48 Fun Facts About Saint Lucia

What is the capital and largest city of Saint Lucia?

Castries, on a sheltered harbour on the north-west coast, holds nearly 40 percent of the population in its district; the town has burned repeatedly, including in 1796, 1927 and 1948.

How many times did England and France fight for control of Saint Lucia?

Control of Saint Lucia changed hands 14 times between the English and French, who both valued its sheltered harbour and position among their sugar islands, before Britain secured it for good in 1814.

Saint Lucia became independent on 22 February of which year?

Saint Lucia gained independence from Britain on 22 February 1979 as a Commonwealth realm; within months, in July, the independence-era government lost the election to Allan Louisy's Labour Party.

According to legend, why was the island named after Saint Lucy of Syracuse?

Legend says French sailors were shipwrecked on the island on 13 December, Saint Lucy's feast day, and named it for her; in fact a 1520 Vatican globe already labels it 'Sancta Lucia', pointing to Spanish naming.

The Arawak name for Saint Lucia, Louanalao, meant what?

Louanalao, the Arawak name, meant 'Island of the Iguanas', after the large lizards the Arawaks found when they settled the island around 200 AD.

The French pirate Francois le Clerc, who based himself on Pigeon Island in the 1550s, was nicknamed what?

Jambe de Bois ('wooden leg') was François le Clerc, often cited as the first pirate known to wear a wooden leg; from Pigeon Island in the 1550s he preyed on Spanish ships passing through the channel.

Saint Lucia's twin peaks near Soufriere are what kind of geological feature?

The twin peaks are volcanic plugs: hardened cores of lava left standing after softer rock eroded away, rising from the sea on the Soufriere volcanic complex; UNESCO listed them as a World Heritage Site in 2004.

Which 1967 musical film was partly shot at Saint Lucia's Marigot Bay?

Doctor Dolittle (1967), starring Rex Harrison, used Marigot Bay on the west coast for its tropical-island scenes; the sheltered, mangrove-ringed bay has since become one of the Caribbean's best-known yacht anchorages.

What is the name of Saint Lucia's self-styled 'drive-in volcano' near Soufriere?

Sulphur Springs, in the Qualibou caldera near Soufriere, lets visitors drive right up to steaming fumaroles and bubbling mud pools, hence the 'drive-in volcano' tag.

What is the highest point on Saint Lucia?

Mount Gimie, at 950 metres in the island's rugged central interior, is the highest point, well above the more famous twin peaks on the coast near Soufriere.

Which two Nobel laureates give Saint Lucia the highest ratio of winners to population?

Both were born in the capital on 23 January, fifteen years apart: Lewis in 1915 and Walcott in 1930.

Sir Arthur Lewis was the first Black winner of which Nobel Prize?

Arthur Lewis shared the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences with Theodore Schultz for work on development economics, the first Black laureate in that category; his 1954 dual-sector model became a classic of the field.

Derek Walcott's 1990 epic poem about Saint Lucian fishermen is titled what?

Omeros (1990), a book-length poem following the Saint Lucian fishermen Achille and Hector, is widely seen as Walcott's masterpiece; he won the Nobel Prize in Literature two years later.

Julien Alfred won Saint Lucia's first-ever Olympic medal in 2024 in which event?

Julien Alfred won the women's 100 metres at the 2024 Games in 10.72 seconds, a national record and Saint Lucia's first Olympic medal of any colour; she added silver in the 200 metres days later.

Which Saint Lucian cricketer captained the West Indies to T20 World Cup titles in 2012 and 2016?

Daren Sammy, the first Saint Lucian to play for the West Indies (debut 2007), lifted the World T20 trophy as captain in 2012 and 2016; the national cricket ground at Beausejour was renamed in his honour.

What do the golden and black triangles on Saint Lucia's flag represent?

The gold and black triangles stand for the Pitons, the twin peaks rising from the sea near Soufriere; the blue field is the Atlantic and Caribbean, and the black-and-white pairing signals racial harmony.

