Language: English
Currency: East Caribbean dollar (XCD)
Calling Code: +1-767
The island of Dominica lies between the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean, about halfway between Puerto Rico and Trinidad and Tobago. Due to its spectacular, lush and diverse flora and fauna, it is known as "the nature island". This is why the island has an extensive system of nature parks. The most mountainous island of the Lesser Antilles has many volcanic cones with lava lakes, including Boiling Lake, the second largest thermally active lake in the world. Dominica is not to be confused with the Dominican Republic.
Located between the French Caribbean islands of Guadeloupe and
Martinique, Dominica is an extremely mountainous, hitherto undeveloped
island of volcanic origin. Numerous sulphur springs and rock crevices
from which gas and water vapor flow are evidence of the volcanic
activities that have not yet ceased.
Most of the island is
covered by almost impenetrable evergreen rainforest. Steep mountain
ridges that descend to the sea characterise the coastal landscape, the
highest elevation being the 1,447m high Morne Diablo. Only in the area
of river mouths and sheltered bays are there predominantly dark sandy
beaches. Around 350 waterways run through the island.
There are
now 500km of asphalt roads, but many connections are poor and some of
the roads can only be used with off-road vehicles. The island is 46km
long and up to 25km wide. The coastline is 148km long. Only a fifth of
the total area can be used for agriculture. The cultivation of coffee
and lemons has been greatly reduced by plant diseases. Bananas are now
the most important export product, alongside the production of coconut
oil, cocoa, tobacco and laurel oil. Agriculture is still partly carried
out using the primitive method of slash-and-burn agriculture.
Dominica is administratively divided into 10 parishes: Saint Andrew, Saint David, Saint George, Saint John, Saint Joseph, Saint Luke, Saint Mark, Saint Patrick, Saint Paul and Saint Peter.
1 Berekua
2 Calibishie
3 Canefield
4 Castle Bruce
5
Coulibistri
6 Laudat
7 Loubiere
8 Marigot
9 Portsmouth
10 Roseau – The capital
11 Saint Joseph
12 Salybia
13
Salisbury
14 Scott’s Head
15 Vieille Case
Dominica is considered the greenest island in the Antilles and
attracts mainly nature lovers. The most interesting are the two
national parks in the north and south of the island, where you can
go on long hikes through untouched nature.
Another excursion
destination is the only Caribbean reserve in the east of the island,
where you can learn something about the original way of life of the
indigenous people of the Antilles.
Over 65% of the island
consists of forest areas or is covered with trees. The Central
Forest Reserve was created as a forest reserve in 1952. In 1977, the
Northern Forest Reserve, with an area of around 8,800 hectares,
was included in the protection program.
The National Park Act
was passed in July 1975. The national parks cover a total area of
35 km². There are strict hunting regulations on the island, which
are also observed by the population. Thanks to this fact, you can
find a whole range of animal species on the island that are almost
extinct on the other islands.
A lot of money is needed to
protect additional areas and to maintain existing protected areas.
For this reason, the government issued a visitor's pass in 1997. It
costs at least US$2 to visit a national natural site. A day pass is
available for US$5 and a weekly pass costs just US$10.
The
waters off Cabrits are protected as a 420-hectare "National Marine
Park"; it includes the largest swamp area, mangroves, fresh and salt
water lagoons and extensive coral reefs.
With the advent of
tourism, various dreams were born. An airport, casino and free port
were to be built. Some ruins have since been uncovered and restored
with the help of the forest authority. Since 1982, the British Navy
has been involved in the restoration work. The old powder magazine
was converted into a mini-museum and opened in April 1982. There are
signposted hiking trails. A tour of the entire complex can take half
a day. One-hour boat trips are available on the Indian River. There
is also an informative visitor center there. Admission to the Indian
River costs $12 per person.
1
Morne Trois Pitons National Park . In 1940, this national
park was just a forest district. Today it covers an area of 6,800
hectares, is up to 1,356 m high, and is crossed by 6 signposted
hiking trails, with picnic areas and rain shelters. In 1997, it was
declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site. There are four old volcanic
cones in the national park. The Morne Trios Pitons is 1,532 m high.
It is just 8 km from its peak to the sea. The Morne Watt reaches a
height of 1,317 m. The Morne Anglais is 1,207 m high and the Morne
Macaque 1,120 m. The peaks of the former volcanoes can be climbed on
narrow paths, but you should always take a guide with you. To climb
Morne Trois Pitons you should plan 3 hours each way. To climb Morne
Watt from Wotten Waven you should even allow 4 hours each way,
climbing Morne Anglais from the village of Giraudel is possible in
just two hours, and another two hours for the return journey.
2 Emerald Pool (Dominica). The quiet natural pool with a rock
wall and small waterfall is located in the untouched rainforest in
the Morne Trois Pitons National Park between Rosalie in the east and
St. Joseph in the west. Caution! Wet, sometimes slippery steps lead
from the Banana Leaf restaurant down to the pool.
Central Forest Reserve, 410 ha and Northern
Forest Reserve, 8,814 ha in size. According to government plans, a
quarter is to be developed into a national park. The eastern part is
the main habitat of the endangered Dominica parrots. Access is via
the town of Dublanc to the Syndicate Estate. From there there is a
hiking trail towards Morne Diablotin to the bird observation
station. In the area of the Syndicate Plantation is the waterfall
of the same name.
Cabrits National Park was established in 1986 to protect an abandoned ruins of an old British Shirley Fort those spectacular ruins are mostly covered by a lush Caribbean jungle.
Indian River Untouched wildness and seclusion of the magnificent Indian River is a nice way to explore deep Dominica jungle.
Waitukubuli National Trail is an extensive hiking trail that will take you through the heart of the island of Dominica.
1493 - During his second voyage, Columbus lands on Dominica on
November 3rd and names the island Dominica after the day of its
discovery - it is a Sunday.
1519 - Dominica is assigned to the
diocese of Puerto Rico by the Spanish, along with 20 other islands.
1520 - The Spanish councilor Antonio Serrano is to "finally" colonize
Guadeloupe and Dominica. Five years later, however, he is driven from
the island by the Carib Indians.
1627 - Dominica is awarded to the
Earl of Carlisle as Carlisle Province, but is later taken over by
France.
1642 - The first missionary, Father Raymond Breton, is sent
from Guadeloupe to Dominica. During his stay on Dominica, he writes the
"Dictionaire Caribe-Francais" in which, in addition to word
translations, there is also a precise description of Caribbean life in
the mid-17th century.
1660 - The French governor De Poincy signs a
treaty with the Caribs, which states that Dominica and St. Vincent may
not be colonized, but remain as a habitat for the Indians.
1664 - The
half-breed Indian Warner attacks French settlements on St. Lucia with
600 Caribs and 17 canoes. He is then appointed by the English under
Governor Lord Francis Willoughby as representative of the English
government in Dominica.
1674 - The Caribs attack the English island
of Antigua. Sir William Stapleton then leads a retaliatory strike
against Dominica with the commander-in-chief Phillip Warner
(half-brother of Indian Warner). In this battle, Indian Warner is
killed, betrayed by his half-brother Phillip. Even today, the name of
the place Massacre bears witness to the battle between the Caribs and
the English.
1686 - The English and French declare Dominica a neutral
island.
1730 - Father Guillaume Martel comes to Dominica and
establishes the parish of Roseau.
1761 - Dominica is taken over by
the English during the Seven Years' War (1756-63). The few French
inhabitants submit to the British military government.
1763 - In the
"Peace of Paris", Dominica, Tobago, St. Vincent, Grenada and the
Grenadines are assigned to England, with the central administration in
Grenada. But the intense French influence remains very strong in the
history of the island in language, customs, religion and place names.
1770 - Dominica is placed under the sole government of Sir William
Young.
1774 - Sir Thomas Shirley takes over the government.
1778 -
France takes possession of the island
1783 - England recaptures the
island
1779 - French Revolution, slave revolts also increase on
Dominica.
1802-1814 - Maroon uprisings
1815 - Napoleon is defeated
at Waterloo. Great Britain finally takes control of the island after two
centuries of fighting with France over it
1814-1957 - Dominica is a
British colony
1832 - For the first time, three people of color are
elected as members of the House of Commons
1834 - Slavery is
officially abolished. 14,175 slaves become free people.
1838 - People
of color have the majority in the House of Commons
1865 - Dominica is
declared a British crown colony and is again governed centrally from
England
1871 - Dominica becomes a federalist colony and joins the
Federation of Leeward Islands
1961 - Led by Leblanc, the DLP wins the
elections ahead of the DUPP and Leblanc remains the ruling party leader
until 1974. Phyllis Allfrey is expelled from the DLP because she
publishes an article in the newspaper "The Herald", of which she is the
editor, criticizing the tax increase measures taken by the government.
1962 - Dissolution of the British West Indies Federation
1967 -
Dominica is no longer a British crown colony, but a state associated
with Great Britain
1974 - Edward Leblanc retires from politics after
13 years as head of government. He is succeeded by Patrick John of the
DLP.
1978 - on November 3, the 485th anniversary of the discovery of
Dominica by Columbus, the island gains its independence. It is called
the "Commonwealth of Dominica" to avoid confusion with the Dominican
Republic.
1979 - General strike after serious unrest. Patrick John is
forced to resign. An interim government with a multi-party coalition is
formed with Oliver Seraphin to prepare for new elections; the deputy
head of government is Mike Douglas of the DLP.
1981 - Several coup
attempts are uncovered. Patick John is arrested as one of the suspected
masterminds. He is released on bail in early 1983.
Even before Europeans came to Dominica, African slaves had fled here
from other islands or had been abducted by the Carib Indians. In 1785,
they had set up 13 camps in the forest areas in the middle of the
island, each of which was led by a leader. They lived in the huts
together with women and children. They cultivated small gardens and kept
small animals such as chickens. Depending on the political situation,
they were equipped with weapons by the French and English. The
increasing number of plantations tempted the Maroons to steal food and
small animals. Later, cows were also driven away or slaughtered in the
pasture, houses were attacked and set on fire, and the first planter was
murdered in 1781.
The only connection from one side of the island
to the other at that time was a path about a meter wide from Roseau via
Laudat to Rosalie. In 1785, a legion of 500 volunteers was formed, which
by March 1786 had captured and brought to justice a number of Maroons.
By 1802, new Maroon camps had been established in the districts of St.
Patrick, St. Peter and St. Joseph.
The ongoing fighting and the
unhealthy climate near the Portsmouth marshes soon weakened the strength
of the British troops. Since there were already slaves in their ranks
who served in arms and were known as "Black Rangers", Governor Andrew
James Cochrane Johnston, known to everyone as "Cochrane", bought 200
additional slaves from whom he formed the 8th West Indian Regiment. On
April 9, 1802, this regiment revolted. The Royal Scottish Regiment from
Roseau was sent to put down the uprising. A large part of the 8th
Regiment fled to the mountains and joined the Maroons, the remaining 34
insurgents ended up on the gallows. These events led to the replacement
of Governor Cochrane in March 1804, and George Prevost became his
successor.
