This is an island state located in the Caribbean Sea on a land mass of 10,990 square kilometers. It is the third largest island in the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean region after Cuba and Hispaniola. The country shares boundaries in the south with Cuba, in the west with Haiti and the Dominican Republic, and in the north with the Cayman Islands. Having a population of over 2.8 million people, this nation is the third most populous Anglophone territory in the Americas after the United States and Canada. It is also the fourth most populous country in the region. The capital city is Kingston. Because of the high rate of emigration since the 1960s, there is a large number of Jamaican diaspora in Canada, the United Kingdom, and the US. The island territory has a global influence being the birthplace of the Rastafari religion and reggae music. It is often considered the least populous cultural superpower in the world. The country is an upper-middle-income nation with an economy largely dependent on tourism.
if you are interested in knowing about the diplomatic relations of this country, this article provides information on the foreign diplomatic relations of Jamaica and other bilateral relations.
About the country
It has a mixed economy with state enterprises and private sector businesses. The main sectors of the economy are agriculture, mining, manufacturing, tourism, refining, and financial and insurance services. Tourism and mining are the major sources of foreign exchange. A large percentage of the Jamaican economy depends on services, while the rest is on the income earned from services like tourism. According to the World Bank, it is an upper-middle-income state that like others, is open to the effects of climate change, flooding, and hurricanes. It performs well in terms of press freedom and democratic governance. It also ranks first in the Caribbean on the World Happiness Report. Politically, it is a Commonwealth country under the rule of King Charles III. The island engages in a variety of industrial and commercial activities
Countries with diplomatic relations
In 2006, it became a pioneering member of the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME). The Governments of Jamaica and China signed the preliminary agreements for the first phase of the Jamaican Logistics Hub (JLH) in 2014. The initiative aims to set Kingston as the fourth hub in the global logistics chain, alongside Rotterdam, Dubai, and Singapore. The Project, upon completion, is said to provide lots of jobs for Jamaicans, Economic Zones for multinational companies, and the needed economic growth to reduce the country’s debt-to-GDP ratio. In 2018, it represented the CARICOM Caribbean Community at the G20 and the G7 annual meetings. It has diplomatic relations with several countries in the world.
Bilateral relations of the country
Assisted by multilateral financial organizations, the country has, since the 1980s, sought to execute structural reforms focused on promoting private sector activity and increasing the role of market forces in resource allocation. The government has pursued an economic liberalization and stabilization policy since 1991. During this period, a huge part of the economy was returned to private sector ownership through divestment and privatization programs. The free-trade zones in Kingston, Montego Bay, and Spanish Town permit duty-free imports, tax-free profits, and free repatriation of export revenues. The island is the fifth largest exporter of bauxite in the world, after Australia, China, Brazil, and Guinea. It also exports limestone, and the government is seeking ways to implement plans that will increase its extraction. Trade between the country and the US includes the exports of sugar, coconut, oranges, bananas, rum, grapefruit, allspice, and Blue Mountain Coffee, considered to be a world-renowned gourmet brand.
