Dominica

Official nameCommonwealth of Dominica
Name in local languageCommonwealth of Dominica (en) ; Communauté de la Dominique (fr)
ContinentAmericas
SubcontinentCaribbean
Population (ranking: 215e)74,679 inhabitants (2019)
Population growth0.50 % / year
Area754 km²
Density99.04 inhabitants / km²
GDP (ranking: 211e)0.504 billions $USD (2018)
GDP/capita (ranking)7,032 $USD (2018)
GDP growth0.50 % / year (2018)
Life expectancy (ranking)78.10 years (2018)
Birth rate15.68 ‰ (2010)
Fertility rate2.08 children / woman (2010)
Death rate (ranking)8.12 ‰ (2010)
Infant mortality rate (ranking)13.20 ‰ (2010)
Literacy rate94.00 % (2003)
Official languagesEnglish, Dominican Creole French (80%)
CurrencyEast Caribbean dollar ($ XCD)
HDI (ranking: 132e)0.724 / 1 (2018)
EPI (ranking)59.38 (2018)
GovernmentUnitary parliamentary republic
Head of StatePresident Charles Savarin
National Day3 November (independence of 1978)
ISO CodesDM, DMA
DemonymDominiquais
Tourists (ranking)79,000 people (2017)
Dominique – petite
Wedged between French and English, Dominica is looking for an identity

Dominica is a country and an island of the Caribbean archipelago, located between the French islands of Saintes and Marie-Galante (two dependencies of Guadeloupe) to the north, and Martinique to the south. His pre-Columbian name is Wai’tu kubuli which means “His body is great”. Dominica is a paradise island as we often meet in the Caribbean. It is located halfway between Martinique and Guadeloupe, hence the incessant struggle for centuries between French and English to appropriate this territory.
It is the last place to meet Caribbean Indians (estimated at about 3,000), who had colonized all the islands in the region or almost before the arrival of Europeans. The latter really exterminated the inhabitants when they arrived, as they did in many colonized places on the planet.
The island is now independent of the British colonizer, and lives thanks to agriculture and tourism. A fragile economy that is dependent on the outside, which regularly pushes many young people to try their luck abroad, emptying the country of some of its forces.

Scott's Head, Doninica
Scott’s Head, Doninica. Photo: Charlottea
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Urban areas (2010)
Urban areasPopulation
Roseau19,516 inhabitants
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See also