I wish to suggest 10 positive features about Jamaica that should make people think twice about leaving the country.

1. Jamaica ranks 72 in the world when it comes to life expectancy. Even more surprising is the fact that Jamaica ranks number one in reference to countries whose population is a majority African descent and numbers more than 100,000. What is even more surprising is that Jamaicans have a higher life expectancy than African Americans (73 to 70), despite the medical benefits in the United States for low-income workers.

2. Depression is rampant in Jamaica, however, we rarely kill ourselves. As a matter of fact, based on the last study conducted, only seven countries in the world can boast a lower suicide rate than Jamaica.

3. Jamaica's ecological footprint,in terms of carbon emissions, is a remarkable 1.1 global hectares per person. This means that Jamaicans are not harmful to the environment and if the world's resources are depleted, Jamaicans would not have had anything to do with it. (We are actually allowed 2.7 global hectares, and the US consumes a massive 9.1 global hectares per person). To put this into perspective, one American consumed almost nine times what one Jamaican did in 2008.

4. This might not surprise many, but it is worth noting that Jamaica produces the most music per capita than anywhere on earth.

5. We always hear about Jamaica's infamous murder rate, but what about death on a whole? Jamaicans don't die easily; as a matter of fact, out of 223 countries, Jamaica ranks 150 in the mortality or death rate, which is better than United States, United Kingdom, Canada and 146 more countries that would surprise you with their annual high death rate per capita.

6. The Rastafarian religion is the 20th largest in the world (about 600,000 followers, maybe even more), which proves how influential the island of Jamaica is, considering the population ranks 139 and make up only .04 per cent of the world.

7. You are more likely to be robbed in the United States or United Kingdom than in Jamaica. The media seems to be deceiving at times.

8. Jamaica's health care ranks #53 out of 190 countries, which is great, considering that Jamaica's economy, financially, ranks #98 (GDP).

9. Jamaica has more churches per square mile than anywhere in the world.

10. More African Americans (24.7 per cent) are living below the poverty line than Jamaicans (14.8 per cent). This is debatable, but this is what the statistics show.

I am, etc.

Bradley Taylor

websites25@yahoo.com

GA, USA