James Baquet

Saint Lucia is an island nation in the eastern Caribbean Sea, part of the West Indies (so-called because Columbus inadvertently ran into them on his way to “East India”; this is why Native Americans are also called “Indians”).

It is located in the Lesser Antilles, an archipelago which delineates the division between the Caribbean and the Atlantic Ocean. Martinique is directly to the north, Saint Vincent to the south, and Barbados to the southeast.

One of the world’s smallest countries, its 617 square kilometers make it number 179th out of 196; the population of about 179,000 places it at 178th out of 196.

Occupied by Island Caribs, Saint Lucia was settled by the French in the 1660s. Thereafter, it changed hands between the French and the English numerous times, in fact being in the possession of those two nations seven times each.

Under British control since 1814, its official language is English, but French and a French-based creole are widely spoken. Since 1979, Saint Lucia has been part of the Commonwealth of Nations, meaning Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom is its monarch.

Unlike any other country, Saint Lucia is named after a woman. But like many colonized places, it’s named after a date on the calendar of the Catholic Church. It is said that sailors from France were shipwrecked here on Dec. 13 — the Feast of Saint Lucy of Syracuse. She was a native of another island, the southern Italian island of Sicily, and was martyred in the early 4th century.

The island’s population today reflects its past as a sugar-growing economy. Over 85 percent of the people are descendants of Africans, most of whom were slaves (though freedom was granted in 1836, as it was in the rest of the British Empire). Another 11 percent are of mixed ancestry, and some 2 percent represent the original native population of the island. Today’s economy centers on petroleum, bananas and other crops, and — of course — tourism.

Saint Lucia’s culture has produced two Nobel Prize winners (Arthur Lewis for economics and Derek Walcott for literature), and the annual Saint Lucia Jazz Festival is held in May.

Vocabulary:

Which word above means:

1. gave, in a formal way

2. having people of various racial or national backgrounds as ancestors

3. accidentally

4. plants grown for food

5. after that

6. killed for one’s faith

7. marks off, indicates

8. offspring, as children, grandchildren, etc.

9. took up residence

10. crashed on an island