Saint Lucia is an island country in the West Indies in the eastern Caribbean Sea on the boundary with the Atlantic Ocean. The island was previously called Iyonola, the name given to the island by the native Arawaks, and later Hewanorra, the name given by the native Caribs, two separate Amerindian peoples. Part of the Windward Islands of the Lesser Antilles, it is located north/northeast of the island of Saint Vincent, northwest of Barbados and south of Martinique. It covers a land area of 617 km2 and reported a population of 165,595 in the 2010 census. St. Lucia's largest city is Castries, its current capital, and its second largest is Soufrière, the first French colonial capital on the island.
Once a single-crop agricultural economy, Saint Lucia has shifted to a tourism and banking serviced-based economy. Tourism, the island's biggest industry and main source of jobs, income and foreign exchange, accounts for 65% of its GDP. Agriculture, which was once the biggest industry, now contributes to less than 3% of GDP, but still accounts for 20% of jobs. The banana industry is now on a decline due to strong competition from low-cost Latin American producers and reduced European trade preferences, but the government has helped revitalize the industry, with 13,734 tonnes exported in 2018. Agricultural crops grown for export are bananas, mangoes, and avocados. The island is considered to have the most diverse and well-developed manufacturing industry in the eastern Caribbean.
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines is an island country in the Caribbean. It is located in the southeast Windward Islands of the Lesser Antilles, which lie in the West Indies at the southern end of the eastern border of the Caribbean Sea where the latter meets the Atlantic Ocean.
The Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States is an inter-governmental organisation dedicated to economic harmonisation and integration, protection of human and legal rights, and the encouragement of good governance between countries and territories in the Eastern Caribbean. It also performs the role of spreading responsibility and liability in the event of natural disaster.
The island nation of Saint Lucia is divided into 10 districts. The name Quarters or Quartiers originally came from the French period in Saint Lucia. The 2001 and 2010 Census of Saint Lucia refers to the first level administrative divisions as districts. The FIPS and ISO standards regularly called these divisions quarters or quartiers in French. The former district of Dauphin Quarter was merged into Gros Islet District and the former district of Praslin Quarter was merged into Micoud District.
The CARICOM Single Market and Economy, also known as the Caribbean Single Market and Economy (CSME), is an integrated development strategy envisioned at the 10th Meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) which took place in July 1989 in Grand Anse, Grenada. The Grand Anse Declaration had three key Features:
- Deepening economic integration by advancing beyond a common market towards a Single Market and Economy.
- Widening the membership and thereby expanding the economic mass of the Caribbean Community.
- Progressive insertion of the region into the global trading and economic system by strengthening trading links with non-traditional partners.
Ezechiel Joseph is a Saint Lucian politician and former representative for the constituency of Babonneau and senator, for the United Workers Party in the House of Assembly. Joseph served as the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries, Physical Planning, Natural Resources and Co-operatives in his 2016 - 2021 tenure. Joseph lost his seat in the 2021 Saint Lucian General Election dubbed a landslide victory for the Saint Lucia Labour Party.
The George Odlum Stadium is a 9,000 capacity football stadium in Vieux Fort, St Lucia.
Saint Lucia, an island nation in the Caribbean islands, has a relatively large and lucrative tourism industry. Due to the relatively small land area of the country, most of the governmental promotion is performed by the state-operated Saint Lucia Tourism Authority, led by Executive Chairperson Agnes.
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people living in Saint Lucia face legal challenges not experienced by non-LGBT members of the population. Same-sex sexual activity is illegal.
Soufrière is a town on the West Coast of Saint Lucia, in the eastern Caribbean Sea. The town and the surrounding district has a population of 7,935. It was colonized by the French and was the original capital of the island.
Emma Hippolyte, OBE is a Saint Lucian politician and Minister for Commerce, Manufacturing, Business Development, Cooperatives and Consumer Affairs. Hippolyte serves as the representative for Soufriere-Fond St. Jacques as a Member of Parliament. Hippolyte was a member of the Saint Lucian Senate from 2007 to 2011. She won the Soufriere-Fond St. Jacques seat in the 2021 general election. She lost the Gros Islet seat in the 2016 general election.
Allen Michael Chastanet is a Saint Lucian businessman and politician who served as Prime Minister of Saint Lucia from 2016 to 2021. He is currently the Opposition Leader of Saint Lucia and the political leader of the United Workers Party as well as the parliamentary representative for Micoud South constituency.
Sir Stanislaus James was a Saint Lucian educator, administrator, and former governor-general.
Albert Reynolds is a Saint Lucian javelin thrower. Reynolds was born in Castries, and grew up in Babonneau.
The Caribbean Farmers Network (CaFAN) was formed in 2004 following exploratory discussions amongst farmer organizations in 2002. It is a regional network of Farmers' Associations and Non-governmental organizations in the Caribbean, with its headquarters in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. Members of CaFAN presently consist of farmer associations from Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Bahamas, Belize, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, St Kitts/Nevis; St Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago and Suriname.
Bevil Wooding is a Trinidadian technologist and development strategist, who is the Chief Knowledge Officer at Congress WBN, a UK-registered charity, with operations in over 120 countries. He is known for his work in the field of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) in the Caribbean. In 2010, he was named by ICANN as one of the Trusted Community Representatives for the Domain Name System Security Extensions (DNSSEC) root. Wooding advocates developing states and emerging economies to create policies, build infrastructure and leverage human resource capacity for technology-enabled development. He has been described as "a visionary who believes that the Caribbean Economy can be enhanced through ICTs and Internet development.”
Virginia Albert-Poyotte, OBE, is a Saint Lucian politician and former veteran educator. She is the Minister for the Public Service, Home Affairs, Labour and Gender Affairs. Poyotte, the endorsed Saint Lucia Labour Party candidate was elected at the 2021 Saint Lucian General Election as the representative in the House of Assembly for the constituency of Babonneau.
Royal tours of Saint Lucia by its Royal Family have been taking place since the 20th century. The Queen of Saint Lucia, Elizabeth II, has visited the country two times; in 1966, and 1985. Other members of the Royal Family have also paid visits.
