St Lucia

The St Lucian people will tell you that there is so much more to see and do in St Lucia than just what you see in the brochure.

Whether its a holiday, on business, or for a short break St Lucia continues to increase in popularity amongst us Brits - and rightly so!

That's why its important to get your travel plans sorted out properly, and in our opinion, flight, holiday and hotel specialists Opodo offer the best service online - but you can find that out for yourself here...

Nightlife tends to be concentrated in the north of the island with Friday night street fetes at Gros Islet and Anse La Raye where you can savour the local cuisine and music to your heart's content. Also a visit to Rodney Bay for it's varied restaurants and nightlife, including our own brand of Hooters.

Saint Lucia is a parliamentary democracy modeled on the Westminster system. The head of state is Queen Elizabeth II, represented by a Governor General, appointed by the Queen as her representative. The Governor General exercises basically ceremonial functions, but residual powers, under the constitution, can be used at the governor general's discretion. The actual power in St. Lucia lies with the prime minister and the cabinet, usually representing the majority party in parliament.

St. Lucia is a member of the Eastern Caribbean Currency Union (ECCU). The Eastern Caribbean Central Bank (ECCB) issues a common currency (the East Caribbean Dollar) for all members of the ECCU. The ECCB also manages monetary policy and regulates and supervises commercial banking activities in its member countries.

Until the events of September 11, the tourism sector had made significant gains, experiencing a boom despite some untimely and destructive hurricanes. Stay-over visitors and cruise arrivals declined in 2001 and several hotels declared bankruptcy, including the Hyatt.

Saint Lucia's first known inhabitants were Arawaks, believed to have come from northern South America around 200-400 A.D. Numerous archaeological sites on the island have produced specimens of the Arawaks' well-developed pottery. Caribs gradually replaced Arawaks during the period from 800 to 1000 A.D.

St. Lucia has an independent judiciary composed of district courts and a high court. Cases may be appealed to the Eastern Caribbean Court of Appeals and, ultimately, to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in London. The island is divided into 10 administrative divisions, including the capital, Castries. Popularly elected local governments in most towns and villages perform such tasks as regulation of sanitation and markets and maintenance of cemeteries and secondary roads.

It has several small communities which include Pierrot, Grace, Belle Vue, Zaboo, LaResource, Augier, St.Urban. In the second half of the 18th century, Vieux Fort was the center of St Lucia's sugar industry; today it is more industrial.

Places of interest would be Soufriere town in the south which is the original capital of St. Lucia, here you will find the world's only drive-in volcano, mineral baths, black sand beaches of Anse Chastanet and the Pitons World Heritage site. Pigeon Island national park also deserves a visit as you can walk amongst the ruins of the old fort and also enjoy some sea and sun on the two available sandy beaches on the Pigeon Island park - home of St. Lucia Jazz Festival.

Politics in St. Lucia was once dominated by the United Workers' Party (UWP), which, until 1997 had governed the country for all but three years since independence. John Compton was premier of St. Lucia from 1964 until independence in February 1979 and remained prime minister until elections later that year.

Saint Lucia's economy depends primarily on revenue from banana production and tourism with some input from small-scale manufacturing. There are numerous small and medium-sized agricultural enterprises. Revenue from agriculture has supported the noticeable socioeconomic changes that have taken place in St. Lucia since the 1960s.

The St. Lucia Labor Party (SLP) won the first post-independence elections in July 1979, taking 12 of 17 seats in parliament. A period of turbulence ensued, in which squabbling within the party led to several changes of prime minister. Pressure from the private sector and the unions forced the government to resign in 1982. New elections were then called and were won resoundingly by Compton's UWP, which took 14 of 17 seats.

Increasing self-government has marked St. Lucia's 20th century history. A 1924 constitution gave the island its first form of representative government, with a minority of elected members in the previously all-nominated legislative council.

Arawak Amerindians first settled on the island in the 3rd century AD, while the Caribs later took over. European discovery of the island is somewhat vague, but it was probably discovered around 1500 by the Spanish explorer Juan de la Cosa. After some early failed attempts to settle there, the French and British fought over the island, with its fine natural harbor at Castries, during the 17th and 18th centuries (changing possession 14 times), until Britain finally obtained control in 1814.

The English, with their headquarters in Barbados, and the French, centered on Martinique, found St. Lucia attractive after the sugar industry developed in 1765. Britain eventually triumphed, with France permanently ceding St. Lucia in 1815. In 1838, St. Lucia was incorporated into the British Windward Islands administration, headquartered in Barbados. This lasted until 1885, when the capital was moved to Grenada.

The UWP was elected for a second time in April 16, 1987, but with only nine of 17 seats. Seeking to increase his slim margin, Prime Minister Compton suspended parliament and called new elections on April 30. This unprecedented snap election, however, gave Compton the same results as before--the UWP retained nine seats and the SLP eight. In April 1992, Prime Minister Compton's government again defeated the SLP. In this election, the government increased its majority in parliament to 11 seats.

St Lucia and St Lucia online resources.