About Saint Lucia – an Overview

St Lucia at a glance

Full name: Saint Lucia

Location: Saint Lucia has an area of 238 square miles (616 square kilometers). It is 27 miles (43 K) long on its north-south axis and 14 miles (22 kilometers) at its widest east-west dimension. Saint Lucia lies between Saint Vincent to the south and Martinique (a French province) to the north.

Major languages: English (official), Saint Lucian Creole (French patois/Kwéyòl)

Saint Lucia’s official language is English. There is however another major local language, namely Saint Lucian French Creole (Kwéyòl). Locally referred to as Patois (“Patwa”), and is spoken by a majority of the local population.

Major religion [update]: Roman Catholic 50.6%, Protestant 25.8% (includes Seventh Day Adventist 10.6%, Pentecostal 9%, Baptist 2.2%, Anglican 1.6%, Church of God 1.5%, other Protestant 0.9%), other Christian 3.4% (includes Evangelical 2.3% and Jehovah’s Witness 1.1%), Rastafarian 1.9%, other 0.4%, none 5.9%, unspecified 1.4% (2010 est.)[CIA.gov][updated info – https://t.ly/GFHzC]

Life expectancy: 79.2 years (2023 est.); male: 76.5 years; female: 82.1 years [CIA.gov]

Ethnic Group: Black/African descent 85.3%, mixed 10.9%, East Indian 2.2%, other 1.6%, unspecified 0.1% (2010 est.)

Monetary unit: 1 East Caribbean dollar = 100 cents

EC – US: 1 US = 2.679 East Caribbean dollar

GNI per capita: US $5,530 (World Bank, 2008)

Internet domain: .lc

International dialling code: +1 758

Electricity: 220 ~ 240 volts, 50 cycles AC (a few hotels are 110 volts, 60 cycles). Most sockets take 3-pin square plugs (UK standard) but some take 2-pin round plugs or flat American plugs, which are rarer. Adaptors are generally available at the hotels.