kingdom · Mesoamerica and the Caribbean

Saint Lucia

1979 CE – present · capital Castries

Windward island independent since 1979, a parliamentary monarchy known for its Pitons, its Kwéyòl culture and two Nobel laureates.

Origins

The Colony of Saint Lucia became independent on 22 February 1979, with John Compton of the United Workers Party as prime minister and the British monarch as head of state.

Rule and society

Politics has alternated between the United Workers Party and the Saint Lucia Labour Party, whose Kenny Anthony led governments from 1997. Bananas, sold under preferential access to Britain, were the economic backbone until the 1990s, when the end of European preferences forced a turn to tourism, which now dominates. The Pitons were declared a World Heritage Site in 2004. Derek Walcott, born in Castries, won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1992, after Arthur Lewis's economics prize in 1979.

To the present

Saint Lucia remains a parliamentary democracy and Commonwealth realm. Philip J. Pierre of the Labour Party became prime minister in 2021, and Kwéyòl, French place names and Catholic traditions continue to shape national identity.

Lineage

Colony of Saint Lucia 1814 CE – 1979 CESaint Lucia

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Cite this page
APA
The Epoch Institute. (2026). Saint Lucia. In The Epoch Institute States Register. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/saint-lucia
MLA
“Saint Lucia.” The Epoch Institute States Register, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/saint-lucia. Accessed .
Chicago
The Epoch Institute. “Saint Lucia.” The Epoch Institute States Register. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/saint-lucia.
Harvard
The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Saint Lucia’, The Epoch Institute States Register. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/saint-lucia (Accessed: ).

Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