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JAMAICA CALLING GUIDE |
Calling From Jamaica |
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Calling to Jamaica |
Jamaica is beautiful island in the Caribbean; it is the third largest after Cuba and Hispaniola (combination of Haiti and the Dominican Republic). Jamaica is divided into fourteen parishes, Manchester, Kingston, St. Mary, Portland, St. Andrew, St. Thomas, Clarendon, St. Ann, Saint Catherine, Hanover, St. Elizabeth, St. James, Trelawny and Westmoreland. These parishes are grouped in counties as follows.
Cornwall County Parishes: Hanover, Trelawny, Saint Elizabeth, Saint James, Westmoreland.
Middlesex County Parishes: Manchester, Saint Ann, Clarendon, Saint Catherine, Saint Mary.
Surrey County Parishes: Saint Thomas, Kingston, Saint Andrew, Portland.
Jamaica is a mountainous country and as such posed many unique telecommunication challenges in the earlier years, however with the adaptation modern technology Jamaica is now one of the most connected countries in the world. |
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| Facts about Jamaica |
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| Time Zone: |
| Jamaica Standard Time: GMT –5.00 hours. |
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| Currency: |
| Jamaica dollar, the value of the Jamaican dollar fluctuates, in 2009 the value fluctuated between 80 and 90 to 1 U.S |
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| Population: |
| Approximately 2.9 million (African-Black 90.9%, Biracial 7.3%, East Indian 2.3%, White 0.2%, Chinese 0.2%) |
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Jamaica Holidays for 2010 |
| New Year's Day |
January 1 (Friday) |
| Ash Wednesday |
February 17 |
| Good Friday |
April 2 |
| Easter Monday |
April 5 |
| Labour Day |
May 23 (Sunday) - to be observed on Monday, May 24 |
| Emancipation Day |
August 1 (Sunday) - to be observed on Monday, August 2 |
| Independence Day |
August 6 (Friday) |
| National Heroes Day |
October 18 (Monday) |
| Christmas Day |
December 25 (Saturday) |
| Boxing Day |
December 26 (Sunday) - to be observed on Monday, Dec. 27 |
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| Language: |
| English is the official language of Jamaica and it is used for government and educational purposes, but most people speak an unofficial Jamaican Creole known as Patois. Most Jamaicans can speak and understand both English and Patois. |
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| Climate: |
| The average temperature in Jamaica is about 82 degrees Fahrenheit. Low temperatures range from the low 70's to the the high 80's with summers slightly warmer than the winter months.. Winter is usually dry, but northeastern Jamaica is often wet year-round. The rainiest times of year tend to be May and October/November. The latter is also hurricane season. |
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Calling to Jamaica from Overseas (North America) |
| For telecommunications purposes Jamaica is grouped with the North America territory, as such, when dialing Jamaica from any North American country, no international access code is needed. For example, to call a number in Jamaica from Canada or the USA, you would simply dial using the following steps: |
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| Step1 : Dial “1” |
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| Step 2: Dial the area code “876”, (please note; except for toll free numbers, the 876 code covers the entire Island, this means that every telephone number in Jamaica starts with 876) |
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| Step 3: Dial the local subscriber 7-digit number “xxx-xxxx” |
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| Your dialed number will look like “1-876-xxx-xxxx” |
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Calling to Jamaica from Overseas (outside of North America) |
| Step 1: Dial the international access code which is 00 in most countries. |
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| Step 2: Dial “1” |
| Step 3: Dial the area code “876”, (please note; except for toll free numbers, the 876 code covers the entire country, this means that every telephone number in Jamaica starts with 876) |
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| Step 4: Dial the local subscriber 7-digit number “xxx-xxxx” |
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| Your dialed number will look like “00-1-876-xxx-xxxx” |
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Making Local Calls when you are in Jamaica |
| Because the 876 code covers the entire Island, when calling locally there is no need to dial the area code, this means that 7 digit dialing is standard unless you are dialing toll free. Calling across the Island has changed dramatically since the telecommunications industry was deregulated in 2000. |
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Calling from traditional landlines (PSTN) |
| To make domestic calls outside of your calling area (usually classified as long distance), you must dial 1 before the seven digit subscriber number, e.g. to call from Montego Bay to Kingston you would dial 1-xxx-xxxx. To make calls within your calling area, you would simply dial the seven digit subscriber number, e.g. to call within Kingston, simply dial xxx-xxxx. |
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| Please note: Now that there are several different telephone companies in Jamaica such as LIME, Claro, Digicel, NewGen, and Flow, you may need to dial “1” before the seven digit subscriber, if you are calling from one provider’s network to another even if the call is within your calling area or parish. |
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Calling overseas from Jamaica |
| For international calls from Jamaica, dial 011 (Jamaica’s international access code). Follow this with the code for the country you are calling, area code, and local number. |
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| If you are a visitor to the Island, you may be able to avoid international long distance charges by using your mobile phone but be careful, roaming charges may apply. To avoid these charges you may use your SoSoChat service to make international long distance calls. |
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Jamaica toll free numbers |
| Toll free numbers in Jamaica have the prefix (888) |
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Jamaica emergency services and public service numbers |
- Ambulance 110
- Fire 110
- Police 119
- Country Code +876
- Prefix For International Call +011
- Operator 112
- International Operator 113
- Directory Assistance 114
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