Saint Lucia

Airports

2 total, 2 usable; 2 with permanent-surface runways; none with runways over 3,659 m; 1 with runways 2,440-3,659 m; 1 with runways 1,220-2,439

Civil air

2 major transport aircraft

Highways

760 km total; 500 km paved; 260 km otherwise improved

Ports

Castries

Telecommunications

fully automatic telephone system; 9,500 telephones; direct radio relay link with Martinique and St. Vincent and the Grenadines; interisland troposcatter link to Barbados; stations--4 AM, 1 FM, 1 TV (cable)

Branches

Royal St. Lucia Police Force

Defense expenditures

NA

Military manpower

NA

Agriculture

accounts for 15% of GDP and 43% of labor force; crops--bananas, coconuts, vegetables, citrus fruit, root crops, cocoa; imports food for the tourist industry

Aid

US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70-87), $4 million; Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments (1970-87), $93 million

Budget

revenues $71.7 million; expenditures $79.3 million, including capital expenditures of $19.6 million (1987)

Currency

East Caribbean dollar (plural--dollars); 1 EC dollar (EC$) = 100 cents

Electricity

20,000 kW capacity; 80 million kWh produced, 530 kWh per capita (1989)

Exchange rates

East Caribbean dollars (EC$) per US$1--2.70 (fixed rate since 1976)

Exports

$76.8 million (f.o.b., 1987); commodities--bananas 67%, cocoa, vegetables, fruits, coconut oil, clothing; partners--UK 55%, CARICOM 21%, US 18%, other 6%

External debt

$39.5 million (December 1987)

Fiscal Year

1 April-31 March

GDP

$172 million, per capita $1,258; real growth rate 6.8% (1988 est.)

Imports

$178.1 million (c.i.f., 1987); commodities--manufactured goods 22%, machinery and transportation equipment 21%, food and live animals 20%, mineral fuels, foodstuffs, machinery and equipment, fertilizers, petroleum products; partners--US 33%, UK 16%, CARICOM 14.8%, Japan 6.5%, other 29.7%

Industrial production

growth rate 2.4% (1987)

Industries

clothing, assembly of electronic components, beverages, corrugated boxes, tourism, lime processing, coconut processing

Inflation rate (consumer prices)

7.0% (1987)

Overview

Since 1983 the economy has shown an impressive average annual growth rate of almost 5% because of strong agricultural and tourist industry sectors. There is also an expanding industrial base supported by foreign investment in manufacturing and other activities, such as in data processing. The economy, however, remains vulnerable because the important agricultural sector is dominated by banana production. St. Lucia is subject to periodic droughts and/or tropical storms, and its protected market agreement with the UK for bananas may end in 1992.

Unemployment rate

18.6% (1986)

Climate

tropical, moderated by northeast trade winds; dry season from January to April, rainy season from May to August

Coastline

158 km

Comparative area

slightly less than 3.5 times the size of Washington, DC

Contiguous zone

24 nm;

Environment

subject to hurricanes and volcanic activity; deforestation; soil erosion

Extended economic zone

200 nm;

Land boundaries

none

Land use

8% arable land; 20% permanent crops; 5% meadows and pastures; 13% forest and woodland; 54% other; includes 2% irrigated

Natural resources

forests, sandy beaches, minerals (pumice), mineral springs, geothermal potential

Note

located 700 km southeast of Puerto Rico

Terrain

volcanic and mountainous with some broad, fertile valleys

Territorial sea

12 nm

Total area

620 km2; land area: 610 km2

Administrative divisions

11 parishes; Anse-la-Raye, Castries, Choiseul, Dauphin, Dennery, Gros-Islet, Laborie, Micoud, Praslin, Soufriere, Vieux-Fort

Capital

Castries

Communists

negligible

Constitution

22 February 1979

Diplomatic representation

Ambassador Dr. Joseph Edsel EDMUNDS; Chancery at Suite 309, 2100 M Street NW, Washington DC 30037; telephone (202) 463-7378 or 7379; there is a St. Lucian Consulate General in New York; US--none

Executive branch

British monarch, governor general, prime minister, Cabinet

Flag

blue with a gold isosceles triangle below a black arrowhead; the upper edges of the arrowhead have a white border

Independence

22 February 1979 (from UK)

Judicial branch

Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court Chief of State--Queen ELIZABETH II (since 6 February 1952), represented by Governor General Stanislaus Anthony JAMES (since 10 October 1988); Head of Government--Prime Minister John George Melvin COMPTON (since 3 May 1982)

Legal system

based on English common law

Legislative branch

bicameral Parliament consists of an upper house or Senate and a lower house or House of Assembly

Long-form name

none

Member of

ACP, CARICOM, FAO, G-77, GATT (de facto), IBRD, ICAO, IDA, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMF, IMO, NAM, OAS, OECS, PAHO, UN, UNESCO, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WMO

National holiday

Independence Day, 22 February (1979)

Political parties and leaders

United Workers' Party (UWP), John Compton; St. Lucia Labor Party (SLP), Julian Hunte; Progressive Labor Party (PLP), George Odlum

Suffrage

universal at age 18 House of Assembly--last held 6 April 1987 (next to be held April 1992); results--percent of vote by party NA; seats--(17 total) UWP 10, SLP 7

Type

parliamentary democracy

Birth rate

33 births/1,000 population (1990)

Death rate

5 deaths/1,000 population (1990)

Ethnic divisions

90.3% African descent, 5.5% mixed, 3.2% East Indian, 0.8% Caucasian

Infant mortality rate

18 deaths/1,000 live births (1990)

Labor force

43,800; 43.4% agriculture, 38.9% services, 17.7% industry and commerce (1983 est.)

Language

English (official), French patois

Life expectancy at birth

69 years male, 74 years female (1990)

Literacy

78%

Nationality

noun--St. Lucian(s); adjective--St. Lucian

Net migration rate

- 2 migrants/1,000 population (1990)

Organized labor

20% of labor force

Population

153,196 (July 1990), growth rate 2.6% (1990)

Religion

90% Roman Catholic, 7% Protestant, 3% Anglican

Total fertility rate

3.8 children born/woman (1990)