Myth or fact · c. 1000–500 BC
The first islanders left almost no trace.
Did you know that Saint Lucia may first have been visited by Ciboney people between 1000 and 500 BC, although so little evidence of them survives that the Arawakan-speaking settlers who came later are the first proven inhabitants?
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Language · c. 200–400 AD
Saint Lucia was once 'Land of the Iguanas'.
Did you know that the Arawakan-speaking people who settled Saint Lucia around 200–400 AD probably called it Iouanalao, meaning 'Land of the Iguanas', because so many iguanas lived on the island?
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Heritage · c. 800 AD
Kalinago canoes could outrun sailing ships.
Did you know that the Kalinago who took Saint Lucia around 800 AD built war canoes able to carry more than 100 men, fast enough to catch a European sailing ship, and renamed the island Hewanorra?
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Geography · 1500
Saint Lucia first appeared as 'El Falcon'.
Did you know that on his world map of 1500 the Spanish navigator Juan de la Cosa marked Saint Lucia as El Falcon, and named a neighbouring island to the south Las Agujas, 'the needles'?
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Myth or fact · c. 1520
The shipwreck naming story is probably legend.
Did you know that the popular story of French sailors naming the island after being shipwrecked on Saint Lucy's feast day, 13 December, is doubtful, because a Vatican globe of around 1520 already labels it Sancta Lucia?
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Heritage · 1550s
A peg-legged pirate camped on Pigeon Island.
Did you know that in the 1550s the French privateer François Le Clerc, nicknamed Jambe de Bois for his wooden leg, used Pigeon Island as a base from which to attack passing Spanish ships?
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Firsts · 1605
The first English colony was an accident.
Did you know that the first English attempt to settle Saint Lucia came by accident in 1605, when the Oliphe Blossome was blown off course, and that only 19 of its 67 colonists survived Kalinago attacks before fleeing?
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Heritage · 1640
Kalinago warriors drove off 400 settlers.
Did you know that some 300 to 400 English settlers sent by Thomas Warner landed at Praslin Bay, but three weeks of Kalinago attacks drove the few survivors off the island on 12 October 1640?
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Economy · 1650
Four islands were sold for 41,500 livres.
Did you know that in 1650 Jacques Dyel du Parquet, governor of Martinique, bought the private ownership of Saint Lucia, Martinique, Grenada and the Grenadines together for just 41,500 livres from a bankrupt French company?
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Heritage · 1663
Fourteen Frenchmen faced 1,700 invaders.
Did you know that on 6 April 1663 the Kalinago sold Saint Lucia to the English governor Lord Willoughby, who then invaded with 1,100 Englishmen and 600 Amerindians, forcing just 14 French defenders to flee?
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Society · 1730
Saint Lucia had just 463 people in 1730.
Did you know that a census of 1730 counted only 463 people on Saint Lucia: 125 whites, 37 Caribs, 175 enslaved people and 126 free Black or mixed-race residents?
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Society · 1745
Three in four islanders were enslaved by 1745.
Did you know that within a year of French control in 1744 Saint Lucia's population had jumped to 3,455, of whom 2,573, roughly three in every four people, were enslaved?
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Heritage · 1765
Morne Fortune was renamed in 1765.
Did you know that the hill above Castries was called Morne Dubuc until 1765, when the French moved their military headquarters there from Vigie and renamed it Morne Fortuné, 'Hill of Good Luck'?
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Science · 1766
Saint Lucia's volcano erupted in the 1760s.
Did you know that Saint Lucia's volcanic centre near Soufrière last erupted in a steam-driven phreatic explosion in the 1760s, scattering ash widely, and that shallow volcanic earthquakes were still recorded there in 1990, 1999 and 2000?
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Records · 1778
Seven British ships held off twelve French.
Did you know that at the Battle of St. Lucia in December 1778 a British squadron of just seven ships of the line beat off twelve French ones, and the French lost about 850 men to Britain's 230?
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Records · 1780
The deadliest Atlantic hurricane hit in 1780.
Did you know that Saint Lucia was struck in October 1780 by the Great Hurricane, the deadliest tropical cyclone recorded in the Western Hemisphere, which killed an estimated 22,000 people across the Lesser Antilles?
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Heritage · 1782
Pigeon Island spied on the French navy.
