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)

NOTE: The information regarding Jamaica on this page is re-published from the 1990 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Jamaica Government 1990 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Jamaica Government 1990 should be addressed to the CIA.