Soufriere is a district located west of Santa Lucia, a small country located north of Venezuela and Trinidad and Tobago, in the waters of the Caribbean Sea. In 1736 it became the first city founded by French settlers in the country, most of which came from the island of Martinique. With the arrival of the French came also the slaves from Africa, who were forced to work in cotton and tobacco crops and later in the harvest. Slavery was formally abolished in 1838 but a large part of the black community continued to work under deplorable conditions on the landowners' plantations.
In Soufriere lived most of his childhood Josephine Tascher de la Pagerie, who after a few years would marry Napoleon Bonaparte and become Emperatiz of France. Other famous residents have been George Frederick Lawrence Charles, former Prime Minister of Saint Lucia and Dr. Beausoliel, the island's first doctor. In the year of 1955 a fire destroyed half of the district capital and in 1980 Hurricane Allen caused serious damage to the district. At the moment the population of Soufriere is of only 7.665 people according to the census of the year 2001 and the majority concentrates in the head of the district. Among its tourist attractions, the Diamond Botanical Gardens and the ferry to the city of Castries, capital of the country, stand out.