In 1809, some Maroon camps were attacked and destroyed
by armed slaves. But just a year later, new ones appeared there. From
1810, rewards were offered for every Maroon captured. By 1812, 800
Maroons were living in 15 camps. In the same year, a new governor was
inaugurated: George Robert Ainslie. One of his first official acts was
to promise amnesty for Maroons if they gave up fighting. Between
February and November 1814, a total of 577 Maroons were killed, arrested
or surrendered. In 1815, the so-called Maroon Wars came to an end.
The word Maroon comes from the Spanish cimarrón, meaning "wild" or
"untamed".
The island has been independent since November 3, 1978 (485th anniversary of the day of Columbus's discovery), a member of the British Commonwealth of Nations and a parliamentary democracy. To clearly distinguish itself from the Dominican Republic, Dominica officially calls itself: The Commonwealth of Dominica.
The single-chamber House of Assembly has 32 members. In March 1975, the number of constituencies was increased to 21. In each constituency, one candidate is directly elected, 5 are proposed by the Prime Minister, 4 are appointed by the Leader of the Opposition and the President, the 31st member is the Speaker of Parliament, the 32nd member is the Attorney General. The President is elected by the House of Assembly for five years, and Nicholas Joseph Orville Liverpool has held this position since 2003.
The "Baytree" tree is widespread in Dominica. Its leaves resemble the ficcus benjamini; they are long, dark green and slightly shiny. If you rub the leaves between your fingers, the oil comes out of the fibers and spreads a strong, fresh scent. The leaves are harvested branch by branch and rolled into large bundles. They are brought to the distilleries, which are mainly located in Petite Savane, Sauveur and Delices. The leaves are boiled in vats until the oil comes out of the pores and can be skimmed off the surface of the water. It is then processed into so-called Bay Rum, a type of tonic for external use, not for drinking! Bay Rum can best be compared to the "lemon balm spirit" we know. It has a refreshing and antispasmodic effect on the skin and smells of nutmeg and dried cloves.
Marijuana or ganja is grown particularly in the Grand Bay area. However, trading and smoking are prohibited by law. Tourists with drugs face a fine of between $500 and $10,000, they will be sent to prison until they are convicted and then deported.
In March 1981, Prime Minister Dame Mary Eugenia Charles was able to
report on a failed coup attempt with the code name "Red Dog". Thanks to
a tip from a US charter boat owner, the federal authorities there had
tracked down a group of mercenaries who wanted to use the Dominican
carnival to overthrow the government. The group, which also included
members of the Dominica Defence Force (DDF), received financial and
logistical support from the USA and Canada, from the Klu Klux Klan, from
American neo-Nazis and an underworld boss. After the coup, the island
was to become a base for drug transport and international fraud.
The American federal authorities CIA and FBI were able to infiltrate
their own agents into the group and informed the government of Dominica.
On April 27, the mercenaries wanted to travel to Dominica with weapons
and explosives from a marina in Louisiana on a charter boat. Two
Canadians and eight Americans were arrested by the Ontario Provincial
Police and FBI officers. In Dominica, another Canadian woman was
arrested who was involved in the preparations on site. On December 19th
of the same year, a second coup attempt failed when at three in the
morning three armed and masked men attempted to occupy the police
headquarters and the prison. A policeman and a soldier were shot dead.
As a result of the coup attempts involving the national army, the
Dominican Defence Force was disbanded and its duties taken over by the
police. A special unit was formed here, the SSU (Special Service Unit).
Supported by US military personnel and helicopters, the marijuana fields
in the mountains were destroyed.
In 1991, the captain and eleven
crew members of a Colombian cargo ship were arrested. They wanted to
smuggle 1,385 kg of cocaine worth 93 million US dollars. The ship was
confiscated and sold, and the cocaine was publicly burned.
Large parts of the center of the island are undeveloped by traffic
and are covered by cloud or rain forest. The rainforest zone in the
altitude region between 330 and 750m is the largest of the six
vegetation zones on the island. This is the largest rainforest area in
the Lesser Antilles. There are also large reforestation areas. Either
wood has been felled there since colonization or plantations have been
abandoned and replanted.
Many trees there bear epiphytes. In the
Cabrits area, in contrast, there is dry forest. In the Granvilla plain
you can also find swamps and mangroves. 199 species of ferns and 74
species of orchids were counted in the national park. In addition to the
introduced coconut palm, there are eight species of palm trees that are
native to the island. Over 1,000 species of flowering plants can be
found throughout the country, the largest occurrence in the English
Caribbean.
There are still 172 different species of birds on the
island, including two species of parrot, the Sisserou or Imperial Parrot
and the Rednecked Parrot, which are only found on this island. There are
55 species of butterflies, crabs, reptiles and amphibians. There are
five non-venomous snake species, including the boa constrictor, which
can grow up to 3.6m long.
In the area around Boeri Lake and
Freshwater Lake you can find a few opossums, which the locals call
"mannikou", and the agouti. Dominica is also one of the few islands
where you can still find a large number of wild boars. Adult boars can
grow up to 150 cm long and 90 cm high. They weigh up to 100 kg. They
originally come from South America. The only truly native mammals are
bats, of which there are several species.
The mountain chicken is
not a mountain chicken, as the English name would have you believe, but
a large species of frog that only occurs on the islands of Dominica and
Montserrat. On the islands of Guadeloupe and Martinique, this species
was hunted so heavily that it no longer exists.
In the 1960s, the
island parrots could still be seen in the coastal regions. Their numbers
have now declined so much that tourists hardly have any chance of seeing
the animals in the wild. However, several species of herons can be found
in the marshlands on the coast.
After 1725, French planters began to grow coffee in the Soufriere
area near Pointe Michel and in the north near Colihaut and Capucin.
In contrast to other Caribbean islands, sugar cane was not
cultivated until very late. The large sugar plantations were established
along the larger rivers because there were no roads near the coast:
Hampstead, Hodges, Blenheim, Woodford Hill, Londonderry, Melville Hall,
Hatton Garden, Castle Bruce, Grand Marigot, Rosalie, Tabery and others.
On all the larger plantations, the sugar mills were powered by
water, the others by oxen or mules. There were never more than five or
six windmills on the island and the ruins of only two remain.
As
a result of the French occupation of the island and the trade
restrictions of the American War of Independence, only 50 plantations
were cultivated in 1790, and 30 had been abandoned. In the 1860s, the
first lemons were grown on the island on an experimental basis. By 1875,
the yields from lemons were already greater than those from sugar
plantations and the first coffee growers switched to lemons. At the turn
of the century, green lemons were exported to the USA, and lemon juice
was shipped to the USA and Great Britain. Annual production approached
30,000 tons. Canefield was the last large sugar plantation on the
island. In 1916, Dominica was the world's largest lemon producer. In May
1922, the lemon plantations on the southern tip of the island were
infected with the leaf disease "withertip disease". At the same time,
many trees fell ill with the root disease "red root" and most of the
plantations were destroyed. In 1974, annual production was only 5,000
tons. Instead, people began to grow coconuts and bananas. Coconut palms
were planted in plantations, particularly in the northeast of the
island. Until 1966, the entire annual harvest was exported to Barbados
and Trinidad, where oils and fats were made from it. Then the
state-owned processing plant "Dominica Coconut Products" was founded.
Today, soap products for Dial, Imperial Leather and Palmolive are sold
from here throughout the Caribbean.
From 1931, A. C. Shillingford
began shipping "Gros Michel" brand bananas to Liverpool. In 1934, the
first cooperative, the Banana Growers Association, was founded. In the
same year, the United Fruit Company and the Canadian Banana Company also
agreed to buy up the island's banana harvests. After World War II, the
two Englishmen P. J. Foley and G. B. Band founded "Antilles Products
Ltd." in 1949 with the aim of buying up and shipping all the bananas
produced on the island. Due to financial difficulties, the company had
to be sold to Geest Industries in 1954. At the same time, Geest
Industries took over the three large plantations Woodford Hill, Picard
and Brantridge. In the 1960s, bananas accounted for 80% of all island
exports. In 1978, the bananas were attacked by the leaf spot disease,
and in the following two years they were completely destroyed by
hurricanes David and Allen.
Vanilla was also successfully grown
on the island from 1936 onwards. The end came very suddenly when the
entire annual harvest of 50,000 pounds burned in a major fire in the
port of Roseau in 1945.
On this island, as on some others, it was
customary for the workers to name the plantations where they worked and
were at home not by their geographical name, but by the family name of
the first plantation owner.
Belfast Estate, Mahaut, Tel. 448-2340, 449-1230, Fax 448-6007. The
rum distillery has ceased operations. Rum is now only stored and
bottled. The brands D Special Rum, Red Cap Rum and Soca Rum are produced
here. The raw material required for this is bought from other islands.
No rum is exported from Dominica.
Blenheim Estate, Hampsted. This is
now a large coconut plantation. The old ruins of the original sugar and
lemon plantation have been preserved, along with the water wheel.
Canefield Estate, in 1773 the Englishman William Pringle bought the
wooded land from the British crown. In the same decade he built a mill
to press the sugar cane. In 1828 there were 108 slaves on the
plantation, who produced 150,000 pounds of sugar and 10,000 liters of
rum in the same year. During the slave liberation struggles, until the
middle of the 19th century, this plantation was also plagued by unrest.
In 1908, the American engineer and millionaire Andrew Green bought the
site and installed modern machinery. Today there is an open-air museum,
an exhibition, a mini zoo and artisans who live and work here under the
direction of the Haitian Louis Desiree.
Geneva Estate, this former
sugar cane plantation from the 18th century, was founded by Swiss
Huguenots. The ruins of the sugar mill and buildings for processing
lemons and coconuts are half overgrown. The plantation served as the
setting for the novella "Wide Sargasso Sea" by Jean Rhys.
Grand
Marigot Estate, located north of Rosalie on the east coast, is now known
as Saint Sauveur. There was an Indian settlement there 2000 years ago.
The Grand Marigot Estate was built around 1770. The foundations of the
plantation house and the main staircase have been preserved and the name
remained until 1866. The sugar factory and the mill were destroyed by
cyclones. In 1866, the Catholic Church established the Saint Sauveur
parish between Rosalie and the Majini River. The plantation became the
property of the Bishop of Roseau and was renamed. In 1924, the
plantation still had an area of 185 hectares. In the 20th century, it
was bought by the Shillingford family. The small town has been connected
to the road network since 1965.
Habitation Chabert, between Atkinson
and Marigot. This is a former sugar cane plantation, where lemons were
later grown. The buildings have been restored and converted into a
private museum. You can see French and Creole antiques, old swords and a
map of the island from 1872. Opening hours: daily from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.,
admission $4 per person.
