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98-665: Tobago Gibraltar is a self-governing overseas territory of the UK . Most of the other 13 British Overseas Territories also have autonomy in internal affairs through local legislatures. Aruba , Curaçao , and Sint Maarten are autonomous countries within the Kingdom of the Netherlands , each with their own parliament. In addition they enjoy autonomy in taxation matters as well as having their own currencies. The French Constitution recognises three autonomous jurisdictions. Corsica ,

196-709: A Bilateral Immunity Agreement of protection with the US military, as covered under Article 98 . In January 2008, Dominica joined the Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas . Both male and female same-sex sexual activity were criminalized in Dominica in the 19th century during the colonial era. In April 2024, Dominican attorney-at-law Cara Shillingford persuaded the High Court of Justice to overturn

294-399: A landslide caused by the heavy rains crushed their house. In another incident two people were injured when a tree fell on their house. Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit estimated that 100 to 125 homes were damaged, and that the agricultural sector was extensively damaged, in particular the banana crop. In August 2015, Tropical Storm Erika caused extensive flooding and landslides across

392-507: A region of France , enjoys a greater degree of autonomy on matters such as tax and education compared to mainland regions. New Caledonia , a sui generis collectivity, and French Polynesia , an overseas collectivity , are highly autonomous territories with their own government, legislature, currency, and constitution. They do not, however, have legislative powers for policy areas relating to law and order, defense, border control or university education. Other smaller overseas collectivities have

490-403: A 4-foot (1.2-metre) jewfish , a member of the grouper family. The wreck was purposely sunk for divers, and so all the doors and windows were removed. The waters around the island are home to many species of tropical fish, rays , sharks, and turtles. Tobago is home to two golf courses, both of which are open to visitors. The older of the two is Mount Irvine Hotel Golf Course, built in 1968. It

588-427: A destination for tourists interested in whale-watching . The Commonwealth of Dominica is engaged in a long-running dispute with Venezuela over Venezuela's territorial claims to the sea surrounding Isla de Aves (literally Bird Island, but in fact called 'Bird Rock' by Dominican authorities), a tiny islet located 140 miles (225 km) west of the island of Dominica. Dominica is a parliamentary democracy within

686-475: A few years the government sought to encourage the island as an ecotourism destination, although the hurricane of 2017 has since changed these plans. The country had a 2018 Forest Landscape Integrity Index mean score of 1.06/10, ranking it 166th globally out of 172 countries. There are two primary population centres: the capital Roseau (with 14,725 inhabitants in 2011) and Portsmouth (with 4,167 inhabitants in 2011). The main centres tend to be located around

784-430: A group of sperm whales live in this area year-round. Other cetaceans commonly seen in the area include spinner dolphins , pantropical spotted dolphins and bottlenose dolphins . Less commonly seen animals include killer whales , false killer whales , pygmy sperm whales , dwarf sperm whales , Risso's dolphins , common dolphins , Atlantic spotted dolphins , humpback whales and Bryde's whales . This makes Dominica

882-650: A lesser degree of autonomy through local legislatures. The five overseas regions, French Guiana , Guadeloupe , Martinique , Mayotte , and Réunion , are generally governed the same as mainland regions; however, they enjoy some additional powers, including certain legislative powers for devolved areas. New Zealand maintains nominal sovereignty over three Pacific Island nations. The Cook Islands and Niue are self-governing countries in free association with New Zealand that maintain some international relationships in their own name. Tokelau remains an autonomous dependency of New Zealand. The Chatham Islands —despite having

980-584: A period of stability during which plantation culture began. Sugar, cotton and indigo factories sprang up and Africans were imported by the British to work as slaves. The economy flourished. France had abandoned the island to Britain in 1763, and by 1777 Tobago was exporting great quantities of cotton, indigo, rum and sugar. In 1781, the French retook the island during the Invasion of Tobago . On 24 May 1781,

