| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000. |
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| Saint Lucia |
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| SYLLABICATION: | Saint Lu·cia |
| PRONUNCIATION: |  l  sh , l-s |
| An island country of the West Indies in the Windward Islands south of Martinique. The island was probably sighted by Columbus in 1502. Resistance from the Carib inhabitants defeated several attempts at colonization by the English in the early 17th century, although France succeeded in establishing a settlement in the mid-1600s. The island changed hands several times between the two powers until the end of the Napoleonic Wars (1814), when it passed definitively to Great Britain. St. Lucia joined the West Indies Federation (1958–1962), gaining self-government in 1967 and full independence in 1979. Castries is the capital. Population: 141,000.
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| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Copyright © 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by the Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. |
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