Saint Lucia's flag was designed by which local artist?

Dunstan St Omer, a painter famous for church murals depicting a Black Holy Family, designed the flag adopted on 1 March 1967, the day the island became an Associated State running its own domestic affairs.

Besides English, what is the widely spoken vernacular language of Saint Lucia called?

Kweyol, known locally as Patwa, is the island's French-based Antillean Creole, spoken by most of the population alongside English, the sole official language, and celebrated each October on Jounen Kwéyòl.

What is the national dish of Saint Lucia?

Green figs and saltfish is the national dish, pairing boiled unripe 'figs' with salted cod, a combination dating from the plantation era, when cheap imported salt fish fed estate workers.

Which crop was once the backbone of Saint Lucia's economy before tourism took over?

Bananas were the island's 'green gold' from the 1960s, shipped under preferential terms to Britain, until the EU's trade concessions were dismantled after a 1997 WTO ruling and the industry shrank against Latin American competition.

Which Saint Lucian town is known for its Friday-night 'jump-up' street party?

Gros Islet, a fishing village at the island's northern tip, hosts the Friday-night 'jump-up', a street party of sound systems, rum and grilled fish that has become one of the island's signature weekly events.

Saint Lucia's House of Assembly has how many elected seats?

The Senate has 11 appointed members; the United Workers Party took 11 of 17 seats in 2016 before Labour returned in 2021.

Saint Lucia's 19th-century Civil Code was modelled on that of which place?

The Civil Code, drafted in the 1870s by a chief justice trained in Quebec, was modelled on Quebec's 1866 Civil Code, giving Saint Lucia a mixed system of French-derived civil law and English common law.

Which admiral fortified Pigeon Island between 1779 and 1782 to watch the nearby French fleet?

Admiral George Rodney fortified Pigeon Island as a lookout over the French fleet at Fort-de-France; in April 1782 he sailed from there to defeat de Grasse at the Battle of the Saintes.

Pigeon Island stopped being an island in 1972 when what happened?

A causeway joined Pigeon Island to the mainland in 1972, built from material dredged while creating the nearby marina and lagoon; the island was later made a national park, preserving the ruins of its 18th-century fort.

On 9 March 1942 what attacked the capital's harbour and sank two British ships?

The German U-boat U-161 slipped into the harbour on the night of 9 March 1942 and torpedoed two merchant ships at their berths, the liner Lady Nelson and the steamer Umtata; both were later refloated.

Which hurricane devastated Saint Lucia's infrastructure in 1980, a year after independence?

Hurricane Allen, a Category 5 storm at peak strength, tore across Saint Lucia on 4 August 1980, wrecking most of the export crop and much of the infrastructure; the damage helped bring down the Labour government by 1982.

Saint Lucia's international airport in the south is named what?

Hewanorra International, at Vieux Fort on the southern tip, takes its name from the island's old Carib name; it began as a US air base in the Second World War and handles the long-haul jets the northern airfield cannot.

Saint Lucia is divided into how many districts, named by the French?

Saint Lucia has 10 districts, each a coastal quarter laid out by French settlers, such as Soufriere, Dennery and Vieux Fort; the British kept the French names in anglicised form.

Which two neighbouring islands lie closest to the country, to the north and south?

Martinique lies some 35 km to the north across the Saint Lucia Channel and Saint Vincent some 40 km to the south across the Saint Vincent Passage; Barbados sits further off to the south-east.

Which endemic parrot, Amazona versicolor, is the country's national bird?

Known locally as the Jacquot, it survives in the central rainforest and is listed as Vulnerable.

The island's rival flower societies, celebrating on 30 August and 17 October, are named after what?

La Rose and La Marguerite societies stage rival processions and songs; the summer carnival is another highlight.

Which internationally known music event is held annually on the island?