1078-576: A republic in 1978. Dominica has been nicknamed the "Nature Island of the Caribbean" for its natural environment. It is the youngest island in the Lesser Antilles, and is still being formed by geothermal - volcanic activity, as evidenced by the world's second-largest hot spring , called Boiling Lake . The island has lush mountainous rainforests and is the home of many rare plants, animals, and bird species. There are xeric areas in some of

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1176-809: A road along the northeast coast. There has also been damage to the reef in Charlotteville village caused by sealing the road at Flagstaff Hill and diverting more silty water down the stream from Flagstaff down to Charlotteville. Dominica 15°25′N 61°20′W  /  15.417°N 61.333°W  / 15.417; -61.333 in the Western Hemisphere Dominica ( locally / ˌ d ɒ m ɪ ˈ n iː k ə / dom-in- EE -kə ; UK : US : / ˌ d ɒ m ɪ ˈ n iː k ə / or / d ə ˈ m ɪ n ɪ k ə / ; Dominican Creole French : Dominik ; Kalinago : Waitukubuli ), officially

1274-472: A takeover by mercenaries in Operation Red Dog , led by Mike Perdue and Wolfgang Droege . They tried to overthrow Charles as prime minister and reinstall ex-prime minister John in exchange for control over the country's development. The FBI was tipped off, and the ship hired to transport the mercenaries never left dock. The mercenaries lacked formal military experience or training, and most of

1372-589: A ward of Trinidad, thus terminating local government on Tobago and forming a unified colony government. In 1945 when the county council system was first introduced, Tobago was administered as a single county of Trinidad. In 1980 provisions were made for the Tobago House of Assembly to be revived as an entity providing local government in Tobago. Under the revived system, Tobago is made up of 12 local electoral districts with each district electing one Assemblyman to

1470-452: Is Dominica's national bird and is endemic to its mountain forests. A related species, the Jaco or red-necked parrot ( A. arausiaca ), is also a Dominican endemic. Both birds are rare and protected, though some forest is still threatened by logging in addition to the long-standing threat of hurricanes. Dominica has recorded at least four species of snakes and 11 species of lizards. Dominica

1568-411: Is also a popular diving location, since it is the southernmost of the Caribbean islands that have coral communities. Trinidad, which is further south, has no significant coral because of low salinity and high silt content, the result of its position close to the mouth of Venezuela 's Orinoco River . Scuba diving on Tobago tends to be centred at Speyside , almost diametrically across the island from

1666-612: Is an island nation in the Caribbean Sea , the northernmost of the Windward Islands (though it is sometimes considered the southernmost of the Leeward Islands ). The size of the country is about 289.5 square miles (750 km ) and it is about 29 miles (47 km) long and 16 miles (26 km) wide. Known as "The Nature Island of the Caribbean" due to its lush scenery and varied flora and fauna, Dominica

1764-416: Is based on tourism, fishing, and government spending, government spending being the largest. The local governing body, the Tobago House of Assembly (THA), employs 62% of the labor force. Tourism is still a fledgling industry. Conventional beach and water-sports tourism is largely in the southwest around the airport and the coastal strip. Meanwhile, ecotourism is growing in significance, much of it focused on

1862-405: Is largely covered by rainforest and is home to the world's second-largest hot spring , Boiling Lake . Within its borders lie two ecoregions: Windward Islands moist forests and Windward Islands xeric scrub. The most mountainous of the Lesser Antilles, its volcanic peaks are cones of lava craters, the largest of these being (north-to-south) Morne aux Diables , Morne Diablotins (the highest on

1960-589: Is linked to the world through the Arthur Napoleon Raymond Robinson International Airport (formerly Crown Point Airport) and Scarborough harbour. Domestic flights connect Tobago with Trinidad, and international flights connect with the Caribbean and Europe. There is a daily fast ferry service between Port of Spain and Scarborough. Tobago's economy is tightly linked with Trinidad's, which is based on liquefied natural gas (LNG), petrochemicals, and steel. Tobago

