Commonwealth of Dominica | |
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Motto: "Après Bondie, C'est La Ter" (Antillean Creole) "After God is the Earth" "Après le Bon Dieu, c'est la Terre" | |
Anthem: Isle of Beauty, Isle of Splendour | |
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Capital and largest city | Roseau 15°18′N 61°23′W / 15.300°N 61.383°W |
Official languages | English |
Recognised national languages | |
Ethnic groups (2001) | Black 86.8% Mixed 8.9% Carib Amerindian 2.9% White 0.8% Other 0.7%[1] |
Demonym(s) | Dominican |
Government | Parliamentary republic |
Sylvanie Burton[2] | |
Roosevelt Skerrit | |
Independence | |
• from the United Kingdom | 3 November 1978 |
Area | |
• Total | 790 km2 (310 sq mi) (184th) |
• Water (%) | 1.6 |
Population | |
• July 2009 estimate | 72,660 (195th) |
• 2011 census | 71,293 |
• Density | 105/km2 (271.9/sq mi) (95th) |
GDP (PPP) | 2011 estimate |
• Total | $977 million[3] |
• Per capita | $13,815[3] |
GDP (nominal) | 2011 estimate |
• Total | $489 million[3] |
• Per capita | $6,909[3] |
HDI (2007) | ![]() high · 73rd |
Currency | East Caribbean dollar (XCD) |
Time zone | UTC–4 (Eastern Caribbean) |
Driving side | left |
Calling code | +1-767 |
ISO 3166 code | DM |
Internet TLD | .dm |
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The Commonwealth of Dominica is an island nation in the Caribbean Sea. It is an English-speaking country.[4] It is between the French-speaking territories of Guadeloupe and Martinique. The island is 751 km² (290 mi²) in area. Roseau is its capital. Portsmouth is another main town. Almost 70,000 people live on the island.
The currency of the island is the East Caribbean dollar.
The island's name comes from the Latin for Sunday, Dies Dominica. It is not the Spanish-speaking Dominican Republic in the Greater Antilles.
The country is nicknamed the Nature Island of the Caribbean.
Dominica is most famously depicted in Jean Rhys' classic prequel to Jane Eyre, Wide Sargasso Sea.