Did you know that Admiral Rodney's lookouts on Pigeon Island spied on the French fleet in Martinique, and in April 1782 he sailed from Saint Lucia to win the Battle of the Saintes, saving Jamaica from invasion?
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Heritage · 1794
Queen Victoria's father named Fort Charlotte.
Did you know that Fort Charlotte on Morne Fortune was named on 4 April 1794 by Prince Edward, later Duke of Kent, in honour of his mother Queen Charlotte; Edward went on to become the father of Queen Victoria?
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Society · 1795
Rebels won a 'Year of Freedom' in 1795.
Did you know that in 1795 rebels including freed slaves, backed by Victor Hugues and led by Flore Bois Gaillard, drove the British and the white planters off Saint Lucia, beginning what islanders called l'Année de la Liberté?
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Myth or fact · 1795
The guillotine reached Saint Lucia.
Did you know that during the French Revolution a guillotine was brought to Saint Lucia, and several aristocratic planters put on trial by the commissary Gaspard Goyrand lost their heads?
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Heritage · 1796
The hero of Corunna once governed Saint Lucia.
Did you know that after capturing Morne Fortune in May 1796, Sir Ralph Abercromby left Brigadier John Moore, later famous for Corunna, as governor with 5,000 troops to subdue the Brigands in the forests?
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Records · 1660–1814
Fought over 14 times, like Helen of Troy.
Did you know that Britain and France fought over Saint Lucia some 14 times until the island was finally ceded to Britain in 1814, earning it the nickname 'Helen of the West Indies' after Helen of Troy?
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Society · 1834
Freedom came with four years of 'apprenticeship'.
Did you know that when slavery was abolished in Saint Lucia in 1834, freed people still had to work at least three-quarters of each week for their former masters under 'apprenticeship' until full freedom came in 1838?
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Society · 1859
Indian workers arrived on the Palmyra in 1859.
Did you know that the first Indian indentured labourers reached Saint Lucia on 6 May 1859 aboard the Palmyra, carrying 318 workers, and that 13 ships brought 4,354 in all before the last arrived in 1893?
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Firsts · 1878
Petit Piton was first climbed in 1878.
Did you know that Petit Piton, the steeper of Saint Lucia's twin peaks at 743 metres, was first climbed in 1878 by Abdome Deligny, and that from its summit Dominica, Martinique, Barbados and St Vincent are visible?
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Firsts · 1924–1925
Saint Lucians first voted in 1925.
Did you know that Saint Lucians first voted for any of their legislators only in 1925, after a 1924 constitution added a minority of elected members to a council that had been entirely nominated?
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Heritage · 1939
Its arms mixed English roses and French lilies.
Did you know that Saint Lucia's first coat of arms, granted in August 1939, showed two crossed bamboo sticks with two Tudor roses for England and two fleurs-de-lis for France on a black shield?
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Records · 1942
A U-boat struck inside Castries harbour.
Did you know that on 9 March 1942 a German U-boat slipped into Castries harbour and sank two British ships, bringing the Battle of the Caribbean directly to Saint Lucia?
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Culture · 1948
Walcott's mother paid for his first book.
Did you know that Derek Walcott self-published his first collection, 25 Poems, in 1948 while still a teenager, with his mother paying for the printing and Walcott selling copies to friends to cover the cost?
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Records · 1948
Fire repeatedly destroyed the capital.
Did you know that Castries has been rebuilt many times after great fires in 1805 and 1813, the most destructive of all striking on 19 June 1948 and destroying much of the city?
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Economy · 1957
Bananas overtook sugar in 1957.
Did you know that by 1957 bananas had overtaken sugar as Saint Lucia's main export crop, ending the long era in which slave-grown and then free-labour sugar had dominated the economy?
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Records · 1964
Compton led Saint Lucia across five decades.
Did you know that John Compton led Saint Lucia from 1964, co-founded the United Workers Party that year, became the first prime minister at independence and was still in office when he died in 2007?
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Culture · 1967
A painter's triangles became the national flag.
Did you know that Saint Lucia's flag was designed by painter Dunstan St Omer, who won a national contest in 1967, and that its black, white and gold triangles represent the Pitons rising from a blue sea?
