- Parishes of Jamaica
-
Jamaica 
This article is part of the series:
Politics and government of
Jamaica- Sovereign
- Queen Elizabeth II
- Governor-General
- Patrick Allen
- Prime Minister
- Andrew Holness
- Ministries and Agencies
- Cabinet
- Parliament
- Senate
- House of Representatives
- Political parties
- Elections: 2002, 2007
- Parishes and Counties
- Judiciary
Administratively, Jamaica is divided into fourteen parishes. They are grouped into three historic counties, which have no administrative relevance (traditional capitals in parentheses):
Parish Area
km²Population
Census 2001Capital Cornwall County 1 Hanover 450.4 67,037 Lucea 2 Saint Elizabeth 1,212.4 146,404 Black River 3 Saint James 594.9 175,127 Montego Bay 4 Trelawny 874.6 73,066 Falmouth 5 Westmoreland 807.0 138,947 Savanna-la-Mar Middlesex County 6 Clarendon 1,196.3 237,024 May Pen 7 Manchester 830.1 185,801 Mandeville 8 Saint Ann 1,212.6 166,762 Saint Ann's Bay 9 Saint Catherine 1,192.4 482,308 Spanish Town 10 Saint Mary 610.5 111,466 Port Maria Surrey County 11 Kingston (parish)(1) (2) 21.8 96,052 Kingston 12 Portland 814.0 80,205 Port Antonio 13 Saint Andrew(1) 430.7 555,828 Half Way Tree 14 Saint Thomas 742.8 91,604 Morant Bay Jamaica 10,990.5 2,607,631 Kingston (1) The parishes of Kingston and Saint Andrew together form the Kingston and St. Andrew Corporation.
(2) The parish of Kingston does not encompass all of the city of Kingston. Most of the city is in the parish of St. Andrew.Former Parishes
Parishes have been a feature of local administration in Jamaica since the island was captured by the English in 1655.[1] The number has varied over time and some no longer exist having either been absorbed into or divided between neighbouring parishes.[1] At the peak, 1841–1865, there were 22 (the current 14 plus those listed below).[1]
The current set of parishes was established in 1866 with the elimination of the 8 listed below (roughly by county):[1]
Surrey:
- Port Royal (now divided between Kingston and Saint Andrew)
- Saint George (now divided between Saint Mary and Portland)
- Saint David (now part of Saint Thomas)
Middlesex:
- Metcalfe (now part of Saint Mary)
- Saint Dorothy (now part of Saint Catherine)
- Saint John (now part of Saint Catherine)
- Saint Thomas in the Vale (now part of Saint Catherine) – note that the current Saint Thomas used to be named “Saint Thomas in the East” to differentiate between the two parishes at the time.
- Vere (now part of Clarendon)
See also
- List of Caribbean First-level Subdivisions by Total Area
- ISO 3166-2:JM
References
- ^ a b c d Prestwidge, Bill. "Jamaican Parish Reference". http://prestwidge.com/river/jamaicanparishes.html. Retrieved 2009-10-24.
External links
- Jamaican Parish Reference, a concise and well illustrated history of parish naming in Jamaica.
Counties and Parishes of JamaicaCounties Parishes Clarendon · Hanover · Kingston · Manchester · Portland · Saint Andrew · Saint Ann · Saint Catherine · Saint Elizabeth · Saint James · Saint Mary · Saint Thomas · Trelawny · WestmorelandArticles on first-level administrative divisions of North American countries Antigua and Barbuda · Bahamas · Barbados · Belize · Canada · Costa Rica · Cuba · Dominica · Dominican Republic · El Salvador · Grenada · Guatemala · Haiti · Honduras · Jamaica · Mexico · Nicaragua · Panama · St. Kitts and Nevis · St. Lucia · St. Vincent and the Grenadines · Trinidad and Tobago · United States
Table of administrative country subdivisions by countryCategories:- Parishes of Jamaica
- Subdivisions of Jamaica
- Lists of country subdivisions
- Country subdivisions of the Americas
- First-level administrative country subdivisions
- Jamaica-related lists
- Sovereign
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