Jamaica Parishes (original) (raw)

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Updates:

I added the 2011 census results (from source [1]), and a population history. I extended the change history back to 1700 by combining narratives from various online sources, some of which disagreed with each other.

Country overview:

Short name JAMAICA
ISO code JM
FIPS code JM
Language English (en)
Time zone -5
Capital Kingston

At the beginning of the 20th century, Jamaica was a British colony. Administratively subordinate to it were several dependencies: Cayman Islands, Turks and Caicos Islands, Morant Cays, and Pedro Cays. The Cayman Islands separated from Jamaica on 1959-07-04. Jamaica became an independent country, and Turks and Caicos Islands separated from it, on 1962-08-06. The tiny and uninhabited Morant and Pedro Cays are still part of Jamaica.

Other names of country:

  1. Danish: Jamaica
  2. Dutch: Jamaica
  3. Finnish: Jamaika
  4. French: Jama�que f
  5. German: Jamaika n
  6. Icelandic: Jama�ka
  7. Italian: Giamaica f
  8. Norwegian: Jamaica
  9. Portuguese: Jamaica f
  10. Russian: Ямайка
  11. Spanish: Jamaica
  12. Swedish: Jamaica
  13. Turkish: Jamaika (formal)

Origin of name:

(Speculative) From Arawak xamac: hammock, or xaymaca: rich in springs, or land of springs

Primary subdivisions:

Jamaica is divided into fourteen parishes.

Parish HASC ISO FIPS Pc Population Area(km.�) Area(mi.�) Cty Capital
Clarendon JM.CL 13 JM01 DCN 245,103 1,196 462 M May Pen
Hanover JM.HA 09 JM02 CHR 69,533 450 174 C Lucea
Kingston JM.KI 01 JM17 AKN 89,057 22 8 S Kingston
Manchester JM.MA 12 JM04 DMR 189,797 830 320 M Mandeville
Portland JM.PO 04 JM07 BPD 81,744 814 314 S Port Antonio
Saint Andrew JM.SD 02 JM08 AAW 573,369 431 166 S Half Way Tree
Saint Ann JM.SN 06 JM09 CAN 172,362 1,213 468 M Saint Anns Bay
Saint Catherine JM.SC 14 JM10 ACE 516,218 1,192 460 M Spanish Town
Saint Elizabeth JM.SE 11 JM11 DEH 150,205 1,212 468 C Black River
Saint James JM.SJ 08 JM12 CJS 183,811 595 230 C Montego Bay
Saint Mary JM.SM 05 JM13 BMY 113,615 611 236 M Port Maria
Saint Thomas JM.ST 03 JM14 BTS 93,902 743 287 S Morant Bay
Trelawny JM.TR 07 JM15 CTY 75,164 875 338 C Falmouth
Westmoreland JM.WE 10 JM16 DWD 144,103 807 312 C Savanna-la-Mar
14 parishes 2,697,983 10,991 4,243
HASC: Hierarchical administrative subdivision codes. ISO: Codes from ISO 3166-2. FIPS: Codes from FIPS PUB 10-4. Pc: Postal code identifiers. Population: 2011-04-04 census. Cty: County to which the parish belongs, according to the codes shown below.

Postal codes:

According to source [3], the structure of Jamaica's postal codes is five letters followed by two digits. The first two letters are always "JM"; the third is a letter from A to D, representing a zone of the country; the fourth and fifth letters are a mnemonic for the parish name, using its first and last letters, excluding the word "Saint"; and the final two digits represent a delivery area. For example, JMAAW03 is a postal code for Constant Spring in Saint Andrew parish. The table above shows the third through fifth characters for each parish.

Further subdivisions:

Jamaica is also divided into three traditional counties, which have no administrative function.

Cty Name
C Cornwall
M Middlesex
S Surrey

Territorial extent:

The UN LOCODE page for Jamaica lists locations in the country, some of them with their latitudes and longitudes, some with their ISO 3166-2 codes for their subdivisions. This information can be put together to approximate the territorial extent of subdivisions.

