Saint John (),
officially the Parish of Saint John, is a
civil parish
In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...
of
Antigua and Barbuda
Antigua and Barbuda is a Sovereign state, sovereign archipelagic country composed of Antigua, Barbuda, and List of islands of Antigua and Barbuda, numerous other small islands. Antigua and Barbuda has a total area of 440 km2 (170 sq mi), ...
, on the northwestern portion of
Antigua
Antigua ( ; ), also known as Waladli or Wadadli by the local population, is an island in the Lesser Antilles. It is one of the Leeward Islands in the Caribbean region and the most populous island of the country of Antigua and Barbuda. Antigua ...
island. Its capital is the city of
St. John's. Saint John borders
Saint Mary
Mary was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Saint Joseph, Joseph and the mother of Jesus. She is an important figure of Christianity, venerated under titles of Mary, mother of Jesus, various titles such as Perpetual virginity ...
,
Saint Peter
Saint Peter (born Shimon Bar Yonah; 1 BC – AD 64/68), also known as Peter the Apostle, Simon Peter, Simeon, Simon, or Cephas, was one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus and one of the first leaders of the Jewish Christian#Jerusalem ekklēsia, e ...
,
Saint George
Saint George (;Geʽez: ጊዮርጊስ, , ka, გიორგი, , , died 23 April 303), also George of Lydda, was an early Christian martyr who is venerated as a saint in Christianity. According to holy tradition, he was a soldier in the ...
, and
Saint Paul
Paul, also named Saul of Tarsus, commonly known as Paul the Apostle and Saint Paul, was a Christian apostle ( AD) who spread the teachings of Jesus in the first-century world. For his contributions towards the New Testament, he is generally ...
. Saint John faces the
Caribbean Sea
The Caribbean Sea is a sea of the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean in the tropics of the Western Hemisphere, located south of the Gulf of Mexico and southwest of the Sargasso Sea. It is bounded by the Greater Antilles to the north from Cuba ...
. Saint John is surrounded by some of Antigua's most premier beaches. Saint John had a population of 56,736 in a 2018 estimate, making it home to the majority of the population in Antigua and Barbuda.
While Saint John is a civil administrative division, the
Anglican parish church is located in the city of St. John's. Saint John is mostly centered around the St. John's urban area and the northern tourist area, but is also home to more rural areas in the southern salient and in the
Five Islands-
Yeptons area. Due to Saint John holding the majority of the population of Antigua and Barbuda, it is home to hundreds of populated locations some of which are vastly different from another. The island of
Redonda
Redonda is an List of uninhabited regions, uninhabited Caribbean island which is a dependency of Saint John, Antigua and Barbuda, in the Leeward Islands, West Indies. The island is about long, wide, and is high at its highest point.
It lie ...
is also under the administration of Saint John.
Saint John was created on 24 August 1681, when Antigua was divided into five parishes.
Saint John and the four other parishes were permanently established in July 1692, and confirmed in January 1693.
The primary objective of the establishment of parishes was providing for the parish church. Outside of the city, most of the rural areas of the parish were originally used as sugar mills. Many remnants of the parish's past are still visible in the modern day, such as with the Cedar Valley Plantation, or the Weatherill's plantation.
Demographics
Governance
Saint John coincides with the boundaries of Magistrates' Court District "A". While local government is nearly nonexistent in Antigua, there is a limited form of local government in the
city centre of St. John's, known as the Saint John's Development Corporation. As the country's primary political and cultural hub, Saint John is granted significantly more autonomy than the other parishes, with various governmental offices belonging exclusively to the parish. Historically, when
village councils were active, there were proposals to create village councils in
Potters,
Cedar Grove, Five Islands, and
St. Johnston and
Clare Hall. A village council in the city of
All Saints, which extends across three parishes, was also constituted.
Education
Island Academy International, the sole international school in the country, is located in the town of Buckleys within Saint John Parish. It was formerly Oliver's Estate Island Academy.
Webcitation.org: Archive - Oliver's Estate Island Academy
"Oliver's Estate PO Box W1884, Buckley's Main Rd, Buckleys, Antigua & Barbuda" . retrieved on 29 September 2015.
References
Parishes of Antigua and Barbuda
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