Hampstea Estate, on the north coast of the
island, was surveyed around 1760 and sold to settlers by the English
crown. The first owners gave it the name after their London suburb of
Hampstead, where they probably came from. The remains of the sugar
processing plants and their machines are still standing. They are among
the best preserved industrial plants of the 18th century that can still
be found on the island today. From Hampstead Beach, the products were
shipped via its own port. A small fortification protected the bay. At
the end of the 19th century, the plantation switched from sugar cane to
lemon plantations. In the 20th century, coconut palms were planted,
coconuts were harvested and copra was produced. Since the end of the
19th century, the plantation has been owned by the McIntyre family. In
the 1930s, however, government loans could not be repaid, so the
plantation was taken over. In 1946, R. B. Douglas bought it from the
government, and his heirs are still the owners today.
The Rosalie
Estate on the east coast originally belonged to a syndicate of British
island governors in the 18th century. With 870 hectares, it was one of
the largest plantations on the island. History was made there in 1786,
when the area was searched for Maroon warriors. They had carried out an
attack on the plantation in December 1875 under their leader Balla.
Sugar cane, bananas, limes and coconut palms were planted there. On a
hill next to the new mansion you can find the ruins of the old one and
the remains of the aqueduct. On a cliff by the sea you can find the
remains of a crane from the time when sugar, coffee and limes were
transported by ship from this remote plantation, which was difficult to
access by land. Numerous ruins bear witness to the old village, which
was abandoned around 1950. Ten years later, the land was divided into
small plots and sold.
The 80 hectare Springfield Estate is located on
the Imperial Road, halfway between Canefield and Pont Casse, 300m above
sea level. In 1990 it was bequeathed to Clemson University in the USA.
Since 1994 the former plantation has been a protected area for the
native wildlife and home to SCEPTRE - Springfield Centre for
Environmental Protection, Research and Education. Various organisations
from the USA regularly hold scientific seminars here. The Check Hall
River, which flows through the plantation, is being dammed on an
experimental basis to test hydroelectric power plants. A large part of
the former plantation is now forested. There are around three kilometres
of hiking trails.
The Wallhouse Estate is located south of Roseau.
The first owner was John Gillion from Wallhouse near Edinburgh in
Scotland. The sugar plantation was laid out according to the classic
18th century model. In 1827, 170 slaves worked there. The annual
production of sugar was 38 tons of sugar and 6,100 liters of rum. In the
1870s, the owner was called J. C. Spooner. Due to a lack of workers
after the abolition of slavery, he switched production to limes. In
1925, the land area was still 116 hectares. From 1980 to 1995, the
property served as the residence of Prime Minister M. E. Charles. After
that, the old factory facilities were restored and converted into a
discotheque and a restaurant, and the farmland was divided up and used
as building land.
The Woodford Hill Estate is located on the
northeast coast. The first French settlers arrived shortly after 1700
and called the place La Soie. In 1763, the land fell into the possession
of the English crown. For most of the 19th century, the plantation was
owned by the Dominican sugar king Charles Leatham and his heirs. In
1828, 112 slaves worked on the plantation. The annual production of
sugar was 30 tons, and 10,000 liters of rum were distilled. At the end
of the 19th century, the plantation still had a size of 465 hectares. It
was sold to Estates Investment Trust of Dominica, which farmed the land
until the end of the 1930s. The owner changed three times until 1948,
when Antilles Products acquired it. In 1954, the banana wholesaler Geest
Industries bought Antilles Products and thus acquired the plantation. In
1974, the government acquired large parts of the land, and the rest was
sold by Geest Industries in small plots to local farmers between 1978
and 1983. There were big plans for the government land. An international
jet airport was to be built there. To date, however, these plans have
not been financed.
Well-preserved ruins of sugar mills can still be found in
Hillsborough on the west coast, as well as in Soufriere, Grand Bay and
Bagatelle. Interesting aqueducts for transporting water can be seen in
the south in Snug Corner, Wallhouse and Castle Comfort, in the west in
Canefield and in the east in Rosalie.
The Shillingford Estate,
Tel. 449-6409, Fax 449-6904, is located halfway between the towns of
Mero and Salisbury. It is better known to the locals as the Sugar
Factory. It is the only sugar plantation on the island that still works
with a water-powered mill. The small river that supplies the water flows
into the sea near the town of Mero. Behind the rum distillery you will
find one of the few rum barrel manufacturers. Three types of rum are
bottled in the small factory. They are available on the island under the
brand names Macoucherie Rum, which is only aged for a year and a half,
West Coast Rum and Macoucherie Spiced. The Shillingford family came to
the island from England in the 1780s. Over the decades they took over
various plantations. A Thomas Howard Shillingford invested his profits
in small shops. Along the west coast he opened a shop in every village
between Layou and Dublanc. Each of these shops was run by a woman with
whom he fathered children and whom he continued to support. The female
members of the Shillingford family married into wealthy families,
increasing the family's power and prestige. By 1930 the family network
had expanded to the point where they controlled every area of island
society, politics, trade and land ownership. Their influence was only
somewhat limited in the 1960s by the increase in Lebanese traders.
Most of the beaches consist of silver-gray to black volcanic sand, only a few have yellow sand. The entire east coast is not suitable for swimming, strong Atlantic currents make it dangerous. Between Crompton Point and Anse de Mai, however, there are a number of small, fine sandy bays that are protected by reefs. These bays have no names on the official maps or are sometimes incorrectly labeled. A jetty was built in Anse de Mai in 1984.
Entry requirements
Entry requirements: When entering the country,
a passport or identity card must be presented that is valid for the
entire duration of the stay; return or onward travel tickets are also
required. There is an immigration office for sailors in Roseau and
Portsmouth. Immigration Office, Portsmouth, Bay Street. Office hours:
Mondays from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. and 2 p.m. to 5 p.m., Tuesday to Friday
from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. and 2 p.m. to 4 p.m.
Exit requirements: For
stays of more than 24 hours, the airport fee on departure is 59 EC $ or
22 US $; children under 12 are exempt. A security fee of 5 EC $ or 2 US
$ is also charged.
Airplane
Dominica does not have a large
international airport, but only two smaller airports ('Canefield' in the
west near Roseau and Melville Hall near Marigot in the northeast), which
only handle intra-Caribbean flights (mainly Liat). If you want to visit
the island from Europe, it is best to book a flight to one of the
neighboring islands (Guadeloupe or Martinique) and then travel on from
there by short flight or express ferry (L'Express des Iles).
Airlines
Air One, Canefield Airport, phone 449-2153
Air One,
Kazbuli Mall King George V Street, Roseau, Tel. 440-2310, Fax 449-2153
American Airlines / American Eagle, Melville Hall, Tel. 445-7204,
445-7207, Fax 445-7477
American Airlines / American Eagle,
Reservations and Information, Tel. 800 433-7300
Bevin's Air Services,
Canefield Airport, phone 449-3399
Bevin’s Air Services, Lilac House
Kennedy Avenue, Roseau, phone 448-1594
Cardinal Airlines, 26 King
George V Street, Roseau, tel. 449-8923, 448-3185
Caribbean Star
Airlines, Melville Hall, Tel. 445-8936
Caribbean Star Airlines, Old
Street, Roseau, Tel. 448-2181
LIAT, 64 King George V Street, Roseau,
Tel. 448-3980, Fax 448-7575
LIAT, Canefield Airport, Tel. 449-2045,
Cargo, Tel. 448-3185
LIAT, Melville Hall Airport, Tel. 445-8143
Ship
Dominica can be easily reached from the neighboring islands
of Guadeloupe and Martinique by fast ferry (Express des Iles). Note:
Does not run to and from Dominica every day.
By bus
Private minibuses run very regularly along the coast. The
further you get from Roseau, however, the less frequent they are and bus
travelers should check whether a return trip is guaranteed. After 10
p.m., there are no buses at all.
Rental cars
Rental cars can
be rented at both airports. Traffic drives on the left.
The official language is English. As on many other Caribbean islands, the spoken language is Patois (or Creole), a mixture of French and English, enriched with African language elements.
Rum made from fresh sugar cane, which is available in every local
supermarket, is tastier than anything you can get in Germany.
D-Special Rum
Bay Rum
Windward Islands Aloe Ltd., skin and sun
creams
woven baskets with Indian patterns
Accra's are well-seasoned, deep-fried flour dough balls with a fish
or vegetable filling. Bakes are made from a similar dough, but these are
baked in oil until crispy and have a fish or cheese filling. Pies are
also pastries with a filling of fish, vegetables or minced meat, usually
seasoned with curry.
Black pudding is not a pudding, but
well-seasoned blood sausage.
Souse are boiled pig's feet in a
very spicy sauce. Broth is a soup that contains flour dumplings, fish or
meat and vegetables.
Shellfish and fish can be found on almost
every menu: Lobster - Caribbean lobster, Crayfish - freshwater lobster,
Crab Back - river crayfish, Codfish - salted cod, fresh sea fish is
tuna, dorado, flying fish, king fish and snapper.
Agouti is a
small mammal that should only be served as a roast during the hunting
season from early September to late February. The same goes for mountain
chicken, a giant frog species that only occurs on this island.
Goat
water is not a drink but a stew with goat meat.
For dessert there are
cakes, coconut or fruit cakes with rum and tarts.
The menu often
reminds you that Dominica lies between two French islands and was under
French influence for a long time. Jel cochon is salted pork, Lamowee is
cod, Hawansaw herring and Kwibish are the freshwater shrimp and
everything is served with a Creole sauce. Braff is a clear fish broth,
Pate Aanane are vegetable bananas and Tablet are coconut tablets.
People drink a lot of fresh fruit juices, imported Heineken or Carib
beer or rum from the Belfast Estate. The local lemonades like Quenchi
are very sweet and taste like chemicals. A thirst quencher, however, is
ginger beer, non-alcoholic with a strong ginger flavor. The national
beer is called Kubuli Lager Beer.
Seamoss is very healthy, if a
little bitter, and actually contains seaweed.
There is little nightlife, and if there is, it is limited to the capital.
The island hotels are rather small, around 20 rooms, inns and
apartment complexes are even smaller and often only equipped with the
bare essentials, some of them made of wood.
Cocoa Cottages.
'Eco-Lodge' in the countryside, about half an hour's drive from Roseau
into the interior. Impressions from 2004: very friendly owner,
individually and lovingly furnished rooms, delicious dinner on request,
possibility to book organized tours.
