Dominica

Dominica is an island in the Caribbean Sea.

It has tall green mountains. People speak English. Many also speak a kind of French.

Dominica is an island country in the Lesser Antilles, in the eastern Caribbean Sea. It lies between the French islands of Guadeloupe to the north and Martinique to the south. Tall mountains covered in rainforest run down the middle of the island.

English is the official language, but many people speak a creole based on French. The capital is Roseau. The Central Statistics Office's latest estimate was 67,408 people at the end of 2017. Dominica calls itself the 'nature island' of the Caribbean. The photo shows the Caribbean Sea.

Britannica places Dominica in the Lesser Antilles between Guadeloupe and Marie-Galante to the north and Martinique to the south; it has been a Commonwealth member since independence in 1978. The area is 751 km² and the currency is the Eastern Caribbean dollar. English is official; a French patois is widely spoken, and Carib place-names survive.

The Central Statistics Office's newest published estimate is 67,408 (end of 2017, preliminary), down from 71,379 at the end of 2016. A census was taken in 2022, rescheduled from 2021 because of the pandemic, but its results have not been published. The island markets itself as the 'nature island' of the Caribbean.

Roseau is the capital city.

It is by the sea. A big national park with hot springs is close by.

Roseau, the capital, is on the southwest coast. Cruise ships visit its port, and Morne Trois Pitons National Park, a World Heritage Site, begins about 8 kilometers east of town. Portsmouth is the main boatbuilding town.

In the east is the Kalinago Territory. The Kalinago, also called Caribs, are descendants of the people who lived on the island before Europeans came. They still make dugout canoes and finely woven baskets.

Roseau has a Roman Catholic cathedral, St. George's Church (Anglican), Government House and a museum; Morne Trois Pitons National Park lies about 8 km east. Portsmouth is the main boatbuilding center, and the ports of Prince Rupert Bay and Roseau receive cruise-ship passengers.

Britannica notes that Dominica is the only island with a relatively large, distinctive group of Caribs (Kalinago), descendants of the island's pre-colonial people. Most live in the roughly 1,500-hectare territory in the east, among the country's poorest residents. Their material culture survives in dugout canoes and intricate baskets, and a cultural center in Roseau supported a renaissance in the 1990s.

Dominica was made by volcanoes.

Steam comes out of the ground. There is a lake so hot that it bubbles. Many rivers run down the mountains.

Dominica is a volcanic island. Its volcanoes rarely erupt, but steam vents called fumaroles and hot springs show the heat underground. The Boiling Lake is a huge hot spring: its water is about 95 °C, and gases push the water up as it bubbles and churns.

Forest-covered mountains run north to south; Morne Diablotins is the highest at 1,447 meters. Many rivers flow down to the sea. Rain is heavy in the mountains, up to 6,350 millimeters a year, and the rainy season, from June to October, is also hurricane season.

The island is volcanic, with active centers though eruptions are rare; fumaroles and hot springs mark geothermal activity. UNESCO describes Morne Trois Pitons National Park (inscribed 1997; 6,857 ha, about 9% of the land) as having five volcanic centers, 50 fumaroles, hot springs, three freshwater lakes and the Boiling Lake, a hot spring of about 95 °C. In the Valley of Desolation, colored streams, mud ponds and fumaroles contrast with bare ground.

A forested range runs north to south, cut by the plain of the Layou River; Morne Diablotins reaches 1,447 m. Numerous rivers are unnavigable. Coastal rainfall ranges from about 1,500 to 3,700 mm, reaching 6,350 mm in the mountains; summer highs average 32 °C, and the June to October rainy season is the likeliest time for hurricanes.

Two kinds of parrots live only on Dominica.

The sisserou parrot is one of them. Sperm whale families swim in the sea nearby.

Dominica has more forest than any other island of the Lesser Antilles. Two parrots live only here: the imperial parrot, or sisserou, and the smaller red-necked parrot. A big frog called the mountain chicken is now highly endangered because of a disease. Hercules beetles, among the largest beetles in the world, live in its forests too.

About 200 sperm whales live offshore, the prime minister has said, mostly mothers, grandmothers and daughters who stay together for life. In 2023 the government announced a reserve of about 300 square miles (780 square kilometers) of sea for them. The whales in the photo were photographed off Mauritius.

Britannica calls Dominica the most heavily forested island of the Lesser Antilles. The imperial parrot or sisserou (Amazona imperialis) and the red-necked parrot (A. arausiaca) are endemic; the blue-headed hummingbird is shared only with Martinique. The mountain chicken (Leptodactylus fallax), a large frog once eaten as a national dish, is highly endangered by a fungal disease. The Animal Diversity Web lists Dominica in the range of the Hercules beetle.

In November 2023 the government announced about 300 square miles of sea, under 3% of its waters, as a reserve for its roughly 200 sperm whales, which CBS News reported as the world's first such protected area; the threats named were ship strikes, entanglement, plastic and noise. The Dominica Sperm Whale Project has identified more than 35 family clans. The photo shows a mother and calf off Mauritius.

Most people have African ancestors.

Many speak a creole like French. Farmers grow bananas and coconuts.

Most Dominicans have African ancestors, and there are smaller groups with European, South Asian and Kalinago roots. Because France ruled the island for a time and is close by on Guadeloupe and Martinique, French influence remains in the creole language and in cooking with local fish and vegetables. Most people are Roman Catholic.

Farming is still the most important work: bananas, citrus fruits and coconuts are the main crops, and soap made from coconut oil is sold abroad. Visitors come for its forests and wildlife.

The population is mainly of African descent, with some Europeans, people of South Asian origin and Kalinago. Roman Catholicism predominates, unusual in a former British colony, alongside Methodists, Pentecostals and Adventists. Dominica's French-based creole was revived in the 1980s and '90s with a dictionary, and slavery-era Afro-French dances, drama and music have been revived too. Jean Rhys set Wide Sargasso Sea (1966) on an island clearly drawn from Dominica.

Agriculture remains the largest sector; bananas, nearly half of export earnings in the 1980s, were repeatedly devastated by hurricanes. Citrus, coconuts, cocoa and coffee are grown, coconut-oil soap is exported, and pumice is the main mineral. Tourism grew in the late 20th century despite few good beaches. Primary education is free and compulsory.