2058-484: Is located 35 kilometres (22 mi) northeast of the larger island of Trinidad and about 160 kilometres (99 mi) off the northeastern coast of Venezuela . It lies to the southeast of Grenada and southwest of Barbados . Tobago was named Belaforme by Christopher Columbus "because from a distance it seemed beautiful". The Spanish friar Antonio Vázquez de Espinosa wrote that the Kalina (mainland Caribs) called

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2156-465: Is said to have passed the island on Sunday, 3 November 1493. It was later colonised by Europeans, predominantly by the French from the 1690s to 1763. The French trafficked slaves from West Africa to Dominica to work on coffee plantations. Great Britain took possession in 1763 after the Seven Years' War , and it gradually established English as its official language. The island gained independence as

2254-423: Is the last major stronghold of the critically endangered Lesser Antillean iguana ( Iguana delicatissima ). Dominica is home to 195 species of birds. Because of the isolated location of Dominica, this number is lower than that of Trinidad , which is located closer to mainland South-America and has 472 bird species. The Caribbean Sea offshore of the island of Dominica is home to many cetaceans . Most notably

2352-628: Is the main exposed portion of the Tobago terrane , a fragment of crustal material lying between the Caribbean and South American Plates . Tobago is primarily hilly, mountainous and of volcanic origin. The southwest of the island is flat and consists largely of coralline limestone . The mountainous spine of the island is called the Main Ridge . The highest point in Tobago is the 550 metres (1,800 ft) Pigeon Peak near Speyside . The climate

2450-555: Is tropical, and the island lies just south of the Atlantic Main Development Region , making it vulnerable to occasional low-latitude tropical cyclones . Average rainfall varies between 3,800 mm (150 inches) on the Main Ridge to less than 1,250 mm (49 inches) in the southwest. There are two seasons: a wet season between June and December, and a dry season between January and May. The island

2548-516: The 2015 and 2020 Trinidad and Tobago general election . Historically, Tobago was divided into seven parishes (Saint Andrew, Saint David, Saint George, Saint John, Saint Mary, Saint Patrick and Saint Paul). In 1768 each parish of Tobago nominated representatives to the Tobago House of Assembly . On 20 October 1889 the British crown implemented a Royal Order in Council constituting Tobago as

2646-545: The British West Indies to have an elected legislature controlled by an ethnic African majority. Most of these legislators had been free people of colour and smallholders or merchants before the abolition of slavery. Their economic and social views were different from the interests of the small, wealthy English planter class. Reacting to a perceived threat to their power, the planters lobbied for more direct British rule. In 1865, after much agitation and tension,

2744-610: The Commonwealth of Dominica , is an island country in the Caribbean . It is part of the Windward Islands chain in the Lesser Antilles archipelago in the Caribbean Sea . The capital, Roseau , is located on the western side of the island. Dominica's closest neighbours are two constituent territories of the European Union , the overseas departments of France, Guadeloupe to the northwest and Martinique to

2842-420: The Commonwealth of Nations . The capital is Roseau . The Commonwealth of Dominica is one of the Caribbean's few republics . The president is the head of state , while executive power rests with the cabinet , headed by the prime minister . The unicameral parliament consists of the 30-member House of Assembly , which consists of 21 directly elected members and nine senators, who may either be appointed by

2940-525: The Military of Dominica , who organised an attack on the police headquarters in Roseau which resulted in the death of a police officer. Newton and five other soldiers were found guilty in the attack and sentenced to death in 1983; the sentences of the five accomplices were later commuted to life in prison, but Newton was executed in 1986. A second occurred later in the year when the country was threatened with

3038-533: The Slavery Abolition Act of 1833 , Britain ended the institution of slavery throughout its empire , except in India. With freedom came enfranchisement. In 1835, the first three men of African descent were elected to the legislative assembly of Dominica. Many slaves from the neighbouring French colonial islands of Guadeloupe and Martinique fled to Dominica. In 1838, Dominica became the first colony of

