St. Lucia

Sovereign: Queen Elizabeth II (1952)

Governor-General: Dame Pearlette Louisy (1997)

Prime Minister: Kenny D. Anthony (1997)

Land area: 234 sq mi (606 sq km); total area: 238 mi (616 sq km)

Population (2006 est.): 168,458 (growth rate: 1.3%); birth rate: 19.7/1000; infant mortality rate: 13.2/1000; life expectancy: 73.8; density per sq mi: 714

Capital and largest city (2003 est.): Castries, 60,300

Monetary unit: East Caribbean dollar

Languages: English (official), French patois

Ethnicity/race: black 90%, mixed 6%, East Indian 3%, white 1%

Religions: Roman Catholic 68%, Seventh-Day Adventist 9%, Pentecostal 6%, Evangelical 2%, Anglican 2%, other Christian 5%, Rastafarian 2%, none 5% (2001)

Literacy rate: 67% (1980 est.)

Economic summary: GDP/PPP (2002 est.): $866 million; per capita $5,400. Real growth rate: 3.3%. Inflation: 3% (2001 est.). Unemployment: 20% (2003 est.). Arable land: 7%. Agriculture: bananas, coconuts, vegetables, citrus, root crops, cocoa. Labor force: 43,800 (2001 est.); agriculture 21.7%, industry, commerce, and manufacturing 24.7%, services 53.6% (2002 est.). Industries: clothing, assembly of electronic components, beverages, corrugated cardboard boxes, tourism; lime processing, coconut processing. Natural resources: forests, sandy beaches, minerals (pumice), mineral springs, geothermal potential. Exports: $82 million (2004 est.): bananas 41%, clothing, cocoa, vegetables, fruits, coconut oil. Imports: $410 million (2004 est.): food 23%, manufactured goods 21%, machinery and transportation equipment 19%, chemicals, fuels. Major trading partners: UK, U.S., Brazil, Barbados, Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, Trinidad and Tobago, Venezuela, Finland (2004).

Member of Commonwealth of Nations

Communications: Telephones: main lines in use: 37,000 (1997); mobile cellular: 1,600 (1997). Radio broadcast stations: AM 2, FM 7 (plus 3 repeaters), shortwave 0 (1998). Radios: 111,000 (1997). Television broadcast stations: 3 (of which two are commercial stations and one is a community antenna television or CATV channel) (1997). Televisions: 32,000 (1997). Internet Service Providers (ISPs): 15 (2000). Internet users: 3,000 (2000).

Transportation: Railways: 0 km. Highways: total: 1,210 km; paved: 63 km; unpaved: 1,147 km (1999 est.). Ports and harbors: Castries, Vieux Fort. Airports: 2 (2002).

International disputes: protests Venezuela's claim to give full effect to Aves Island, which creates a Venezuelan EEZ/continental shelf extending over a large portion of the Caribbean Sea.


 

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