Saint Lucia

§1. Saint Lucia Introduction

Background:
  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.
  Self-government was granted in 1967 and independence in 1979.

§2. Saint Lucia Geography

Location:
  Caribbean, island between the Caribbean Sea and North Atlantic Ocean, north
  of Trinidad and Tobago

Geographic coordinates:
  13 53 N, 60 68 W

Map references:
  Central America and the Caribbean

Area:
  total: 620 kmē
  land: 610 kmē
  water: 10 kmē

Area - comparative:
  3.5 times the size of Washington, DC

Land boundaries:
  0 km

Coastline:
  158 km

Maritime claims:
  contiguous zone: 24 NM continental shelf: 200 NM or to the edge of the
    continental margin
  exclusive economic zone: 200 NM
  territorial sea: 12 NM

Climate:
  tropical, moderated by northeast trade winds; dry season from January to
  April, rainy season from May to August

Terrain:
  volcanic and mountainous with some broad, fertile valleys

Elevation extremes:
  lowest point: Caribbean Sea 0 m highest point: Mount Gimie 950 m

Natural resources:
  forests, sandy beaches, minerals (pumice), mineral springs, geothermal
  potential

Land use:
  arable land: 8%
  permanent crops: 21%
  permanent pastures: 5%
  forests and woodland: 13%
  other: 53% (1993 est.)

Irrigated land:
  10 kmē (1993 est.)

Natural hazards:
  hurricanes and volcanic activity

Environment - current issues:
  deforestation; soil erosion, particularly in the northern region

Environment - international agreements:
  party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered
    Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea,
    Marine Dumping, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Whaling
  signed, but not ratified: Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol

§3. Saint Lucia People

Population:
  158,178 (July 2001 est.)

Age structure:
  0-14 years: 32.13% (male 25,951; female 24,874)
  15-64 years: 62.59% (male 48,568; female 50,430)
  65 years and over: 5.28% (male 3,120; female 5,235) (2001 est.)

Population growth rate:
  1.23% (2001 est.)

Birth rate:
  21.8 births/1,000 population (2001 est.)

Death rate:
  5.36 deaths/1,000 population (2001 est.)

Net migration rate:
  -4.15 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2001 est.)

Sex ratio:
  at birth: 1.07 male(s)/female
  under 15 years: 1.04 male(s)/female
  15-64 years: 0.96 male(s)/female
  65 years and over: 0.6 male(s)/female
  total population: 0.96 male(s)/female (2001 est.)

Infant mortality rate:
  15.22 deaths/1,000 live births (2001 est.)

Life expectancy at birth:
  total population: 72.57 years male: 69 years
  female: 76.39 years (2001 est.)

Total fertility rate:
  2.38 children born/woman (2001 est.)

HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate:
  NA%

HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS:
  NA

HIV/AIDS - deaths:
  NA

Nationality:
  noun: Saint Lucian(s)
  adjective: Saint Lucian

Ethnic groups:
  black 90%, mixed 6%, East Indian 3%, white 1%

Religions:
  Roman Catholic 90%, Protestant 7%, Anglican 3%

Languages:
  English (official), French patois

Literacy:
  definition: age 15 and over has ever attended school
  total population: 67%
  male: 65%
  female: 69% (1980 est.)

§4. Saint Lucia Government

Country name:
  conventional long form: none
  conventional short form: Saint Lucia

Government type:
  Westminster-style parliamentary democracy

Capital:
  Castries

Administrative divisions:
  11 quarters; Anse-la-Raye, Castries, Choiseul, Dauphin, Dennery, Gros
  Islet, Laborie, Micoud, Praslin, Soufriere, Vieux Fort

Independence:
  22 February 1979 (from UK)

National holiday:
  Independence Day, 22 February (1979)

Constitution:
  22 February 1979

Legal system:
  based on English common law

Suffrage:
  18 years of age; universal

Executive branch:
  chief of state: Queen ELIZABETH II (since 6 February 1952), represented by
    Governor General Dr. Perlette LOUISY (since September 1997)
  head of government: Prime Minister Kenneth ANTHONY (since 24 May 1997) and
    Deputy Prime Minister Mario MICHEL (since 24 May 1997)
  cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the governor general on the advice of the
    prime minister
  elections: none; the monarch is hereditary; the governor general is
    appointed by the monarch; following legislative elections, the leader of
    the majority party or leader of a majority coalition is usually appointed
    prime minister by the governor general

Legislative branch:
  bicameral Parliament consists of the Senate (11 seats; six members
  appointed on the advice of the prime minister, three on the advice of the
  leader of the opposition, and two after consultation with religious,
  economic, and social groups) and the House of Assembly (17 seats; members
  are elected by popular vote from single-member constituencies to serve
  five-year terms)
  elections: House of Assembly - last held 23 May 1997 (next to be held NA
    2002)
  election results: House of Assembly - percent of vote by party - NA%; seats
    by party - SLP 16, UWP 1

Judicial branch:
  Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court (jurisdiction extends to Anguilla, Antigua
  and Barbuda, the British Virgin Islands, Dominica, Grenada, Montserrat,
  Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines)

Political parties and leaders:
  National Freedom Party or NFP [Martinus FRANCOIS]; Saint Lucia Labor Party
  or SLP [Kenneth ANTHONY]; United Workers Party or UWP [Dr. Morella JOSEPH]

