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Facts at a Glance

Area: 290 sq miles (166 sq km)
Population: 71,000
Capital city: Roseau
People: African descent (90%), native Carib (4%)
Language: English, French-based patois
Religion: Roman Catholic (75%), Anglican, Methodist, Pentecostal, Baptist, Seventh Day Adventist and Baha'i
Government: Independent state within the British Commonwealth
Major industries: Agriculture (primarily bananas and coconuts), tourism

History

The Caribs, who settled here in the 14th century, called the island Waitikubuli, which means `tall is her body.' With less poetic flair, Christopher Columbus named the island after the day of the week he spotted it - Sunday, 3 November 1493.

In 1607, Captain John Smith and his followers stopped at the Dominican coastal settlement of Portsmouth for a couple of days before heading north to establish Jamestown, North America's first permanent English settlement. The harbor became so important to the British that they intended to make Portsmouth the island's capital until outbreaks of malaria and yellow fever thwarted the plan.

France laid claim to the island in 1635 and a few years later sent a contingent of missionaries, who were driven off by unwelcoming Caribs. The French and English signed a neutrality treaty in 1660 agreeing to Carib possession of the island. Nevertheless, French settlers from the neighboring French West Indies began establishing coffee plantations on Dominica toward the end of the century. France then sent a governor in the 1720s and took formal possession of the island.

For the remainder of the 18th century, Dominica was caught up in the French and British skirmishes that marked the era, changing hands between the two powers several times. Under the Treaty of Paris, the French reluctantly ceded the island to the British in 1763. The French tried to recapture Dominica in 1795 and again in 1805, when they managed to burn much of Roseau to the ground.

After 1805 the island remained firmly in the possession of the British, who established sugar plantations on Dominica's more accessible slopes. The British administered the island as part of the Leeward Islands Federation until 1939, when it was transferred to the Windward Islands Federation. In 1967, Dominica gained control over its internal affairs as a West Indies Associated State; in 1978, on the 485th anniversary of Columbus' `discovery,' Dominica became an independent republic within the Commonwealth.

The initial year of independence was a turbulent one. The island's first prime minister, Patrick John, was forced to resign in June 1979 after a series of corrupt schemes came to light, including an attempt to transfer 15% of the island to US developers. Hurricane David, packing winds of 150 miles an hour, devastated the island in August 1979, denuding vast tracts of forest, destroying banana crops and wreaking havoc on much of Roseau. 42 people were killed and 75% of the islanders' homes were destroyed or severely damaged.

In 1980 Mary Eugenia Charles was elected Prime Minister, becoming the first female elected head of state in the Caribbean. Within a year of her inauguration she survived two unsuccessful coups, including a bizarre attempt orchestrated by Patrick John involving mercenaries recruited from the Ku Klux Klan.

As chairperson of the Organization of East Caribbean States, Prime Minister Charles endorsed the 1983 US invasion of Grenada and sent a symbolic force of Dominican troops to participate. An appreciative USA responded with increased aid to Dominica, one consequence of which is the island's fine paved roads. After 15 years in office, Charles resigned in 1995. Since then, the country's Prime Minister has been Edison James.

Culture

Despite Dominica's political affiliations and choice of measurement standard, the French have had a more lasting influence on the island than the British. This can be seen in the predominance of Roman Catholicism, the widespread use of French-based patois, and the commonness of French place names. African, West Indian and native Carib traditions all contribute to a Creole culture, resulting in mix of language, food, art and customs. Common sights include Carib dugout canoes, stilt houses, Rastafarian dreadlocks, and red, green and yellow African clothing. Dominica has a thriving music scene, centered mainly around reggae, calypso and zouk. Cricket and soccer are the most popular sports.

Dominica's most celebrated author, Jean Rhys, was born in Roseau in 1890. Although she moved to England at age 16 and only made one brief return visit to Dominica, much of her work draws upon her childhood experiences in the West Indies. Rhys touches lightly upon her life in Dominica in her books Voyage in the Dark (1934) and her autobiography Smile Please (1979).

