Saint Lucia

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.

agricultural land:

17.4%;

• arable land 4.9%;
• permanent crops 11.5%;
• permanent pasture 1%

forest:

77%

other:

5.6% (2011 est.)

total:

0.02 cu km/yr

per capita:

98.22 cu m/yr (2005)

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

noun:

Saint Lucian(s)

adjective:

Saint Lucian

at birth:

1.06 male(s)/female

0-14 years:

1.06 male(s)/female

15-24 years:

1.03 male(s)/female

25-54 years:

0.93 male(s)/female

55-64 years:

0.86 male(s)/female

65 years and over:

0.83 male(s)/female

total population:

0.95 male(s)/female (2015 est.)

conventional long form:

none

conventional short form:

Saint Lucia

name:

Castries

geographic coordinates:

14 00 N, 61 00 W

time difference:

UTC-4 (1 hour ahead of Washington, DC, during Standard Time)

• previous 1958, 1960 (preindependence);
• latest presented 20 December 1978, effective 22 February 1979;
• note - in mid-2015, an amendment was proposed to replace the London-based Privy Council with the Caribbean Court of Justice as the country's highest appellate court (2015)

citizenship by birth:

yes

citizenship by descent:

at least one parent must be a citizen of Saint Lucia

dual citizenship recognized:

yes

residency requirement for naturalization:

8 years

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 Kenny Davis ANTHONY (since 30 November 2011)

cabinet:

Cabinet appointed by the governor general on the advice of the prime minister

elections/appointments:

• the monarchy is hereditary;
• governor general appointed by the monarch;
• following legislative elections, the leader of the majority party or majority coalition usually appointed prime minister by governor general;
• deputy prime minister appointed by governor general

highest court(s):

• the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court (ECSC) is the itinerant superior court of record for the 9-member Organization of Eastern Caribbean States;
• the ECSC - with its headquarters on St. Lucia - is headed by the chief justice and is comprised of the Court of Appeal with 3 justices and the High Court with 16 judges;
• sittings of the Court of Appeal and High Court rotate among the member states;
• 3 High Court judges reside on Saint Lucia;
• note - Saint Lucia is a member of the Caribbean Court of Justice

judge selection and term of office:

• Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court chief justice appointed by Her Majesty, Queen ELIZABETH II;
• other justices and judges appointed by the Judicial and Legal Services Commission;
• Court of Appeal justices appointed for life with mandatory retirement at age 65;
• High Court judges appointed for life with mandatory retirement at age 62

subordinate courts:

magistrate's court

• Lucian People's Movement or LPM [Therold PRUDENT]
• Saint Lucia Labor Party or SLP [Kenny ANTHONY]
• United Workers Party or UWP [Allen CHASTANET]

chief of mission:

Ambassador Elizabeth Darius CLARKE (since 3 August 2015)

chancery:

3216 New Mexico Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20016

telephone:

[1] (202) 364-6792 through 6795

FAX:

[1] (202) 364-6723

consulate(s) general:

New York

• cerulean blue with a gold isosceles triangle below a black arrowhead;
• the upper edges of the arrowhead have a white border;
• the blue color represents the sky and sea, gold stands for sunshine and prosperity, and white and black the racial composition of the island (with the latter being dominant);
• the two major triangles invoke the twin Pitons (Gros Piton and Petit Piton), cone-shaped volcanic plugs that are a symbol of the island

name:

"Sons and Daughters of St. Lucia"

lyrics/music:

Charles JESSE/Leton Felix THOMAS

note: adopted 1967

agriculture:

21.7%

industry:

24.7%

services:

53.6% (2002 est.)

lowest 10%:

NA%

highest 10%:

NA%

general assessment:

an adequate system that is automatically switched

domestic:

fixed-line teledensity is 25 per 100 persons and mobile-cellular teledensity is roughly 130 per 100 persons

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 (2010)

• 3 privately owned TV stations;
• 1 public TV station operating on a cable network;
• multi-channel cable TV service available;
• a mix of state-owned and privately owned broadcasters operate nearly 25 radio stations including repeater transmission stations (2007)

total:

1,210 km

paved:

847 km

unpaved:

363 km (2011)

country comparison to the world: 182

males age 16-49:

32,688

females age 16-49:

36,289 (2010 est.)

male:

1,574

female:

1,502 (2010 est.)