Districts of Saint Lucia

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Updates: 

Justin Meyers forwarded me a pdf copy of the 2010 census report. I have used it to present better population data here. Using the contents of the pdf as a guide to search, I was able to locate it online (source [1]).

Country overview: 

Short nameSAINT LUCIA
ISO codeLC
FIPS codeST
LanguageEnglish (en)
Time zone-4
CapitalCastries

 

Saint Lucia was a British possession until granted independence on 1979-02-22.

Other names of country: 

  1. Danish: Saint Lucia
  2. Dutch: Sint Lucia, Saint Lucia
  3. Finnish: Saint Lucia
  4. French: Sainte-Lucie
  5. German: Sankt Lucia n
  6. Icelandic: Sankti Lúsía
  7. Italian: Santa Lucia, Saint Lucia
  8. Norwegian: Saint Lucia
  9. Portuguese: Santa Lúcia, Santa Luzia
  10. Russian: Сент-Люсия
  11. Spanish: Santa Lucía
  12. Swedish: Saint Lucia
  13. Turkish: Saint Lucia (formal)

Origin of name: 

after Saint Lucy (3rd cent.)

Primary subdivisions: 

Saint Lucia is divided into ten districts.

DistrictHASCISOFIPSPopulationArea(km.²)Area(mi.²)
Anse-la-RayeLC.AR01ST016,2474718
CanariesLC.CN2,0447830
CastriesLC.CS02ST0365,6567931
ChoiseulLC.CH03ST046,0983112
DenneryLC.DE05ST0512,5997027
Gros IsletLC.GI06ST0625,21010139
LaborieLC.LB07ST076,7013815
MicoudLC.MI08ST0816,2847830
SoufrièreLC.CO10ST098,4725120
Vieux FortLC.VF11ST1016,2844417
10 districts165,595617239
  • HASC: Hierarchical administrative subdivision codes.
  • ISO: Codes from ISO 3166-2. ISO also lists Dauphin
    (04) and Praslin (09)
  • FIPS: Codes from FIPS PUB 10-4. FIPS also lists Dauphin
    (ST02) and Praslin (ST11).
  • Population: 2010-05-10 census provisional estimates.
  • Area: Figures provided by Karem Abdalla.
  • Capitals have the same name as their district.

 

Discussion:

I have ample evidence that the divisions above are correct, and have been for at least several decades. However, some usually reliable sources disagree. Here are the details.

First, there is some disagreement over the correct generic term for the divisions. The most recent official document (source [1]) consistently calls them "districts". Some older census reports call them "districts/parishes". The FIPS and ISO standards regularly call them "quarters", or "quartiers" in French.

The U.S. government got it right in 1972 (source [7]). Something went wrong between that document and its successors: FIPS standard 10, and the more recent "Geopolitical Entities and Codes". Since 1984 or earlier, these standards have shown a slightly different subdivision of St. Lucia. They have been listing the districts as Anse-la-Raye, Castries, Choiseul, Dauphin, Dennery, Gros Islet, Laborie, Micoud, Praslin, Soufrière, and Vieux Fort (eleven divisions instead of ten). The same list has appeared in the CIA World Factbook, and matches the divisions shown on the CIA map of Saint Lucia (source [4]). Comparing the CIA map to the OAS map (source [3]), the following areas match up approximately: Gros Islet in the OAS version is Gros Islet and Dauphin in the CIA version; Anse-la-Raye and Canaries correspond to Anse-la-Raye; and Micoud corresponds to Micoud and Praslin.

ISO/DIS 3166-2 (draft international standard), dated 1996, showed Saint Lucia divided into eight "administrative regions". ISO 3166-2:1998 was published on 1998-12-15. It said only that there were eleven quarters, without mentioning their names; these divisions were "not relevant". ISO 3166-2:2007 was published on 2007-12-15. It lists eleven quarters, giving the same names as the U.S. government version (with the minor variation that Anse la Raye has spaces rather than hyphens).

Some of the sources that support my conclusion of ten districts include [1], [2], [3], [7], and [8]. Source [5] (1997-1998 edition) says "there are 10 administrative districts", and more recently, the 2006 and 2008 editions actually have the same list that I do. Source [6] says Saint Lucia is "divided into 9 quarters and the town of Castries".

To be precise, the map on the first page of source [1] shows one additional division labeled "Forest Land". Compared to the OAS map, it should be an inland part of Castries. In the census tables, though, "Forest Land" is not listed as one of the divisions.

Territorial extent: 

Vieux Fort includes the small Maria Islands.

Population history:

District1970-04-071980-05-121991-05-122001-05-222010-05-10
Anse-la-Raye4,7694,3625,0356,0606,247
Canaries1,9391,5591,7991,7882,044
Castries39,91945,04851,99464,34465,656
Choiseul6,1675,5496,4056,1286,098
Dennery8,8519,67611,16812,76712,599
Gros Islet6,11311,70113,50520,87225,210
Laborie6,0136,4907,4917,3636,701
Micoud7,63213,07215,08816,04116,284
Soufrière7,2506,6577,6837,6568,472
Vieux Fort8,10811,38513,14014,75416,284
Total99,805115,499133,308157,775165,595

 

Sources: 1970 - [8]; 1980 - [2]; 1991, 2001, 2010 - [1].

Sources: 

  1. [1] 2010 Population and Housing Census Preliminary Report  (Updated April 2011). Central Statistics Office, Castries (retrieved 2011-04-29). I used Table 1B, p. 9: Enumerated Household Population and Estimated Household Population by District, and Table 7, p. 16: Estimated Household Population for Census 1991, 2001 and 2010. For 2010, the estimated population is about 9% higher than the enumerated population.
  2. [2] Estimated Mid-Year Population by District , Government Statistics Dept. (retrieved 2001-04-12, and again 2011-04-29).
  3. [3] OAS Map  (retrieved about 2001-01-01). See source [8] for further bibliographic details.
  4. [4] CIA Map  (retrieved about 2001-01-01).
  5. [5] The Statesman's Yearbook, 1997-1998 edition; 2006 edition.
  6. [6] The Encyclopædia Britannica World Atlas (1964 edition).
  7. [7] "Geopolitical Data Elements and Related Features", Defense Intelligence Agency Manual 65-18. Washington, 1972-09-29.
  8. [8] Saint Lucia Natural Resources and Agricultural Development Project - Studies and Proposals for the Implementation of a Land Registration Programme . Table D-1: Population Age Structure, by Quarter and Area, 1970. OAS, Washington, 1986 (retrieved 2011-04-29). Credits 1970 Population Census as its data source. The sum of the populations of individual census areas fall short of the reported total population by 3,044.
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