Administratively, Jamaica

Jamaica

Jamaica is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length, up to in width and 10,990 square kilometres in area. It is situated in the Caribbean Sea, about south of Cuba, and west of Hispaniola, the island harbouring the nation-states Haiti and the Dominican Republic...

 is divided into fourteen parishes. They are grouped into three historic counties

County

A county is a jurisdiction of local government in certain modern nations. Historically in mainland Europe, the original French term, comté, and its equivalents in other languages denoted a jurisdiction under the sovereignty of a count A county is a jurisdiction of local government in certain...

, which have no administrative relevance (traditional capitals in parentheses):

	Parish	Area km²	Population Census Census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population. The term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common...  2001	Capital
Cornwall County Cornwall, Jamaica Cornwall is the westernmost of the three historic counties into which Jamaica is divided. It has no current-day administrative significance. It includes Montego Bay, the island's second largest city by area.The county of Cornwall is shown in green...
1	Hanover Hanover Parish, Jamaica Hanover , is a parish located on the northwestern tip of the island of Jamaica. It is a part of the county of Cornwall, bordered by St. James in the east, and Westmoreland in the south. With the exception of Kingston, it is the smallest parish on the island...	450.4	67,037	Lucea
2	Saint Elizabeth Saint Elizabeth Parish, Jamaica St. Elizabeth, one of Jamaica's largest parishes, is located in the southwest of the island, in the county of Cornwall. Its capital, Black River, is located at the mouth of the Black River, the longest on the island.-History:...	1,212.4	146,404	Black River Black River, Jamaica Black River is the capital of St. Elizabeth Parish, in southwestern Jamaica. It sits at the mouth of the river of the same name. Once a thriving sugar port, it is today a centre of environmental tourism and a gateway to the Treasure Beach resort area; Treasure Beach and Crane Beach are to the...
3	Saint James Saint James Parish, Jamaica St James is a suburban parish, located on the north west end of the island of Jamaica. Its capital, Montego Bay, derived from the Spanish word Manteca because many wild hogs were found there from which they made lard. It was named publicly the second city of Jamaica, behind Kingston, in 1981....	594.9	175,127	Montego Bay Montego Bay Montego Bay is the capital of St. James Parish and the second largest city in Jamaica by area and the fourth by population .It is a tourist destination with duty free shopping, cruise line terminal and the beaches...
4	Trelawny Trelawny Parish, Jamaica Trelawny is a parish in Cornwall County in northwest Jamaica. Its capital is Falmouth. It is bordered by the parishes of Saint Ann in the east, Saint James in the west, and Saint Elizabeth and Manchester in the south.-History:...	874.6	73,066	Falmouth Falmouth, Jamaica Falmouth is the chief town and capital of the parish of Trelawny in Jamaica. It is situated on Jamaica's north coast 18 miles east of Montego Bay. It is noted for being one of the Caribbean’s best-preserved Georgian towns....
5	Westmoreland Westmoreland Parish, Jamaica Westmoreland is the westernmost parish in Jamaica, located on the south side of the island. It is situated to the south of Hanover, the southwest of Saint James, and the northwest of Saint Elizabeth, in the county of Cornwall. The chief town and capital is Savanna-la-Mar...	807.0	138,947	Savanna-la-Mar Savanna-la-Mar Savanna-la-Mar is the chief town and capital of Westmoreland parish, Jamaica.It is a coastal town and contains a fort, constructed in the 18th century for defence against pirates....
Middlesex County Middlesex, Jamaica Middlesex is the central of the three historic counties into which Jamaica is divided. It has no current-day administrative significance. It covers 5041.9 km² and has a population of 1,183,361 giving it the largest area and population of the three counties...
6	Clarendon Clarendon Parish, Jamaica Clarendon is a parish in Jamaica. It is located on the south of the island, roughly half-way between the island's eastern and western ends...	1,196.3	237,024	May Pen May Pen May Pen is the capital and largest town in the parish of Clarendon in the Middlesex County, Jamaica. It is located on the Rio Minho river , and is a major market centre for the Parish...
7	Manchester Manchester Parish, Jamaica The parish of Manchester is located in west-central Jamaica, in the county of Middlesex. Its capital, Mandeville, is a major business centre, and the only parish capital not located on the coast or on a major river. The Right Excellent Norman Washington Manley The parish of Manchester is located in...	830.1	185,801	Mandeville Mandeville, Jamaica Mandeville is the capital and largest town in the parish of Manchester in the county of Middlesex, Jamaica. In 2005, the town had an estimated population of 50,000, and including the immediate suburbs within a radius of the total population is about 72,000. It is located on an inland plateau at an...
