Saint Lucia
parliamentary democracy (Parliament) under a constitutional monarchyIndependence 22 February 1979 (from the UK)
Saint Lucia as the 2016 edition of the CIA World Factbook published it: 151 fields, one of 36 editions from 1990 to 2025.
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Introduction
1 fieldBackground
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.
Geography
Caribbean, island between the Caribbean Sea and North Atlantic Ocean, north of Trinidad and Tobago
19 fieldsLocation
Caribbean, island between the Caribbean Sea and North Atlantic Ocean, north of Trinidad and Tobago
Climate
tropical, moderated by northeast trade winds; dry season January to April, rainy season May to August
Land use
- agricultural land:
- 17.4%;
- arable land 4.9%;
- permanent crops 11.5%;
- permanent pasture 1%
- forest:
- 77%
- other:
- 5.6% (2011 est.)
Population - distribution
most of the population is found on the periphery of the island, with a larger concentration in the north around the capital of Castries
Environment - international agreements
- 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
Geography - note
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
People and Society
34 fieldsAge structuremale left, female right · (2016 est.)
Per 1,000 population(2016 est.)
Male · female
Ethnic groups(2010 est.)
Religions(2010 est.)
Population distribution
most of the population is found on the periphery of the island, with a larger concentration in the north around the capital of Castries
Sex ratio
- 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 (2016 est.)
Major infectious diseases
note: active local transmission of Zika virus by Aedes species mosquitoes has been identified in this country (as of August 2016); it poses an important risk (a large number of cases possible) among US citizens if bitten by an infective mosquito;
other less common ways to get Zika are through sex, via blood transfusion, or during pregnancy, in which the pregnant woman passes Zika virus to her fetus (2016)
Government
Parliamentary democracy (Parliament) under a constitutional monarchy; Queen ELIZABETH II (since 6 February 1952); Prime Minister Allen CHASTANET (since 7 June 2016)
22 fieldsPresidential electionpercent of vote
House of Assembly, 17 seats, elected 6 June 2016one dot, one seat
Percent of vote
Country name
- conventional long form:
- none
- conventional short form:
- Saint Lucia
- etymology:
- named after Saint LUCY of Syracuse by French sailors who were shipwrecked on the island on 13 December 1502, the saint's feast day
Government type
parliamentary democracy (Parliament) under a constitutional monarchy; a Commonwealth realm
Capital
- name:
- Castries
- geographic coordinates:
- 14 00 N, 61 00 W
- time difference:
- UTC-4 (1 hour ahead of Washington, DC, during Standard Time)
Administrative divisions
10 districts; Anse-la-Raye, Canaries, Castries, Choiseul, Dennery, Gros-Islet, Laborie, Micoud, Soufriere, Vieux-Fort
Constitution
- 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 (2016)
International law organization participation
has not submitted an ICJ jurisdiction declaration; accepts ICCt jurisdiction
Citizenship
- 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
Executive branch
- 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 Allen CHASTANET (since 7 June 2016)
- 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
Legislative branch
- description:
- bicameral Parliament consists of the Senate (11 seats; 6 members appointed on the advice of the prime minister, 3 on the advice of the leader of the opposition, and 2 upon consultation with religious, economic, and social groups; members serve 5-year terms) and the House of Assembly (17 seats; members directly elected in single-seat constituencies by simple majority vote to serve 5-year terms)
- elections:
- House of Assembly - last held on 6 June 2016 (next to be held in 2021)
- election results:
- House of Assembly - percent of vote by party - UWP 54.8%, SLP 44.1%; seats by party - UWP 11, SLP 6
Judicial branch
- 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:
- chief justice of Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court appointed by the Her Majesty, Queen ELIZABETH II;
- other justices and judges appointed by the Judicial and Legal Services Commission, an independent body of judicial officials;
- 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
Political parties and leaders
- Lucian People's Movement or LPM [Therold PRUDENT]
- Saint Lucia Labor Party or SLP [Kenny ANTHONY]
- United Workers Party or UWP [Allen CHASTANET]
International organization participation
ACP, AOSIS, C, Caricom, CD, CDB, CELAC, FAO, G-77, IBRD, ICAO, ICCt, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, ISO, ITU, ITUC (NGOs), MIGA, NAM, OAS, OECS, OIF, OPANAL, OPCW, Petrocaribe, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WCO, WFTU (NGOs), WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO
Diplomatic representation in the US
- 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
Diplomatic representation from the US
the US does not have an embassy in Saint Lucia; the US Ambassador to Barbados is accredited to Saint Lucia
Flag description
- 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
National symbol(s)
twin pitons (volcanic peaks), Saint Lucia parrot; national colors: cerulean blue, gold, black, white
National anthem
- name:
- "Sons and Daughters of St. Lucia"
- lyrics/music:
- Charles JESSE/Leton Felix THOMAS
note: adopted 1967
Economy
The island nation has been able to attract foreign business and investment, especially in its offshore banking and tourism industries.
