Parishes of Jamaica

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Updates: 

Graham Rhind's postal website  has added a link to a page that explains Jamaica's postal code system. 

The Statistical Institute of Jamaica  has released the results of the 2001 census.

Country overview: 

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: Jamaïque f
5. German: Jamaika n
6. Icelandic: Jamaíka
7. Italian: Giamaica f
8. Norwegian: Jamaica
9. Portuguese: Jamaica f
10. Spanish: Jamaica
11. Swedish: Jamaica

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.

Postal codes: 

According to the Postal Corporation of Jamaica , 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.

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 Elizabeth: in honor of Lady Elizabeth Modyford, wife of the governor of Jamaica in 1670
7. Saint James: in honor of James, Duke of York, later King James II of England
8. Saint Mary: after the capital, Puerto Santa Maria under Spanish rule (now Port Maria)
9. Trelawny: after Sir William Trelawny, governer of Jamaica when it was created in 1771
10. Westmoreland: after the county in England, because this county contains the westernmost point in Jamaica

Change history: 

~1930: Saint George parish (capital Annotta, now called Annotto Bay) split into two parts and annexed by Portland and Saint Mary.

Other names of subdivisions: 

Kingston: Kingston and Port Royal (obsolete)