Middlesex County, Jamaica


Middlesex is the central of the three historic counties into which Jamaica is divided. It has no current-day administrative significance. It covers 5,041.9 km2 and has a population of 1,183,361 giving it the largest area and population of the three counties. It includes Spanish Town, the island's original capital.

History

Jamaica's three counties were established in 1758 to facilitate the holding of courts along the lines of the British county court system. Middlesex, the middle of the three, was named after an English county of the same name. It was chosen in Jamaica presumably because of its central position. Spanish Town was its county town.