Saint Lucia

Saint Lucia is named after Saint Lucy of Syracuse (283–304 AD). Legend states that French sailors were shipwrecked on the island on 13 December, the feast day of St. Lucy, and therefore named the island in her honour.

A globe in the Vatican from 1520 shows the island as Sancta Lucia, indicating that the island was instead named by early Spanish explorers. Saint Lucia was first known as Louanalao by the Arawak Indians in 200 AD, meaning "Island of the Iguanas," and then as Hewanorra, in 800 AD, meaning "there where iguanas are found," when the Carib Indians arrived and assimilated their culture into Saint Lucia.

=== Pre-Columbian ===

The first proven inhabitants of Saint Lucia were the Arawaks, though there may have been other native peoples prior to them. The Arawaks are believed to have come from northern South America, sometime around 200–400 AD, as there are numerous archaeological sites on the island where specimens of their pottery have been found.

The Kalinago (Island Caribs) arrived around 800 AD, and seized control from the Arawaks by killing their men and assimilating the women into their own society.

It is possible that Christopher Columbus may have sighted the island during his fourth voyage in 1502, but he does not mention the island in his log. Juan de la Cosa noted the island on his map of 1500, calling it El Falcon, and another island to the south Las Agujas. A Spanish cédula from 1511 mentions the island within the Spanish domain, and a globe in the Vatican made in 1520, shows the island as Sancta Lucia.

In the late 1550s, the French pirate François le Clerc (known as Jambe de Bois, due to his wooden leg) set up a camp on Pigeon Island, from where he attacked passing Spanish ships. In 1605, an English vessel, Oliphe Blossome, was blown off-course on its way to Guyana. As a result, 67 colonists started a settlement on Saint Lucia, after initially being welcomed by the Carib chief Anthonie. By 26 September 1605, only 19 survived following continued attacks by the Carib chief Augraumart, so the settlers fled the island. The English tried to settle the island again in 1638, but the Caribs continued to be hostile. Eventually, the French successfully claimed the island in 1650 and they signed a treaty with the Caribs in 1660. In 1664, Thomas Warner (son of Sir Thomas Warner, the governor of St Kitts) claimed Saint Lucia for England but the English fled again in 1666, with the French gaining full control of the island after the signing of the Treaty of Breda. Saint Lucia was made an official French crown colony in 1674 as a dependency of Martinique.

After the slave-based sugar industry developed, both the British and the French found the island attractive. During the 18th century, the island changed ownership, or was declared neutral territory, a dozen times, although the French settlements remained and the island was a de facto French colony well into the eighteenth century.

In 1722, George I of Great Britain granted both Saint Lucia and Saint Vincent to the 2nd Duke of Montagu. Montagu appointed Nathaniel Uring, a merchant sea captain and adventurer, as deputy-governor. Uring went to the islands with a group of seven ships, and established settlement at Petit Carenage. Unable to get enough support from British warships, he and the new colonists were quickly run off by the French.

During the Seven Years' War, Britain occupied Saint Lucia for a year, but handed the island back to the French in 1763, under the Treaty of Paris. In 1765, the French began to develop the land for the cultivation of sugar cane as a commodity crop on large plantations. During the American Revolutionary War, the British captured the island in 1778, but returned it to France in 1783 under the terms of the Treaty of Paris.

In January 1791, during the French Revolution the National Assembly sent four commissioners to Saint Lucia to counter Royalist sentiments there. By August 1791, slaves began to abandon their estates and Governor Jean-Joseph Sourbader de Gimat fled. Following the outbreak of the French Revolutionary Wars and proclamation of the French First Republic, in December 1792 Lieutenant Jean-Baptiste Raymond de Lacrosse arrived in Saint Lucia with revolutionary pamphlets and the colony's poor whites and free people of colour began to arm themselves. On 1 February 1793, France declared war on Britain and General Nicolas Xavier de Ricard became governor. The National Convention abolished slavery on 4 February 1794, and on 1 April Saint Lucia was captured by British forces under Vice-admiral John Jervis. However, a combined force of maroons and fugitive white French regulars who called themselves French: Armée Française dans les Bois, lit. 'French Army in the Woods' began to fight back, starting the First Brigand War.

In June 1795, French forces under the nominal control of Victor Hugues recaptured the island from the British. However, in 1796 a British expeditionary force landed on Saint Lucia and recaptured it from the French, during which Castries was burned; the recapture became known as the Second Brigand War. The British returned Saint Lucia to France in 1802 under the Treaty of Amiens, which ended the French Revolutionary Wars. However, following the outbreak of the Napoleonic Wars in May 1803, the British once again recaptured the colony. Much of the Armee Française dans les Bois escaped into the island's interior where they evaded capture and established maroon communities.