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Culture · 1967
Doctor Dolittle was filmed in Marigot Bay.
Did you know that Marigot Bay served as the setting for the 1967 Hollywood musical Doctor Dolittle starring Rex Harrison, with the shipwreck scene and the Giant Lunar Moth harness filmed there?
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Geography · 1972
Pigeon Island was joined to the mainland.
Did you know that Pigeon Island is no longer an island: in 1972 it was joined to mainland Saint Lucia by a causeway built from earth dug out to create the Rodney Bay Marina?
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Records · 1979
Independence and a Nobel came in one year.
Did you know that in 1979, the same year Saint Lucia became independent, Castries-born Sir Arthur Lewis won the Nobel Prize in Economics, and he remains the only Black laureate in that field?
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Firsts · 1979
Saint Lucia was the UN's 152nd member.
Did you know that Saint Lucia became the 152nd member of the United Nations on 18 September 1979, less than seven months after gaining independence on 22 February?
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Nature · 1980
A record-breaking hurricane hit in 1980.
Did you know that Hurricane Allen, which wrecked much of Saint Lucia's infrastructure in August 1980, was the most powerful Atlantic hurricane by wind speed on record, a mark matched only by Hurricane Melissa in 2025?
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Nature · 1982
The national parrot came back from 150 birds.
Did you know that the Saint Lucia parrot fell to about 150 birds by the late 1970s, but conservation backed by strong popular support, including the first captive breeding at Jersey Zoo in 1982, has since multiplied its numbers?
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Culture · 1984
Creole Day has been held since 1984.
Did you know that Saint Lucia has celebrated Jounen Kwéyòl, Creole Day, every year since 1984 on the last Sunday of October, with a week of events across the island's towns beforehand?
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Culture · 1990
Homer's Iliad, retold by Saint Lucian fishermen.
Did you know that Derek Walcott's 1990 epic poem Omeros, widely seen as his masterpiece, retells Homer's Iliad through Saint Lucian fishermen, two years before he won the Nobel Prize in Literature?
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Culture · 1992
The Jazz Festival was invented to fill May.
Did you know that the Saint Lucia Jazz Festival was launched in 1992 specifically to stretch the tourist season into May, a month that had previously been quiet, and is now staged largely at Pigeon Island?
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Records · 1997
Labour won 16 of 17 seats in 1997.
Did you know that in the general election of 23 May 1997 Kenny Anthony's Saint Lucia Labour Party won 16 of the 17 seats, leaving the long-dominant United Workers Party with only one?
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Firsts · 1997
The first woman governor-general served 20 years.
Did you know that Dame Pearlette Louisy, appointed in September 1997, was Saint Lucia's first female governor-general and served more than twenty years, longer than anyone else in the post?
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Heritage · 2004
The Pitons became World Heritage in 2004.
Did you know that the Pitons Management Area, covering 2,909 hectares around Gros Piton and Petit Piton near Soufrière, was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2004?
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Sport · 2004
Sammy was Saint Lucia's first international cricketer.
Did you know that Daren Sammy became the first Saint Lucian to play international cricket in 2004, and on his Test debut in 2007 took 7 for 66, the best by a West Indian debutant since 1950?
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Nature · 2010
Tomas was the latest-season Windward hurricane.
Did you know that Hurricane Tomas, which passed over Saint Lucia in late October 2010 and killed eight people there, was the latest hurricane in the calendar year ever recorded to strike the Windward Islands?
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Sport · 2015
Spencer won Saint Lucia's first Pan Am gold.
Did you know that high jumper Levern Spencer won Saint Lucia's first ever Pan American Games gold in 2015 and then added Commonwealth Games gold on Australia's Gold Coast in 2018?
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Sport · 2016
The national stadium carries Sammy's name.
Did you know that Saint Lucia's national cricket stadium was renamed the Daren Sammy Cricket Ground on 21 July 2016, months after Sammy captained the West Indies to their second T20 world title?
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Society · 2021
Saint Lucia has the Americas' lowest birth rate.
Did you know that Saint Lucia's fertility rate fell to 1.4 children per woman in 2021, the lowest in the Americas, down from a peak of almost 7 children per woman in 1959?
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Sport · 2024
Saint Lucia's first Olympic medal was gold.