Origins of names:

  1. Clarendon: after Edward Hude, Earl of Clarendon
  2. Hanover: for the House of Hanover, ruling dynasty of Great Britain
  3. Manchester: after William, Duke of Manchester, governor of Jamaica when it was created in 1814
  4. Portland: after the Duke of Portland, governor of Jamaica when it was created in 1723
  5. Saint Ann: translation of Santa Ana, name given by Columbus
  6. Saint Catherine: after Catherine of Braganza, wife of King Charles II of England
  7. Saint Elizabeth: in honor of Lady Elizabeth Modyford, wife of the governor of Jamaica in 1670
  8. Saint James: in honor of James, Duke of York, later King James II of England
  9. Saint Mary: after the capital, Puerto Santa Maria under Spanish rule (now Port Maria)
  10. Trelawny: after Sir William Trelawny, governer of Jamaica when it was created in 1770
  11. Westmoreland: after the county in England, because this county contains the westernmost point in Jamaica

Change history:

  1. 1703: Westmoreland parish split from Saint Elizabeth parish.
  2. 1723: Portland parish formed from parts of Saint George and Saint Thomas in the East parishes.
  3. 1725: Hanover parish split from Westmoreland parish.
  4. 1758: The three counties were formed as judicial districts.
  5. 1770: Trelawny parish split from Saint James parish.
  6. 1814: Manchester parish formed from parts of St, Elizabeth, Clarendon, and Vere parishes.
  7. 1842: Metcalfe parish formed from parts of Saint George and Saint Mary parishes.
  8. 1867-04-23: Vere parish merged with Clarendon parish; Kingston parish formed by merging Kingston city and parish, Port Royal town and parish, and part of Saint Andrew parish; Saint George parish and part of Saint Thomas parish merged with Portland parish; Saint Dorothy, Saint John and Saint Thomas in the Vale parishes merged with Saint Catherine parish; Metcalfe parish merged with Saint Mary parish; Saint Thomas parish formed by merging Saint Thomas in the East and Saint David parishes, under the Counties and Parishes Act.
  9. 1872: Capital of Jamaica moved from Spanish Town to Kingston.

Other names of subdivisions:

Kingston: Kingston and Port Royal (obsolete)

Population history:

Parish 1943 1960-04-07 1970-04-07 1982-06-08 2001-09-10 2011-04-04
Clarendon 123,505 164,000 177,000 194,885 237,024 245,103
Hanover 51,684 54,000 59,000 60,420 67,037 69,533
Kingston 110,083 123,000 117,000 - 96,052 89,057
Manchester 92,745 112,000 124,000 136,517 185,801 189,797
Portland 60,712 65,000 69,000 70,787 80,205 81,744
Saint Andrew 128,146 296,000 433,000 565,487 555,828 573,369
Saint Ann 96,193 114,000 121,000 132,475 166,762 172,362
Saint Catherine 121,032 154,000 186,000 315,970 482,308 516,218
Saint Elizabeth 100,182 117,000 127,000 132,353 146,404 150,205
Saint James 63,542 83,000 104,000 127,994 175,127 183,811
Saint Mary 90,902 94,000 100,000 101,442 111,466 113,615
Saint Thomas 60,693 69,000 71,000 76,347 91,604 93,902
Trelawny 47,535 56,000 61,000 65,038 73,066 75,164
Westmoreland 90,109 110,000 113,000 116,163 138,947 144,103
Total 1,237,063 1,610,000 1,861,000 2,095,878 2,607,632 2,697,983

Sources: 1943 - [4]; 1960, 1970 - [5]; 1982 - [6]; 2001 - [2]; 2011 - [1]. Source [5] gives figures rounded to the nearest thousand. Source [6] lists only a combined population for Kingston and Saint Andrew.

Sources:

  1. [1] Statistical Institute of Jamaica 2011 Census report (retrieved 2012-12-01).
  2. [2] Statistical Institute of Jamaica 2001 census report (retrieved 2004-01-26).
  3. [3] Postal Corporation of Jamaica (retrieved 2005-07-24).
  4. [4] Encyclop�dia Britannica World Atlas, 1951 edition.
  5. [5] Encyclop�dia Britannica, 15th Edition, Chicago, 1984.
  6. [6] "The Statesman's Year-Book 1988-1989", John Paxton (ed.). St. Martin's Press, New York, 1988.