In 1998, Saint Lucia was a small developing nation with a population of just over 150,000 people. The economy was largely dependent on agriculture and tourism, as well as exports of bananas and other commodities. Despite its small size, poverty was still widespread and life expectancy at birth was just 72 years old. Education levels were low and health care services were inadequate in many parts of the country. In terms of infrastructure, roads were poor and telecommunications services were limited to urban areas only. Despite these challenges, Saint Lucia had made some progress in recent years by introducing reforms to improve economic growth and reduce poverty levels. This included reforms to the banking sector and foreign investment laws as well as steps to increase access to primary health care services for all citizens. Additionally, since 1979 Saint Lucia had been transitioning from a colonial state towards a more open market-based economy which had been gradually improving living conditions throughout the country. See dentistrymyth for Saint Lucia in the year of 2015.

According to Countryaah, the capital of St. Lucia is Castries. In January 1999, Lucia, along with several other countries, declined to support the United States proposal in the WTO on sanctions against the EU for the preferential treatment of bananas from the Caribbean against bananas from Latin America.

In 2000, one nun was killed and 13 others injured during an attack on a church in Castries. The churchgoers were attacked with machetes and the church subsequently burned down. The attackers subsequently stated that: “God had ordered them to carry out the attack because of the Catholic Church’s corruption.”

In 2002, a tropical hurricane destroyed nearly half of the banana harvest. In some areas entire plantations were destroyed.

• Abbreviationfinder: What does LCA stand for in geography? Here, this 3 letter acronym refers to the country of St. Lucia.

In 2004, 2 British who visited the island were sentenced to 6 years in prison for attempting to smuggle 2½ kg of cocaine out of the country. The drugs were tied around the two-person arms around the stomach and were to be transported to London.

In July 2005, the government declared that it would put forward a joint plan with Venezuela to combat drug smuggling. Prime Minister Kenny Anthony and Foreign Minister Petrus Compton were to lead negotiations with Venezuela.

The December 2006 election was won by the UWP with Sir John Compton in the lead. The UWP got 11 of the 17 seats in parliament.