Q 01/05

What is the capital and largest city of Saint Lucia?

A) Soufriere

B) Castries

C) Vieux Fort

D) Gros Islet

Answer · why

B) Castries

Nearly 40 percent of the population lives in its district; the town was burned during the British recapture of 1796.

Q 02/05

Saint Lucia was nicknamed the 'Helen of the West' because of what?

A) Its beauty was said to rival ancient Greece

B) It changed hands between Britain and France so often

C) It was named for a French governor's wife

D) A shipwrecked figurehead washed ashore

Answer · why

B) It changed hands between Britain and France so often

England and France fought over the island 14 times before Britain secured it in 1814 after Napoleon's defeat.

Q 03/05

How many times did England and France fight for control of Saint Lucia?

A) 25

B) 14

C) 40

D) 60

Answer · why

B) 14

The French were the first colonists, signing a treaty with the Caribs in 1660; the English seized it in 1663 and the tug-of-war began.

Q 04/05

Saint Lucia became independent on 22 February of which year?

A) 1983

B) 1979

C) 1990

D) 1996

Answer · why

B) 1979

The prime minister who led the country to independence lost the election a few months later to Labour's Allan Louisy.

Q 05/05

The island is named after Saint Lucy of Syracuse. What is the legend behind the naming?

A) Columbus arrived on her feast day

B) French sailors were shipwrecked on her feast day

C) A Spanish nun founded a convent

D) A miraculous cure at Soufriere

Answer · why

B) French sailors were shipwrecked on her feast day

A 1520 Vatican globe already shows 'Sancta Lucia', suggesting Spanish explorers actually named it; her feast day is 13 December.