Saint Lucia
Saint Lucia
Saint Lucia is an island nation in the eastern Caribbean Sea on the boundary with the Atlantic Ocean.
It is located north/northeast of the islands of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, northwest of Barbados and south of Martinique.
St. Lucia is one of the Windward Islands" of the Lesser Antilles, part of the West Indies.
Location of Saint Lucia. Source: Vardion/Wikipedia
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
Location: Caribbean, island between the Caribbean Sea and North Atlantic Ocean, north of Trinidad and Tobago
Geographic Coordinates: 13 53 N, 60 58 W
Map of Saint Lucia (Source: CIA, The World Factbook)
Area: Total: 616 square km (606 sq km land and 10 sq km water)
arable land: 6.45%
permanent crops: 22.58%
other: 70.97% (2005)
Coastline: 158 km
Maritime Claims: Territorial sea to 12 nautical miles; contiguous zone to 24 nautical miles; exclusive economic zone to 200 nautical miles; continental shelf to 200 nautical miles or to the edge of the continental margin
Natural Hazards: Hurricanes and volcanic activity
Terrain: Volcanic and mountainous with some broad, fertile valleys. The highest point is Mount Gimie 950 m
Climate: Tropical, moderated by northeast trade winds; dry season January to April, rainy season May to August
Capital: Castries
Ecology and Biodiversity
Ecoregions:
See also Biological diversity in the Caribbean Islands
International Environmental Agreements
Saint Lucia is party to international agreements on: 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, and Whaling
People and Society
Population: 160,267 (July 2009 est.)
Age Structure:
0-14 years: 24.4% (male 20,035/female 19,021)
15-64 years: 66.4% (male 51,593/female 54,843)
65 years and over: 9.2% (male 6,668/female 8,107) (2009 est.)
Population Growth Rate: 0.416% (2009 est.)
Birthrate: 15.4 births/1,000 population (2008 est.)
Death Rate: 6.71 deaths/1,000 population (2008 est.)
Net Migration Rate: -4.14 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2009 est.)
Life Expectancy at Birth: 76.45 years (2009 est.)
Total Fertility Rate: 1.84 children born/woman (2009 est.)
Languages: English (official), French patois
Literacy: 90.1%
Water
The island is subdivided into 37 water catchments or river basins from which a number of perennial streams emanate. Though a hydrological network was installed in the mid-1980s, the water resources available from these surface sources have not been quantified.
See Water profile
Economy
The island nation has been able to attract foreign business and investment, especially in its offshore banking and tourism industries, with a surge in foreign direct investment in 2006, attributed to the construction of several tourism projects. Although crops such as bananas, mangos, and avocados continue to be grown for export, tourism provides Saint Lucia's main source of income and the industry is the island's biggest employer. The tourism sector is likely to face declining revenues with the global economic downturn as US and European travel declines. The manufacturing sector is the most diverse in the Eastern Caribbean area, and the government is trying to revitalize the banana industry, although recent hurricanes have caused exports to contract. Saint Lucia is vulnerable to a variety of external shocks including volatile tourism receipts, natural disasters, and dependence on foreign oil. The public debt-to-GDP ratio is about 70% and high debt servicing obligations constrain the KING administration's ability to respond to adverse external shocks. Economic fundamentals remain solid, even though unemployment needs to be reduced.
GDP: (Purchasing Power Parity): $1.801 billion (2008 est.)
GDP-real growth rate: 2.3% (2008 est.)
GDP- per capita (PPP): $11,300 (2008 est.)
GDP- composition by sector:
agriculture: 5%
industry: 15%
services: 80% (2005 est.)
Industries: clothing, assembly of electronic components, beverages, corrugated cardboard boxes, tourism; lime processing, coconut processing
Natural Resources: forests, sandy beaches, minerals (pumice), mineral springs, geothermal potential
Currency: East Caribbean dollars (XCD)
Further Reading
- The CIA World Factbook
- Food and Agriculture Organization of United Nations
- World Wildlife Fund homepage
Return to Saint Lucia's country profile
Return to the Latin America and the Caribbean Collection
Citation
World Wildlife Fund, Central Intelligence Agency (Lead Author);CIA World Factbook (Content Source);Juan Pablo Arce (Topic Editor) "Saint Lucia". In: Encyclopedia of Earth. Eds. Cutler J. Cleveland (Washington, D.C.: Environmental Information Coalition, National Council for Science and the Environment). [First published in the Encyclopedia of Earth May 21, 2009; Last revised Date January 4, 2012; Retrieved February 9, 2012 <http://www.eoearth.org/article/Saint_Lucia>
The Authors
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