Thu, Jan 1st, 2026 New Year New Year's Day
Fri, Jan 2nd, 2026
Merchant's Holiday Banks and authorities are the only ones open
Fri,
Apr 18th, 2025 Good Friday Good Friday
Mon, Apr 21st, 2025 Easter
Monday Easter Monday
Mon, Jun 9th, 2025 Whit Monday Whit Monday
Thu, May 1st, 2025 Labour Day Labour Day
First Monday in August
Emancipation Day Remembrance of the abolition of slavery
November 3rd
- 5th Independence Independence celebrations
Thu, Dec 25th, 2025
Christmas Day Christmas
Fri, Dec 26th, 2025 Boxing Day Christmas Day
On the island of Dominica, carnival was brought to the island by the
first French settlers, which is why it is called Masquerade and is
celebrated on Dominica between Shrove Monday and Ash Wednesday. The
colorful costumes, masquerades and dances were brought to all parts of
the Caribbean by the French. From “Samedi Gras” to “J’Ouvert” to “Mardi
Gras”, the plantation owners visited their neighbors and celebrated in
the mansions while their slaves danced in front of them. After the
abolition of slavery, all festivities took place in the streets; in
those days the aristocracy fraternized with the common people; no one
could be recognized with the mask on their face. In the beginning, from
J’Ouvert, masked “matadors”, “bad-johns”, “darkies”, “red-ochre”,
“jamettes”, drummers and singers streamed into the city. Music bands
marched to choose the best band. Acrobats showed off their skills and
stilt walkers or “bois-bois” danced through the streets.
In the
mid-1950s, Carnival in Trinidad was declared decent, honorable and a
national folklore. Now there was a carnival king and queen with events
and organization based on the European model. The Trinidad style calypso
and the steel bands were quickly adopted by Dominica. Modern and
traditional elements alternate for two days, mainly in the streets of
Roseau. Modern folk groups, expensively dressed marching musicians and
cute costumed groups determine the image of the carnival today. The
competitions and elimination competitions for the Carnival Queen,
Calypso King and Calypso Queen begin two weeks beforehand.
Crime is not very common, but as the saying goes: opportunity makes thieves. Large amounts of money should be kept in the hotel safe.
If you get sick, it can be a good idea, provided you are able to travel, to go to the neighboring French islands. The European health insurance card is valid here.
Over the centuries, the island has been badly damaged by several hurricanes. The worst storms occurred in 1779, 1781, 1787 and 1806 with 131 deaths; two in 1813, 1817, 1825 and 1834 with over 200 deaths in 1916, two lighter ones in 1926 and 1928, and in 1930 the entire agricultural sector was destroyed. More recently, there was severe damage in 1979, 1994, 1999 and 2017. The damage from the latter has also been repaired.
Post and telecommunications
Telecommunications services are
provided by Cable & Wireless, Marpin Telecommunications, Orange and AT &
T / Cingular / Digicel. Internet access ranges from dial-up, always
based on DSL, cable modems and leased lines such as 256kb to T1.
International calls can also be made via public telephones using a
"phone card". Phone cards worth 10, 20 and 40 EC $ are available from
Cable & Wireless in Roseau and Portsmouth.
The area code for Europe
is 011, the country code for Germany is 49, when the connection to
Germany is established the # sign must be pressed.
The responsible German consular representation is in Port of Spain (Trinidad). Austrians are looked after in Havana. Swiss citizens should contact the consular center in Santo Domingo (Dominican Republic).
In the language of the Caribbean indigenous population, the island
was called Ouaitocoubouli because of its mountainous terrain (in another
transcription Wai'tukubuli, meaning "her body is high").
The
island received its European name because Christopher Columbus named it
after the day of the week it was discovered, a Sunday (in Latin:
Dominica).
With the arrival of the Europeans in the Caribbean, written
documentation and research into the indigenous ethnic groups began. The
limited level of knowledge, a Eurocentric view and colonial interests of
the Europeans influenced the writings of the early Spanish, French and
English chroniclers about the indigenous people, which led to many
simplifications and distortions. Modern historiography, archaeology
(including DNA research) and ethnology have developed a more
differentiated picture that is constantly being expanded and corrected.
In the pre-Columbian era, the island experienced several waves of
settlement and cultural developments:
Casimiroid culture: named
after an excavation site on Hispaniola. These early human settlers in
the region are documented in the Caribbean around 4190-2165 BC.
According to DNA findings, they originally came from northern South
America, other evidence points to Central America. They began their
migration from the west and can be found mainly in Cuba, Hispaniola and
Puerto Rico. Their spread further east to other Antillean islands is
still being researched, they may have reached the smaller Antilles
(where Dominica is located). They were gatherers and hunters, initially
hunting sea creatures such as seals, manatees and turtles as well as
land animals such as tree rats and sloths. Later they refined their
stone tools and developed fishing. According to some sources, they knew
neither agriculture nor pottery, according to others they harvested wild
grass and fruit, made simple pottery and possibly practiced early forms
of agriculture.
Ortoiroid culture: named after an archaeological site
near the Ortoire River in Trinidad, where they have been documented
since 5000 BC. They came from northern South America, settled in the
Caribbean parallel to the Casimiroids, but from the south, and may have
been the first settlers on Dominica. Depending on the source, their
arrival is dated to around 3100 BC or around 2000 BC. This culture was
also Stone Age, but had more developed stone tools. According to some
sources, they also harvested wild grass and fruit, made simple pottery
and possibly practiced early forms of agriculture.
Saladoid culture:
named after an archaeological site near Saladero in the Orinoco estuary
in Venezuela, where, according to some sources, they have been present
since 2100 BC, according to others from 1200 BC. Around 500 BC they
began settling in the Antilles, and due to their semi-nomadic
slash-and-burn economy they expanded rapidly and soon reached Dominica,
where at least 13 archaeological sites provide evidence of them. They
practiced agriculture, horticulture, hunting and fishing, as well as
developing pottery and making cassava bread from manioc. Evidence points
to an egalitarian tribal culture. They probably belonged to the Arawak
language family and maintained contact with their area of origin
through long-distance trade. Research is still being carried out into
the extent to which they displaced the Ortoiroids on Dominica or mixed
with them.
Troumassoid culture: named after an archaeological site in
Troumassée on St. Lucia. A distinction is made between the Troumassan
period 600–1000 AD and the Suazan period 1000–1450. The first period
gradually developed from the Saladoid culture in Dominica (and the other
Windwards Islands) over the course of the 6th century. It does not
appear to have arisen through immigration; it is assumed that the
gradual population growth led to changes in the social structure and
culture. In the second period, a more complex, hierarchical social
structure developed, social inequalities emerged, the first steps
towards chiefdom were evident, and long-distance trade with the
Caribbean and South America was documented. A variant of Taino, part of
the Arawak language family, developed from their language; Taino was
spoken in several variants in most of the Caribbean when the Europeans
arrived. Archaeological finds associated with the Troumassoids on
Dominica and the entire Windwards Islands abruptly stopped around 1450,
indicating a warlike end to the culture.
Carib culture: the Caribs
are a South American ethnic group and language family; they penetrated
the Caribbean from the south around 1400. They displaced and assimilated
the Taino in Dominica and the entire Windwards Islands (the southern
part of the Lesser Antilles). When the Europeans arrived, the Caribs had
already conquered islands north of Dominica, such as St. Kitts and
Nevis. The Caribs living on the South American mainland (who called
themselves Kalihna or Galibi) continued to be called that by
ethnologists, while the other groups were given the name Island Caribs.
These "Island Caribs", who called themselves Kalinago, mixed so much
with the existing population that they ultimately spoke a Taino or
Arawak variant that had little to do with their original continental
language. This ethnic group controlled Dominica from around 1400 to 1700
and also controlled large parts of the island later on. It was their
last refuge after St. Vincent became British in 1796 and several
thousand of them were deported. They can still be found on the island
today. Their European name "Caribs" is derived from the word "Carib",
which comes from their language and is said to mean "brave man"; they
may also have called themselves that. The Spanish also derived the name
for the entire Caribbean from this name "Caribs".
For a long
time, the assumption based on Spanish tradition was that the Ciboney or
stone people lived on Dominica first, then the peaceful Arawaks
appeared, who were later exterminated by the warlike and cannibalistic
Caribs. Spanish chroniclers reported that the Taino inhabitants of other
islands were afraid of "people who came from Carib or Canib", were
warlike and ate prisoners, which is how the word caniba, cannibal,
entered Spanish and from there into many languages. Today, a more
differentiated picture prevails:
The Arawak are a South American
language family that expanded (not only peacefully) into the Caribbean,
where they developed the Taino that is now predominant in the Caribbean
and in turn formed variants. They were not simply exterminated and
driven out by the Caribs, including on Dominica, but also assimilated,
with the Caribs adopting and transforming the Taino language.
The
cannibalistic practices attributed to the Caribs by Columbus and other
chroniclers (and named after them) are now considered to be
exaggerations or false claims that served to justify their expulsion and
extermination. Evidence suggests that ritualized cannibalistic
practices, if they existed, were similar among the Taino and the Caribs.
It is also considered possible that they did not exist and that cultural
practices such as keeping the body parts of brave enemy warriors as
trophies and keeping and religiously worshipping the bones of ancestors
were misinterpreted as cannibalism. Their notorious raids are
interpreted by some authors as kidnapping women rather than
cannibalistic raids.
The Ciboney, on the other hand, are the western
Taino group in Cuba, which developed there through cultural mixing and
was never on Dominica. They were previously often confused with the
Guanahatabey, who also settled in Cuba until the arrival of the
Europeans and are considered to be a remnant of the Casimiroids.
Dominica was discovered by Christopher Columbus on his second voyage
on November 3, 1493, but he did not land. Columbus named the island
after the day of the week it was discovered, a Sunday (in Latin:
Dominica). One of the ships in his fleet explored the island's coast and
found, among other things, what is now Prince Rupert Bay with a Kalinago
settlement.
Dominica was of strategic importance to the Spanish
and the other colonizing Europeans because it was the first land on the
sea route from Europe to the West Indies and because it was rich in wood
and water. However, Dominica was an impregnable "natural fortress" for
centuries due to its mountainous, rugged landscape, which is crossed by
unnavigable rivers and covered by dense, almost impenetrable jungle. For
a long time, colonization attempts were therefore rarely made and ships
only sporadically called at the island to load drinking water or wood or
to buy fruit from the Indians. The Europeans turned to other islands
that were easier to conquer. As European expansion into the Caribbean
continued, Caribs fled from these conquered islands to Dominica or were
deported there, which further strengthened indigenous control over the
island. Dominica became the last refuge of the Kalinago. Due to the
particularly strong resistance here, Dominica became the last Caribbean
island to be colonized by Europeans.
In 1503, the Spanish
government issued the first edicts that gave Spanish colonists in
Hispaniola the freedom to hunt and enslave Caribs south of Puerto Rico.
In 1514, the next Spanish visitors arrived, a fleet under Pedro
Arias de Avila. On June 3, 1514, he entered the same bay with 19 ships
and a crew of 1,500 men. When he went ashore, his men were ambushed by
the Indians and shot with poisonous arrows.
In 1519, Dominica and
20 other islands were assigned to the diocese of Puerto Rico by the
Spanish.
In 1520, the Spanish councilor Antonio Serrano was
appointed governor of Dominica and neighboring islands and given the
task of colonizing them, but the Kalinago defeated his troops at
Guadeloupe and no colonization took place.