The Saint Lucia Jazz Festival, launched in 1992 with its main stage on Pigeon Island, grew into the island's best-known cultural event, mixing jazz greats with soca and pop acts each May.

Which transoceanic sailing event, starting in the Canary Islands, finishes in Saint Lucia?

The Atlantic Rally for Cruisers (ARC), run since 1986, sets off from Las Palmas in Gran Canaria each November and ends about 2,700 nautical miles later at Saint Lucia's main marina.

Which nobleman was granted Saint Lucia and Saint Vincent by George I in 1722, then lost his settlers to the French?

The Duke of Montagu's deputy governor, Nathaniel Uring, landed with seven ships at Petit Carenage in 1722 but, lacking naval support, was forced to withdraw by a larger French force from the neighbouring islands.

Under which 1814 agreement did Britain finally secure Saint Lucia?

The 1814 Treaty of Paris, signed after Napoleon's first abdication, ceded Saint Lucia to Britain for good; the Treaty of Amiens had handed it back to France in 1802.

Saint Lucia was a member of the West Indies Federation during which years?

Saint Lucia belonged to the West Indies Federation from its creation in January 1958 until its collapse in May 1962, after Jamaica and then Trinidad withdrew; it became an Associated State in 1967.

Which Saint Lucian prime minister led the country to independence?

John Compton, 'Father of the Nation', took Saint Lucia to independence in February, lost power in the election that July, returned in 1982 and governed until 1996, then briefly again from 2006 until his death in 2007.

Saint Lucia belongs to which island group of the Lesser Antilles?

Saint Lucia is one of the Windward Islands, the southern arc of the Lesser Antilles, so named because they lay upwind for sailing ships arriving from Europe on the north-east trade winds.

Saint Lucia's currency is what?

The East Caribbean dollar, issued by the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank in Basseterre, is shared by eight territories and has been pegged at EC$2.70 to the US dollar since 1976.

Saint Lucia backed the 1983 US-led invasion of which neighbouring island?

Saint Lucia joined the OECS call for the October 1983 US-led intervention in Grenada after the killing of Maurice Bishop, sent personnel to the Caribbean peacekeeping force, and voted against the UN resolution condemning it.

Which endemic reptiles are found only on Saint Lucia?

Anolis luciae and Boa orophias are among the island's endemic species; the Maria Islands off the southeast shelter more rarities.

Who became Saint Lucia's prime minister after the July 2021 election?

Philip J. Pierre led the Saint Lucia Labour Party to a 13–2 victory over Allen Chastanet's United Workers Party in July 2021 and was sworn in as prime minister on 28 July 2021.

What name did Juan de la Cosa give the island on his map of 1500?

Juan de la Cosa, who had sailed with Columbus, marked the island as 'El Falcon' on his 1500 world map, the earliest surviving chart to show the Americas; the name did not stick.

After abolition in 1834, how long was the 'apprenticeship' former slaves had to serve on Saint Lucia?

The apprenticeship lasted four years, from 1 August 1834 to 1 August 1838: freed people owed their former masters up to three-quarters of the working week unpaid until full emancipation.

Dennery Segment, a music genre developed on Saint Lucia, was influenced by which Angolan style?

Dennery Segment, born in the eastern town of Dennery in the 2010s, fuses Angolan kuduro's fast electronic beat with local Solo music and Jamaican dancehall, producing the island's signature party sound.

In which year did Saint Lucia hold its first legislative elections?

A 1924 constitution introduced a minority of elected seats to the Legislative Council, and the first elections followed in 1925 on a narrow property franchise; universal adult suffrage did not come until 1951.

Which bay is home to Saint Lucia's main marina and the St. Lucia Yacht Club?

Rodney Bay, in the north-west, holds the island's largest marina, dredged in the early 1970s from the Reduit lagoon, and the St. Lucia Yacht Club; it is where the transatlantic sailing fleet from the Canaries ties up each December.