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Columbus may have sighted the island on his 1502 voyage. The British failed in their first attempts at colonization in the early 17th cent. The island was later settled by the French, who signed a treaty with the local Caribs in 1660. Thereafter Saint Lucia was much contested by the two European powers until the British secured it in 1814. It was part of the British Windward Islands colony, and joined the West Indies Federation (1958–62) when the colony was dissolved. In 1967, Saint Lucia became one of the six members of the West Indies Associated States, with internal self-government, and in 1979 it gained full independence. John Compton of the conservative United Workers' party was prime minister from 1982 to 1996, when he was succeeded by Vaughn Lewis. Kenny Anthony of the Labor party has been prime minister since 1997.
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