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3136-702: The Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade , by which slaves were imported and sold as labour in the islands as part of a trade that included producing and shipping sugar and coffee as commodity crops to Europe. The best documented slave plantation on the island is Hillsborough Estate, which had 71 male and 68 female slaves. The Greg family were notable: Thomas Hodgson, a brother-in-law, owned a slave ship, and Thomas Greg and his son John Greg were part-owners of sugar plantations in Dominica. In January 1814, 20 slaves absconded from Hillsborough. They were recorded as recaptured and punished with 100 lashes applied to

3234-704: The United Nations , the Organization of American States , the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie , the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States and the Non-Aligned Movement . The Caribs called the island Wai‘tu kubuli , which means "Tall is her body". Christopher Columbus , sailing for Spain, named the island Dominica, after the Latin term dies Dominica for Sunday ,

3332-785: The Walt Disney Company as the setting for a film based upon the Johann Wyss novel Swiss Family Robinson . When producers saw the island for the first time, they "fell instantly in love". The script required animals, which were brought from all around the world, including eight dogs, two giant tortoises, forty monkeys, two elephants, six ostriches, four zebras, one hundred flamingos, six hyenas, two anacondas, and one tiger. Filming locations include Richmond Bay (the Robinsons beach), Mount Irvine Bay (the Pirates beach), and

3430-708: The 15 seats in the Assembly, with the Tobago Council of the People's National Movement led by Ancil Dennis controlling one seat since the December 2021 Tobago House of Assembly election . Tobago is represented by two seats in the Parliament of Trinidad and Tobago , Tobago East and Tobago West. The two seats are controlled by the Tobago Council of the People's National Movement , which won and retained them in

3528-478: The British established a legislative assembly , with only European colonists represented. French remained the official language, but Antillean Creole , which had developed from it, was spoken by most of the population. In 1778 the French, with the active co-operation of the population, began the re-capture of Dominica . This was ended by the Treaty of Paris (1783) , which returned the island to British control. But

3626-522: The British in 1814. In 1662, the Dutch brothers Adrian and Cornelius Lampsins were granted the title of Barons of Tobago, and ruled until the English captured the island in 1666. Adrian briefly recaptured Tobago in 1673, but was killed in battle when the English, under Sir Tobias Bridge , yet again took control of the island. From about 1672, during the temporary English rule of 1672–1674, Tobago had

3724-807: The Cayo tradition are known from Tobago. Tobago's location made it an important point of connection between the Kalinago of the Lesser Antilles and their Kalina allies and trading partners in the Guianas and Venezuela . In the 1630s Tobago was inhabited by the Kalina, while the neighbouring island of Grenada was shared by the Kalina and Kalinago. Columbus sighted Tobago on 14 August 1498, during his fourth voyage, but he did not land. The Spanish settlers in Hispaniola were authorised to conduct slave raids against

3822-545: The Craig Hall Waterfalls. The treehouse was constructed in a 200-foot tall saman in the Goldsborough Bay area. After filming, locals convinced Disney, who had intended to remove all evidence of filmmaking, to let the treehouse remain, without interior furnishing. In 1960, the treehouse was listed for sale for $ 9,000, a fraction of its original cost, and became a popular attraction before the structure

3920-534: The DLP, replaced Pierre Charles as prime minister, becoming the world's youngest head of government at the age of 31. Under Skerrit's leadership, the DLP won elections in May 2005 that gave the party 12 seats in the 21-seat Parliament. The UWP won 8 seats and Ronald Toulon, who was an independent candidate at that time, won the remaining seat. Later, Toulon joined the government. With his 2005 election win, Skerrit became only

4018-616: The Dominica Freedom Party in 1993 and did not contest the 1995 general election in any capacity. No longer benefiting from the veteran charismatic leadership of Prime Minister Eugenia Charles, the Dominica Freedom Party lost the 1995 election to the UWP, whose leader Edison James became prime minister. James, former General Manager of the Dominica Banana Marketing Company attempted to diversify

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4116-517: The Dominica Freedom Party led by former trade union leader, Charles Savarin . Douglas became prime minister. One UWP member of the House of Assembly crossed the floor, joining the DLP-DFP coalition government. However, Douglas died on 1 October 2000 after only a few months. Prime Minister Douglas was replaced by Pierre Charles , who also died in office on 6 January 2004. Roosevelt Skerrit , also of

