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Jamaican parish facts

Jamaica is divided into fourteen parishes. At one time there were as many as twenty two.

1. St. Ann

  • Land area: 1212.6 sq km (468.2 sq miles)

  • Named after Lady Anne Hyde the first wife of King James II of England

  • Capital: St. Ann’s Bay

  • Places of interest: Ocho Rios,Discovery Bay, Seville, Moneague Lake, Dunn's River Falls, Fern Gully

2. St. Elizabeth

3. Clarendon

  • Land area: 1196 sq km (461.9 sq miles)

  • Named in honour of the Lord Chancellor Sir Edward Hyde, Earl of Clarendon.

  • The parish was formed from a combination of three parishes: St. Dorothy's, Vere and the old parish of Clarendon. Before the merger, the capital was Chapelton
    • .

  • Capital: May Pen(Established between 1660 and 1683 and named after an 18th-century estate owned by Rev William May)

  • Places of interest:Milk River Bath, Rio Minho

    • 4.St. Catherine

  • Created in 1867

  • Land area: 1,192.4 sq km (460.4 sq miles)

  • Capital: Spanish Town

  • Places of interest:Port Henderson, Sligoville, Flatbridge

    • 5.Trelawny

  • Created in 1770

  • Land area: 874.6 sq km (337.7 sq miles)

  • Named after Sir William Trelawny, governor of the parish

  • Capital: Falmouth

  • Was a major port of entry for slaves

  • In its hey day there were more sugar estates than any other parish

  • Has the largest group of Maroons

  • Places of interest:Martha Brae River, Rio Bueno

    • 6. Manchester

  • Created in 1814

  • Land area: 830.1 sq km (320.1 sq miles)

  • Named after : Duke of Manchester, then governor of Jamaica for 19 years, setting the record as the longest serving Governor of the island

  • Capital: Mandeville [laid out in 1816, and named after Viscount Mandeville, the eldest son of the Duke of Manchester

  • Manchester Golf Club was established in 1868 making it the first golf course in the Caribbean.

  • Birthplace in 1920 of the ortanique, a cross between the orange and tangerine developed by Charles Jackson

  • In 1865 the Manchester Horticultural Society was formed and is one of the oldest in the world

  • Only parish with no sugar estates. Slaves planted coffee instead

  • First parish in Jamaica to plant Irish potatoes

  • Places of interest:Kendal,Northern Caribbean University

    • 7.Portland

  • Created in 1723

  • Named after Duke of Portland

  • Land area: 814 sq km (314.3 sq miles)

  • Capital: Port Antonio

  • Regarded as the birthplace of Jamaican tourism

  • A popular location for Hollywood feature films

  • Places of interest: Navy Island, Blue Lagoon, Folly Great House,Rio Grande, Boston Beach

    • 8.Westmoreland

  • Founded in 1703

  • Land area: 807.0 sq km (311.6 sq miles)
  • Capital: Savanna-la-mar

  • Places of interest:Bluefields, Negril, Frome, Seaford Town

    • 9. St. Thomas

  • Land Area: 742.8 sq km (286.8 sq miles)

  • Capital: Morant Bay

  • Places of interest:Morant Bay, Bath Botanical Gardens and spa, Morant Point

    • 10. St. Mary

  • Area: 610.5 sq km(235.7 sq miles)

  • Capital: Port Maria (First known as Puerto Santa Maria and the second town the Spanish built in Jamaica)

  • Places of interest:Firefly, Goldeneye, Castleton Gardens, Rio Nuevo

    • 12.Hanover

  • Created in 1723

  • Named after the ruling British family at the time

  • Area: 450.4 sq km (173.9 sq miles)

  • Capital: Lucea called Santa Lucea by Spanish

  • Places of interest:Fort Charlotte

    • 13.St. Andrew

  • Established 1867

  • Area: 430.7 sq km (166.3 sq miles)

  • Capital:Half-Way-Tree

  • Places of interest:Devon House,St Andrew Parish Church, Hope Gardens

  • 14.Kingston

  • Founded July 22, 1692 after the Port Royal earthquake

  • Area: 21.8 sq km (8.5 sq miles)

  • Places of interest:Parade, National Heroes Park, Port Royal, Liberty Hall

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