Jamaica

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. 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.
==Economical characteristics==
* Currency: Jamaican dollar (ISO code: JMD)
* Central bank discount rate: NA%
* Commercial banks lending rate: 16.83% (31 December 2008)
* Stock of money (M1): $1.253 billion (31 December 2008)
* Quasi money (with M1 makes M2): $4.244 billion (31 December 2008)
===Statistics===
Statistic / Year 	1999 	2000 	2001 	2002 	2003 	2004 	2005 	2006 	2007 	2008
GDP (million USD)World Bank. "Jamaica: GDP", from World Bank Data. Referenced 2010-09-30. 	8 831	9 009	9 105	9 677	9 399	10 135 	11 152 	11 989 	12 849 	14 614
Govt. debt (% of GDP)World Bank. "Jamaica: government debt", from World Bank Data. Referenced 2010-09-30. 	 	 	 	 	 	122.486	122.002	117.121	112.559	112.889
Govt. revenue (% of GDP)World Bank. "Jamaica: government revenue", from World Bank Data. Referenced 2010-09-30. 	 	 	 	 	 	31.448 	30.944 	31.491 	32.176 	29.149
Govt. expenses (% of GDP)World Bank. "Jamaica: government expenses", from World Bank Data. Referenced 2010-09-30.	 	 	 	 	 	34.430 	31.017 	32.314 	34.120 	33.245
Debt to revenue (years) 	 	 	 	 	 	3.895 	3.943 	3.719 	3.498 	3.873
==References==
Note: statistical data was rounded. Different sources may use different methodologies for their estimates. Debt to revenue is calculated by dividing the two variables from their original ('unrounded') values. It represents how long it would a government take to repay its entire debt if it used its whole revenue for this purpose.
==External links==
* Jamaica on Wikipedia
* Central bank of Jamaica
* Studies from the Library of Congress (1986-1998)
* BBC country profile
Category:Countries