Dominica was the last of the Caribbean islands to be colonized by Europeans due chiefly to the fierce resistance of the native Caribs. France ceded possession to Great Britain in 1763, which made the island a colony in 1805. In 1980, two years after independence, Dominica's fortunes improved when a corrupt and tyrannical administration was replaced by that of Mary Eugenia CHARLES, the first female prime minister in the Caribbean, who remained in office for 15 years. Some 3,000 Carib Indians still living on Dominica are the only pre-Columbian population remaining in the eastern Caribbean.

Caribbean, island between the Caribbean Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean, about one-half of the way from Puerto Rico to Trinidad and Tobago
15 25 N, 61 20 W
Central America and the Caribbean
total: 754 sq km ; land: 754 sq km ; water: 0 sq km
slightly more than four times the size of Washington, DC
0 km
148 km
territorial sea: 12 nm ; contiguous zone: 24 nm ; exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
tropical; moderated by northeast trade winds; heavy rainfall
rugged mountains of volcanic origin
lowest point: Caribbean Sea 0 m ; highest point: Morne Diablatins 1,447 m
timber, hydropower, arable land
arable land: 6.67% ; permanent crops: 21.33% ; other: 72% (2005)
NA
NA
Total: 0.02 cu km/yr ; Per capita: 213 cu m/yr (1996)
flash floods are a constant threat; destructive hurricanes can be expected during the late summer months
NA
party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Whaling ; signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements
known as "The Nature Island of the Caribbean" due to its spectacular, lush, and varied flora and fauna, which are protected by an extensive natural park system; the most mountainous of the Lesser Antilles, its volcanic peaks are cones of lava craters and include Boiling Lake, the second-largest, thermally active lake in the world
72,386 (July 2007 est.)
0-14 years: 25.6% (male 9,481/female 9,048) ; 15-64 years: 64.2% (male 23,822/female 22,656) ; 65 years and over: 10.2% (male 3,165/female 4,214) (2007 est.)
total: 29.1 years ; male: 28.7 years ; female: 29.6 years (2007 est.)
0.184% (2007 est.)
15.75 births/1,000 population (2007 est.)
8.44 deaths/1,000 population (2007 est.)
-5.47 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2007 est.)
at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female ; under 15 years: 1.048 male(s)/female ; 15-64 years: 1.051 male(s)/female ; 65 years and over: 0.751 male(s)/female ; total population: 1.015 male(s)/female (2007 est.)
total: 14.61 deaths/1,000 live births ; male: 19.68 deaths/1,000 live births ; female: 9.29 deaths/1,000 live births (2007 est.)
total population: 75.1 years ; male: 72.17 years ; female: 78.18 years (2007 est.)
2.12 children born/woman (2007 est.)
NA
NA
NA
noun: Dominican(s) ; adjective: Dominican
black 86.8%, mixed 8.9%, Carib Amerindian 2.9%, white 0.8%, other 0.7% (2001 census)
Roman Catholic 61.4%, Seventh Day Adventist 6%, Pentecostal 5.6%, Baptist 4.1%, Methodist 3.7%, Church of God 1.2%, Jehovah's Witnesses 1.2%, other Christian 7.7%, Rastafarian 1.3%, other or unspecified 1.6%, none 6.1% (2001 census)
English (official), French patois
definition: age 15 and over has ever attended school ; total population: 94% ; male: 94% ; female: 94% (2003 est.)


conventional long form: Commonwealth of Dominica ; conventional short form: Dominica
parliamentary democracy
name: Roseau ; geographic coordinates: 15 18 N, 61 24 W ; time difference: UTC-4 (1 hour ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time)
10 parishes; Saint Andrew, Saint David, Saint George, Saint John, Saint Joseph, Saint Luke, Saint Mark, Saint Patrick, Saint Paul, Saint Peter

3 November 1978 (from UK)
Independence Day, 3 November (1978)
3 November 1978
based on English common law
18 years of age; universal
chief of state: President Nicholas J. O. LIVERPOOL (since October 2003) ; head of government: Prime Minister Roosevelt SKERRIT (since 8 January 2004) ; cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the president on the advice of the prime minister ; elections: president elected by the House of Assembly for a five-year term; election last held 1 October 2003 (next to be held in October 2008); prime minister appointed by the president ; election results: Nicholas LIVERPOOL elected president; percent of legislative vote - NA%
unicameral House of Assembly (30 seats; 9 members appointed, 21 elected by popular vote; to serve five-year terms) ; elections: last held 5 May 2005 (next to be held by 5 August 2010); note - tradition dictates that the election will be held within five years of the last election, but technically it is five years from the first seating of parliament (12 May 2005) plus a 90-day grace period ; election results: percent of vote by party - DLP 52.1%, UWP 43.6%, DFP 3.2%, other 1.1%; seats by party - DLP 12, UWP 8, independent 1
Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court, consisting of the Court of Appeal and the High Court (located in Saint Lucia; one of the six judges must reside in Dominica and preside over the Court of Summary Jurisdiction)
Dominica Freedom Party or DFP [Charles SAVARIN]; Dominica Labor Party or DLP [Roosevelt SKERRIT]; Dominica United Workers Party or UWP [Earl WILLIAMS]
Dominica Liberation Movement or DLM (a small leftist party)
ACCT, ACP, C, Caricom, CDB, FAO, G-77, IBRD, ICCt, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, ISO (subscriber), ITU, ITUC, MIGA, NAM, OAS, OECS, OIF, OPANAL, OPCW, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WCL, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO
green, with a centered cross of three equal bands - the vertical part is yellow (hoist side), black, and white and the horizontal part is yellow (top), black, and white; superimposed in the center of the cross is a red disk bearing a sisserou parrot encircled by 10 green, five-pointed stars edged in yellow; the 10 stars represent the 10 administrative divisions (parishes)
chief of mission: vacant ; chancery: 3216 New Mexico Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20016 ; telephone: [1] (202) 364-6781 ; FAX: [1] (202) 364-6791 ; consulate(s) general: New York
the US does not have an embassy in Dominica; the US Ambassador to Barbados is accredited to Dominica





