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Updates: 

I added the 2011 census results (from source [1]), and a population history. I extended the change history back to 1700 by combining narratives from various online sources, some of which disagreed with each other.

Country overview: 

Short name	JAMAICA
ISO code	JM
FIPS code	JM
Language	English (en)
Time zone	-5
Capital	Kingston

 

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. Russian: Ямайка
11. Spanish: Jamaica
12. Swedish: Jamaica
13. Turkish: Jamaika (formal)

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.

Parish	HASC	ISO	FIPS	Pc	Population	Area(km.²)	Area(mi.²)	Cty	Capital
Clarendon	JM.CL	13	JM01	DCN	245,103	1,196	462	M	May Pen
Hanover	JM.HA	09	JM02	CHR	69,533	450	174	C	Lucea
Kingston	JM.KI	01	JM17	AKN	89,057	22	8	S	Kingston
Manchester	JM.MA	12	JM04	DMR	189,797	830	320	M	Mandeville
Portland	JM.PO	04	JM07	BPD	81,744	814	314	S	Port Antonio
Saint Andrew	JM.SD	02	JM08	AAW	573,369	431	166	S	Half Way Tree
Saint Ann	JM.SN	06	JM09	CAN	172,362	1,213	468	M	Saint Anns Bay
Saint Catherine	JM.SC	14	JM10	ACE	516,218	1,192	460	M	Spanish Town
Saint Elizabeth	JM.SE	11	JM11	DEH	150,205	1,212	468	C	Black River
Saint James	JM.SJ	08	JM12	CJS	183,811	595	230	C	Montego Bay
Saint Mary	JM.SM	05	JM13	BMY	113,615	611	236	M	Port Maria
Saint Thomas	JM.ST	03	JM14	BTS	93,902	743	287	S	Morant Bay
Trelawny	JM.TR	07	JM15	CTY	75,164	875	338	C	Falmouth
Westmoreland	JM.WE	10	JM16	DWD	144,103	807	312	C	Savanna-la-Mar
14 parishes					2,697,983	10,991	4,243
HASC: Hierarchical administrative subdivision codes. ISO: Codes from ISO 3166-2. FIPS: Codes from FIPS PUB 10-4. Pc: Postal code identifiers. Population: 2011-04-04 census. Cty: County to which the parish belongs, according to the codes shown below.

Postal codes: 

According to source [3], 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.

Cty	Name
C	Cornwall
M	Middlesex
S	Surrey

Territorial extent: 

The UN LOCODE page  for Jamaica lists locations in the country, some of them with their latitudes and longitudes, some with their ISO 3166-2 codes for their subdivisions. This information can be put together to approximate the territorial extent of subdivisions.

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 Catherine: after Catherine of Braganza, wife of King Charles II of England
7. Saint Elizabeth: in honor of Lady Elizabeth Modyford, wife of the governor of Jamaica in 1670
8. Saint James: in honor of James, Duke of York, later King James II of England
9. Saint Mary: after the capital, Puerto Santa Maria under Spanish rule (now Port Maria)
10. Trelawny: after Sir William Trelawny, governer of Jamaica when it was created in 1770
11. Westmoreland: after the county in England, because this county contains the westernmost point in Jamaica

Change history: 

1. 1703: Westmoreland parish split from Saint Elizabeth parish.
2. 1723: Portland parish formed from parts of Saint George and Saint Thomas in the East parishes.
3. 1725: Hanover parish split from Westmoreland parish.
4. 1758: The three counties were formed as judicial districts.
5. 1770: Trelawny parish split from Saint James parish.
6. 1814: Manchester parish formed from parts of St, Elizabeth, Clarendon, and Vere parishes.
7. 1842: Metcalfe parish formed from parts of Saint George and Saint Mary parishes.
8. 1867-04-23: Vere parish merged with Clarendon parish; Kingston parish formed by merging Kingston city and parish, Port Royal town and parish, and part of Saint Andrew parish; Saint George parish and part of Saint Thomas parish merged with Portland parish; Saint Dorothy, Saint John and Saint Thomas in the Vale parishes merged with Saint Catherine parish; Metcalfe parish merged with Saint Mary parish; Saint Thomas parish formed by merging Saint Thomas in the East and Saint David parishes, under the Counties and Parishes Act.
9. 1872: Capital of Jamaica moved from Spanish Town to Kingston.

Other names of subdivisions: 

Kingston: Kingston and Port Royal (obsolete)

Population history:

Parish	1943	1960-04-07	1970-04-07	1982-06-08	2001-09-10	2011-04-04
Clarendon	123,505	164,000	177,000	194,885	237,024	245,103
Hanover	51,684	54,000	59,000	60,420	67,037	69,533
Kingston	110,083	123,000	117,000	-	96,052	89,057
Manchester	92,745	112,000	124,000	136,517	185,801	189,797
Portland	60,712	65,000	69,000	70,787	80,205	81,744
Saint Andrew	128,146	296,000	433,000	565,487	555,828	573,369
Saint Ann	96,193	114,000	121,000	132,475	166,762	172,362
Saint Catherine	121,032	154,000	186,000	315,970	482,308	516,218
Saint Elizabeth	100,182	117,000	127,000	132,353	146,404	150,205
Saint James	63,542	83,000	104,000	127,994	175,127	183,811
Saint Mary	90,902	94,000	100,000	101,442	111,466	113,615
Saint Thomas	60,693	69,000	71,000	76,347	91,604	93,902
Trelawny	47,535	56,000	61,000	65,038	73,066	75,164
Westmoreland	90,109	110,000	113,000	116,163	138,947	144,103
Total	1,237,063	1,610,000	1,861,000	2,095,878	2,607,632	2,697,983

 

Sources: 1943 - [4]; 1960, 1970 - [5]; 1982 - [6]; 2001 - [2]; 2011 - [1]. Source [5] gives figures rounded to the nearest thousand. Source [6] lists only a combined population for Kingston and Saint Andrew.

Sources: 

1. [1] Statistical Institute of Jamaica  2011 Census report (retrieved 2012-12-01).
2. [2] Statistical Institute of Jamaica  2001 census report (retrieved 2004-01-26).
3. [3] Postal Corporation of Jamaica  (retrieved 2005-07-24).
4. [4] Encyclopædia Britannica World Atlas, 1951 edition.
5. [5] Encyclopædia Britannica, 15th Edition, Chicago, 1984.
6. [6] "The Statesman's Year-Book 1988-1989", John Paxton (ed.). St. Martin's Press, New York, 1988.