Many former island colonies in the Caribbean have gained independence since the early 1960s. Despite high standards of literacy, modernization and expansion of the fishing industry, and development of an oil industry (especially along the coast of Venezuela near Lake Maracaibo), most Caribbean nations remain overly reliant on tourism and a few exports (such as bauxite, sugar, and bananas) and depend heavily on imported food and fuel. Recent efforts to improve and diversify the fragile economy of the region include the founding of the Organization Of Eastern Caribbean States in 1981 and the launching of the Caribbean Basin Initative in 1983.
Agriculture and the mining industry are dominant factors in Jamaica's economy today. Sugar, tropical fruits, coffee, cacao, and spices are grown in quantity for export through the ports of Kingston and Montego Bay. Jamaica has recently developed a profitable mining industry. It ranks among the world's top nations in the production of bauxite and alumina, which are exported to Canada, Norway, and the United States for refining intoaluminum. A petroleum refinery operates in Kingston. Other industries include sugar processing, textiles, printing, and chemicals.
The lack of indigenous energy sources has slowed industrial development in Jamaica. For a time in the mid-1980s, reduced world demand for bauxite hurt Jamaica; political unrest and a 1988 hurricane also hurt the economy. In 1990, Jamaica also struggled under a foreign debt of about $4 billion, one of the largest in the world in proportion to population.