Places of Interest

Roseau

While Roseau (pronounced `rose-oh') is one of the region's poorer capitals, it's not the grimmest. Shopkeepers wash down the sidewalks every morning, the streets are lined with old stone-and-wood buildings, and mountains form a verdant backdrop. The city has rebuilt its waterfront, which was severely damaged by Hurricane David, and it now boasts a new cruise ship dock and promenade. There are a growing number of modern cement structures too, since this is a functional market town, but for the most part walking Roseau's quieter backstreets feels like stepping back a hundred years in time.

You can get a reminder of the more inhumane aspects of Dominica's colonial past in the cobblestone plaza of the Old Market, the site of a former slave market, where a wrought iron Victorian-style memorial marks the old block where slave auctions took place. There are interesting displays on the slave trade, Creole and Amerindian culture at the Dominica Museum. At the public market you can find fresh fruit, vegetables and herbs; the blowing of a conch shell signals fresh fish for sale. Other worthwhile sights include the old stone Catholic cathedral, the botanical gardens, the Anglican church, and the public library, built in 1905 with funds from US philanthropist Andrew Carnegie.

Cabrits National Park

Located on a scenic peninsula just north of Portsmouth, this park is best known as the site of Fort Shirley, a large 18th-century British garrison which once housed 600 soldiers. Some of the fort's stone ruins have been partially reconstructed; others are half-hidden in the jungle and are fun to explore. There are fine views of Prince Rupert Bay from the ruins of the Officer's Quarters. The park encompasses the peninsula, the surrounding coast and coral reefs, and the island's largest swamp.

Carib Territory

The 3700-acre (1497-hectare) Carib Territory is home to most of Dominica's 3000 Carib Indians. After exposure to European-borne diseases in the 17th century, the Carib population here fell to just a few hundred, but that was fortunate compared to the decimation Caribs suffered on other Caribbean islands. The remaining few were removed to a small `reserve' in the mid-18th century - the nucleus of the present-day Territory. Although their numbers have increased since then, their culture has been eroded by Roman Catholicism and the English and French Creole languages.

The Territory is a predominantly rural area with banana and breadfruit trees and wild heliconia growing along the roadside. Many of the houses are traditional Carib-style wooden structures on log stilts, but the poorer areas consist of shanties made of corrugated tin and tarpaper. Salybia is the main settlement, while the L'Escalier Tête Chien at Sineka is the most popular attraction. This unique stairway-like lava outcrop appears to climb out of the turbulent ocean and was thought by the Caribs to be the embodiment of a boa constrictor; it holds a significant place in many Carib legends.

Morne Trois Pitons National Park

This national park, in the southern half of the island, encompasses 17,000 acres (6880 hectares) of Dominica's mountainous volcanic interior and contains many of the island's top wilderness sites. Most of the park is primordial rainforest, varying from jungles thick with tall, pillar-like gommier trees to the stunted cloud forest cover on the upper slopes of Morne Trois Pitons (4550 feet [1389m]) itself.

Emerald Pool, at the northernmost tip of the park, is a small basin in a lush green setting at the foot of a gentle waterfall. It's on the road that runs between Canefield and Castle Bruce, a drive which goes through jungle vegetation and has mountain views and lots of beep-as-you-go hairpin turns. The pool is a five-minute walk from the road, through a rainforest of ferns and tall trees.

Dominica's preeminent trek is the rugged day-long hike to Boiling Lake, the world's second-largest actively boiling lake. Geologists believe the 207-foot-wide (63m) lake is a flooded fumarole, a crack in the earth that is allowing hot gases to vent from the molten lava below. The eerie-looking lake sits inside a deep basin, its grayish waters veiled in steam, emitting bubbly burps.

Scotts Head

Scotts Head, a tiny fishing village of only 800 souls, is a fun place to kick around. It has a gem of a setting along the gently curving shoreline of Soufrière Bay (the rim of a sunken volcanic crater) and mountains as a scenic backdrop. Divers can check out Scotts Head Drop, a shallow coral ledge that drops abruptly to a depth of over 160 feet (50m) and has a wall of tube sponges and soft corals. Scotts Head is just a 30-minute drive along the coast road south of Roseau. Most of the road skirts the water's edge, but there's a rollercoaster section near the village of Soufrière that winds into the mountains and gives a bird's-eye view of the coast.