8	Saint Ann Saint Ann Parish, Jamaica Saint Ann is the largest parish in Jamaica. It is situated on the north coast of the island, in the county of Middlesex, roughly halfway between the eastern and western ends of the island. It is often called 'the Garden Parish of Jamaica' on account of its natural beauty...	1,212.6	166,762	Saint Ann's Bay
9	Saint Catherine Saint Catherine Parish, Jamaica St Catherine is a parish located in the south east of Jamaica. It is located in the county of Middlesex, and is one of the island's largest and most economically valued parish because of its many resources. It includes the first capital of Jamaica, Spanish Town, originally known as San Jago de la...	1,192.4	482,308	Spanish Town Spanish Town Spanish Town is the capital and the largest town in the parish of St. Catherine in the county of Middlesex, Jamaica. It was the former Spanish and English capital of Jamaica from the 16th to the 19th century...
10	Saint Mary Saint Mary Parish, Jamaica Saint Mary is a parish located in the northeast section of Jamaica. With a population of 115,000 it is one of Jamaica's smallest parishes, located in the county of Middlesex. Its chief town and capital is Port Maria, located on the coast. It is also the birthplace of established dancehall reggae...	610.5	111,466	Port Maria Port Maria Port Maria is the capital town of the Jamaican parish of Saint Mary. It has a population of approximately 7,500 people and is the seat of the Saint Mary Parish Council. The Mayor of Port Maria is Richard Creary...
Surrey County Surrey, Jamaica Surrey is the easternmost and the smallest by area of the three historic counties into which Jamaica is divided. It has no current-day administrative significance...
11	Kingston (parish) Kingston Parish, Jamaica Kingston is one of the 14 Parishes of Jamaica. Together with neighboring St. Andrew Parish, it makes up the consolidated administrative unit of Kingston and St. Andrew Corporation, or, informally the City of Kingston.... (1) (2)	21.8	96,052	Kingston Kingston, Jamaica Kingston is the capital and largest city of Jamaica, located on the southeastern coast of the island. It faces a natural harbour protected by the Palisadoes, a long sand spit which connects the town of Port Royal and the Norman Manley International Airport to the rest of the island...
12	Portland Portland Parish, Jamaica Portland, with its capital town Port Antonio, is a parish located on Jamaica's northeast coast. It is situated to the north of St Thomas, and the east of St Mary in Surrey county. It is one of the rural areas of Jamaica and is known for its great beaches....	814.0	80,205	Port Antonio Port Antonio Port Antonio is the capital of the parish of Portland on the northeastern coast of Jamaica, about 60 miles from Kingston. It had a population of 12,285 in 1982 and 13,246 in 1991...
13	Saint Andrew Saint Andrew Parish, Jamaica Saint Andrew is a parish, situated in the southeast of Jamaica in the county of Surrey. It lies north, west and east of Kingston, and stretches into the Blue Mountains and at the 2001 census had the highest population of all the parishes in Jamaica. The Right Excellent George William Gordon Saint... (1)	430.7	555,828	Half Way Tree Half Way Tree Half Way Tree is a neighbourhood in the city of Kingston, Jamaica. It is the parish capital of St. Andrew.Half Way Tree is served by the Kingston 10 post office....
14	Saint Thomas Saint Thomas Parish, Jamaica Saint Thomas is a suburban parish that is situated at the south eastern end of Jamaica, in the county of Surrey. It is the birth place of The right Honorable Paul Bogle, one of Jamaica's seven National Heroes...	742.8	91,604	Morant Bay Morant Bay Morant Bay is a town in southeastern Jamaica. It is the capital of the parish of St. Thomas. In 1867 it was the starting point of the Morant Bay Rebellion, the only major peasant revolt , in Jamaican history...
	Jamaica Jamaica Jamaica is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length, up to in width and 10,990 square kilometres in area. It is situated in the Caribbean Sea, about south of Cuba, and west of Hispaniola, the island harbouring the nation-states Haiti and the Dominican Republic...	10,990.5	2,607,631	Kingston Kingston, Jamaica Kingston is the capital and largest city of Jamaica, located on the southeastern coast of the island. It faces a natural harbour protected by the Palisadoes, a long sand spit which connects the town of Port Royal and the Norman Manley International Airport to the rest of the island...

⁽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. The number has varied over time and some no longer exist having either been absorbed into or divided between neighbouring parishes. At the peak, 1841–1865, there were 22 (the current 14 plus those listed below).

The current set of parishes was established in 1866 with the elimination of the 8 listed below (roughly by county):

Surrey:

• Port Royal
  Port Royal
  Port Royal was a city located at the end of the Palisadoes at the mouth of the Kingston Harbour, in southeastern Jamaica. Founded in 1518, it was the centre of shipping commerce in the Caribbean Sea during the latter half of the 17th century...
  
   (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)

External links

• Jamaican Parish Reference, a concise and well illustrated history of parish naming in Jamaica.