Island of St Lucia

St Lucia is perhaps one of the most natural of the Caribbean Island nations. Rain forests still cover the volcanic hills on the southern half of the island and are best toured from a base in Soufrière. This is also the location of the Gros and Petit Piton, two rocky cones which rise from the sea and go straight up for about 2,500 feet or 800 m. The Pitons are not only symbols of St Lucia, but also of the Caribbean.

The island is 26 mi long and 13 mi wide covering 238 sq mi. The population is 140,000.

The northern half of St Lucia consists of arid scrub and also contains most of the population around the capital of Castries. Culturally, St Lucia owes its flavor to the fact that this island has passed back and forth between French and British hands about 14 times. While English is the official language, many St Lucians speak a patois which is a mixture of antique French, Creole and English.

St Lucia has been inhabited since about 1000 BC though the Arawak tribe migrated here about 200 AD and the Carib natives came about 1000. It was discovered by Europeans on December 13, 1502 by the Spanish.

French pirates used the island from about 1550 to 1554. The Peace of Brede recognized St Lucia as French in 1667. The Treaty of Choc in 1723 made the island a neutral area open to French and British, a state which lasted 20 years when the French took complete control. Five years later in 1748 the Peace Treaty of St Lucia reinstated neutrality under the French regime.

In 1762, Admiral George B. Rodney captured St Lucia, but the French repossessed it a year later. Britain retook it in 1778, because the French had sided with the 13 colonies in the American revolution. St Lucia went back to France in 1783 as part of the Treaty of Versailles.

A few years later the French revolution resulted in the guillotining of plantation owners on St Lucia and the freeing of the slaves in 1794. The British again landed and tried to reinstate slavery. However, the former slaves engaged them in guerrilla warfare until the British withdrew, not to return until 1797.

During the Napoleonic Wars, the French recaptured St Lucia in 1802 and held it until 1803. In 1814 St Lucia was ceded by France to Great Britain who ruled it until independence in 1979.