In 1535, Dominica was
declared a resting place for the regular Spanish treasure fleet on its
way from Europe to the Caribbean. The anchorage was the bay at what is
now Portsmouth "on the northwest coast," which offered forests, hot
springs, and fresh water. The fleets then split up, with one half
sailing to Carthagena and Panama, the other to Mexico.
In 1567,
the Spanish silver ships "San Juan," "Santa Barbola," "San Felipe," and
"El Espiritu Santo" were driven to the north coast of the island by a
hurricane while passing through the Dominica Passage and sank. The
Kalinago plunder the ships washed up on the beach. In the same year,
there are the first reports of escaped African slaves and white
deserters living among the Kalinago.
1568 French and English
invaders (in the sense of monopoly breakers) such as John Hawkins,
Francis Drake and the Duke of Cumberland begin to use the bay as a
resting place and place of trade with the Kalinago to exchange tobacco
and food.
In 1607, the three English settler ships Godspeed,
Susan Constant and Discovery rested on Dominica for three days. They
were on their way on behalf of the Virginia Company of London to
establish Jamestown in Virginia, the first permanent English settlement
in North America.
In 1627, the English King Charles I gave his
courtier James Hay, 1st Earl of Carlisle, all of the Caribbean islands,
including Dominica. Although James Hay was very interested in the
colonies and owned plantations in New England, this was only a
theoretical ownership, the actual enforcement of which depended on the
real military situation, and therefore no real colonization took place.
Officially, England claimed the island until 1748, when it ceded
Dominica to France.
In 1632, the French company Compagnie des
Îles de l’Amérique claimed Dominica and other Antillean islands, but no
settlement took place.
In 1642, the two Catholic missionaries
Raymond Breton and Charles Raymond were sent from Guadeloupe to Dominica
on behalf of the Dominican Order to convert the Kalinago to
Christianity. Breton visited Dominica repeatedly until 1650, making him
the first regular European visitor to the island. He celebrated the
first mass in Itassi (Vieille Case) and built the first church, in the
form of a Kalinago taboui, in Colihaut. After his return to France in
1654, he wrote four books about the Caribbean, including the
"Dictionnaire Caribe - Francais" in 1665 and a Caribbean grammar in
1667. There he points out, among other things, that the women only spoke
Arawak, while the men spoke both Arawak and Carib. He reports that they
called themselves "Callinago" (or Calliponan in the women's language).
In 1653, in retaliation for a Kalinago attack on a French settlement
on Mariegalante, French troops under Captain Du Mé attacked a Kalinago
village on Dominica's north coast, today's Anse Du Mé, and massacred the
inhabitants.
In 1655, Father Phillipe de Beaumont was sent to the
island as Raymond Breton's successor. He suggested to the governor of
the French Caribbean islands that he make peace with the Carib Indians
and give them the islands of Dominica and St. Vincent.
On March
31, 1660, the Kalinago, French and English reached an agreement to give
Dominica and St. Vincent to the Kalinago.
Nevertheless, the
guerrilla warfare with the "Caribs" continued, because the natural
resources attracted English and French lumberjacks, who began to cut
wood. The Kalinago were largely able to maintain control of Dominica,
also by playing the rival Europeans off against each other and receiving
support from the French and the English. But these battles and European
diseases reduced their numbers considerably. In 1647 there were 5,000,
by 1700 there were only 2,000, by 1713 the number had fallen to 500 and
by 1730 there were only 400.
In 1664 the British Caribbean chief
Thomas "Indian" Warner (also called "Carib" Warner) supported a British
attack on French settlers in St. Lucia, leading 600 Kalinago warriors
into battle in 17 canoes from Dominica. 'Indian' Warner was a son of the
"explorer of St. Kitts", Sir Thomas Warner, who established the first
English colony in the Caribbean on St. Kitts, with his fourth wife, a
Kalinago from Dominica. Born in 1630, he was raised by his father in his
household. After his father's death in 1649, his father's third wife no
longer wanted to tolerate him in the household, although his
half-brother Phillip defended him. Indian Warner fled to Dominica, where
he was taken in by a Kalinago village on the west coast, adopted their
way of life and later became chief.
In 1665, Indian Warner was
appointed English Lieutenant Governor of Dominica by William Willoughby,
6th Baron Willoughby of Parham, Governor of Barbados from 1667 to
1673,[54] in the hope of gaining English control over the island.
In 1666, Indian Warner was captured by the French and mistreated in
custody in Guadeloupe and St. Kitts.
On December 9, 1667, Indian
Warner was released by the French as a result of a peace treaty and
reinstated by Governor Willoughby as Lieutenant Governor of Dominica.
In 1674, the Kalinago of Dominica attacked the island of Antigua. In
retaliation, Warner's half-brother Philip Warner, Lieutenant Governor in
Antigua since 1671, attacked the village of Carib Warner with English
troops, killed his brother at the beginning of the battle and massacred
the inhabitants. The French later called this place Massacre. Phillip
Warner was sentenced to 18 months in prison in 1675 for the murder of
his brother and the massacre of his tribe and lost his post as
Lieutenant Governor of Antigua in 1676. However, he had so much support
there that he was later elected Speaker of Parliament.
In the
following eight years, the Kalinago of Dominica also attacked European
settlers on the islands of Barbuda and Montserrat.
In 1690, the French established their first permanent settlement on
Dominica. French lumberjacks from Martinique and Guadeloupe set up
logging camps to supply the French islands with wood and gradually
became permanent settlers. They brought the first African slaves from
West Africa to "Dominique", as they called the island.
In 1700,
the French priest Jean Baptiste Labat visited Dominica and met the
Kalinago of the east coast.
In 1715, a revolt by poor white
peasants in the north of Martinique, known as La Gaoulé, sparked an
immigration of these settlers to southern Dominique, where they set up
small farms. At the same time, French and other families from Guadeloupe
settled in the north of Dominica.
In 1727, the first French
commander, M. Le Grand, took command and installed the first government
structures. Dominique formally became a French colony and the islands
were divided into districts or "quartiers". The Jesuit order establishes
a plantation at Grand Bay (now Berekua).
The French had already
established plantations on Martinique and Guadeloupe, where they grew
sugar cane with the help of African slave workers. On Dominique they
gradually built up coffee plantations. Due to the transatlantic slave
trade, the population structure changed completely, the population soon
consisted mainly of black African slaves.
In 1731, the kings of
England and France ordered that the French settlers of Dominica be
evacuated and the island be left to the Kalinago.
In 1748, France
and England agreed in the Peace of Aachen to consider Dominica as
neutral territory and to leave it to the Kalinago.
Nevertheless,
the French continued to colonize the rich island.
In 1761, during the European Seven Years' War, a British expedition
led by Lord Andrew Rollo and Sir James Douglas conquered Dominica and
other Caribbean islands. They accused the French of violating the Treaty
of Aachen of 1748. On June 6, they conquered the settlement of Roseau
and occupied the island. Many African slaves took advantage of the
confusion and fled into the forests.
In 1763, France had lost the
war and handed the island over to Great Britain in the Treaty of Paris.
Dominica was now officially a British colony. In the same year, the
British set up a legislative assembly in which only European colonists
were represented. French remained the official language, but most of the
population spoke the Antillean Creole that had evolved from it.
Opposition to British rule was widespread among the population,
particularly among free people of color. Maroon communities also emerged
in the course of the 18th century, in which escaped black slaves joined
forces with the indigenous Kalinago in inaccessible, densely forested
retreat areas. Until slavery was abolished, they were in constant
conflict with the British colonial authorities, controlled their own
territory of around 170 km² inland for generations in the 18th and 19th
centuries, and prevented the expansion of European colonization beyond a
narrow coastal strip with frequent military campaigns from 1763 to 1818.
In 1764, British surveyors divided the island into plots in
preparation for land sales. In 1776, John Byres drew the "Byres map,"
which became the basis for all future land ownership in Dominica. The
island was also divided into the districts ("parishes") that are still
in use today. Thousands of hectares of land (measured in acres) were
cleared for sugar and coffee plantations and the import of African
slaves increased rapidly.
In 1765, the first local government was
established as part of the federated colonies of the southern Caribbean
with its capital in Grenada. Portsmouth was planned and laid out as the
capital of British Dominica, and construction of the garrison Fort
Shirley began there. The first laws were passed, a court was appointed,
a printing press was imported and the Anglican Church was declared the
state church. In the same year, the island was hit hard by natural
disasters: earthquakes in April and May and a hurricane later in the
year. In 1766, the population recovered; 2,020 whites and 8,497 slaves
were counted in the British-controlled area.
In 1768, the
Portsmouth area was deemed unhealthy and plans began for a capital in
Roseau.
In 1770, the Dominican colonists demanded their own
parliament and the island became an independent colony with Sir William
Young as its first governor.
In 1773, the British-controlled area
had 3,350 whites, 750 free people of color and 18,753 slaves.
In
1776, Governor John Orde called on the government in London to abolish
Dominica's 1775 constitution in order to dissolve parliament.
In
1778, the French took advantage of the American War of Independence and
briefly recaptured the island on September 7 with troops under Marquis
de Bouille and with the active support of the population. Marquis
Duchilleau was appointed governor, 5,000 French soldiers were stationed
on Dominica and laws were passed against the British inhabitants.
In 1780, a hurricane caused severe damage on October 10. In the
French-controlled area, 1,066 whites, 543 free colored people and 12,713
slaves are counted.
In 1781, Roseau was destroyed by fire, 500
houses were lost. The French troops were blamed for this and the French
governor was replaced.
In 1782, the Battle of Les Saintes took
place on April 12th near some small islands off the northeast coast of
Dominica. The French Navy under Admiral François Joseph Paul de Grasse
lost to the British Navy under Admiral George Rodney.
In 1783,
the French had to return Dominica to England in the Peace of Paris.
In 1784, the new British governor, Sir John Orde, 1st Baronet,
reached Dominica in January and took the island back for Great Britain.
In 1785–1786, the First Maroon War broke out, an uprising of Maroons
under Chief Balla and others. They attack the Rosalie estate and the
British troops respond with a counterattack on Maroon camps at Belles.
Famous women such as Angelique, Calypso and Victorie are captured and
brought to trial. 150 Maroons are killed. Chief Balla is captured and
publicly executed. The slave from the Belfast estate who captured him is
given his freedom and 165 British pounds.
In 1787, the first
Methodist missionaries under Thomas Coke arrived on the island. In the
British-controlled area, there were 1,236 whites, 545 free people of
color and 14,967 slaves.
In 1788, a law to improve the living
conditions of slaves was passed in Parliament (House of Assembly).
In 1791, slaves revolted in the south and east of the island,
especially in St. Patrick Parish. Governor Sir John Orde suppressed the
revolt and received thanks from Parliament and plantation owners.
