Saint Catherine () is a

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christianity, Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest#Christianity, priest, often termed a parish pries ...

in the south east of

Jamaica Jamaica is an island country in the Caribbean Sea and the West Indies. At , it is the third-largest island—after Cuba and Hispaniola—of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean. Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, west of Hispaniola (the is ...

. It is located in the

county A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...

of Middlesex, and is one of the island's largest and most economically valued parishes because of its many resources. It includes the first

capital Capital and its variations may refer to: Common uses * Capital city, a municipality of primary status ** Capital region, a metropolitan region containing the capital ** List of national capitals * Capital letter, an upper-case letter Econom ...

of Jamaica,

Spanish Town Spanish Town (Jamaican Patois: Spain) is the capital and the largest town in the Parishes of Jamaica, parish of St. Catherine, Jamaica, St. Catherine in the historic county of Middlesex, Jamaica, Middlesex, Jamaica. It was the Spanish and Briti ...

, originally known as San Jago de la Vega or Santiago de la Vega (St. James of the Plain).

History

The modern boundaries of St. Catherine were decided in 1867 when four smaller parishes were amalgamated. The historic parishes of Saint Dorothy Parish, Saint John Parish and

Saint Thomas in the Vale Parish, Jamaica Saint Thomas in the Vale Parish was one of the historic parishes of Jamaica created following colonisation of the island by the British. It was in the centre of the island in Middlesex County but was abolished in 1866 when it was merged into Saint ...

were merged with the historic parish of Saint Catherine.

Geography and People

St Catherine is located at . It is bordered by

St Andrew Andrew the Apostle ( ; ; ; ) was an apostle of Jesus. According to the New Testament, he was a fisherman and one of the Apostles in the New Testament, Twelve Apostles chosen by Jesus. The title First-Called () used by the Eastern Orthodox Chu ...

in the east, Clarendon in the west, and by

St Mary Mary was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Joseph and the mother of Jesus. She is an important figure of Christianity, venerated under various titles such as virgin or queen, many of them mentioned in the Litany of Loreto. ...

and St Ann in the north. It has an area of 1,192 km², making it one of Jamaica's largest parishes and it is one of the fastest growing parishes in the nation and has the largest economy out of all fourteen parishes. Except for the Hellshire Hills near the coast, the south of the parish is virtually flat. The central and northern sections are very mountainous, however; the northern border is on Mount Rosser, which crosses over into St Ann, the highest point being . A

plain In geography, a plain, commonly known as flatland, is a flat expanse of land that generally does not change much in elevation, and is primarily treeless. Plains occur as lowlands along valleys or at the base of mountains, as coastal plains, and ...

of approximately occupies the southern part of the Rio Cobre basin. The Rio Cobre is the only river that runs along the southern plain. It provides water to irrigate over on the plain.

Commerce

Development

Out of all the parishes (with the exception of Kingston Parish and Saint Andrew Parish) Saint Catherine shows the most potential for urban development. With its good water resources, virtually flat landscape, and nearness to the capital, it could possibly be one of the Caribbean's major urban areas in the next few years.

Agriculture

Agriculture remains the main source of

employment Employment is a relationship between two party (law), parties Regulation, regulating the provision of paid Labour (human activity), labour services. Usually based on a employment contract, contract, one party, the employer, which might be a cor ...

in the parish. There are many small farmers who practice mixed farming;

crops A crop is a plant that can be grown and harvested extensively for profit or subsistence. In other words, a crop is a plant or plant product that is grown for a specific purpose such as food, fibre, or fuel. When plants of the same species a ...

such as

banana A banana is an elongated, edible fruit – botanically a berry – produced by several kinds of large treelike herbaceous flowering plants in the genus '' Musa''. In some countries, cooking bananas are called plantains, distinguishing the ...

coconut The coconut tree (''Cocos nucifera'') is a member of the palm tree family (biology), family (Arecaceae) and the only living species of the genus ''Cocos''. The term "coconut" (or the archaic "cocoanut") can refer to the whole coconut palm, ...

pineapple The pineapple (''Ananas comosus'') is a Tropical vegetation, tropical plant with an edible fruit; it is the most economically significant plant in the family Bromeliaceae. The pineapple is indigenous to South America, where it has been culti ...

citrus ''Citrus'' is a genus of flowering trees and shrubs in the family Rutaceae. Plants in the genus produce citrus fruits, including important crops such as oranges, mandarins, lemons, grapefruits, pomelos, and limes. ''Citrus'' is nativ ...

