The island, with its fine natural harbor at Castries, was contested between England and France throughout the 17th and early 18th centuries (changing possession 14 times); it was finally ceded to the UK in 1814. Even after the abolition of slavery on its plantations in 1834, Saint Lucia remained an agricultural island, dedicated to producing tropical commodity crops. Self-government was granted in 1967 and independence in 1979.

Caribbean, island between the Caribbean Sea and North Atlantic Ocean, north of Trinidad and Tobago
13 53 N, 60 58 W
Central America and the Caribbean
total: 616 sq km ; land: 606 sq km ; water: 10 sq km
3.5 times the size of Washington, DC
0 km
158 km
territorial sea: 12 nm ; contiguous zone: 24 nm ; exclusive economic zone: 200 nm ; continental shelf: 200 nm or to the edge of the continental margin
tropical, moderated by northeast trade winds; dry season January to April, rainy season May to August
volcanic and mountainous with some broad, fertile valleys
lowest point: Caribbean Sea 0 m ; highest point: Mount Gimie 950 m
forests, sandy beaches, minerals (pumice), mineral springs, geothermal potential
arable land: 6.45% ; permanent crops: 22.58% ; other: 70.97% (2005)
30 sq km (2003)

Total: 0.01 ; Per capita: 81 cu m/yr (1997)
hurricanes and volcanic activity
deforestation; soil erosion, particularly in the northern region
party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands, Whaling ; signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements
the twin Pitons (Gros Piton and Petit Piton), striking cone-shaped peaks south of Soufriere, are one of the scenic natural highlights of the Caribbean
170,649 (July 2007 est.)
0-14 years: 29.4% (male 25,869/female 24,248) ; 15-64 years: 65.5% (male 55,115/female 56,641) ; 65 years and over: 5.1% (male 3,200/female 5,576) (2007 est.)
total: 25.6 years ; male: 24.8 years ; female: 26.5 years (2007 est.)
1.297% (2007 est.)
19.28 births/1,000 population (2007 est.)
5.03 deaths/1,000 population (2007 est.)
-1.28 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2007 est.)
at birth: 1.07 male(s)/female ; under 15 years: 1.067 male(s)/female ; 15-64 years: 0.973 male(s)/female ; 65 years and over: 0.574 male(s)/female ; total population: 0.974 male(s)/female (2007 est.)
total: 12.81 deaths/1,000 live births ; male: 13.93 deaths/1,000 live births ; female: 11.62 deaths/1,000 live births (2007 est.)
total population: 74.08 years ; male: 70.53 years ; female: 77.88 years (2007 est.)
2.15 children born/woman (2007 est.)
NA
NA
NA
noun: Saint Lucian(s) ; adjective: Saint Lucian
black 82.5%, mixed 11.9%, East Indian 2.4%, other or unspecified 3.1% (2001 census)
Roman Catholic 67.5%, Seventh Day Adventist 8.5%, Pentecostal 5.7%, Rastafarian 2.1%, Anglican 2%, Evangelical 2%, other Christian 5.1%, other 1.1%, unspecified 1.5%, none 4.5% (2001 census)
English (official), French patois
definition: age 15 and over has ever attended school ; total population: 90.1% ; male: 89.5% ; female: 90.6% (2001 est.)


conventional long form: none ; conventional short form: Saint Lucia
parliamentary democracy
name: Castries ; geographic coordinates: 14 01 N, 61 00 W ; time difference: UTC-4 (1 hour ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time)
11 quarters; Anse-la-Raye, Castries, Choiseul, Dauphin, Dennery, Gros-Islet, Laborie, Micoud, Praslin, Soufriere, Vieux-Fort

22 February 1979 (from UK)
Independence Day, 22 February (1979)
22 February 1979
based on English common law
18 years of age; universal
chief of state: Queen ELIZABETH II (since 6 February 1952); represented by Governor General Dame Pearlette LOUISY (since September 1997) ; head of government: Prime Minister Stephenson KING (since 9 September 2007); note - Sir John COMPTON died in office Friday, 7 September 2007 ; cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the governor general on the advice of the prime minister ; elections: none; the monarch is hereditary; the governor general is appointed by the monarch; following legislative elections, the leader of the majority party or the leader of a majority coalition is usually appointed prime minister by the governor general; deputy prime minister appointed by the governor general
bicameral Parliament consists of the Senate (11 seats; six members appointed on the advice of the prime minister, three on the advice of the leader of the opposition, and two after consultation with religious, economic, and social groups) and the House of Assembly (17 seats; members are elected by popular vote to serve five-year terms) ; elections: House of Assembly - last held 11 December 2006 (next to be held in December 2011) ; election results: House of Assembly - percent of vote by party - UWP 50%, SLP 46.9%, other 3.1%; seats by party - UWP 11, SLP 6
Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court (jurisdiction extends to Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, the British Virgin Islands, Dominica, Grenada, Montserrat, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines)
National Alliance or NA [George ODLUM]; Saint Lucia Freedom Party or SFP [Martinus FRANCOIS]; Saint Lucia Labor Party or SLP [Kenneth ANTHONY]; Sou Tout Apwe Fete Fini or STAFF [Christopher HUNTE]; United Workers Party or UWP [Sir John COMPTON]
NA
ACCT, ACP, C, Caricom, CDB, FAO, G-77, IBRD, ICAO, ICCt (signatory), ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, ISO, ITU, ITUC, MIGA, NAM, OAS, OECS, OIF, OPANAL, OPCW, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WCL, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO
blue, with a gold isosceles triangle below a black arrowhead; the upper edges of the arrowhead have a white border
chief of mission: Ambassador Sonia Merlyn JOHNNY ; chancery: 3216 New Mexico Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20016 ; telephone: [1] (202) 364-6792 through 6795 ; FAX: [1] (202) 364-6723 ; consulate(s) general: Miami, New York
the US does not have an embassy in Saint Lucia; the US Ambassador to Barbados is accredited to Saint Lucia





