Saint Lucia

Represented by Governor General Pearlette Louisy

Saint Lucia St. Lucia, or even ( in the local language pronunciation: [ sntlu ː ʃə ] ) is an island country in the West Indies in the Caribbean and a member of the Commonwealth of Nations.

  • 3.1 colonial
  • 3.2 independence
  • 4.1 Justice
  • 4.2 Military
  • 4.3 Foreign Policy
  • 5.1 Education
  • 5.2 Health
  • 9.1 Tourism
  • 9.2 Export
  • 9.3 unions
  • 9.4 State Budget

Geography

The island belongs to the Leeward Islands, which in turn belong to the Lesser Antilles. It is located north of St. Vincent and the Grenadines and 33.2 km south of Martinique. 146 km to the southeast is Barbados.

Capital and largest city of the country is Castries. The highest point of the island is Mount Gimie with 950 meters. The coastline is 158 km long. On the island there are, south of the village Soufriere, two inactive volcanoes, the Gros Piton and Petit Piton to (also called the Twin Pitons ). The area around the volcano is on the list of UNESCO World Natural Heritage. The main rivers of the island are the Cul de Sac and the Canelles. 27.9 % of the area is covered by forests. See also: List of places in St. Lucia

Population

The majority of the island's population today is descended from black Africans who were brought to the island in colonial times as slaves.

The official language, English is the main language spoken. In addition, will also Patois, a Creole dialect spoken. The life expectancy is 76.45 years, the average age of 29.8 years. 28 % of the population live in cities, the urbanization rate is 1.4 % per year. 82.5 % of the population are black-skinned. Approximately 12 % of the population are mixed and 3% Asian ( mostly Indian ) descent. The rest is provided by whites and other ethnic groups.

Religion

The most widespread religion is Catholicism, which consists of 67.5 % of the population. In addition, include 8.5% of the Free Church of Seventh- day Adventists at, 5.7% Pentecostal, 2.1% Rastafarian, 2% Anglicanism, 2 % of the Evangelical Church, 5.1% belong to other Christian religions and 1, 1% of other religions. 4.5 % of the population have no religion.

History

The indigenous people of St. Lucia called their island Iouanalao, which according to the dictionary of the Amerindian Dominican missionary Pere Raymond Breton ( 1650 ) means something like There where the Iguana is found ( = " there where the iguana lives "). In 1663 the island was sold to Barbados.

The origin of the name is in common use today according to legend, a type of French sailors who suffered shipwreck on 13 December 1502 and the island after the martyr Lucia of Syracuse Sainte Alousie named, the name was later adopted with slight variations of French chroniclers.

Colonial

St. Lucia was discovered by Christopher Columbus during his third voyage around the year 1500. After first settlement attempts failed early 17th century, after the French first settled around 1650 the island. After disputes between the UK and France over the possession of the island in which this changed 14 times, finally got the former by the decision of the Congress of Vienna in 1814 the claim to the island.

As in many other colonies also, the British people from Africa brought to the island who did slave labor on the sugar plantations. Even after the British abolition of slavery in 1834, many former slaves continued to work on the plantations as seasonal workers.

While the colony was in autocratic management composite implemented the islands from 1938 Leeward already a going forth by universal and equal suffrage Parliament developed from 1922. From 1958 to 1962 St. Lucia was a member of the West Indian Federation until 1966 it was granted the status of an associate with Britain, autonomous state.

Independence

In 1979, Saint Lucia became a constitutional monarchy and a member of the Commonwealth of Nations, making it gained independence.

After the reign of socialist Saint Lucia Labour Party from 1979 to 1982, since 1982, ruled the conservative Liberal Party United Workers Party with the Prime Minister John Compton, who held the office for a long time. He sat down for an analogy of the country to the West.

In the 1950s and 1960s, the banana broke the cane from as usually grown agricultural product.

Policy

The form of government in St. Lucia is a parliamentary monarchy in the Commonwealth. The Head of State Queen Elizabeth II is represented by the Governor-General Pearlette Louisy. The head of government is the Prime Minister Stephenson King. The Parliament consists of the House of Assembly as the House and the Senate as the upper house.

The current government of Prime Minister Stephenson King consists of the following ministers (as of 2010):

See also:

  • List of Governors-General of Saint Lucia
  • List of Prime Minister of St. Lucia

Justice

In the legal system of St. Lucia, the death penalty. Between 1987 and 2001 the death penalty was imposed a total of 18 times according to official figures. The number of reported crimes in 2003 was 13,273, the clear-up rate was 29.9 %, the murder of 50%.

St. Lucia has no military, there is the Royal Saint Lucia Police Force, which also includes a Special Service Unit and Coast Guard.

Foreign Policy

St. Lucia is a member of the Caribbean Community, the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States, the United Nations and the Organization of American States. For a time, relations with the People 's Republic of China were strained because St. Lucia recognizes the Republic of China. Since the takeover Kenny Anthony, this was reversed. They also tried an approach to the Bolivarian Alliance for the Americas.

