About Saint Lucia :
Since 1979 Saint Lucia (Island - Country in Caribbean Sea) has been a stable independent democracy within the British Commonwealth. But after a few days on the island you'll discover influences and nuances hinting at its colourful past. Saint Lucia was first inhabited by the peaceful Arawak Indians, but they were conquered by their old enemies, the fierce Caribs. Columbus navigator was the first European to discover Saint Lucia in 1499. Then the British came and in 1667 the French arrived. Saint Lucia was alternately British and French for the next 150 years, before it was finally ceded to the British in 1814. The war has left fortresses and relics behind. For example, Pigeon Island National Park and Fort Rodney. From the former British officers' mess, it is easy to imagine the cannons firing at French warships as they tried to slip past the fortified hilltop… You can also visit Morne Fortune, a site of a key battle, and Marigot Bay, once a vital wartime base and now a beautiful yacht haven. Diamond Falls and Mineral Baths, built by the French king, Louis XVI, to refresh and heal his troops stationed on Saint Lucia, are fascinating. As is historic Soufriere, the old French capital. The first European to settle was Francois Le Clerc, known as Jambe de Bois or Wooden Leg. He was a pirate who settled himself up on Pigeon Island. From there he attached passing Spanish ships. The Dutch established a base at Vieux Fort around 1600. The English first landed in 1605, having been blown off course on their way to Guyana aboard their vessel, the Olive Branch. Sixty-seven settlers landed and purchased huts from the Caribs. Once month later only 19 were left and these were forced to flee from the Caribs in a canoe. A second futile attempt at colonization by the British was by Sir Thomas Warner in 1639. The French arrived in 1651 when two representatives of the French West India Company bought the island. Eight years later, ownership disputes between the French and the English ignited hostilities that should endure for 150 years. During this time, the island changed hands fourteen times and was finally ceded to the British in 1814. Wars between the English and the French prevented the growth of large plantations and the sugar industry suffered heavily with the abolition of slavery in 1838. The industry finally died in the 1960’s. In 1838, Saint Lucia joined the Windward islands with its seat of government in Barbados. In 1842, English became the island’s official language. In 1863, the first steamship laden with coal called at Castries and the port soon became a major coaling station. The first shipment of indentured Indian labourers arrived in 1882 to help bail out the Agricultural industry. They continued to arrive over the next 30 years and many decided to settle here. In 1960, the island enacted a new constitution with the appointment of the first Ministers of Government. This constitution expired in 1967 when England granted the island full self-government. Saint Lucia became completely independent from England on February 22 1979. About 150,000 people with 60,000 living in its capital, Castries, inhabit Saint Lucia. Although it is a full independent nation, it remains a member of the British Common wealth. Saint Lucia is also the birthplace of two Nobel Laureates (who by remarkable coincidence were both born on January 23). The late Sir W. Arthur Lewis won the Nobel Prize for Economics in 1979, and poet Derek Walcott won the 1992 Nobel Prize for literature.
MORE INFORMATIONS : http://www.stlucia.org/
