Saint Lucia
Updated: Sep 18, 2022
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Country Name
Saint Lucia.
Location
Saint Lucia is a sovereign island country in the West Indies in the eastern Caribbean Sea on the boundary with the Atlantic Ocean.
Part of the Lesser Antilles is located north/northeast of the island of Saint Vincent, northwest of Barbados, and south of Martinique.
Capital
Castries.
Reason for Naming the country
Saint Lucia was named "Louanalao" by the Arawak Indians around 200 AD, meaning "Island of the Iguanas," and then "Hewanorra" by the Carib Indians in 800 AD, when they came and absorbed their culture into Saint Lucia. Carib descendants can still be seen in Saint Lucia today.
Saint Lucy of Syracuse (AD 283–304) inspired the name, Saint Lucia. It is one of only two nations in the world named after a woman (the other being Ireland, which is named after the Celtic goddess of fertility, Eire), and the only one named after a historical woman. Another island is St. Helena.
Flag
On March 1, 1967, the Saint Lucian flag was approved. Saint Lucia's flag has a light blue background. A gold isosceles triangle facing upwards is in the middle of the flag, underneath a black arrowhead highlighted in white.
The color blue denotes loyalty and reflects the tropical sky and the green waters of the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean.
Gold is associated with the Caribbean's sunlight and riches. The black and white parts signify cultural influences, with the white half representing white culture and the black part representing black culture - the two races living and working together. The design emphasizes the superiority of African culture over European civilization against a background of sunshine and water.
Language
The official language is English. Saint Lucian French Creole is also known as patois or Patwa, and it is used by approximately 95% of the local population.
Lucian Creole French is a variant of the Antillean Creole language family and is widely used in music and literature.
Religion
Approximately half of the population is Roman Catholic, with the remainder belonging to Protestant faiths such as Seventh-Day Adventists, Pentecostals, Baptists, Anglicans, Church of God, Evangelicals, and Jehovah's Witnesses.
A small percentage of the population follows the Rastafari movement, while other religions include Islam, the Bahá' Faith, Judaism, and Buddhism.
Currency
East Caribbean dollar (XCD).
Time Zone
-04:00 GMT.
Government Regime
Unitary parliamentary constitutional monarchy.
Climate
Saint Lucia has a tropical climate that is hot all year, with a comparatively cold, dry season from January to mid-April and a hot, humid, and rainy season from mid-June to November.
The northeast trade winds, which are continuous winds typical of tropical climes, blow persistently and with moderate intensity during the former time, but these winds are more irregular and may have some interruptions during the latter phase, heightening the impression of sultriness.
Between them, there are two transitional periods: from December to early January, when the northeast wind begins to blow, the temperature drops somewhat, and the weather improves, and from mid-April to mid-June, when both the temperature and the frequency of downpours steadily rise.