St Lucia
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  St Lucia Show map of KwaZulu-Natal  St Lucia Show map of South Africa | |
| Coordinates: 28°22′59″S 32°25′01″E / 28.383°S 32.417°E / -28.383; 32.417 | |
| Country | South Africa |
| Province | KwaZulu-Natal |
| District | Umkhanyakude |
| Municipality | Mtubatuba |
| Area | |
| • Total | 2.68 km2 (1.03 sq mi) |
| Population
(2022)[1]
| |
| • Total | 1,104 |
| • Density | 410/km2 (1,100/sq mi) |
| Racial makeup (2022) | |
| • Black African | 21.0% |
| • Coloured | 3.8% |
| • Indian/Asian | 2.1% |
| • White | 72.3% |
| • Other | 0.8% |
| First languages (2022) | |
| • Afrikaans | 47.2% |
| • English | 41.9% |
| • Zulu | 11.4% |
| • Other | 1.5% |
| Time zone | UTC+2 (SAST) |
| PO box |
3936
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| Area code | 035 |
St Lucia is a settlement in Umkhanyakude District Municipality in the KwaZulu-Natal province of South Africa. The small town is mainly a hub for the iSimangaliso Wetland Park.[2]
St Lucia was first named in 1554 as Rio dos Medos do Ouro (alternatively Rio dos Médãos do Ouro — River of the Gold Dunes)[3][4] by the survivors of the Portuguese ship São Bento.[5] At this stage, only the Tugela River mouth was known as St. Lucia. Later, in 1575, the Tugela River was named Tugela. On 13 December 1575, the day of the feast of Saint Lucy, Manuel Peresterello renamed the mouth area to Santa Lucia.
In 1822, St Lucia was proclaimed by the British as a township. In 1895, St Lucia Game Reserve, 30 km north of the town, was proclaimed. Since 1971, St Lucia Lake and the turtle beaches and coral reefs of Maputaland have been listed by the Convention on Wetlands of International Importance (Ramsar Convention). In December 1999, the park was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Synthpop band St. Lucia is named after the town.[6]
The largest ethnic group in St Lucia are White South Africans of English descent who make up 30.9% of St Lucia residents. The second largest ethnic group in St. Lucia are Zulu people, who make up 26.4% of St Lucia residents.[7]
The park is also home to about 1,200 Nile Crocodiles and almost 800 hippopotamuses.[citation needed] Hippos often roam the streets at night.[8]
Other animals include leopards, Greater Kudu, Black Rhinos, rich avifauna and numerous invertebrates.[9][10]
Under Köppen-Geiger climate classification system, it has a humid subtropical climate (Cfa).[11]
| Climate data for St Lucia | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 29.3 (84.7) |
29.2 (84.6) |
28.6 (83.5) |
26.7 (80.1) |
24.6 (76.3) |
22.8 (73.0) |
22.5 (72.5) |
23.7 (74.7) |
24.4 (75.9) |
25.1 (77.2) |
26.3 (79.3) |
28.2 (82.8) |
26.0 (78.7) |
| Daily mean °C (°F) | 25.2 (77.4) |
25.2 (77.4) |
24.5 (76.1) |
22.4 (72.3) |
19.9 (67.8) |
17.7 (63.9) |
17.5 (63.5) |
19 (66) |
20.3 (68.5) |
21.1 (70.0) |
22.5 (72.5) |
24.2 (75.6) |
21.6 (70.9) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | 21.2 (70.2) |
21.2 (70.2) |
20.4 (68.7) |
18.2 (64.8) |
15.3 (59.5) |
12.6 (54.7) |
12.6 (54.7) |
14.3 (57.7) |
16.2 (61.2) |
17.2 (63.0) |
18.7 (65.7) |
20.3 (68.5) |
17.3 (63.2) |
| Average precipitation mm (inches) | 139 (5.5) |
133 (5.2) |
120 (4.7) |
100 (3.9) |
78 (3.1) |
59 (2.3) |
58 (2.3) |
59 (2.3) |
72 (2.8) |
103 (4.1) |
111 (4.4) |
97 (3.8) |
1,129 (44.4) |
| Average rainy days | 12 | 12 | 11 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 9 | 12 | 13 | 10 | 117 |
| Mean daily sunshine hours | 8 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 8 |
| Source 1: Climate-Data.org[11] | |||||||||||||
| Source 2: Weather2Travel (rainy days, sunshine)[12] | |||||||||||||
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 26 °C (79 °F) | 27 °C (81 °F) | 27 °C (81 °F) | 26 °C (79 °F) | 25 °C (77 °F) | 23 °C (73 °F) | 22 °C (72 °F) | 22 °C (72 °F) | 22 °C (72 °F) | 23 °C (73 °F) | 24 °C (75 °F) | 25 °C (77 °F) |
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Municipalities and communities of uMkhanyakude District Municipality, KwaZulu-Natal
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|---|---|---|
District seat: Mkuze | ||
| uMhlabuyalingana |
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| Jozini |
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| Big Five Hlabisa |
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| Mtubatuba |
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Authority control databases: Geographic  |
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