Political pressure groups and leaders:
  NA

International organization participation:
  ACCT (associate), ACP, C, Caricom, CDB, ECLAC, FAO, G-77, IBRD, ICAO,
  ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Intelsat (nonsignatory
  user), Interpol, IOC, ISO (subscriber), ITU, NAM, OAS, OECS, OPANAL, OPCW,
  UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WCL, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTrO

Diplomatic representation in the US:
  chief of mission: Ambassador Sonia Merlyn JOHNNY chancery: 3216 New Mexico
    Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20016
  telephone: [1] (202) 364-6792 through 6795
  FAX: [1] (202) 364-6728
  consulate(s) general: Miami and New York

Diplomatic representation from the US:
  the US does not have an embassy in Saint Lucia; the US Ambassador in
  Barbados is accredited to Saint Lucia

Flag description:
  blue, with a gold isosceles triangle below a black arrowhead; the upper
  edges of the arrowhead have a white border

§5. Saint Lucia Economy

Economy - overview:
  The recent changes in the EU import preference regime and the increased
  competition from Latin American bananas have made economic diversification
  increasingly important in Saint Lucia. Improvement in the construction
  sector and growth of the tourism industry helped expand GDP in 1998-99. The
  agriculture sector registered its fifth year of decline in 1997 primarily
  because of a severe decline in banana production. The manufacturing sector
  is the most diverse in the Eastern Caribbean, and the government is
  beginning to develop regulations for the small offshore financial sector.

GDP:
  purchasing power parity - $700 million (2000 est.)

GDP - real growth rate:
  0.5% (2000 est.)

GDP - per capita:
  purchasing power parity - $4,500 (2000 est.)

GDP - composition by sector:
  agriculture: 10.7% industry: 32.3%
  services: 57% (1996 est.)

Population below poverty line:
  NA%

Household income or consumption by percentage share:
  lowest 10%: NA% highest 10%: NA%

Inflation rate (consumer prices):
  2.5% (2000 est.)

Labor force:
  43,800

Labor force - by occupation:
  agriculture 43.4%, services 38.9%, industry and commerce 17.7% (1983 est.)

Unemployment rate:
  15% (1996 est.)

Budget:
  revenues: $141.2 million
  expenditures: $146.7 million, including capital expenditures of $25.1
    million (FY97/98 est.)

Industries:
  clothing, assembly of electronic components, beverages, corrugated
  cardboard boxes, tourism, lime processing, coconut processing

Industrial production growth rate:
  -8.9% (1997 est.)

Electricity - production:
  110 million kWh (1999)

Electricity - production by source:
  fossil fuel: 100% hydro: 0%
  nuclear: 0%
  other: 0% (1999)

Electricity - consumption:
  102.3 million kWh (1999)

Electricity - exports:
  0 kWh (1999)

Electricity - imports:
  0 kWh (1999)

Agriculture - products:
  bananas, coconuts, vegetables, citrus, root crops, cocoa

Exports:
  $68.3 million (2000 est.)

Exports - commodities:
  bananas 41%, clothing, cocoa, vegetables, fruits, coconut oil

Exports - partners:
  UK 50%, US 24%, Caricom countries 16% (1995)

Imports:
  $319.4 million (2000 est.)

Imports - commodities:
  food 23%, manufactured goods 21%, machinery and transportation equipment
  19%, chemicals, fuels

Imports - partners:
  US 36%, Caricom countries 22%, UK 11%, Japan 5%, Canada 4% (1995)

Debt - external:
  $131.6 million (1998)

Economic aid - recipient:
  $51.8 million (1995)

Currency:
  East Caribbean dollar (XCD)

Currency code:
  XCD

Exchange rates:
  East Caribbean dollars per US dollar - 2.7000 (fixed rate since 1976)

Fiscal year:
  1 April - 31 March

§6. Saint Lucia Communications

Telephones - main lines in use:
  37,000 (1997)

Telephones - mobile cellular:
  1,600 (1997)

Telephone system:
  general assessment: adequate system domestic: system is automatically
    switched
  international: direct microwave radio relay link with Martinique and Saint
    Vincent and the Grenadines; tropospheric scatter to Barbados;
    international calls beyond these countries are carried by Intelsat from
    Martinique

Radio broadcast stations:
  AM 2, FM 7 (plus 3 repeaters), shortwave 0 (1998)

Radios:
  111,000 (1997)

Television broadcast stations:
  3 (of which two are commercial stations and one is a community antenna
  television or CATV channel) (1997)

Televisions:
  32,000 (1997)

Internet country code:
  .lc

Internet Service Providers (ISPs):
  15 (2000)

Internet users:
  5,000 (2000)

§7. Saint Lucia Transportation

Railways:
  0 km

Highways:
  total: 1,210 km
  paved: 63 km
  unpaved: 1,147 km (1996)

Waterways:
  none

Ports and harbors:
  Castries, Vieux Fort

Merchant marine:
  none (2000 est.)

Airports:
  2 (2000 est.)

Airports - with paved runways:
  total: 2 2,438 to 3,047 m: 1
  1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 (2000 est.)

§8. Saint Lucia Military

Military branches:
  Royal Saint Lucia Police Force (includes Special Service Unit), Coast Guard

Military expenditures - dollar figure:
  $5 million (FY91/92)

Military expenditures - percent of GDP:
  2% (FY91/92)

§9. Saint Lucia Transnational Issues

Disputes - international:
  none

Illicit drugs:
  transit point for South American drugs destined for the US and Europe