4214-618: The Dominican economy away from over-reliance on bananas. The crop was largely destroyed by Hurricane Luis in 1995. Further James was unable to restore banana to its former selling price and prestige. Moreover, the James administration became embroiled in Opposition charges of official corruption. In the 31 January 2000 general election , the UWP were defeated by a coalition of the DLP, led by left-leaning Roosevelt B. "Rosie" Douglas and

4312-426: The French islands with wood, and they gradually became permanent settlers. They brought the first enslaved Africans from West Africa to Dominique , as they called it in French. In 1715, a revolt of "poor white" smallholders in the north of Martinique, known as La Gaoulé, caused settlers to migrate to southern Dominique, where they set up smallholdings . Meanwhile, French families and others from Guadeloupe settled in

4410-510: The Island of Tobago, who colonized the island intermittently between 1637 and 1690. Over the ensuing years, the Curonians ( Duchy of Courland ), Dutch, English, French, Spanish and Swedish had caused Tobago to become a focal point in repeated attempts of colonization, which led to the island having changed hands 33 times, the most in Caribbean history, before the Treaty of Paris ceded it to

4508-492: The THA. The population was 60,874 at the 2011 census. The capital, Scarborough , has a population of 17,537. While Trinidad is multiethnic , Tobago's population is primarily of African descent, with a growing proportion of Trinidadians of East Indian descent and Europeans. Between 2000 and 2011, the population of Tobago grew by 12.55 percent, making it one of the fastest-growing areas of Trinidad and Tobago . Tobago's main economy

4606-408: The UWP again won both seats. The DLP under Skerrit went on to win the 2014 Dominican general election . On 17 September 2012 Eliud Thaddeus Williams was sworn in as President (a largely ceremonial role), replacing Dr. Nicholas Liverpool who was reportedly removed from office due to ill health. On 30 September 2013 former Trade Union leader and former Dominica Freedom Party leader Charles Savarin

4704-545: The West or Caribbean Sea Coast elites in Roseau, Dominica's capital. Eugenia Charles again won the 1990 general election, the first incumbent Dominica Prime Minister to win three consecutive general elections. However, Eugenia Charles's DFP had been pushed to within one seat of losing its majority in Parliament by the emergence of the UWP. It was, therefore, no great surprise when Eugenia Charles gave up political leadership of

4802-523: The airport. The island has some of the best diving sites in the Caribbean. There are three wrecks located around its shores, but the one usually considered the best is the Maverick Ferry , which used to travel between Trinidad and Tobago. The ferry is 350 feet (110 metres) long and has been sunk in 30 metres (98 feet) just off Rocky Point, Mt. Irvine. The top of the wreck is at 15 metres (49 feet). The wreck has an abundance of marine life, including

4900-459: The buildings on the island had been destroyed, with infrastructure left in ruins. The UK, France and the Netherlands set up shipping and air lifts to take aid to the island; the scale of destruction having left most people homeless. Dominica won its first two Commonwealth Games medals in silver and bronze in the 2018 Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast . President Charles Angelo Savarin

4998-444: The coast, with the mountainous interior sparsely populated. Dominica is especially vulnerable to hurricanes as the island is located in what is referred to as the hurricane region. In 1979, Hurricane David struck the island as a Category 4 hurricane, causing widespread and extreme damage. On 17 August 2007, Hurricane Dean , a Category 1 hurricane at the time, hit the island. A mother and her seven-year-old son died when

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5096-481: The colonial office replaced the elective assembly with one made up of one-half members who were elected and one-half who were appointed. Planters, who were allied with colonial administrators, outmanoeuvred the elected legislators on many occasions. In 1871, Dominica became part of the British Leeward Islands . The political power of the elected assembly progressively eroded. Crown colony government

