Saint Lucia is an island nation in the West Indies in the eastern Caribbean Sea on the border with the Atlantic Sea. The island was previously called Iyonola, the name provided to the island by the indigenous Arawaks, and later on Hewanorra, the name given by the indigenous Caribs, two different Amerindian individuals. Part of the Windward Islands of the Lesser Antilles, it lies north/northeast of the island of Saint Vincent, northwest of Barbados and also south of Martinique.

It covers an acreage of 617 km2 (238 square miles) and reported a population of 165,595 in the 2010 demographics. St. Lucia’s largest city is Castries, its present resources, and its second largest is Soufrière, the initial French colonial resources on the island.

The French were the first Europeans to choose the island. They signed a treaty with the native Island Caribs in 1660. England took control of the island from 1663 to 1667. In taking place years, it was at battle with France fourteen times, and the guideline of the island changed regularly. (It was ruled 7 times each by the French and British.) In 1814, the British took conclusive control of the island. Since it changed so frequently in between British and French control, Saint Lucia was likewise known as the “Helen of the West” after the Greek mythological character, Helen of Troy.

Democracy transpired in 1840. Universal suffrage was developed in 1953. From 1958 to 1962, the island was a member of the West Indies Federation. On 22 February 1979, Saint Lucia became an independent state and also a participant of the Commonwealth of Nations as a Commonwealth world. Saint Lucia is a combined jurisdiction, implying that it has a legal system based partially on both the civil law as well as English common law.

The Civil Code of St. Lucia of 1867 was based on the Quebec Civil Code of 1866, as supplemented by English typical law-style legislation. It is also a participant of Organisation internationale de la Francophonie.