St Lucia

Find a country's flag, map or national anthem here. Click on a letter to find the country:

St Lucia

General Information
Geography
Government
Economy
Population
Health
Communications and media
Chronology


GENERAL INFORMATION

Area 617 sq km/238 sq mi Capital Castries Language English (official), French patois Religion Roman Catholic 85%; Anglican, Protestant Time difference GMT -4 Major holidays 1–2 January, 22 February, 1 May, 13, 25–26 December; variable: Carnival, Corpus Christi, Good Friday, Easter Monday, Whit Monday, Emancipation (August), Thanksgiving (October)


GEOGRAPHY

Major towns/cities Soufrière, Vieux Fort, Choiseul, Gros Islet Major ports Vieux-Fort Physical features mountainous island with fertile valleys; mainly tropical forest; volcanic peaks; Gros and Petit Pitons Airports two international airports, of which one can accommodate only medium-range traffic; aircraft movements: 42,040 (1998) Railways none Roads total road network: 1,210 km/752 mi, of which 5.2% paved (1999 est); passenger cars: 166.4 per 1,000 people (1999)


GOVERNMENT

Head of state Queen Elizabeth II from 1979, represented by Governor General Dr Perlette Louisy from 1997 Head of government Kenny Anthony from 1997 Political system liberal democracy Political executive parliamentary Administrative divisions 11 districts Political parties United Workers' Party (UWP), moderate left of centre; St Lucia Labour Party (SLP), moderate left of centre; Progressive Labour Party (PLP), moderate left of centre Death penalty retained and used for ordinary crimes Armed forces none; participates in the US-sponsored Regional Security System established in 1982; police force numbers around 300 Education spend (% GDP) 7.7 (2003 est) Health spend (% GDP) 3.4 (2004)


ECONOMY

Currency East Caribbean dollar GDP (US$) 825 million (2005 est) Real GDP growth (% change on previous year) 6 (2006 est) GNI (US$) 794 million (2005 est) GNI per capita (PPP) (US$) 5,980 (2005 est) Consumer price inflation 5.5% (2006 est) Unemployment 20% (2003 est) Labour force 11.4% agriculture, 17.7% industry, 70.9% services (2003) Foreign debt (US$) 257 million (2004 est) Major trading partners USA, UK, Trinidad and Tobago (and other CARICOM member states), Japan, Canada, Italy Resources geothermal energy Industries processing of agricultural products (principally coconut oil, meal, and copra), clothing, rum, beer, and other beverages, plastics, paper and packaging, electronic assembly, tourism Exports bananas, coconut oil, cocoa beans, copra, beverages, tobacco, miscellaneous articles. Principal market: France 29.3% (2005) Imports machinery and transport equipment, foodstuffs, basic manufactures, mineral fuels. Principal source: USA 24.1% (2005) Arable land 6.5% (2006 est) Agricultural products bananas, cocoa, coconuts, mangoes, citrus fruits, spices, breadfruit


POPULATION

Population 162,100 (2006 est) Population growth rate 1.3% (2005–10) Population density (per sq km) 263 (2006 est) Urban population (% of total) 32 (2005 est) Age distribution (% of total population) 0–14 29%, 15–59 61%, 60+ 10% (2005 est) Ethnic groups great majority of African descent; about 6% mixed, 3% Indian Life expectancy 72 (men); 75 (women) (2005–10) Child mortality rate (under 5, per 1,000 live births) 14 (2004) Education (compulsory years) 11 Literacy rate 90% (men); 91% (women) (2003 est)


HEALTH

Physicians (per 10,000 people) 5.2 (2004 est) Hospital beds (per 1,000 people) 3.2 (2003 est) Access to drinking-water source (% of total population) 98 (urban); 98 (rural) (2002)


COMMUNICATIONS AND MEDIA

Landline telephones (per 100 people) 32 (2004 est) Mobile phone subscribers (per 100 people) 66.3 (2005 est) Radios (per 1,000 people) 750 (1998 est) TV sets (per 1,000 people) 341 (2004 est) Personal computer users (per 100 people) 16.3 (2005 est) Internet users (per 100 people) 37.5 (2005 est)


CHRONOLOGY

1502 Sighted by the explorer Christopher Columbus on St Lucia's day but not settled for more than a century due to hostility of the island's Carib Indian inhabitants. 1635 Settled by French, who brought in slaves to work sugar cane plantations as the Carib community was annihilated. 1814 Ceded to Britain as a crown colony, following Treaty of Paris; African slaves brought in to work sugar cane plantations. 1834 Slavery abolished. 1860s A major coal warehousing centre until the switch to oil and diesel fuels in 1930s. 1871–1960 Part of Windward Islands Federation. 1951 Universal adult suffrage granted. 1967 Acquired internal self-government as a West Indies associated state. 1979 Independence achieved within Commonwealth with John Compton, leader of United Workers' Party (UWP), as prime minister. 1991 Integration with other Windward Islands (Dominica, Grenada, and St Vincent) proposed. 1993 Unrest and strikes by farmers and agricultural workers because of depressed prices for banana crop. 1996 Prime Minister Compton resigned; succeeded by Vaughan Lewis. 1997 Coalition led by St Lucia Labour Party (SLP) won general election with record landslide; Kenny Anthony became prime minister. 2002 About half of banana crop destroyed by Tropical Storm Lili. 2003 Constitution amended to substitute oath of allegiance to British monarch with pledge of loyalty to St Lucia. 2004 The Pitons, the country's volcanic twin peaks declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site. 2006 UWP, led by Sir John Compton, won general elections. 2007 Prime Minister Compton died; replaced by Stephenson King.


© Research Machines plc 2008. All rights reserved. Helicon Publishing is a division of Research Machines plc.