In 1795, the French tried in vain to recapture Dominica during the
Haitian Revolution, in which France was forced to grant independence to
its richest Caribbean colony. French revolutionary forces attacked the
island on the north coast. French sympathizers from Colihaut revolted
and tried to march through the jungle to join the invading troops. This
failed and the British repelled the attackers. 600 French residents were
deported from Dominica.
In 1796, faced with the difficulties of
the British troops in fighting the Maroons, Governor Andrew James
Cochrane Johnston founded the first Black Regiment of the West Indian
Regiments. It was formed from African slaves who were bought
specifically for this purpose and trained to defend the colony. It was
stationed in the garrison of Fort Shirley in Cabrits near Portsmouth.
In 1799, Parliament passed a law that allowed slaves to attend
religious services.
In 1802, the 8th West India Regiment revolted
in Fort Shirley. The slave soldiers were outraged by the working
conditions and feared being sent back to plantations. They took over the
fort for three days. Governor Cochrane deployed the Royal Scottish
Regiment from Roseau to put down the revolt. A large number of the slave
soldiers fled to the mountains and joined the Maroons; 34 of them were
hanged. The regiment was disbanded by Governor Cochrane.
In 1804,
Governor Cochrane was relieved of his command as a result of this
uprising and George Prevost became his successor.
In 1805, the
last French attack on Dominica took place. Troops under General La
Grange invaded from Martinique, captured Roseau and burned it to the
ground. The members of Parliament were taken hostage, a ransom of
£20,000 was demanded, but only £8,000 was paid. English troops under
Governor George Prevost rushed across the island through the "Carib
quarter" to Cabrits and prepared the garrison there for an attack. The
French ships approached Cabrits but decided to abort the attack; the
French troops withdrew from Dominica, which remained under British
control. In the same year, Dominica was officially declared a British
colony. In the British-controlled area, 1,594 whites, 2,882 free people
of color and 22,083 slaves were counted.
On September 9, 1806, a
devastating hurricane hit the island, the Roseau River swelled and
flooded the capital, numerous houses were washed away and 131 people
were killed.
In 1807, the abolitionist movement prevailed in
Great Britain, and the London Parliament banned the slave trade in the
British Empire with the Slave Trade Act, but not slavery.
In
1809, armed slaves attacked and destroyed a Maroon camp.
In 1812,
800 Maroons lived in 15 camps. In the same year, a new governor was
inaugurated: George Robert Ainslie. One of his first official acts was
to promise amnesty for Maroons who gave up the fight.
In 1813,
another devastating hurricane hit Dominica.
In 1814-1815, the
Second Maroon War broke out, with Maroon uprisings all over the island.
Governor George Robert Ainslie ordered massive retaliation. The old
Maroon chief Jacko was killed. Arrests, hangings and other punishments
took place. Between February and November 1814, a total of 577 Maroons
were killed, arrested or surrendered. With the end of this war, armed
resistance by Kalinago and Maroons apparently ended in general. Ainslie
was recalled to England to face charges of excessive cruelty.
In
1818, Governor Charles William Maxwell demanded that Dominica be given
the status of an externally governed crown colony and that parliament be
abolished, which he described as a "nest of fools and malcontents."
In 1822, laws were passed in Dominica (Amelioration Acts) to improve
the living conditions of the enslaved population.
In 1823,
Governor Earl of Huntingdon demanded that Dominica's constitution be
changed to reduce the number of its members from 19 to 13. He had given
up his "pious hopes" of being able to control parliament "in one of the
most radical colonies" and asked for immediate transfer to any other
post in the Empire ("anywhere in the world")
In 1825, another
devastating hurricane hit the island.
In 1829, a law was passed
that freed Catholics from the restrictions imposed on them by the
Protestant British government and allowed them to participate fully in
public and political life.
In 1831, a law was passed, the "Brown
Privilege Bill", which abolished all discrimination based on skin colour
for all free people. This mainly affected the population group of free
people of colour. The main export product at the time was coffee, which
accounted for around a third of the export value.
In 1832,
Dominica was assigned to the Leeward Islands administrative unit and was
now administered from St. John, the capital of Antigua. In the same
year, the Brown Privilege Bill passed the previous year had a political
impact: the first three colored men were elected to parliament.
In 1833, the London Parliament banned slavery in the British Empire with
the Slavery Abolition Act.
In 1834, on August 1, all slaves in
the Empire were granted freedom. However, a four-year transition period
(called the apprenticeship period) was decreed, during which the former
slaves had to continue working on the plantations, but now for wages. In
September, "The Great Hurricane" devastated the island.
In 1835,
many slaves from the neighboring French colonies of Guadeloupe and
Martinique fled to Dominica.
In 1837, the Royal Navy dropped
enslaved Africans that it had freed from foreign ships onto Dominica.
They settled as free people in various places on the island.
On
August 1, 1838, the transition period of the Slavery Abolition Act ended
and the colored population was granted full freedom. The feeling that a
free society was now being built spread. New villages were built on the
outskirts of the plantation estates. In the same year, the mulattos
achieved a majority in Dominica's parliament for the first time, the
first time in the British Empire.
With the emancipation of the
slaves, a transformation of the social structure began. On the one hand,
a new class of free farmers emerged. On the other hand, a class of
educated colored people rose to the surface, which was later called "The
Mulatto Ascendency or The Rise of the Mulatto Élite," and fought for
power with the ruling class of white plantation owners, who were allied
with the white office holders in the executive (officials in
authorities) and legislative branches (public prosecutors, judges, etc.)
as well as with urban white entrepreneurs (e.g. lawyers, traders and the
owner of the only newspaper). This struggle for influence over
parliament and society shaped Dominica for the rest of the 19th century
and beyond.
In 1839, the black George Charles Falconer arrived in
Dominica. Born in Barbados in 1819, he first learned carpentry and then
printing. This brought him into contact with books and he educated
himself. He left overpopulated Barbados and found a heated atmosphere in
Dominica. The free black people, who now had the majority in parliament,
tried to push through improvements for the black majority, but often
failed due to the parliamentary tricks of the plantation owners and
their allies in parliament and in the "Council" (a kind of upper house
of parliament). Their view of keeping the black people "in their place"
was also supported by Dominica's only daily newspaper, "The Colonist"
under owner Thomas Doyle. George Charles Falconer decided to found a
newspaper that would represent the view of the black majority. With some
secrecy, he imported a wooden printing press from Nevis and in October
1939 the first issue of “The Dominican” appeared with the motto “Deo,
Regina et Populo”. Falconer was the owner and editor, Francis Coquille
the publisher and printer. The newspaper was published until 1907. This
gave rise to a conservative and a liberal political movement. Falconer
became a spokesman and eventually parliamentary leader of the liberals.
In the course of the conflicts of the 19th century, the conservatives
gradually succeeded in disempowering parliament and thus the
representatives of the coloured majority, which reached its peak in
1898.
In 1844, there were uprisings against the census, called
"Census Riots" and "La Guerre Negre". The working population suspected
that the first census was intended to record the names of all people of
color in order to reinstate slavery. The militia suppressed the
uprisings.
In 1850, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Roseau was
established and the first bishop appointed. It covered the Leeward
Islands and the Virgin Islands. Intensive evangelization and baptisms
began throughout the island.
In 1856, the "Batalie Riots" took
place, when people occupied land at Batalie (including "The Queen's
Three Chains"). In the same year, a tax was introduced to finance road
repairs (Road Tax, colloquially known as "Traveau"), which was protested
against because it was the first tax imposed on all citizens and
required them to either work a few days a year on road construction or
pay money for repairs instead.
In 1857, the first Catholic nuns
(from Norwood in England) landed on the island and opened a convent
school.
In 1863, George Charles Falconer, now a member of the
House of Commons, was arrested for three days for speaking in Parliament
because the Speaker of Parliament considered his behavior to be
"contempt of Parliament." Falconer filed a lawsuit against this, which
was heard before the Privy Council in London in 1866.
In 1865,
Dominica was declared a crown colony at the request of the white
plantation owners in order to disempower Dominica's parliament, which
was controlled by people of color. However, this was only partially
implemented. The elected parliament was replaced by one consisting of
half elected and half appointed members.
In 1871, Dominica became
a full member of the colonial administrative unit Leeward Island, which
was governed from Antiqua.
In 1880, a column of steam (phreatic
eruption) erupted from the Boiling Lake, covering Roseau with ash and
spreading fear in the city.
In 1888, a land tax and other taxes
caused great controversy.
In 1898, Dominica's status as a crown
colony, which had already been decided in 1865, was put into practice by
sending the administrator Sir Hesketh Bell.
From 1914 to 1918,
volunteers from Dominica, mainly sons of small farmers, signed up to
fight in the British Army in Europe in the First World War.
In
1938, the state gave in to political pressure from the coloured people
and the formation of political parties was permitted.
In 1951,
the right to vote based on wealth was abolished and replaced by equal
voting rights. Women's suffrage was also introduced. This was confirmed
at independence in 1978.
Parties were formed and in 1957 the
island had its first chief minister. In 1957/58 the West Indian
Federation was formed, but it was dissolved in 1962. In 1967 the island
was granted limited independence, as defence and foreign policy remained
with Great Britain.
Independence from Great Britain was finally proclaimed on November 3,
1978, and Dominica has been a member of the United Nations since
December 8, 1978.
The first Prime Minister was Patrick John of
the social democratic DLP (Dominican Labour Party). His reign was marked
by personal gain and corruption, which led, among other things, to
bloody demonstrations and the founding of the conservative party
"Dominican Freedom Party" (DFP). A national emergency committee, the
Committee for National Salvation (CNS), elected the Minister of Economic
Affairs Oliver J. Seraphin as Prime Minister on June 21, 1979.
In
June 1980, Mary Eugenia Charles of the DFP party was elected as her
successor and remained in office for 15 years as the first female head
of state in the Caribbean region. Patrick John failed in his attempt in
1981 to overthrow the government of Prime Minister Eugenia Charles with
the help of members of the right-wing American Ku Klux Klan. Because of
this attempted coup, the armed forces were disbanded.
The economy
benefited from the success of banana exports in the 1980s, but suffered
severe disruption when several hurricanes destroyed numerous banana
plantations and blew away more fertile soil; in addition, Dominica lost
preferential access to the UK market in 1992. Since then, governments
have focused on diversifying the economy and promoting tourism, which is
also intended to include environmental activities such as reforestation
and the establishment of protected areas.
In 1997, the Morne
Trois Pitons National Park, established in 1975 and named after the
mountain of the same name, was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Pirate films such as Pirates of the Caribbean also contributed to the
tourism boom from 2003 onwards.
After the sudden death of Prime
Minister Pierre Charles, Roosevelt Skerrit took over in 2004.
In
2005, filming of the Hollywood blockbuster Pirates of the Caribbean 2
and its sequel took place in Dominica. A film crew of around 600 people
came to the island and hired a total of around 450 local employees for
security and catering, as drivers and extras. Filming took place at nine
locations, some of which had roads built especially for the occasion so
that the film crew could get to the location. There was also a lack of
accommodation, so some of the crew had to be brought to the filming
location by boat and plane every day. One of the filming locations was
Touna Village in the Kalinago Territory (the island's Kalinago reserve).
