Austin Rebecca March 30, 2011 Country Assignment
Jamaica
Jamaica is a small tropical island in the Bahamas. Located south of Cuba, Jamaica is characterized by mountainous, coastal plains and its vast beaches. Jamaica is home to three major cities, with Kingston being its capital, and Montego Bay and Spanish Town both housing significant portions of the population. Jamaica houses a little under 3 million people with 90% of them being of African descent. East Indian, mixed, and small portions of Chinese and white people make up the remainder of the population. Protestantism is the most common religion in Jamaica, while only 4% of the population is Roman Catholic. However, 35% of the population reports to practicing various other religions, 24,000 of which are Rastafarians potentially the religion that Jamaica is most stereotypically known for. Religion is extremely important to Jamaicans Jamaica has the highest number of churches per capita of any country in the world. One can typically find references to religion in many aspects of everyday Jamaican life, such as song or even conversation. English is the official language of Jamaica, but Patois (also known as Creole), which is a combination of English and various African languages, is often used as well. Patois is not a written language, but most Jamaicans can speak and understand it. Jamaica was first settled by people of the Arawak tribe from South America. In 1494, Christopher Columbus landed on the island, beginning an era of European control. Jamaica was
first controlled by Spain, then was eventually taken over by Britain. The abundance of sugar as a natural resource made Jamaica a hot commodity among Europeans. Jamaica finally gained some political power in the 1900s, and in 1944 held their first independent election. Established in 1962, Jamaica uses a constitutional parliamentary democracy as their government form. The Queen of England is the head of state, and appoints a local Governor General to oversee Jamaica based on a recommendation from the Prime Minister. The Senate (appointed) and House of Representatives (elected) make up Parliament. There is also a judicial system in which the highest court is the Court of Appeals. If necessary, cases can also be appealed to the UKs Privy Council. Jamaicas government is stable, with the major sources of debate being the vast economic problems and rampant violence in the cities. Jamaicas economy is classified as a developing economy. Major natural resources include bauxite (used to make aluminium), sugar, bananas, coffee, limestone, marble, and gypsum. Jamaicas economy is the economy with the lowest growth in Latin America. It has large levels of debt, unemployment, and underemployment. The high levels of unemployment fuel the rampant violence which is generally caused by the drug trade. Because of the high levels of unemployment, there are vast amounts of potentially cheap labor available. 60% of Jamaicas GDP comes from services, most of which are based in tourism. Jamaica uses the Jamaican dollar (JMD) as currency, which converts at a rate of one US dollar = 86.67 JMD. Jamaican culture emphasizes familial relationships, trust, and religion. The family is the most important group that a Jamaican belongs to, and is often used for economic relationships. Because Jamaicans to tend distrust authority, they usually avoid going to banks for loans. Instead, they rely on trust in family and close friends. These groups often form partners where they each contribute certain amounts of money for set periods of time to help the others out with
large payments. This emphasizes Jamaicans huge reliance on close relationships and the importance of trust in these relationships. Jamaican culture has become infamous for many of its unique qualities. Food such as jerk chicken and beverages such as Red Stripe Beer are known worldwide and associated with Jamaica. Reggae, a music genre claimed by Jamaica, emphasizes the relaxed lifestyle characterized by Jamaicans. Steel drums are a staple in reggae music, and African dances are common along with the music. A large portion of Jamaican customs and etiquette are very similar to American etiquette. For example, the most common greeting is a handshake with eye contact and a smile. However, Jamaicans usually treat the concept of authority with stricter guidelines. For instance, one is to always use the proper title (Mr., Mrs., Ms.) unless told otherwise. When eating, one does not sit until invited by the host to sit, and does not start eating until told to. In business meetings, Jamaicans may refer to superiors as bossman or bosswoman out of respect for authority. Business is also seen as hierarchical the person with the greater authority makes the decisions. Because trust is valued so deeply, forming relationships with Jamaican businesspeople is important. Small talk is expected before discussing business and socializing is important. Jamaicans are also direct, but polite. They will politely disagree and voice their opinion, and expect the same from those they are interacting with. However, they dislike aggression, and high-pressure sales objectives could backfire. Bargaining is customary. Jamaicans also value punctuality, although they may not be punctual themselves. Jamaicans tend to care less about personal space than Americans typically do. They tend to stand very close when talking, and a man may even pat the shoulder of another man or finger
his lapel while conversing. Women often hug or kiss on the cheek when meeting after they have established a friendship. While Jamaica overall has a healthy human rights outlook, some problems still remain. For instance, human trafficking for sexual exploit or labor still exists, despite some government attempts to stop it. In addition, child labor is still a concern, however, the government has taken strides to prevent this by raising the age children are required to remain in school from 16 to 18 and guaranteeing a right to education under the Education Act. The major infrastructure problem in Jamaica lies in its transportation. With an increasing number of citizens purchasing cars, the road systems are becoming very congested. They began construction of a highway in the late 90s which was later suspended due to financial troubles. However, railroad systems have been improved, and commuter systems between major cities have been added. Major environmental issues include water quality and waste disposal. Jamaica is generally on good terms with other countries. While they maintain a direct alliance with the UK, the United States is their largest trading partner.