|
||||
|
Location Overview |
||||
| Saint Lucia (sânt l¡¢she), island nation (1995 est. pop. 156,000), 238 sq mi (616 sq km), West Indies, one of the Windward Islands. The capital is Castries. A lush volcanic island with mountains rising abruptly from the sea, St. Lucia is much favored by vacationers. It also earns foreign exchange from traditional exports-bananas, cocoa beans, coconut oil, and copra-and its oil refinery and oil transshipment facilities. The population is largely of African descent. English is the
official language, but a French patois is widely spoken. Roman Catholicism is the predominant religion. Columbus probably sighted St. Lucia in 1502, but hostile Caribs prevented early colonization attempts. The first successful settlement was by the French in the late 1600s, but Britain gained control in 1803. A member of the short-lived West Indies Federation (1958-62), St. Lucia gained self-government in 1967 and independence in 1979. The conservative United Workers' party, with John Compton as prime minister, has been in power since 1982. |
||||
 |
||||