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.

SAINT LUCIA SUMMARY: PDF

hurricanes volcanism:

• Mount Gimie (948 m), also known as Qualibou, is a caldera on the west of the island;
• the iconic twin pyramidal peaks of Gros Piton (771 m) and Petit Piton (743 m) are lava dome remnants associated with the Soufriere volcano;
• there have been no historical magmatic eruptions, but a minor steam eruption in 1766 spread a thin layer of ash over a wide area;
• Saint Lucia is part of the volcanic island arc of the Lesser Antilles that extends from Saba in the north to Grenada in the south

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

0-14 years:

19.77% (male 16,840 /female 15,874)

15-24 years:

14.79% (male 12,419 /female 12,060)

25-54 years:

42.93% (male 34,228 /female 36,818)

55-64 years:

10.41% (male 7,944 /female 9,284)

65 years and over:

12.11% (male 9,086 /female 10,957) (2018 est.)

total dependency ratio:

41.1 (2015 est.)

youth dependency ratio:

27.9 (2015 est.)

elderly dependency ratio:

13.3 (2015 est.)

potential support ratio:

7.5 (2015 est.)

at birth:

1.06 male(s)/female (2017 est.)

0-14 years:

1.06 male(s)/female (2017 est.)

15-24 years:

1.03 male(s)/female (2017 est.)

25-54 years:

0.93 male(s)/female (2017 est.)

55-64 years:

0.86 male(s)/female (2017 est.)

65 years and over:

0.83 male(s)/female (2017 est.)

total population:

0.95 male(s)/female (2017 est.)

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

note: pronounced saynt-looshya

name:

Castries

geographic coordinates:

14 00 N, 61 00 W

time difference:

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

history:

previous 1958, 1960 (preindependence); latest presented 20 December 1978, effective 22 February 1979 (2018)

amendments:

• proposed by Parliament;
• passage requires at least two-thirds majority by the House of Assembly membership in the final reading and assent to by the governor general;
• passage of amendments to various constitutional sections such as those on fundamental rights and freedoms, government finances, the judiciary, and procedures for amending the constitution, require at least three-quarters majority vote by the House and assent to by the governor general;
• passage of amendments approved by the House but rejected by the Senate require a majority of votes cast in a referendum (2018)

citizenship by birth:

yes

citizenship by descent only:

at least one parent must be a citizen of Saint Lucia

dual citizenship recognized:

yes

residency requirement for naturalization:

8 years

highest courts:

• the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court (ECSC) is the superior court of the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States;
• the ECSC - headquartered on St. Lucia - consists of the Court of Appeal - headed by the chief justice and 4 judges - and the High Court with 18 judges;
• the Court of Appeal is itinerant, traveling to member states on a schedule to hear appeals from the High Court and subordinate courts;
• High Court judges reside in the member states with 4 on Saint Lucia;
• 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 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

chief of state:

Queen ELIZABETH II (since 6 February 1952); represented by Governor General Neville CENAC (since 12 January 2018)

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

• Lucian People's Movement or LPM [Therold PRUDENT]
• Saint Lucia Labor Party or SLP [Philip J. PIERRE]
• United Workers Party or UWP [Allen CHASTANET]

chief of mission:

Ambassador Anton Edsel EDMUNDS (since 8 September 2017)

chancery:

1628 K Street, NW, Suite 1250, Washington, DC 20006

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 (2016)

domestic:

fixed-line teledensity is 20 per 100 persons and mobile-cellular teledensity is roughly 105 per 100 persons (2016)

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 (2016)

• 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 (2011)

paved:

847 km (2011)

unpaved:

363 km (2011)