Saint Lucia Country Overview
Saint Lucia. It is the second largest island the Windward Islands, of volcanic origin, with a mountainous landscape covered by tropical vegetation, which is one of the most beautiful in the West Indies.
Geographic location
Country located in the Lesser Antilles, the second largest island the Windward Islands, with the Caribbean Sea to the west, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines to the south and the island of Martinique to the north.
Characteristics
According to Militarynous, Saint Lucia has about 163,000 residents. Of them are black, 90% descended from African slaves, with a mixed minority and only 1% white.
Most of the population lives on the coast, and some small towns in the interior. The main cities of Saint Lucia are: Castries, Vieux Fort, Micoud, Dennery, Soufrière, Gros Islet, Anse-la-Raye and Laborie.
History
It featured settlements in the 3rd century by indigenous people from South America, then Carib Indians. In 1502 the island was discovered by Columbus and between the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries it happened at least fourteen times to belong to the French State or the United Kingdom. In 1814 it passed definitively to the British.
Between 1958 and 1962, it belongs to the Federation of the West Indies. In 1967 the state is associated with Great Britain. It obtained its independence in 1979 within the Commonwealth and in 1997, Kenny Anthony, became its prime minister.
Symbols
The national flower is the rose and its anthem:
National Anthem of Saint Lucia.
Sons and daughters of St. Lucia,
love the land that gave us birth,
land of beaches, hills and valleys,
fairest isle of all the earth.
Wheresoever you may roam,
love, oh, love your island home.
Gone the times when nations battled
for this’ Helen of the West,
gone the days when strife and discord
Dimmed her children’s toil and rest.
Dawns at last a brighter day,
stretches out a glad new way.
May the good Lord bless our island,
guard her sons from woe and harm!
May our people live united,
strong in soul and strong in arm!
Justice, Truth and Charity,
our ideal for ever be!
Music: Leton Felix Thomas. Lyrics: Charles Jesse. Adopted in 1967 and, with independence, in 1979.
Geography
It has an area of 616 km² and its coasts measure 158 km.
It is a volcanic island with a series of cones that runs across the island from north to south. It is located on the edge of the Caribbean and South American plates. Its highest point is Mount Gimie, which rises 950 meters above sea level, but its most famous mountains are the Pitons Mountains (Petit Piton and Gros Piton), whose silhouettes are representative of the region and served as inspiration for the design for your banner. The Pythons are two volcanic spiers that were declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 2004. There are some springs and sulphurous emanations from the Qualibou volcano and the Vieux Fort.
Climate
It has a humid tropical climate with an average of between 20 and 28 ºC depending on the altitude. It is about the monsoon climate and the trade winds on the coast, which in this case, and thanks to its abrupt relief, enhances the monsoon effect, so that the rainfall is much higher than the average, between 3,500 and 1,500 mm. Saint Lucia is affected by the hurricanes that are generated in the Atlantic. The rainy season begins in May and ends in August.
Due to the heavy rains there are some rivers, short and intermittent, but which, due to the large slopes, form spectacular waterfalls.
Flora and fauna
They are those of the biogeographic empire and the neotropical ecozone, with some endemisms, typical of the islands. The jungles are the best places for bird watching.
The entire west coast of Santa Lucia is surrounded by Corals, Turtles, Nurse Sharks and Seahorses. There are 20 species of whales on the island, including pilot whales and humpback whales.
There are a large number of turtles. The abundance of these reptiles is due to the protection provided by local environmental activists, who have ensured that there is a permanent suspension on hunting turtles.
Economic development
The country’s economy depends largely on the export of bananas, cocoa, coconut oil, sugar cane, rum, molasses and vegetables. Thus, it depends on the international prices of those products. Associated with agriculture, a small agri-food industry has developed.
In recent years, high-level tourism has been promoted, which leaves a lot of money even if there are few tourists.
It exports its agri-food products to the United Kingdom and the United States, and imports all consumer products and oil from countries such as Brazil, the United States, and Trinidad and Tobago. Its balance of payments is clearly in deficit.
Since the end of the 20th century, a modest industrial structure has been consolidating, based on the production of food products, beverages and cigarettes and the manufacture of electronic components, toys, cardboard and clothing, near the town of Vieux Fort, the government has created an industrial free zone.
Social development
Health
This country has the highest rates of diabetes in the world. 28.1 percent of the population of Saint Lucia suffers from high levels of glucose in the blood and 8.1 percent have diabetes.
Diabetes and hypertension are affecting the poorest sectors of the population because they have little access to health services and suffer from poor nutrition as a result of lifestyle changes.
To enter Saint Lucia, vaccination against yellow fever is only required if you come from infected areas.
Culture
Among national holidays are: 1 and 2 as January, February 22, May 1, October 2 and December 26.
The residents of Santa Lucia consider it an offense to dress in camouflage clothing.
Sightseeing
She was the winner of the 2000 Caribbean Islands Ecotourism Award for her Heritage Tourism Program.