pumpkin A pumpkin is a cultivar, cultivated winter squash in the genus ''Cucurbita''. The term is most commonly applied to round, orange-colored squash varieties, but does not possess a scientific definition. It may be used in reference to many dif ...

s, peppers,

coffee Coffee is a beverage brewed from roasted, ground coffee beans. Darkly colored, bitter, and slightly acidic, coffee has a stimulating effect on humans, primarily due to its caffeine content, but decaffeinated coffee is also commercially a ...

and callaloo are planted for both domestic and commercial purposes. The larger properties produce

sugar cane Sugarcane or sugar cane is a species of tall, Perennial plant, perennial grass (in the genus ''Saccharum'', tribe Andropogoneae) that is used for sugar Sugar industry, production. The plants are 2–6 m (6–20 ft) tall with stout, jointed, fib ...

s and

mainly for export. Dairy farms are also found in the parish. One of these is a

farm A farm (also called an agricultural holding) is an area of land that is devoted primarily to agricultural processes with the primary objective of producing food and other crops; it is the basic facility in food production. The name is used fo ...

in Old Harbour. The Salt Ponds District between Spanish Town, Port Henderson and Passage Fort is noted for the fine fish especially calipera.

Manufacturing

St Catherine is second only to Kingston as an industrial center. Industrial plants are some of the biggest employers in the parish.

has the largest salt producing plant in the Caribbean, while Jamaica Milk Products, an affiliate of the

Nestlé Nestlé S.A. ( ) is a Swiss multinational food and drink processing conglomerate corporation headquartered in Vevey, Switzerland. It has been the largest publicly held food company in the world, measured by revenue and other metrics, since 20 ...

organization, has a factory in Bog Walk, another major town in the parish. The largest

power plant A power station, also referred to as a power plant and sometimes generating station or generating plant, is an industrial facility for the electricity generation, generation of electric power. Power stations are generally connected to an electr ...

in the island and several factories are located in Old Harbour. Twickenham Park, near

, is another industrial estate with mainly light industries including cigarettes,

carpets A carpet is a textile floor covering typically consisting of an upper layer of Pile (textile), pile attached to a backing. The pile was traditionally made from wool, but since the 20th century synthetic fiber, synthetic fibres such as polyprop ...

, batteries,

ackee The ackee (''Blighia sapida''), also known as acki, akee, or ackee apple, is a fruit of the Sapindaceae ( soapberry) family, as are the lychee and the longan. It is native to tropical West Africa. The scientific name honours Captain William B ...

plastic Plastics are a wide range of synthetic polymers, synthetic or Semisynthesis, semisynthetic materials composed primarily of Polymer, polymers. Their defining characteristic, Plasticity (physics), plasticity, allows them to be Injection moulding ...

items,

medical Medicine is the science and Praxis (process), practice of caring for patients, managing the Medical diagnosis, diagnosis, prognosis, Preventive medicine, prevention, therapy, treatment, Palliative care, palliation of their injury or disease, ...

and

pharmaceutical Medication (also called medicament, medicine, pharmaceutical drug, medicinal product, medicinal drug or simply drug) is a drug used to diagnose, cure, treat, or prevent disease. Drug therapy ( pharmacotherapy) is an important part of the ...

products.

Tourist sites

*Jamaica's

emancipation Emancipation generally means to free a person from a previous restraint or legal disability. More broadly, it is also used for efforts to procure Economic, social and cultural rights, economic and social rights, civil and political rights, po ...

Square can be found in Spanish Town. This is the only Georgian square in

. Kings House and the

House of Assembly House of Assembly is a name given to the legislature or lower house of a bicameral parliament. In some countries this may be at a subnational level. Historically, in British Crown colonies as the colony gained more internal responsible g ...

on the west and east sides, respectively, were erected in 1762. The

Courthouse A courthouse or court house is a structure which houses judicial functions for a governmental entity such as a state, region, province, county, prefecture, regency, or similar governmental unit. A courthouse is home to one or more courtrooms, ...

was built in 1819 and used as a

chapel A chapel (from , a diminutive of ''cappa'', meaning "little cape") is a Christianity, Christian place of prayer and worship that is usually relatively small. The term has several meanings. First, smaller spaces inside a church that have their o ...