5194-428: The competition from sugar with other European countries, marked the end of the sugar trade. In 1889, the island became a ward of Trinidad. Without sugar, the islanders had to grow other crops, planting acres of limes, coconuts and cocoa and exporting their produce to Trinidad. In 1963, Hurricane Flora ravaged Tobago, destroying the villages and crops. A restructuring programme followed and attempts were made to diversify

5292-400: The crew had been misled into joining by the ringleader Mike Perdue. White supremacist Don Black was also jailed for his part in the attempted coup, which violated US neutrality laws. The Charles government supported the 1983 American invasion of Grenada , earning Dominica praise from the U.S. government of Ronald Reagan , and an increase in financial aid. By the middle of the 1980s,

5390-501: The dancing blue-backed manakin ), mammals, frogs, (non-venomous) snakes, butterflies and other invertebrates. Tobago also has nesting beaches for the leatherback turtle , which come to shore between April and July. The island of Tobago has multiple coral reef ecosystems. The Buccoo Reef , the Culloden Reef and Speyside Reef are the three largest coral reef marine ecosystems in Tobago. These coral reef systems protect

5488-586: The day on which he first saw it in November 1493. Dominica's name is pronounced with emphasis on the third syllable, following the Spanish pronunciation of its name given to it by Christopher Columbus. The similar names and the identical demonym with the Dominican Republic has caused some in Dominica to advocate a change in its name to establish its own identity. Dominica first emerged from

5586-521: The designation of Territory —is an integral part of the country, situated within the New Zealand archipelago; its council is not autonomous and has broadly the same powers as other local councils, although notably it can also charge levies on goods entering or leaving the islands. In Ethiopia , "special woredas" are a subgroup of woredas (districts) that are organized around the traditional homelands of specific ethnic minorities , and are outside

5684-485: The economy changed direction away from cash crop agriculture and toward tourism. Hurricane Ivan , while less severe than Flora, also caused significant damage in 2004. Central and local government functions in Tobago are handled by the Tobago House of Assembly . The current Chief Secretary of Tobago is Farley Chavez Augustine from the Progressive Democratic Patriots , which controls 14 of

5782-414: The economy had begun to recover, before weakening again due to a decrease in banana prices. Eugenia Charles won the 1985 general election, becoming only the first incumbent Dominica Prime Minister to be popularly re-elected. The continuing downturn in the economy and the tight grip by Eugenia Charles on Dominica politics gave rise to a self-titled "Third Force" political formation in 1988, which disrupted

5880-540: The economy. The development of a tourist industry began. Trinidad and Tobago obtained independence from the British Empire in August 1962 and became a republic on 31 August 1976. Tobago has a land area of 300 km and is approximately 40 kilometres (25 miles) long and 10 kilometres (6.2 miles) wide. It is located at latitude 11° 15' N, longitude 60° 40' W, slightly north of Trinidad. The island of Tobago

5978-527: The first regular European visitor to the island. In 1660, the French and English agreed that Dominica and St. Vincent should not be settled, but instead left to the Carib people as neutral territory —but its natural resources attracted expeditions of English and French foresters, who began harvesting timber. In 1690, the French established their first permanent settlements. French woodcutters from Martinique and Guadeloupe began to set up timber camps to supply

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6076-405: The fleet of Comte de Grasse landed troops on the island under the command of General Marquis de Bouillé. By 2 June 1781, they had successfully gained control of the island. In 1814, when the island again came under British control, another phase of successful sugar-production began. But a severe hurricane in 1847, combined with the collapse of plantation underwriters, end of slavery in 1834 and

6174-670: The introduction of the Barrancoid culture, either by trade or a combination of trade and settlement. After 650 CE, the Saladoid culture was replaced by the Troumassoid tradition in Tobago. Troumassoid traditions were once thought to represent the settlement of the Island Caribs in the Lesser Antilles and Tobago, but this is now associated with the Cayo ceramic tradition. No archaeological sites exclusively associated with

6272-460: The island Urupina because of its resemblance to a big snail, while the Kalinago (Island Caribs) called it Aloubaéra , supposedly because it resembled the alloüebéra , a giant snake which was supposed to live in a cave on the island of Dominica . The earliest known record of the use of the name Tabaco to refer to the island is a Spanish royal order issued in 1511. That name was inspired by

