Saint Lucia: History

Saint Lucia was inhabited by Indigenous Arawak and later Carib peoples before European contact. The island changed hands repeatedly between France and Britain over the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, earning the nickname "Helen of the West Indies" due to the frequency of these conflicts, before Britain secured lasting control in 1814. Enslaved Africans were brought to work sugar plantations, and their descendants form the majority of the population today.

Saint Lucia gained internal self-governance in 1967 as part of the West Indies Associated States and achieved full independence from the United Kingdom on February 22, 1979, while remaining a member of the Commonwealth of Nations. Since independence, the country has maintained a stable parliamentary democracy and shifted its economy from agriculture toward tourism and services.