The Dominican economy depends on agriculture, primarily bananas, and remains highly vulnerable to climatic conditions and international economic developments. Tourism has increased as the government seeks to promote Dominica as an "ecotourism" destination. Development of the tourism industry remains difficult, however, because of the rugged coastline, lack of beaches, and the absence of an international airport. In 2003, the government began a comprehensive restructuring of the economy - including elimination of price controls, privatization of the state banana company, and tax increases - to address Dominica's economic and financial crisis of 2001-02 and to meet IMF targets. This restructuring paved the way for the current economic recovery - real growth for 2006 reached a two-decade high - and will help to reduce the debt burden, which remains at about 100% of GDP. In order to diversify the island's production base, the government is attempting to develop an offshore financial sector and is planning to construct an oil refinery on the eastern part of the island.
$485 million (2006 est.)
$279 million (2005)
3.2% (2007 est.)
$3,800 (2005 est.)
agriculture: 17.7% ; industry: 32.8% ; services: 49.5% (2004 est.)
25,000 (2000 est.)
agriculture: 40% ; industry: 32% ; services: 28% (2000 est.)
23% (2000 est.)
30% (2002 est.)
lowest 10%: NA% ; highest 10%: NA%

-0.1% (2005 est.)

revenues: $73.9 million ; expenditures: $84.4 million (2001)

bananas, citrus, mangoes, root crops, coconuts, cocoa; forest and fishery potential not exploited
soap, coconut oil, tourism, copra, furniture, cement blocks, shoes
-10% (1997 est.)
80 million kWh (2005)
fossil fuel: 47.1% ; hydro: 52.9% ; nuclear: 0% ; other: 0% (2001)
74.4 million kWh (2005)
0 kWh (2005)
0 kWh (2005)
0 bbl/day (2005)
800 bbl/day (2005 est.)
0 bbl/day (2004)
771.8 bbl/day (2004)
0 bbl (1 January 2006 est.)
0 cu m (2005 est.)
0 cu m (2005 est.)
0 cu m (2005 est.)
0 cu m (2005)
0 cu m (1 January 2006 est.)

$94 million f.o.b. (2006)
bananas, soap, bay oil, vegetables, grapefruit, oranges
UK 24.8%, Jamaica 12.3%, Antigua and Barbuda 9.8%, Guyana 8.3%, China 7.9%, Trinidad and Tobago 5.4%, Saint Lucia 4.5% (2006)
$296 million f.o.b. (2006)
US 25.2%, China 22.6%, Trinidad and Tobago 13.7%, South Korea 4.8% (2006)


$213 million (2004)



East Caribbean dollar (XCD)
XCD
East Caribbean dollars per US dollar - 2.7 (2007), 2.7 (2006), 2.7 (2005), 2.7 (2004), 2.7 (2003)
1 July - 30 June
$15.17 million (2005 est.)
21,000 (2004)
41,800 (2004)
general assessment: NA ; domestic: fully automatic network ; international: country code - 1-767; landing point for the East Caribbean Fiber Optic System (ECFS) submarine cable with links to 13 other islands in the eastern Caribbean extending from the British Virgin Islands to Trinidad; microwave radio relay and SHF radiotelephone links to Martinique and Guadeloupe; VHF and UHF radiotelephone links to Saint Lucia
AM 2, FM 4, shortwave 0 (2003)
46,000 (1997)
1 (2004)
6,000 (1997)
.dm
257 (2007)
16 (2000)
26,000 (2005)

2 (2007)
total: 2 ; 914 to 1,523 m: 2 (2007)




total: 780 km ; paved: 393 km ; unpaved: 387 km (1999)

total: 53 ships (1000 GRT or over) 716,435 GRT/1,252,537 DWT ; by type: bulk carrier 9, cargo 30, chemical tanker 2, container 1, petroleum tanker 7, refrigerated cargo 2, roll on/roll off 1, vehicle carrier 1 ; foreign-owned: 50 (Estonia 8, Greece 8, India 2, Latvia 2, Lebanon 1, Norway 1, NZ 3, Russia 2, Saudi Arabia 1, Singapore 8, Syria 2, Turkey 9, Ukraine 3) (2007)
Portsmouth, Roseau

no regular military forces; Commonwealth of Dominica Police Force (includes coast guard) (2006)

males age 18-49: 18,227 (2005 est.)
males age 18-49: 15,136 (2005 est.)
males age 18-49: 602 (2005 est.)
NA (2006)

Dominica is the only Caribbean state to challenge Venezuela's sovereignty claim over Aves Island and joins the other island nations in challenging whether the feature sustains human habitation, a criterion under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), which permits Venezuela to extend its Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) and continental shelf claims over a large portion of the eastern Caribbean Sea

transshipment point for narcotics bound for the US and Europe; minor cannabis producer; anti-money-laundering enforcement is weak, making the country particularly vulnerable to money laundering