and armory with the Town Hall upstairs. *The Rio Cobre River and

Gorge A canyon (; archaic British English spelling: ''cañon''), gorge or chasm, is a deep cleft between escarpments or cliffs resulting from weathering and the erosion, erosive activity of a river over geologic time scales. Rivers have a natural tend ...

is one of the largest in the island. Sinking at a place called River Sink at Worthy Park, it runs underground for nearly six kilometres, then surfaces at River Head Grand

Cave Caves or caverns are natural voids under the Earth's Planetary surface, surface. Caves often form by the weathering of rock and often extend deep underground. Exogene caves are smaller openings that extend a relatively short distance undergrou ...

in St Thomas-in-the-Vale. Before entering the

gorge A canyon (; archaic British English spelling: ''cañon''), gorge or chasm, is a deep cleft between escarpments or cliffs resulting from weathering and the erosion, erosive activity of a river over geologic time scales. Rivers have a natural tend ...

it is joined by a number of

tributaries A tributary, or an ''affluent'', is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream ('' main stem'' or ''"parent"''), river, or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean. Tributaries, and the main stem river into which the ...

, such as the Thomas River, the Rio D'Oro and the Rio Pedro. In the early 1770s, a road was opened through the gorge. The Flat Bridge was originally constructed of logs, which were washed away in a flood. The present bridge was built and it has withstood countless floods. A marker can be found, which shows where the water rose to over above the bridge in 1933. An apocryphal story is that at noon, on every

Good Friday Good Friday, also known as Holy Friday, Great Friday, Great and Holy Friday, or Friday of the Passion of the Lord, is a solemn Christian holy day commemorating the crucifixion of Jesus and his death at Calvary (Golgotha). It is observed during ...

, for a short period of time the

ghosts In folklore, a ghost is the soul or Spirit (supernatural entity), spirit of a dead Human, person or non-human animal that is believed by some people to be able to appear to the living. In ghostlore, descriptions of ghosts vary widely, from a ...

of all the slaves who drowned in the river can be seen. *Caymanas Race Track, Jamaica's most famous race track, is in St Catherine. *St Clair Cave, one of Jamaica's more famous caves, is found in the parish. This large, complex cave contains one of the most notable bat roosts on the island, and is one of the few known historical sites for the possibly extinct bat, '' Phyllonycteris aphylla''. Because of the biological importance of the system, and the inherent dangers involved in exploring it (i.e. noxious gases,

histoplasmosis Histoplasmosis is a fungal infection caused by ''Histoplasma capsulatum''. Symptoms of this infection vary greatly, but the disease affects primarily the lungs. Occasionally, other organs are affected; called disseminated histoplasmosis, it can ...

Cutaneous larva migrans Cutaneous larva migrans (abbreviated CLM) is a skin disease in humans, caused by the larvae of various nematode parasites of the hookworm family ( Ancylostomatidae). The parasites live in the intestines of dogs, cats, and wild animals; they should ...

, difficult footing), casual visitation is discouraged. *Hellshire Beach is located on the south coast of Jamaica in St. Catherine Parish about 20 minutes away from Kingston. Not a tourist spot due to its distance from major hotels.

Government and infrastructure

The Rio Cobre Correctional Centre of the Department of Correctional Services, Jamaica is located in

, Saint Catherine Parish."." Department of Correctional Services, Jamaica. Retrieved on 2 October 2010.

Politics

Saint Catherine Parish is represented in the

Parliament of Jamaica The Parliament of Jamaica () is the legislature, legislative branch of the government of Jamaica. Officially, they are known as the Houses of Parliament. It consists of three elements: The Monarchy of Jamaica, Crown (represented by the Govern ...

by eleven

single-member constituencies A single-member district or constituency is an electoral district represented by a single officeholder. It contrasts with a Multiwinner voting, multi-member district, which is represented by multiple officeholders. In some countries, such as ...

: * Saint Catherine Central * Saint Catherine East Central * Saint Catherine Eastern * Saint Catherine North Central * Saint Catherine North Eastern * Saint Catherine North Western * Saint Catherine South Central * Saint Catherine South Eastern * Saint Catherine South Western * Saint Catherine Southern * Saint Catherine West Central

References

Parish InformationStatistical Institute of Jamaica
*Robertson, James, 2005, ''Gone is the Ancient Glory, Spanish Town Jamaica 1534-2000'', Kingston, Jamaica

External links

{{Authority control Parishes of Jamaica