Portland Parish

Portland
Capital	Port Antonio
county	Surrey
Big cities	Buff Bay , Manchioneal
surface	814  km²
population	82,442 (2009)
Population density	101.3 / km²
economy	Agriculture, tourism

Rose Hill on the east coast of Portland

Portland is a district ( parish ) in northeast Jamaica . The capital is Port Antonio . The rural area is known for its beaches. The national heroine Nanny of the Maroons lived here.

history

Portland grew out of the former Parish Saint George and parts of Saint Thomas' .

Port Antonio was founded as Puerto Anton by Spanish settlers in the 16th century . Under English rule it was expanded into a sea fortress in the 18th century. Fort George overlooks the entire harbor. British architecture can still be seen across the region today.

Many of the slaves who grew sugar cane and coffee around 1700 rebelled and fled to the surrounding mountains. In order to lure people to the sparsely populated area, the governor offered land to various groups in 1723. The mountain slaves, called Maroons , were determined not to leave the area to the newcomers, mostly British. In the 1730s, fighting broke out between the two groups that threatened to destroy the Parish. The English succeeded in conquering Nanny Town, the most important settlement of the Maroons. After the Christmas Rising around Montego Bay , Nanny of the Maroon, the leader of the Maroon, was able to sign a treaty that granted her people freedom and land.

Tourism played an important role in the development of Portland. As early as the middle of the 19th century, the banana export attracted the first visitors, earlier than in the other parishes. Banana ships from the USA brought the first tourists to Port Antonio, called World's Banana Capital . Portland gained further fame through Errol Flynn , who bought land on Navy Island after a shipwreck and invited friends from Hollywood there.

geography

Portland is north of Saint Thomas and east of Saint Mary . In 2001, 82,000 people lived on 814 km², 15,000 of them in the capital.

From the highest point of the Blue Mountains at 2256 meters to the coast, Portland is one of the most varied areas on the island. The limestone underground leads to a variety of caves and waterfalls, especially near the coast. Rio Grande, Buff Bay, and Hector's River are the major rivers. The soil is fertile, and the trade winds provide the heaviest rainfall in Jamaica.

economy

Mainly bananas, coconuts and breadfruits are grown on the fertile soils . The soil is suitable for almost all fruits, as well as for livestock farming. In addition to numerous tourist centers, eco-tourism plays an important role. The beauty of the landscape has resulted in over 780 films being shot here since the 1950s.

Personalities

• Patrick Allen (* 1951), theologian and Governor General of Jamaica

Web links

• Information about Portland
• History of Portland

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Statistical Institute of Jamaica: Demographic Statistics - Population by Parish 2009 ( Memento of the original dated November 13, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . Retrieved November 15, 2010.