150 of the extras were recruited from the local Kalinago to film the
scenes with the cannibalistic "Pelegostos" at this location. The
Kalinago were divided on this issue: while some saw this as a welcome
additional income and an amusing pastime, others were outraged at the
popularization of old clichés about their people. Kalinago chief Carlo
called for a boycott and wrote an open letter criticizing the Disney
film for repeating the old stigma of cannibalism that has been hanging
over the Kalinago since colonial times and for which there is no
evidence. In the same year, a Kalinago, Kelly Graneau, was appointed
Minister for Caribbean Affairs for the first time. This was partly
linked to the importance of the Kalinago for tourism on the island.
Dominica is located at 15°18′N 61°23′W in the eastern Caribbean. As
one of the West Indian islands in the eastern archipelago of the Lesser
Antilles, Dominica is one of the Windward Islands.
According to
British usage, Dominica is one of the “Leeward Islands”, which means the
northern part of the group of islands known in German and other
languages as the Windward Islands. However, since Dominica is located
roughly in the middle of the archipelago, the boundaries between the
northern (Leeward Islands) and the more southerly (Windward Islands)
islands in this chain are drawn differently in many language areas, and
West Indian English partly follows international usage, Dominica is also
considered the northernmost of the “Windward Islands”.
Dominica
is located between the French Caribbean islands of two overseas
departments: Guadeloupe in the north and Martinique in the south. The
uninhabited Venezuelan island of Aves is located approximately 250 km to
the west.
The island of Dominica is just under 49 km long and no
more than 23 km wide. Its land area of 751 km² is roughly the same as
that of the city state of Hamburg. Its maritime exclusive economic zone
(also known colloquially as the 200-mile zone) covers 28,985 km², its
territorial sea (12-mile zone) 659 km², and its total sea area is
therefore 29,736 km². This puts it in 124th place worldwide.
Dominica's key points are
Northernmost point: unnamed islet just
north of Carib Point, Saint Andrew Parish
Southernmost point: coast
SE of Scotts Head, Saint Mark Parish
Westernmost point: Pointe Ronde,
Saint John Parish
Easternmost point: Pointe à Peine, Saint David
Parish
Dominica and the Lesser Antilles island chain lie on the eastern edge
of the Caribbean plate, in the subduction zone, in which the South
American plate is pushed under the Caribbean plate by plate tectonics.
For millions of years, subduction has led to volcanic activity and
earthquakes that still occur today (see Earthquakes in the Lesser
Antilles 1974). Like the entire island chain, Dominica was formed by
volcanoes. Its formation began in the Oligocene, around 26 million years
ago, making it the youngest of the Antilles islands. Like the other
islands, it is the summit of an underwater mountain formed by the
accumulation of magma.
Dominica has at least nine potentially
active volcanoes, one of the highest concentrations in the world. Over
the past 40,000 years, these have had dozens, possibly hundreds, of
eruptions. Over the past 350 years, there have been 14 seismic crises
from the volcanoes, with underground magma movement and earthquakes. One
of the island's most recent seismic activities was a steam eruption in
the Valley of Desolation in 1997.
The island's surface is almost
entirely made up of Pleistocene deposits, with the exception of a
Pliocene area in the east. Below this is Eocene volcanic basalt, and
andesite and rhyolite protrude above the deposits in places.
Some
of the highest mountains in the Lesser Antilles are found here, some
marked by volcanic craters. The highest elevation is the Morne
Diablotins at 1447 m; it is the second highest mountain in the Lesser
Antilles, surpassed only by the active volcano Soufrière on the
neighboring island of Basse-Terre (one of Guadeloupe's main islands).
The second highest elevation is the Morne Trois Pitons at 1423 m. The
landscape is one of the rockiest and most rugged in the Caribbean. 80%
of the coast is cliffs.
The combination of rugged, volcanic
landscape with high rainfall leads to remarkable water conditions.
Dominica is home to the Boiling Lake, a crater lake, the world's second
largest hot water spring, which is evidence of volcanic activity that
still exists underground today. In addition, the water-rich Dominica has
around 300 rivers or streams, waterfalls and several lakes such as
Freshwater Lake and the crater lake Boeri Lake, as well as other hot
springs.
The climate is tropical, tempered by northeasterly winds, with heavy
rainfall; Dominica is one of the wettest countries in the world.
This can lead to flooding and landslides, especially during the
hurricane season between May and November. In the 2021 World Risk
Report, Dominica is ranked 4th among the countries with the highest
disaster risk in the world.
Cyclones:
In November 1999,
Hurricane Lenny left a trail of devastation on the west coast.
In
August 2007, Hurricane Dean raged on the island, claiming at least two
lives.
In August 2015, Tropical Storm Erika killed 39 people. The
material damage caused by Erika amounted to 90% of the previous year's
gross domestic product.
On the night of September 18-19, 2017,
Hurricane Maria passed over Dominica with its eye, leaving behind great
devastation. 65 people were killed, including 34 missing people who
could not be found and were declared dead. Immediately after the
devastating hurricane, looting broke out in many of the island's towns,
in which police officers were also involved. The total damage, including
production losses, amounted to over USD 1.4 billion, almost twice the
gross domestic product of 2016.
Dominica is unofficially nicknamed the nature island because of its
lush and diverse flora and fauna. 1226 plant species have been
described.
50% of the island is covered by pristine evergreen
tropical rainforest, with mountain and cloud forest at higher
elevations.
172 bird species have been described, including
hummingbirds, broad-winged hawks, little herons and electric thrushes.
Dominica's national bird is the imperial amazon, an endangered species
of parrot native to the mountain forests.
The surrounding
Caribbean Sea is home to numerous species of whales, especially sperm
whales, which can be seen on calm days, as well as pilot whales, Borneo
dolphins, long-tailed dolphins and Tursiop's dolphins. Less common are
Cuvier's beaked whales, lesser killer whales, dwarf sperm whales, lesser
sperm whales, Risso's dolphins, common dolphins, humpback whales and
Bryde's whales. This makes Dominica interesting for whale watching.
Dominica had 73,000 inhabitants in 2022. Annual population growth was + 0.4%. A surplus of births (birth rate: 13.3 per 1,000 inhabitants vs. death rate: 8.9 per 1,000 inhabitants) contributed to population growth. The number of births per woman in 2022 was statistically 1.6, while that of the Latin America and Caribbean region was 1.8. In 2023, 19.4 percent of the population was under 15 years old, while the proportion of those over 64 was 9.8 percent of the population.
The Dominican population is divided into the following groups: 86.8%
black, 8.9% mulatto, 2.9% Caribbean and 0.8% European.
According
to StAGN, the citizens of Dominica are referred to as "Dominicans", in
contrast to the citizens of the Dominican Republic, which is several
times larger in area and located to the northwest, who are called
"Dominicans".
The Caribbean takes its name from these indigenous people, who call
themselves Kalinago or Kalinagos. The largest almost homogeneous
population of Caribs in the world lives in a reserve (Kalinago
Territory) in the east of Dominica. The figures for the unmixed
indigenous people of this reserve vary. Dominica Weekly states that
there were 1,000 unmixed Caribs in 2008. In contrast, a Caribbean woman
puts the number of unmixed Caribs in the reserve at only around 300. The
British colonial government set up the Carib reserve in 1903, and its
chief is Garnet Joseph, who was elected in July 2009.
In 1902,
Henry Hesketh Bell (1864–1952), the administrator of the island, wrote
to Joseph Chamberlain, the British Secretary of State for the Colonies,
that at the time of discovery, some of the islands were inhabited by a
"mild and timid race" and the smaller islands by warlike Caribs, as he
believed he had learned from French historians of the 17th century.
According to Bell, their indomitable - "heroic" - resistance enabled
them to escape slavery on the other islands. He goes on to report that
the Caribs came as conquerors from the mainland and subjugated the
"Arrowak". From then on, the daughters spoke the Carib language, but the
sons spoke the Arouak language. However, the population was small
overall, the villages known as "Carbet" never consisted of more than 30
huts and were located on the coast. The Caribs only went into the
mountains to hunt. They built ocean-going canoes and went fishing with
them. It can be assumed that they hunted slaves, but whether the rumors
of cannibalism were based on any truth or were just meant to scare off
the Spanish is unclear.
In any case, this was the argument used
by the Spanish king in 1547 to allow the enslavement of the Caribs.
However, since they were worthless as slaves - they preferred to die
rather than live as slaves - they were killed immediately and without
any contact. By 1600, the Caribs only controlled Guadeloupe, Dominica
and Martinique. Europeans also settled on Dominica, in this case French.
One of them, Du Tertre, gave the number of Caribs as 938 in 1633, spread
across 32 villages. In contrast, there were 349 French on the island,
plus 23 mulattoes and 338 black slaves. In 1635, several Carib groups
attempted to attack Guadeloupe, but this was repelled and then used as a
pretext to exterminate the Caribs on Guadeloupe. Some escaped to
Dominica. Since the same approach was evidently followed in Martinique,
numerous refugees came to Dominica, where the majority of the Caribs now
lived. The local French had to give way to their superior numbers. In
1666, the French also vacated Antigua. In the Treaty of Aachen of 1748,
which also regulated ownership in this region, Dominica appears as a
neutral island, since it did not belong to any of the colonial powers.
Nevertheless, French settlements were established on the west side of
Dominica, and the Caribs were unable to drive the settlers away. The
British supported the Caribs against the French, but as soon as they
themselves became colonial masters in 1763, they treated the Indians
themselves as the French had done before. In the end, they were left
with only a tiny area of less than one square kilometre (232 acres).
But the Caribs successfully defended the interior and were joined by
escaped slaves. In 1791 there were only 20 to 30 families and they had
fled to the northeast of the island, to the villages of Salybia and
Bataka. They are also said to have given up cannibalism around this
time. By the end of the 19th century they had become so assimilated that
on Sundays, as Bell wrote, they wore black skirts and tall hats. He
estimated the number of full-blooded Caribs at 120, plus around 280
mixed-race people. Rochefort compiled a brief glossary in 1665. Around
1900 their chief was Auguste François, but he was called "Ogiste". Bell
proposed expanding the Carib reserve to 3700 acres (15 km²).
In
May 2008, Chief Charles Williams proposed banning marriages between the
approximately 1,000 Kalinagos, as the Caribs are called to distinguish
them from the rest of the people living on the reservation, and
non-Kalinagos, but the government rejected the program to save the last
Carib population because it would restrict civil liberties.
English is the official language and is generally understood and
spoken. The native Caribbean language, or Kalinago, originally spoken
throughout the region, has been extinct since 1920. Dominica was also
the last island where Kalinago was spoken. Dominican Creole, called
Patwa by the locals, is widely spoken. It is a variant of Antillean
Creole based on French and dates back to the French colonial period from
1690 onwards, when a majority of the population spoke French Creole, as
well as to the location between the two French-speaking islands of
Martinique and Guadeloupe.
