Kingston: The capital of Jamaica

Created: 09/22/2022, 17:14

Kingston, capital of Jamaica © Valery Sharifulin / IMAGO

Kingston was founded in 1693 by refugees from Port Royal, a offshore port city completely destroyed by an earthquake in 1692. 

Kingston, the vibrant capital of Jamaica, has approximately 700,000 residents in the city center and around 1.2 million in the greater metropolitan area.

It is the largest English-speaking city in the Caribbean and the political, economic and cultural center of the Caribbean island.

Kingston is on the south east coast of the island and has an overseas port and an international airport.

The main agricultural products exported through the Port of Kingston include allspice, coffee, bananas, citrus, pepper, tobacco and sugar cane.

In addition, an unimaginable 24.7 million liters of rum, which is distilled on the island from sugar cane, are shipped all over the world via the port of Kingston every year.

When you think of Kingston, you think of Jamaica and reggae, which began its triumphal march around the world from Kingston.

In the New Kingston district, a museum is dedicated to Bob Marley, probably the most famous representative and co-founder of reggae music, in his former home.

In November 2018, the UNESCO Commission declared Jamaican reggae music as an Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

Kingston was ranked 153rd out of 231 cities worldwide in a 2018 ranking of cities based on their quality of life.

The history of Kingston - the capital of Jamaica

Although Christopher Columbus landed in Jamaica in May 1494, it was another 200 years before the city of Kingston was founded on the southeast coast of the island.

Refugees from Port Royal, a port city in the natural harbor of what is now Kingston, founded the city of Kingston in 1693 after being forced to leave their city, which was completely destroyed by an earthquake.

Port Royal, at the time one of the most notorious pirate towns in the Caribbean, had a much more strategic location at the entrance to the natural harbor basin, and it was only when the town was once again destroyed by fire that Kingston's heyday and economic boom began .

A plan for urban development was drawn up, based on a rectangular road network,

which can still be seen in Down Town Kingston today.

As early as 1716 Kingston had surpassed the then capital Spanish Town and was the largest city in Jamaica and the most important commercial center on the island.  

In the meantime, the English had conquered the Caribbean island from the Spaniards and Jamaica was henceforth under the colonial administration of the English crown.

The English governor decided in 1755 that government offices should be moved to Kingston.

Even though the wealthy merchants of the city, which had meanwhile grown to 11,000 inhabitants, continued to try to move the capital to Kingston, his successor reversed the decision.

It was not until 1872 that the capital was officially moved to Kingston.

Meanwhile, Jamaica had become a crown colony.   

Kingston has been destroyed several times over the past centuries.

In 1784 a large part of the city was devastated by a hurricane, in 1843 and 1862 fires razed large parts of the city to the ground and in 1843 a cholera epidemic broke out.

Kingston experienced great devastation in 1907 when an earthquake destroyed approximately 75% of the city's buildings and claimed around 1,600 lives.

In 1948, the University of the West Indies, a joint university for the Caribbean countries, was founded in Kingston.

The Caribbean island nation gained independence from Great Britain in 1962 and Kingston remained the country's capital.

In September 1988, Hurricane Gilbert battered the island for nine days and was one of the strongest, deadliest and costliest hurricanes since records began in the mid-1800s, and Kingston was one of the hardest hit.

Water supply collapsed and there was no electricity for several days, causing $4 billion in damage.

There was extensive international aid in the months that followed, allowing the economy to get going again.

Today, Kingston is an economically booming metropolis with extremely attractive and culturally significant facilities.

Politics and political situation in Kingston

The politics and political situation in Kingston are reflected in the policies of the Jamaican government, which is closely related to the political situation in the capital, Kingston

Politics has only existed in Jamaica or Kingston since the 1930s, when the two major political parties, the People National Party and the Jamaica Labor Party, were founded.

Kingston experienced the high point of Jamaican politics in August 1962 when, in the presence of the British Crown and the world public, a midnight ceremony was held in which the British Union Jack was lowered and the new black, gold and green Jamaican flag was hoisted, making the Caribbean island nation an independent nation .

Independence was followed only a few weeks later by membership in the United Nations.

Alexander Bustamente of the Jamaica Labor Party became the country's first President.

In the economically difficult years after independence, the government turned to democratic socialism, based on the Cuban model.

Despite this, the economy stagnated and, as a result of international isolation, poverty increased,

Since 2016, Andrew Holness of the Jamaica Labor Party has been prime minister and since Jamaica is part of the Commonwealth of Nations, the head of state is King Charles III of England.

A Governor-General represents the English Crown on the island, although his duties are largely ceremonial.

The Jamaican state has implemented numerous reforms since 1990, and as a result numerous international investors have settled on the island.

Thanks to tourism, Jamaica is now one of the more prosperous states in the Caribbean and has given at least parts of the population a modest level of prosperity.

Population in Kingston

The population and in particular the population development of Kingston are identical to that of the country of Jamaica.

Around a third of the country's total population lives in the Kingston metropolitan area, the capital of Jamaica.

Even though Jamaica is one of the wealthier countries in the Caribbean, more than 10% of the residents are unemployed and approximately one in five residents of Jamaica and Kingston lives below the poverty line.

Kingston's population has doubled since 1960 due to rural exodus. 

The median age of people in Kingston and Jamaica is 23.7 years, approximately one-third of residents are under the age of 14 and only 9% are over the age of 64.

Compared to most developed countries, Jamaica's population is very young.

Life expectancy is currently 76 for women and 73 for men.

Population growth has fallen from 1.6% to 0.6% over the past 60 years.

The average age is expected to rise in the future as large numbers of young people leave Jamaica as the island nation suffers from what is known as a “brain drain” which means that the country sends talented, well-educated and intelligent business and academic leaders to others countries loses.

98% of Kingston and Jamaica's population identify themselves as Black or Mixed as approximately 91% of residents are of African descent and descended from slaves brought to Jamaica from Africa in the 17th and 18th centuries Christian tendencies are clearly dominant on the island and around two thirds of the population belong to a Protestant church, which is certainly due to the influence of the former colonial powers.

The official language in Jamaica is English.

In addition, Partois, a Jamaican creole language with English roots, is also spoken, which became known overseas and especially in Europe through reggae music.