Slavery on the island continued for a short time, but anti-slavery sentiment was rising in Britain. The British stopped the import of slaves by anyone, of whatever ethnicity, when they abolished the slave trade in 1807. France and Great Britain continued to contest Saint Lucia until the British secured it in 1814, as part of the Treaty of Paris, ending the Napoleonic Wars. Thereafter, Saint Lucia was considered one of the British Windward Islands colonies.

The institution of slavery was abolished on the island in 1834, as it was throughout the British Empire. After abolition, all former slaves had to serve a four-year "apprenticeship", to accustom them to the idea of freedom. During that period, they worked for their former masters for at least three-quarters of the work week. Full freedom was duly granted by the British in 1838. By that time, people of African ethnicity greatly outnumbered those of ethnic European background. People of Carib descent also comprised a minority on the island.

Saint Lucia's first representative government was introduced in 1924, with the first election taking place in 1925. Many Saint Lucians served during the Second World War, and the conflict visited the island directly during the Battle of the Caribbean, when a German U-boat attacked and sank two British ships in Castries harbour on 9 March 1942. The US used the island as a military hub during the war, including setting up a secondary naval base in Gros Islet and using what is now the island's international airport as an air force base.

Universal suffrage was introduced in 1951 and elections were held the same year. In 1958, Saint Lucia joined the West Indies Federation, although the federation was dissolved just a few years later in 1962. In 1967, Saint Lucia became one of the six members of the West Indies Associated States, with internal self-government. Independence was peacefully gained in 1979 under Sir John Compton of United Workers Party, with the island remaining within the British Commonwealth, keeping then-Queen Elizabeth II as Monarch, represented locally by a Governor-General.

Despite leading the country to independence, Compton's initial term as prime minister lasted only a few months, being defeated by the Saint Lucia Labour Party (SLP) under Allan Louisy in the 1979 Saint Lucian general election. In 1980, Hurricane Allen struck the island, destroying much of its infrastructure and reducing economic growth. Compton returned to power after the 1982 Saint Lucian general election after much instability during the labour government's term. During Compton's second term as the island's leader, banana exports significantly increased and became the nation's main source of revenue. There were improvements to infrastructure, and education was expanded to rural areas. Saint Lucia was key to the US invasion of Grenada. During the 1990s and 2000s, the nation's economy began shifting from agriculture to tourism under the leadership of Kenny Anthony. The 9/11 attacks in the United States in 2001 killed two Saint Lucians, and caused an economic slowdown, although moderate growth continued until the Great Recession. The recession, as well as the landfall of Hurricane Tomas in 2010, led to slow economic growth during the early 2010s, although the economy picked up during the later part of the decade and avoided contraction until 2020, after the COVID-19 pandemic caused major economic issues globally.

In June 2016, the United Workers Party (UWP), led by Allen Michael Chastanet, won 11 of the 17 seats in the general election, ousting the St Lucia Labour Party (SLP) of the incumbent Prime Minister Kenny Anthony. However, Saint Lucia Labour Party won the next election in July 2021, meaning its leader Philip J Pierre became the ninth Prime Minister of Saint Lucia since independence. St Lucia Labour Party (SLP) of prime minister Philip Pierre kept its majority in the 2025 election.

Saint Lucia has a total area of 617 km2 (238 sq mi). As a volcanic island, Saint Lucia is very mountainous, with its highest point being Mount Gimie, at 950 m (3,120 ft) above sea level. The Pitons, two mountainous volcanic plugs, form the island's most famous landmark. Saint Lucia is also home to the world's only drive-in volcano, the Sulphur Springs. There are a number of small islands off the coast, the largest of which are the Maria Islands, located in the south-east of the island.

Saint Lucia lies at latitude 14° N and longitude 61° W. The population tends to be concentrated around the coast, with the interior more sparsely populated, due to the presence of dense forests.

Many species are endemic to the island, including Anolis luciae, a species of lizard, and Boa orophias, a species of boid snake.

Saint Lucia has five terrestrial ecoregions: Windward Islands moist forests, Leeward Islands dry forests, Windward Islands dry forests, Windward Islands xeric scrub, and Lesser Antilles mangroves. The country had a 2019 Forest Landscape Integrity Index mean score of 6.17/10, ranking it 84th globally out of 172 countries.

Saint Lucia has a tropical climate, specifically a tropical rainforest climate (Af), moderated by northeast trade winds, with a dry season from 1 December to 31 May, and a wet/rainy season from 1 June to 30 November.

Average daytime and nighttime temperatures are around 30 °C (86 °F), and 24 °C (75 °F) respectively. Being fairly close to the equator, the island's temperature does not fluctuate much between winter and summer.