Dominica has been a member of the
Francophonie since 1979. Dominican Creole is used particularly by the
older generation. The use of Creole is declining among the younger
generations, which is why initiatives have been launched to keep it
alive.
About 80% of the population is Catholic, 15% Protestant (5% Methodist, 3% Pentecostal, 3% Adventist, 2% Baptist, 2% other). Voodoo and voodoo-like religions are also widespread and are often practiced in parallel with Christian religious beliefs.
The country's health expenditure in 2021 amounted to 6.5% of gross domestic product. In 2017, 11.4 doctors per 10,000 inhabitants practiced in Dominica. The mortality rate among children under 5 years of age was 32.2 per 1,000 live births in 2022. Basic supplies of medical equipment and supplies in Dominica's hospitals are not always guaranteed.
Dominica has an unusually high number of centenarians, i.e. people over 100 years of age. In 2001, over 20 were officially recorded, which corresponds to a rate of one centenary per 3,450 inhabitants (for comparison: in Germany the rate is around 1 in 12,200, as of 2000, i.e. almost 75% lower). Legends still surround one of the supposedly oldest people in the world, the Dominican Mione Elizabeth George Israel, or simply Ma Pampo, who died on October 14, 2003 in Dominica at the legendary age of 128. However, to date there is no document that could prove her birthday (January 27, 1875) with certainty.
The country is a parliamentary republic, one of the few in the Caribbean. It is shaped by the British constitutional tradition.
There is a unicameral parliament, the House of Assembly, with a
five-year legislative period and 30 members. Of these, 21 are elected, 5
are appointed by the head of government and 4 by the opposition. All
persons aged 18 and over are eligible to vote.
As in the
elections in 2000, 2002, 2009 and 2014, the Dominica Labour Party also
won the parliamentary election on December 6, 2019, the fifth election
in a row. It received 59% of the vote and won the parliamentary seat in
18 of 21 constituencies. The United Workers Party won 41% of the vote
and 3 seats in the House of Assembly. Roosevelt Skerrit was thus
confirmed as Prime Minister for another term.
Dominica's judicial system includes
the Eastern Caribbean Supreme
Court in St. Lucia, which administers justice in its member states; it
consists of
the High Court of 16 judges, one of whom must reside in
Dominica; it deals with fundamental cases (constitutional issues, human
rights issues)
a Court of Appeal, which acts as the highest court of
appeal
a higher court (Court of Summary Jurisdiction) in Dominica,
which must be presided over by a judge of the Supreme Court
four
regional courts (Magistrates Courts), which are responsible for simple
cases
There is a President with mainly representative duties. Executive power lies with the Prime Minister and his cabinet, whose ministers are responsible for several ministries and authorities.
The country is a member of the Commonwealth of Nations, the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS), the Organization of American States (OAS), the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC), the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS) and the economic alliance Bolivarian Alliance for the Americas (ALBA). It is also one of the sponsors of the University of the West Indies.
The country protects its environment with several protected areas, including the Morne Trois Pitons National Park, which was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1997.
Dominica's economy is dependent on agriculture, especially bananas,
and remains very vulnerable due to climatic conditions and dependence on
international funding projects. With a GDP per capita of US$7,356 in
2016, the country had roughly the same level of prosperity as Bulgaria.
Hurricanes Marilyn and Luis almost completely destroyed the banana crop
in 1995, after tropical storms had already wiped out a quarter of the
harvest in 1994. The economy later recovered through growth in the
construction industry, soap production and tourism. Economic growth is
sluggish, and unemployment is over 20%.
A significant economic
sector is the passport trade with wealthy customers, according to 2023
estimates. Citizens of Dominica can travel to 110 countries around the
world, including the European Union, without a visa, which makes
citizenship valuable. According to research by the Organized Crime and
Corruption Reporting Project, more than 7,000 people officially acquired
citizenship for around $100,000. Between 2009 and 2021, around $775
million was earned in this way. However, according to investigations
into the Dominican state budget, up to 25,000 people may have made use
of such a program. The United Kingdom then reintroduced the visa
requirement for Dominica in the summer of 2023, but the European Union
left it visa-free.
The most important agricultural products are bananas, yams, grapefruit, taro, milk, coconuts, oranges, yautia, plantains and sugar cane.
According to the FAO, as of 2019, the fisheries sector is
characterized by the following figures:
Fishing fleet: 434 vessels,
mainly motorized boats under 12 m
Employed: 912, of which 17 are
women
Catch: fluctuates greatly, with 500 tons in 2013, 1,000 in
2014, almost 800 in 2017
Distribution: fresh sale to local consumers;
there is no fish processing industry with storage facilities; therefore,
surplus fish becomes waste
Aquaculture: aquaculture companies produce
an estimated 1 ton of shrimp and 5 tons of tilapia per year on around 11
hectares
Exports: very limited, worth USD 7,000 in 2016
Imports:
USD 1.6 million
Consumption: 27.1 kg per capita
Trends: since the
decline in banana production, many farmers have turned to fishing as a
source of income; There is also an increased demand for fish in the
country due to growing tourism.
Dominica wants to build a refinery on the island together with Venezuela and work together in the field of geothermal energy production and hydropower use.
Manufacturing: The production of soap, coconut oil, copra, furniture,
cement blocks and shoes is important in Dominica.
Energy supply:
Electrification (access to electricity for the population) is 100%
(2020). Electricity production in 2016 was 111.4 million kWh,
electricity consumption 103.6 million kWh. Electricity is neither
imported nor exported.
Exports amounted to USD 160 million in 2018. The main exports were
medical technology, pharmaceuticals, electrical protective equipment,
tropical fruits and bandages (2019). The main buyers were Saudi Arabia
with 47% and Qatar with 5% (2019).
Imports amounted to USD 430
million in 2018. Imports mainly included refined oil, natural gas, crude
oil, recreational boats and automobiles (2019). The main suppliers were
the United States with 57%, Nigeria with 11%, China with 6% and Italy
with 5% (2019).
Dominica is a member of the Petrocaribe economic
alliance, which gives the island preferential access to Venezuelan oil,
and is a member of the ALBA alliance.
The country also benefits
from the Caribbean Basin Initiative (CBI), which allows duty-free access
to the United States for many products.
Dominica belongs to other
economically useful associations: Caribbean Community (CARICOM), CARICOM
Single Market and Economy (CSME), Organisation of Eastern Caribbean
States (OECS).
Road network: 1,512 km (2018)
Rail network: 0
Ports: There are
seaports in Portsmouth and Roseau.
Dominica has two airports: Douglas-Charles Airport (IATA airport code
DOM) and Canefield Airport (IATA code DCF). Neither has international
approval for large passenger aircraft, which is seen as one of the main
obstacles to the island state's tourism development. Douglas-Charles
Airport was called Melville Hall Airport until it was officially renamed
on October 27, 2014. In recent years it has been expanded with financial
support from the EU and Venezuela and has had a longer and wider runway
and an instrument landing system since the end of 2010, so that landings
can also be made at night and in poor visibility. Until April 2019,
Dominica was the last country in the world to operate an airport without
being a member of ICAO. On June 9, 2021, a contract to build a new
international airport near the community of Wesley was signed between
the government of Dominica and the Montreal Management Consultant
Establishment (MMCE), which specializes in the visa and citizenship
trade, for $1 billion, despite opposition from villagers affected by the
forced eviction and allegations of money laundering of the proceeds from
the controversial trade in citizenship and visas. Completion was
originally planned for 2025, but in October 2022 Prime Minister
Roosevelt Skerrit named 2026 as the planned year of completion.
On November 9, 2024, the official groundbreaking ceremony took place at
the construction site of the new airport.
Public transport: there are several bus companies, mainly private,
that offer regular routes
Taxis: There are at least three taxi
companies
Car rental: four car rental companies offer their services
Shipping: There are several ferries to the neighboring islands. There
are 93 ships registered in the merchant navy, including 30 cargo ships,
19 oil tankers and 44 others (2021)
Air traffic: no own airlines, but
several from North America and Europe fly to Dominica
Tourism has become more important since agriculture has become less
important. However, tourism development is slow, mainly due to the
rugged coastline, the almost complete lack of sandy beaches (with a few
exceptions on the west coast, e.g. near Salisbury) and the lack of an
international commercial airport.
The European Union is currently
Dominica's most important partner in promoting the economy and tourism.
Between 2002 and 2006, the government tried to gradually build up an
ecologically oriented tourism industry with the Eco-Tourism Development
Programme (ETDP), a support programme for ecotourism in cooperation with
the EU.
The government's attempts to promote tourism have so far
shown little success. The millions of dollars invested in the expansion
of Douglas-Charles Airport are considered useless by critics, as the
airport still does not have international approval and only small
aircraft from the surrounding islands can land there.
In December
2007, Dominica received 36 million XCD (approx. 9.1 million euros) in
funding from the EU's development aid budget.
The financial services industry has been growing since the 1980s.
Offshore banking plays a role in this.
The banks located here
include: Scotiabank, Royal Bank of Canada, Cathedral Investment Bank,
First Caribbean International Bank and The Interoceanic Bank of the
Caribbean.
The Financial Service Unit of the Commonwealth of
Dominica (FSU), which is subordinate to the Ministry of Finance, is
responsible for supervision and regulation.
Since the mid-1990s,
offshore countries (tax havens) have come under increasing pressure from
the OECD, which criticized their tax policies and threatened to put them
on a blacklist against which sanctions would be imposed. Dominica was
able to prevent this by adapting its financial and tax laws to the
requirements of the OECD and agreeing to an exchange of information on
tax-evading citizens.
It is believed that Dominica grants tax
exemption to foreign companies. How many companies benefit from this is
not known because the government maintains strict confidentiality.
However, it is known that many Internet companies and hedge funds use
Dominica for this purpose. On July 12, 2012, Dominica entered into an
agreement with Poland to exchange such tax information.
Dominica has two daily newspapers, The Sun and The Chronicle.
Historical newspapers include The Dominican, The Dominica Guardian and
the Dominica Colonist, which are available online for free at the
Digital Library of the Caribbean.
There are two national
television stations and a few radio stations:
ZBC-AM 590
Radio En
Ba Mango 93.5/96.9FM
ZGBC-AM 740,
ZGBC-FM 90.7 (Portsmouth)
ZGBC-FM 102.1 (Roseau)
ZGBC-FM 106.1 (Marigot)
Q95 FM
The
Dominica Broadcasting Corporation
Kairi FM
From 2005, Digicel and the British company Orange (which ceased
operating in Dominica in 2010) offered telecommunications services. A
number of mobile operators operate in the country, notably LIME and
Digicel.
In 2021, 82.4 percent of Dominica's residents used the
Internet.