36 fieldsGDP - composition, by sector of origin(2015 est.)
Trading partnersexports left, imports right
By end use% of GDP
Economy - overview
The island nation has been able to attract foreign business and investment, especially in its offshore banking and tourism industries. Tourism is Saint Lucia's main source of jobs and income - accounting for 65% of GDP - and the island's main source of foreign exchange earnings. The manufacturing sector is the most diverse in the Eastern Caribbean area.
Crops such as bananas, mangos, and avocados continue to be grown for export, but St. Lucia's once solid banana industry has been devastated by strong competition.
Saint Lucia is vulnerable to a variety of external shocks, including volatile tourism receipts, natural disasters, and dependence on foreign oil. Furthermore, high public debt - 77% of GDP in 2012 - and high debt servicing obligations constrain the ANTHONY administration's ability to respond to adverse external shocks.
St. Lucia has experienced anemic growth since the onset of the global financial crisis in 2008, largely because of a slowdown in tourism - airlines cut back on their routes to St. Lucia in 2012. Also, St. Lucia introduced a value added tax in 2012 of 15%, becoming the last country in the Eastern Caribbean to do so.
In 2013, the government introduced a National Competitiveness and Productivity Council to address St. Lucia's high public wages and lack of productivity.
Gross national saving
16.1% of GDP (2015 est.) · 12% of GDP (2014 est.) · 11.5% of GDP (2013 est.) country comparison to the world: 113
Industries
tourism; clothing, assembly of electronic components, beverages, corrugated cardboard boxes, lime processing, coconut processing
Central bank discount rate
6.5% (31 December 2010) · 6.5% (31 December 2009) country comparison to the world: 54
Commercial bank prime lending rate
8.86% (31 December 2015 est.) · 9% (31 December 2014 est.) country comparison to the world: 94
Stock of narrow money
$284.8 million (31 December 2015 est.) · $277.2 million (31 December 2014 est.) country comparison to the world: 176
Stock of broad money
$1.104 billion (31 December 2014 est.) · $1.057 billion (31 December 2013 est.) country comparison to the world: 169
Stock of domestic credit
$1.399 billion (31 December 2015 est.) · $1.519 billion (31 December 2014 est.) country comparison to the world: 155
Current account balance
-$106 million (2015 est.) · -$94 million (2014 est.) country comparison to the world: 63
Imports - commodities
food, manufactured goods, machinery and transportation equipment, chemicals, fuels
Debt - external
$517 million (31 December 2015 est.) · $527.5 million (31 December 2014 est.) country comparison to the world: 176
Exchange rates
East Caribbean dollars (XCD) per US dollar - 2.7 (2015 est.) · 2.7 (2014 est.) · 2.7 (2013 est.) · 2.7 (2012) · 2.7 (2011)
Energy
24 fieldsElectrification% of population · (2012)
Installed generating capacity, 88,000 kW(2014 est.)
Carbon dioxide emissions from consumption of energy
400,000 Mt (2013 est.) country comparison to the world: 187
Communications
6 fieldsPer 100 inhabitants(July 2015 est.)
Telephone system
- general assessment:
- an adequate system that is automatically switched
- domestic:
- fixed-line teledensity is 20 per 100 persons and mobile-cellular teledensity is roughly 115 per 100 persons
- international:
- country code - 1-758;
- the East Caribbean Fiber System and Southern Caribbean Fiber 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 (2015)
Broadcast media
- 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)
Transportation
5 fieldsAirports by runway lengthpaved only
Military and Security
No regular military forces; Royal Saint Lucia Police Force (includes Special Service Unit, Marine Unit) (2012)
2 fieldsMilitary branches
no regular military forces; Royal Saint Lucia Police Force (includes Special Service Unit, Marine Unit) (2012)
Military service age and obligation
18 years of age for voluntary security service; no national army (2012)
Transnational Issues
2 fieldsDisputes - international
joins other Caribbean states to counter Venezuela's claim that Aves Island sustains human habitation, a criterion under UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, which permits Venezuela to extend its EEZ/continental shelf over a large portion of the eastern Caribbean Sea
Cite this entry
Central Intelligence Agency. “Saint Lucia.” The World Factbook 2016. Archived by The Factbook, thefactbook.org/saint-lucia/2016.