St Lucia

Saint Lucia is a sovereign island country in the eastern Caribbean Sea on the boundary with the Atlantic Ocean. Part of the Lesser Antilles it is located north/northeast of the island of Saint Vincent northwest of Barbados and south of Martinique. It covers a land area of 617 km2 (238.23 sq mi) and has a population of 174000 (2010). Its capital is Castries. One of the Windward Islands Saint Lucia was named after Saint Lucy of Syracuse by the French the islands first European settlers. They signed a treaty with the native Carib Indians in 1660. Britain took control of the island from 1663 to 1667 in ensuing years it was at war with France 14 times and rule of the island changed frequently (it was seven times each ruled by the French and British). In 1814 the British took definitive control of the island. Because it switched so often between British and French control Saint Lucia was also known as the Helen of the West Indies.Representative government came about in 1840 (with universal suffrage from 1953). From 1958 to 1962 the island was a member of the Federation of the West Indies. On 22 February 1979 Saint Lucia became an independent state of the Commonwealth of Nations associated with the United Kingdom. Saint Lucia has a legal system based on English common law.