Education / Health

Education

According to the law school from the age of 5 years until the age of 15 is free and mandatory. Illiterates are in the minority. Public expenditure on education amounted to 5.8% of GDP for the period 2002-2005. Part of the University of the West Indies is located in St. Lucia.

Health

2004 were public health expenditures at 3.3 % of GDP, while private 1.8 %, respectively. In 2004 the average health expenditure at 302 U.S. $ ( purchasing power parity) per capita. In 2005, the infant mortality rate 12 per 100 000 births. In St. Lucia, two public hospitals and one private are available.

Administrative divisions

St. Lucia is divided administratively into eleven quarters ( districts ).

The Statistical Office of Saint Lucia is divided into eleven districts, the country also, which are not congruent with the administrative units. The population figures in the following table refer to the census of 2010.

Infrastructure

The island has two airports. The larger is the Hewanorra International Airport ( IATA airport code: UVF), which lies at the southeastern tip of the island at Vieux Fort. The smaller George FL Charles Airport (formerly Vigie Airport, IATA code: SLU) is located north of Castries in the north of the island and is used intra- Caribbean flights. The main road leading from the north of the island to the south.

Marine Protected

After in the years after 1990, fewer and fewer fish was caught, fishermen, tourism industry and environmentalists agreed to marine protected areas around St. Lucia set up. About a third of the coral reef around St. Lucia is since under absolute protection. This area shall be prohibited. Neither divers still bathing tourists are allowed to stay here. In some other areas, a loosened protection applies. These areas are open to divers and swimmers. Since the establishment of these protected areas, the number of fish has multiplied to St. Lucia.

Economy

The largest contributors to the economy of tourism and the export. Main exports are bananas and flour and rice. Be imported manufactured goods, machinery and foodstuffs. The service sector is the largest part of the population ( 53.6 % ) were employed, followed by the industrial sector ( 24.7 %) and agriculture ( 21.7 %). The unemployment rate in 2003 was an estimated 20 %.

Other economic data:

  • Gross national income in 2008 (real GNI): 1.801 billion U.S. $ (about 342.11 million euros )
  • Gross National Income 2008 / Population: 11,300 U.S. $ ( approx 10,100 Euros )
  • Gross national income in 1997 / km ²: 664 934 €
  • Inflation 2008: 1.9%
  • Net exports 2002: -108.83 million EC $
  • Banana exports in 2006: 48 160 tonnes ( 82.25 million EC $ )

Tourism

The tourism sector is the main industry of the island. It accounts for about half of total output and is the largest employer.

Export

Despite the hilly ground of which appears a hindrance to the cultivation of agricultural products, St. Lucia rose to become the largest banana exporter in the northern West Indies. By decided in the Lomé Convention "Banana Protocol" was the island a competitive advantage over the competition from Africa. Upon such termination of this Agreement, the export economy of the island would be severely affected because of the banana export over half of the economic performance of the total export accounts. Lately, the cultivation of bananas increased by Hurricanes was hit hard. 274 543 tonnes of bananas were exported in 2010, whereas by 2011 only 11,343 tons. The economy of St. Lucia is extremely sensitive to natural disasters.

Unions

In St. Lucia there are nine individual unions with increasing strength and importance.

State budget

The state budget included expenditures in 2009 of the equivalent of 146.7 million U.S. dollar, partially offset by revenue equivalent to 141.2 million U.S. dollars. This results in a budget deficit of 0.5 % of GDP. The national debt amounted to 2003 470 million U.S. dollars or 62.8 % of GDP.

In 2006, the share of government expenditure (% of GDP ) the following areas:

  • Health: 6.3%
  • Education: 6.6%
  • Military: 0.0% (St. Lucia has no military, see above)

Culture

Media

Radio

  • Radio St. Lucia ( government-owned commercial broadcaster )
  • The Wave ( private channels )
  • Helen Television Service (HTS ) (local, commercial television station )

Press

  • The Voice ( Edition: 5000 )
  • The Star ( Edition: 2500 )

Attractions

The capital Castries: The city is surrounded by a bay that is framed by the beautiful Morne Fortune and the promontory of the Vigie Peninsula. Several times in their past raged in the city fire and the houses were razed to the ground. That is the reason why today only are few historic buildings.

Derek Walcott Square: 1992 Located in the center of the square was renamed in honor of Nobel laureate Derek Walcott Derek Walcott Square. On the east side of the square is the built in the 19th century Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception. It has wooden pillars and colorful Caribbean ceiling paintings.

Deux Pitons: The peaks of the Pitons Deux consist of cooled lava. They are considered most photographed landmark on the island. Using guided walks you can climb the summit.

Others

There is no summer / winter time conversion dates in St. Lucia. The rest of Central Europe in winter is -5 hours and in the summer of -6 hours.

Famous Lucian

St. Lucia is the birthplace of two Nobel Prize winners. In 1979, the late Sir William Arthur Lewis won the Nobel Prize in Economics in 1992 and the writer Derek Walcott received the Nobel Prize for Literature. This St. Lucia after the Faroe Islands the most Nobel Prize winners per capita. The Lucian Julian Hunte was 2003, the President of the General Assembly of the United Nations.

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