The island nation of Saint Lucia is divided into 10 districts (formerly called Quarters). The name Quarters or Quartiers originally came from the French period in Saint Lucia (Sainte Lucie in French). The 2001 and 2010 Census of Saint Lucia refers to the first level administrative divisions as districts. The FIPS and ISO standards regularly called these divisions quarters or quartiers in French. The former district of Dauphin Quarter was merged into Gros Islet District and the former district of Praslin Quarter was merged into Micoud District.

History

After the French claimed title of Saint Lucia in 1744, commandant de Rougueville divided Saint Lucia into districts and parishes. Quarters were administrative districts for the control of settlers and slaves. The French Surveyor General of Saint Lucia, M. Raussaim, initially divided Saint Lucia into seven quarters.

In 1844, Henry Breen describes how Saint Lucia was divided into two districts, the eastern district on the leeward side of Saint Lucia facing the Atlantic Ocean and the western district on the windward side facing the Caribbean Sea. It was further divided into eleven quarters or parishes, i.e. Castries, Anse Laraye, Soufriere, Choiseul, Laborie, Vieux Fort, Micoud, Praslin, Dennery, Dauphin, and Gros-ilet. Each quarter or parish had a town in the coastal bay within its territory that was named the same as the quarter. Breen further talks about stipendiary magistrates introduced during the period of the apprenticeship system. These magistrates were as follows: Castries, Gros-ilet, Daughpin, and Anse Laraye Soufriere, Choiseul, Laborie Vieux Fort, Micoud, Praslin, Dennery

Still later the number of stipendiary magistrates was increased to five: Castries and Anse Laray Gros-ilet and Sauphin Soufriere and Choiseul Vieux Fort and Laborie Micoud, Dennery, and Praslin

The magistrates did not survive. However, the quarters or parishes did survive, as such, with some mergers and changes in the names.

Districts Since the 2001 Census of Saint Lucia there have been 10 districts in Saint Lucia.

+ 2010 Census Population and area of Saint Lucia Districts#DistrictPopulationHouseholdsLand AreaPopulation density1Anse la Raye6,0602,171161 per km2, 417 per mi22Canaries2,04478984 per km2, 218 per mi23CastriesThe 2010 Census breaks the population of Castries into city (1,831), suburbs (10,373), and rural (67,478) for persons and the households of Castries into city (751), suburbs (3,648), and rural (23,296) for households.65,65623,296639 per km2, 1,656 per mi24Choiseul6,1282,077237 per km2, 612 per mi25Dennery12,7674,419177 per km2, 457 per mi26Gros Islet20,8729,804208 per km2, 539 per mi27Laborie7,3632,189218 per km2, 564 per mi28Micoud16,2845,623145 per km2, 376 per mi29Soufrière7,6572,886131 per km2, 340 per mi210Vieux Fort14,7545,665296 per km2, 768 per mi2Saint Lucia165,59658,919268 per km2, 695 per mi2

Notes

A former quarter, Dauphin Quarter was merged into Gros Islet Quarter. It was not enumerated separately in the 2010 Census. The 2001 Census shows Daphin as part of Gros Islet. A former quarter, Praslin Quarter was merged into Micoud Quarter. It was not enumerated separately in the 2010 Census. The 2001 Census shows Praslin as part of Micoud District. The Central Forest Reserve with an area of was not included in the 2010 Census. Without this region, the area of Saint Lucia is . The final population numbers are used in the table above. Preliminary results published in April 2011 were different.

Political divisions

Saint Lucia electoral boundaries are based, generally, on the districts. There are 17 constituencies in Saint Lucia that are represented in the House of Assembly of Saint Lucia. A study was done in 2014 to look into variations in census and boundaries and possible expansion of the number of constituencies.

DistrictConstituency NamePopulationGros IsletGros Islet23,242CastriesBabonneau12,844CastriesCastries East11,782CastriesCastries South9,463CastriesCastries Central7,742CastriesCastries South East14,516CastriesCastries North11,463Anse la Raye and CanariesAnse la Raye and Canaries8,363SoufrièreSoufrière8,424LaborieLaborieThe figures for Laborie & Choiseul are inaccurate as the section of the Choiseul constituency which falls within the Quarter of Laborie (Piaye, Londonderry, Saltibus, etc) was incorrectly included in the list for the Laborie constituency. 8,588Vieux FortVieux Fort North7,201Vieux FortVieux Fort South9,336MicoudMicoud North7,173MicoudMicoud South7,330DenneryDennery South4,896DenneryDennery North7,570ChoiseulChoiseulThe figures for Laborie & Choiseul are inaccurate as the section of the Choiseul constituency which falls within the Quarter of Laborie (Piaye, Londonderry, Saltibus, etc) was incorrectly included in the list for the Laborie constituency. 6,130

See also Commonwealth Local Government Forum-Americas Geography of Saint Lucia House of Assembly of Saint Lucia ISO 3166-2:LC List of Caribbean First-level Subdivisions by Total Area List of cities in Saint Lucia

References

Additional bibliographic references: