Saint Andrew Parish, Jamaica

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Saint Andrew Parish

Saint Andrew (capital Half Way Tree) is a parish, situated in the southeast of Jamaica in the county of Surrey. It lies north of Kingston and stretches into the Blue Mountain. The Right Excellent George William Gordon (d.1865), one of Jamaica's seven National Heroes, was born in this Parish.

1 Geography
2 Economy
3 Important areas
4 References

[edit] Geography

St. Andrew was one of the first parishes to be established by law in 1867. Before being established, it was known as 'Liguanea'.

St Andrew is located at latitude 18°01'N, and longitude 76°54'W and covers an area of 455 sq km (181 sq miles). The parish lies just north of Kingston, bounded in the west by St. Catherine, north by St. Mary, northeast by Portland along the Blue Mountain range, and east by St. Thomas. In 1923, the parishes of St Andrew and Kingston were administratively merged to form the Kingston and St Andrew Corporation (KSAC), with a single elected council and a mayor. The geographic area of the KSAC is often referred to as the "Corporate Area." The current mayor of KSAC is Desmond McKenzie.

Cross Roads, New Kingston, Half-Way-Tree and Constant Spring are important commercial centres in St. Andrew, but may be regarded as suburbs of Kingston. West St. Andrew, however, is a populous residential area. Total population of the parish is an estimated 540,715.

[edit] Economy

A lot of the parish is given over to agriculture. Its principal products include coffee, mangoes, cacao, peas, beans, sugarcane, cattle; dairy goods, cigar and cigarette, vegetables and ground provisions. To encourage the movement of Industrial Plants from the business areas of Kingston, and to facilitate the establishment of new industries with local and overseas capital, the government has established an industrial estate in St. Andrew, bordering on Western Kingston. This Industrial Estate is over 1.2 km² (300 acres) in size.

Gypsum is found in large quantities, in eastern St. Andrew, the largest deposits being in the area of Bull Bay, a mile and a half of the coast.

At the south of Papine, several miles northeast of Kingston is the University of the West Indies, occupying 2.6 km² (1 mile²) of the Liguanea Plain at the foot of Long Mountain. The College of Arts, Science and Technology, which has now become The University of Technology, Jamaica, is situated nearby.