Did you know that sprinter Julien Alfred won Saint Lucia's first ever Olympic medal, gold in the 100 metres at Paris 2024 in a national record 10.72 seconds, then took silver in the 200 metres three days later?
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Sport · 2025
Alfred won world bronze in Tokyo in 2025.
Did you know that Julien Alfred added a World Championships bronze in the 100 metres in Tokyo on 14 September 2025, running 10.84 seconds, before a hamstring injury forced her out of the 200 metres?
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Records · 2025
2025 ended 24 years of one-term governments.
Did you know that in the election of 1 December 2025 Philip J. Pierre's Labour Party won 14 of 17 seats, the first time since independence an incumbent government improved its result while seeking a second term?
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Nature ·
The national parrot lives only here.
Did you know that Saint Lucia's national bird, the Saint Lucia amazon (Amazona versicolor), lives nowhere else on Earth and has a royal-blue face, a red breast and green wings with a red patch?
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Nature ·
You can drive into Saint Lucia's volcano.
Did you know that Sulphur Springs near Soufrière is billed as the world's only drive-in volcano, a geothermal field visitors can reach by car, and with about 200,000 visitors a year it is Saint Lucia's most popular attraction?
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Science ·
The Pitons are older than the caldera.
Did you know that the Pitons are lava domes formed 200,000 to 300,000 years ago, older than the 3.5 by 5 kilometre Qualibou caldera beside them, which collapsed 32,000 to 39,000 years ago?
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Geography ·
The famous Pitons aren't the highest peaks.
Did you know that despite being Saint Lucia's emblem, Gros Piton at 798 metres is only the island's second-highest peak, beaten by the rainforest-covered Mount Gimie at 950 metres?
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Myth or fact ·
The Pitons are a family in legend.
Did you know that according to Arawak tradition the Pitons are a family, with Gros Piton as the father, Petit Piton as the mother and Petit-Petit Piton, a spur on Petit Piton's flank, as their child?
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Myth or fact ·
The palm-frond camouflage tale is likely myth.
Did you know that the tale of a British fleet hiding from the French in Marigot Bay by tying palm fronds to its masts is widely told but probably apocryphal, as no primary source supports it?
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Language ·
Most Saint Lucians speak French-based Kwéyòl.
Did you know that although English is Saint Lucia's only official language, most Saint Lucians speak Kwéyòl, a French-based creole with African-derived grammar, and government and media also present information in it?
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Records ·
Most Nobel laureates per capita in the world.
Did you know that with two Nobel laureates, economist Sir Arthur Lewis and poet Derek Walcott, Saint Lucia has produced more Nobel Prize winners per head of population than any other sovereign country?
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Culture ·
Both Nobel laureates were born on 23 January.
Did you know that Saint Lucia's two Nobel laureates share a birthday, 23 January, with Arthur Lewis born in 1915 and Derek Walcott in 1930, and both were born in Castries?
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Heritage ·
A country named after a woman saint.
Did you know that Saint Lucia is one of the few countries named after a woman, the martyr Saint Lucy of Syracuse, and celebrates its National Day on her feast day, 13 December?
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Culture ·
Two rival flower societies divide the island.
Did you know that most Saint Lucians traditionally belong to one of two rival flower societies, La Rose, which celebrates on 30 August, and La Marguerite, which holds its festival on 17 October?
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Culture ·
The national dish's 'figs' are bananas.
Did you know that Saint Lucia's national dish is green figs and saltfish, where 'figs' are not figs at all but unripe green bananas boiled and served with salted cod?
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Culture ·
Saint Lucia invented Dennery Segment music.
Did you know that Saint Lucia developed its own music genre, Dennery Segment, which blends Angolan kuduro, traditional Saint Lucian solo music and dancehall and is named after the east-coast district of Dennery?
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Nature ·
The world's rarest snake lives here.
Did you know that the Saint Lucia racer, a ground snake surviving only on tiny Maria Major off Saint Lucia's south coast, is considered the rarest snake on Earth, with fewer than 20 left in the wild?
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Nature ·
This lizard survives only on tiny islets.
Did you know that the Saint Lucia whiptail lizard has vanished from the main island and survives naturally only on the tiny Maria Major and Maria Minor islets, with a third colony moved to Praslin Island?
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