The island nation has been able to attract foreign business and investment, especially in its offshore banking and tourism industries, with a surge in foreign direct investment in 2006, attributed to the construction of several tourism projects. Tourism is the main source of foreign exchange, with more than 700,000 arrivals in 2005. The manufacturing sector is the most diverse in the Eastern Caribbean area, and the government is trying to revitalize the banana industry. Saint Lucia is vulnerable to a variety of external shocks including declines in European Union banana preferences, volatile tourism receipts, natural disasters, and dependence on foreign oil. High debt servicing obligations constrain the KING administration's ability to respond to adverse external shocks. Economic fundamentals remain solid, even though unemployment needs to be reduced.
$1.179 billion (2006 est.)
$825 million (2005)
5.1% (2005 est.)
$4,800 (2005 est.)
agriculture: 5% ; industry: 15% ; services: 80% (2005 est.)
43,800 (2001 est.)
agriculture: 21.7% ; industry: 24.7% ; services: 53.6% (2002 est.)
20% (2003 est.)
NA%
lowest 10%: NA% ; highest 10%: NA%

2.9% (2005 est.)

revenues: $141.2 million ; expenditures: $146.7 million (2000 est.)

bananas, coconuts, vegetables, citrus, root crops, cocoa
clothing, assembly of electronic components, beverages, corrugated cardboard boxes, tourism; lime processing, coconut processing
-8.9% (1997 est.)
304.2 million kWh (2005)
fossil fuel: 100% ; hydro: 0% ; nuclear: 0% ; other: 0% (2001)
282.9 million kWh (2005)
0 kWh (2005)
0 kWh (2005)
0 bbl/day (2005 est.)
2,700 bbl/day (2005 est.)
0 bbl/day (2004)
2,678 bbl/day (2004)
0 bbl (1 January 2006 est.)
0 cu m (2005 est.)
0 cu m (2005 est.)
0 cu m (2005 est.)
0 cu m (2005)
0 cu m (1 January 2006 est.)

$288 million (2006)
bananas 41%, clothing, cocoa, vegetables, fruits, coconut oil
France 69.7%, US 10.2%, UK 8.8% (2006)
$791 million (2006)
US 21.1%, Trinidad and Tobago 14.9%, Italy 12.3%, France 11.8%, Venezuela 7.2%, UK 6.9%, Netherlands 5.8% (2006)


$257 million (2004)



East Caribbean dollar (XCD)
XCD
East Caribbean dollars per US dollar - NA (2007), 2.7 (2006), 2.7 (2005), 2.7 (2004), 2.7 (2003)
1 April - 31 March
$11.06 million (2005)
51,100 (2002)
105,700 (2005)
general assessment: adequate system ; domestic: system is automatically switched ; international: country code - 1-758; the East Caribbean Fiber Optic System (ECFS) and Southern Caribbean fiber optic system (SCF) submarine cables, along with Intelsat from Martinique, carry calls internationally; direct microwave radio relay link with Martinique and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines; tropospheric scatter to Barbados
AM 2, FM 7, shortwave 0 (2003)
111,000 (1997)
2 (1 commercial broadcast station and 1 community antenna television or CATV channel) (2003)
32,000 (1997)
.lc
15 (2007)
15 (2000)
55,000 (2004)

2 (2007)
total: 2 ; 2,438 to 3,047 m: 1 ; 1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 (2007)




total: 910 km ; paved: 48 km ; unpaved: 862 km (2000)


Castries, Cul-de-Sac, Vieux-Fort

no regular military forces; Royal Saint Lucia Police Force (includes Special Service Unit, Coast Guard) (2007)

males age 18-49: 42,742 (2005 est.)
males age 18-49: 33,539 (2005 est.)
males age 18-49: 1,651 (2005 est.)
NA

joins other Caribbean states to counter Venezuela's claim that Aves Island sustains human habitation, a criterion under UNCLOS, which permits Venezuela to extend its EEZ/continental shelf over a large portion of the eastern Caribbean Sea

transit point for South American drugs destined for the US and Europe

