Indo–Saint Lucian
Residents of Saint Lucia of Indian ancestry / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Indo–Saint Lucians or Indian–Saint Lucians, are Saint Lucians whose ancestry lies within the country of India, primarily from Bhojpur and Awadh regions that are in the modern-day Indian states of Bihar, Jharkhand and Uttar Pradesh in Northern India. In 1859, the British began transporting indentured workers from British India to work on plantation estates in Saint Lucia, which had become a British colony in 1814. The first ship carrying 318 indentured workers from India, the Palmyra, arrived in Saint Lucia on 6 May 1859, and the last ship carrying Indian indentured workers, the Volga, arrived on 10 December 1893.
Total population | |
---|---|
Approx. 3,000 | |
Regions with significant populations | |
Saint Lucia (Approx. 3,000)[1] | |
Languages | |
English, Saint Lucian Creole French, Hindustani | |
Religion | |
Hinduism, Christianity, Islam, Sikhism | |
Related ethnic groups | |
Indo-Caribbeans |
In total, 13 ships transported nearly 4,500 Indian indentured workers to Saint Lucia between 1859 and 1893, excluding those who died during the voyage. About 2,075 workers returned to India, while the rest remained in Saint Lucia or emigrated to other Caribbean nations such as Trinidad and Tobago and Guyana. The last indenture contracts expired in 1897, and by the end of the 19th century, Saint Lucia had a population of 2,560 free Indians. Many Indians who had completed their indenture periods were unable to return home as they did not have sufficient funds to do so. The Indians that remained in Saint Lucia are the origin of the Indo-Saint Lucian community.
As of 2013, people of Indian descent are a minority ethnic group in Saint Lucia, accounting for 2.4% of the country's population. An additional 11.9% of the country is multiracial, predominantly of Indian and African descent.[1]