suffrage: universal at age 18
 
Elections:
House of Representatives--last held 9 February 1989 (next to be held
by February 1994);
results--PNP 57%, JLP 43%;
seats--(60 total) PNP 45, JLP 15
 
Communists: Workers' Party of Jamaica (Marxist-Leninist)
 
Other political or pressure groups:
Rastafarians (black religious/racial cultists, pan-Africanists)
 
Member of: ACP, CARICOM, CCC, Commonwealth, FAO, G-77, GATT, IADB, IAEA,
IBA, IBRD, ICAO, ICO, IDB--Inter-American Development Bank, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMF,
IMO, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, ISO, ITU, NAM, OAS, PAHO, SELA, UN, UNESCO, UPU, WFTU,
WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO
 
Diplomatic representation: Ambassador Keith JOHNSON; Chancery at
Suite 355, 1850 K Street NW, Washington DC 20006; telephone (202) 452-0660;
there are Jamaican Consulates General in Miami and New York;
US--Ambassador Glen HOLDEN; Embassy at 3rd Floor, Jamaica Mutual Life
Center, 2 Oxford Road, Kingston; telephone p809o 929-4850
 
Flag: diagonal yellow cross divides the flag into four triangles--green
(top and bottom) and black (hoist side and fly side)
 
- Economy
Overview: The economy is based on sugar, bauxite, and tourism.
In 1985 it suffered a setback with the closure of some facilities in the
bauxite and alumina industry, a major source of hard currency earnings. Since
1986 an economic recovery has been under way. In 1987 conditions began to
improve for the bauxite and alumina industry because of increases in world metal
prices. The recovery has also been supported by growth in the manufacturing and
tourism sectors. In September 1988, Hurricane Gilbert inflicted severe
damage on crops and the electric power system, a sharp but temporary
setback to the economy. By October 1989 the economic recovery from the
hurricane was largely complete and real growth was up about 3% for 1989.
 
GDP: $3.8 billion, per capita $1,529; real growth rate 3.0% (1989
est.)
 
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 15% (1989)
 
Unemployment rate: 18.7% (1988)
 
Budget: revenues $1.1 billion; expenditures $1.5 billion, including
capital expenditures of $NA (FY88 est.)
 
Exports: $948 million (f.o.b., 1989 est.);
commodities--bauxite, alumina, sugar, bananas;
partners--US 40%, UK, Canada, Trinidad and Tobago, Norway
 
Imports: $1.6 billion (c.i.f., 1989 est.); commodities--petroleum,
machinery, food, consumer goods, construction goods; partners--US 46%,
UK, Venezuela, Canada, Japan, Trinidad and Tobago
 
External debt: $4.4 billion (1989 est.)
 
Industrial production: growth rate 3% (1989 est.)
 
Electricity: 1,437,000 kW capacity; 2,390 million kWh produced,
960 kWh per capita (1989)
 
Industries: tourism, bauxite mining, textiles, food processing,
light manufactures
 
Agriculture: accounts for about 9% of GDP, one-third of work force, and
17% of exports; commercial crops--sugarcane, bananas, coffee, citrus, potatoes,
and vegetables; livestock and livestock products include poultry, goats, milk;
not self-sufficient in grain, meat, and dairy products
 
Illicit drugs: illicit cultivation of cannabis has decreased, with
production shifting from large to small plots and nurseries to evade
aerial detection and eradication
 
Aid: US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70-88), $1.1 billion; Western
(non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments (1970-87), $1.2 billion;
OPEC bilateral aid (1979-89), $27 million; Communist countries (1974-88),
$349 million
 
Currency: Jamaican dollar (plural--dollars);
1 Jamaican dollar (J$) = 100 cents
 
Exchange rates: Jamaican dollars (J$) per US$1--6.5013 (January 1990),
5.7446 (1989), 5.4886 (1988), 5.4867 (1987), 5.4778 (1986), 5.5586 (1985)
 
Fiscal year: 1 April-31 March
 
- Communications
Railroads: 370 km, all 1.435-meter standard gauge, single track
 
Highways: 18,200 km total; 12,600 km paved, 3,200 km gravel, 2,400 km
improved earth
 
Pipelines: refined products, 10 km
 
Ports: Kingston, Montego Bay
 
Merchant marine: 5 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 13,048 GRT/21,412
DWT; includes 1 cargo, 1 container, 1 roll-on/roll-off cargo, 1 petroleum, oils,
and lubricants (POL) tanker, 1 bulk
 
Civil air: 6 major transport aircraft
 
Airports: 41 total, 25 usable; 14 with permanent-surface runways;
none with runways over 3,659 m; 2 with runways 2,440-3,659 m; 2 with
runways 1,220-2,439 m
 
Telecommunications: fully automatic domestic telephone network;
127,000 telephones; stations--10 AM, 17 FM, 8 TV; 2 Atlantic Ocean INTELSAT
earth stations; 3 coaxial submarine cables
 
- Defense Forces
Branches: Jamaica Defense Force (includes Coast Guard and Air Wing)
 
Military manpower: males 15-49, 620,400; 440,967 fit for military service;
no conscription; 27,014 reach minimum volunteer age (18) annually
 
Defense expenditures: 1.1% of GDP (1987)

==================