The geology of St. Lucia can be described as composing three main areas. The oldest, 16–18 Ma, volcanic rocks are exposed from Castries northward and consist of eroded basalt and andesite centres. The middle, central highlands, portion of the island consists of dissected andesite centres, 10.4 to 1 Mya, while the lower southwest portion of the island contains recent activity from the Soufriere Volcanic Centre (SVC). This SVC, centred about the Qualibou depression, contains pyroclastic flow deposits, lava flows, domes, block and ash flow deposits, and explosion craters. This depression's perimeter includes the town of Soufriere, Mount Tabac, Mt. Gimie, Morne Bonin, and Gros Piton. At 10 km (6.2 mi) in diameter, though the western portion is open towards the Grenada basin, the depression formed as recently as 100 kya. The depression is noted for its geothermal activity, especially at Sulphur Springs and Soufrière Estates, a phreatic eruption in 1776, and recent seismic activity in 2000–2001.

Eroded andesitic stratovolcanoes to the north east of the depression include Mt. Gimie, Piton St Esprit, and Mt. Grand Magazin, all greater than 1 Mya in age. Andesitic and dacite pyroclastic flows from these volcanoes are found at Morne Tabac dome (532 kya), Morne Bonin dome (273 kya), and Bellevue (264 kya). Avalanche deposits from the formation of the Qualibou depression are found offshore, and in the massive blocks of Rabot, Pleisance, and Coubaril. The dacitic domes of Petit Piton (109 kya) and Gros Piton (71 kya) were then extruded onto the depression floor accompanied by the Anse John (104 kya) and La Pointe (59.8 kya) pyroclastic flows. Later, pyroclastic flows include pumice-rich Belfond and Anse Noir (20 kya). Finally, the dacitic domes of Terre Blanche (15.3 kya) and Belfond (13.6 kya) formed within the depression.

Like most Caribbean countries, Saint Lucia is a unitary state with a parliamentary system. It is a Commonwealth realm and a constitutional monarchy, with the current monarch being Charles III, who is represented on the island by a governor-general, currently Errol Charles. The prime minister (currently Philip J. Pierre) is the head of government, the head of the cabinet, and is normally the leader of the largest party in the House of Assembly. The house has 17 seats, with each member being elected via a plurality of votes in their constituency. The upper chamber of Parliament is the Senate which has 11 appointed members, the majority of which are appointed by the prime minister.

Saint Lucia is made up of 10 districts. The districts were created and named by French colonials, and the British chose to keep the names in an anglicised form. The largest district in both size and population is Castries, where the nation's capital of the same name is located. The following are the 10 districts placed in alphabetical order:

Anse la Raye

Canaries

Castries

Choiseul

Dennery

Gros Islet

Laborie

Micoud

Soufrière

Vieux Fort

Saint Lucia is a member of the Caribbean Community, Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States, the Organization of American States and Organisation internationale de la Francophonie. As a Commonwealth Realm, Saint Lucia has relatively friendly relations with United Kingdom and Canada. France is also a major ally, in part due to Saint Lucia's border with Martinique. The United States is the island's largest trading partner, and Saint Lucia was key to the US invasion of Grenada in 1983, and voted against condemning the invasion. Saint Lucia became the 152nd member of the United Nations on 18 September 1979.

Saint Lucia does not have a military although the Royal Saint Lucia Police Force has a Special Service Unit (SSU) and a Coast Guard. The island signed the UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons in 2018.

Saint Lucia is a mixed jurisdiction, meaning that it has a legal system based in part on both civil law and English common law. The Civil Code of St. Lucia of 1867 was based on the Quebec Civil Code of 1866, as supplemented by English common law-style legislation. The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council was Saint Lucia's final court of appeal until 2023, when a constitutional amendment transferred this to the Caribbean Court of Justice.

Saint Lucia's homicide rate has hit record highs in recent years. There were 75 homicides in 2021, a 34.5% increase compared with 55 homicides in 2020. 2021 saw the island record the most homicides in its history, and also its highest murder rate in its history, at 40 murders per 100,000 people.

Saint Lucia is a Small Island Developing State, a designation similar to a developing country with a few substantial differences due to Saint Lucia's island nature. The service sector is the largest sector of the economy, accounting for 86.9% of GDP in 2020, followed by industrial and agricultural sectors at 10.9% and 2.2%, respectively.

Saint Lucia has been able to attract foreign business and investment due to its educated workforce and improvements in roads, communications, water supply, sewerage, and port facilities. Like most small islands, tourism and offshore banking are Saint Lucia's main sources of revenue. Agriculture, specifically the banana industry, was previously the largest sector of the economy, although its importance has declined significantly. The island's manufacturing sector has been called the most diverse in the Eastern Caribbean, with goods such as plastic being produced on a large scale.

Saint Lucia's currency is the Eastern Caribbean Dollar (EC$), a regional currency shared among members of the Eastern Caribbean Currency Union (ECU). The country's main trade partners are the US, UK, EU and other CARICOM countries.