• GDP - composition by sector: agriculture: 7.4% industry: 42.1% services: 50.5% (1997 est.)
  
• POPULATION below poverty line: 34.2% (1992 est.)
  
• LABOR FORCE : 1.13 million (1998)
  
  • Labor force - by occupation: services 60%, agriculture 21%, industry 19% (1998)
    
• UNEMPLOYMENT RATE : 15.5% (1998)
  
• INDUSTRIES: tourism, bauxite, textiles, food processing, light manufactures, rum, cement, metal, paper, chemical products
  
• AGRICULTURE - products: sugarcane, bananas, coffee, citrus, potatoes, vegetables; poultry, goats, milk
• EXPORTS -
  • commodities: alumina, bauxite, sugar, bananas, rum
    
  • partners: US 39.5%, EU (excluding UK) 15.6%, UK 12.1%, Canada 11.5% (1998)
    
• IMPORTS -
  
  • commodities: machinery and transport equipment, construction materials, fuel, food, chemicals, fertilizers
    
  • partners: US 50.9%, EU (excluding UK) 9.5%, Caricom countries 10.4%, Latin America 6% (1998)
    
• DEBT - external: $3.8 billion (1998 est.)
  
• ECONOMIC AID - recipient: $102.7 million (1995)

(www.abacci.com/atlas/demography.asp?countryID=230)

• POPULATION: 2,652,689 (July 2000 est.)
  
• AGE STRUCTURE: 0-14 years: 30% (male 411,448; female 392,559) 15-64 years: 63% (male 832,314; female 837,133) 65 years and over: 7% (male 80,059; female 99,176) (2000 est.)
  
• POPULATION GROWTH RATE: 0.46% (2000 est.)
  
• NET MIGRATION RATE: -8.39 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2000 est.)
  
• ETHNIC GROUPS: black 90.9%, East Indian 1.3%, white 0.2%, Chinese 0.2%, mixed 7.3%, other 0.1%
  
• RELIGIONS: Protestant 61.3% (Church of God 21.2%, Baptist 8.8%, Anglican 5.5%, Seventh-Day Adventist 9%, Pentecostal 7.6%, Methodist 2.7%, United Church 2.7%, Brethren 1.1%, Jehovah's Witness 1.6%, Moravian 1.1%), Roman Catholic 4%, other, including some spiritual cults 34.7%
  
• LANGUAGES: English, Creole
  
• LITERACY: definition: age 15 and over has ever attended school total population: 85% male: 80.8% female: 89.1% (1995 est.)

(www.abacci.com/atlas/demography.asp?countryID=230)

Government efforts in conservation and reef management have been increasingly supplemented by NGO (non-governmental organization) activities. These include:

• Local groups have formed all around the country, and several are doing valuable work in the coastal zone (Negril Coral Reef Preservation Society, Portland Environmental Protection Association, St. Ann Environmental Protection Association, and Caribbean Coastal Area Management Foundation).
• Marine Parks and Environmental Protection Areas:
  • Ocho Rios Underwater Park 1966; Montego Bay Marine Park 1989; Negril Marine Park 1998; Bowden Fish Sanctuary; Palisadoes/Port Royal Protected Area 1998; Portland Bight Protected Area 1999.
• The Fisheries Improvement Programme, at the Discovery Bay Marine Laboratory, is helping artisanal fishermen to manage their own fishery resources.
• The CARICOMP monitoring site at Discovery Bay is soon to be joined by others at Portland Bight and Montego Bay.
• Long-term monitoring for the effects of climate change is to be carried out for the Caribbean Planning for Adaptation to Climate Change project.

Management of Jamaica's coral reefs was limited until the early 1990s. Lack of funding and staff was frequently reported as the cause. Currently key laws have been put into place to manage the Jamaican coast and its precious reefs.

• 1960, Beach Control Act. Main law controlling coastal development, which licensed construction or drainage works near the shore. However, it was easy to ignore.
• 1991, Natural Resources Conservation Authority (NRCA) Act started a process of rationalisation and obliged public sectors to comply.
• 1998, Council on Ocean and Coastal Zone Management formed and reports directly to Cabinet. Increases potential for better integration of coastal zone management.
• 2000, National Environmental Planning Agency formed via merger of NRCA with Town Planning Department and the Land Development Commission.

( www.aims.gov.au/pages/research/coral-bleaching/scr1998/scr-10.html; Woodley, 2000)