Saint Lucia is a sovereign island country in the eastern Caribbean Sea on the boundary with the Atlantic Ocean. Part of the Lesser Antilles, it is located north/northeast of the island of Saint Vincent, northwest of Barbados and south of Martinique. It covers a land area of 617 km (238.23 sq mi) and reported a population of 165,595 in the 2010 census. Its capital is Castries. The French were the island's first European settlers. They signed a treaty with the native Carib Indians in 1660.