Simple directory > Regional > Saint Lucia

Country : Saint Lucia Official name: St Lucia Head of State: Queen Elizabeth II; Governor General Dr Calliopa Pearlette Louisy (since Sep 1997) Head of government: Prime Minister Kenny Anthony (SLP) (since May 1997; re-elected Dec 2001) Ruling party: St Lucia Labour Party (SLP) (since May 1997; re-elected Dec 2001) Area: 616 square km Population: 160,500 (2004) Capital: Castries Official language: English Currency: East Caribbean dollar (EC$) = 100 cents Exchange rate: EC$2.70 per US$ (fixed) GDP per capita: US$5,400 (2003) GDP real growth: 1.50% (2003) Labour force: 43,800 (2003) Unemployment: 16.50% (2003) Inflation: 2.00% (2003) Balance of trade: -US$251.10 million (2003) Foreign debt: US$214.00 million (2003) Visitor numbers: 253,700 (2003)

Historical profile

1605 Britain made an unsuccessful attempt to colonise the islands which were populated by a Carib people.

1642 France claimed sovereignty.

1814 After changing hands 14 times during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, St Lucia became a British colony. It formed part of the Windward Islands.

1924 A representative government was introduced.

1951 The first elections under universal adult suffrage were won by the St Lucia Labour Party (SLP).

1958 St Lucia joined the attempted West Indies Federation.

1962 The West Indies Federation was dissolved.

1967 St Lucia became an Associated State of the UK with full autonomy over internal affairs.

1979 St Lucia gained independence.

1992 The United Workers' Party (UWP) won the elections.

1997 The SLP won the elections.

2001 Foreign Minister George Odlum was dismissed. Subsequently, he was appointed leader of an alliance of opposition parties to fight the election, but the alliance collapsed. The two opposition parties, the UWP and the National Alliance Party, ran separately. The ruling SLP won the legislative elections, giving Prime Minister Kenny Anthony a second term.

2003 St Lucia's foreign minister, Julian Hunte, was elected president of the UN General Assembly June session, the smallest country ever to lead the 191-member world body.

2004 In March, the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) approved a loan to help St Lucia build infrastructure against flooding in coastal cities. A new radio service – Radio Caricom, the Voice of the Caribbean Community – was officially launched at the 25th Meeting of the Conference of the Heads of Government in Grenada on 4 July 2004. St Lucia is a `pilot state' in the project.

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