6370-562: The island at 1,447 m), Morne Trois Pitons and Morne Anglais . Morne Trois Pitons National Park is a tropical forest blended with volcanic features; it was recognised as a World Heritage Site on 4 April 1995, a distinction it shares with four other Caribbean islands. The Calibishie area in the country's northeast has sandy beaches. Some plants and animals thought to be extinct on surrounding islands can still be found in Dominica's forests. The island has several protected areas , including Cabrits National Park , as well as 365 rivers. For

6468-422: The island in a royal order issued in 1511. These raids, which continued until at least the 1620s, decimated the island's population. In 1628, Dutch settlers established the first European settlement in Tobago, a colony they called Nieuw Walcheren at Great Courland Bay. They also built a fort, Nieuw Vlissingen, near the modern town of Plymouth . The settlement was abandoned in 1630 after indigenous attacks, but

6566-497: The island population, especially the class of free people of color , resisted British restrictions. The British retained control throughout French invasions in 1795 and 1805, the first taking place during the period of the Haitian Revolution , which gained the independence of Haiti (formerly Saint-Domingue, France's richest Caribbean colony). Great Britain established a small colony in 1805. It used Dominica as part of

6664-481: The island. Hurricane Allen the following year caused further damage. After the 1980 election , Seraphin's government was replaced by one led by the Dominica Freedom Party (DFP) under Prime Minister Eugenia Charles ; she was the Caribbean's first female prime minister. In 1981, Charles's government was threatened with two attempted coups. The first was led by Frederick Newton , commander of

6762-505: The island. Multiple communities were evacuated and upwards of 30 people were killed. According to a Rapid Damage and Impact Assessment prepared for Dominica by the World Bank, the total damage and losses from the storm were US$ 484.82 million or 90% of Dominica's yearly GDP. Category 5 Hurricane Maria struck the island in 2017 and caused losses of approximately US$ 930 million or 226% of GDP. The Sisserou parrot ( Amazona imperialis )

6860-448: The large area of protected forest in the centre and north of the main island and on Little Tobago , a small island off the main island's northeast tip. The southwestern tourist area around Crown Point, Store Bay, Buccoo Reef, and Pigeon Point has large expanses of sand and is dominated by resort-type developments. Tobago has many idyllic beaches along its coastline, especially those at Castara , Bloody Bay, and Englishman's Bay . Tobago

6958-494: The laws banning same-sex activity since they violated LGBT individuals' constitutional rights. Dominica is divided into 10 parishes , given below with their 2011 Census populations: Dominica's currency is the East Caribbean Dollar . In 2008, Dominica had one of the lowest per capita gross domestic product (GDP) rates of Eastern Caribbean states. The country nearly had a financial crisis in 2003 and 2004, but Dominica's economy grew by 3.5% in 2005 and 4.0% in 2006, following

7056-504: The males and 50 for the females. The slaves reportedly said that one of their people had died in the plantation hospital, and they believed he had been poisoned. In 1831, reflecting a liberalisation of official British racial attitudes, the Brown Privilege Bill conferred political and social rights on free blacks (mostly free people of colour , who generally were of mixed race , with African and European ancestry). With

7154-446: The north. In 1727, the first French commander, M. Le Grand , took charge of the island with a basic French government. Dominique formally became a colony of France, and the island was divided into districts or "quarters". The French had already developed plantation agriculture on Martinique and Guadeloupe, where they cultivated sugarcane with enslaved African workers. In Dominique they gradually developed coffee plantations. Because of

7252-666: The popularly elected seats of the legislative assembly in 1924, and one-half in 1936. In 1940, administration of Dominica was transferred from the British Leeward Islands to the British Windward Islands . During World War II , some Dominicans volunteered in British and Caribbean forces. Thousands of Free French refugees from Martinique and Guadeloupe escaped to Dominica from the Vichy -controlled French islands, staying in Roseau and other villages. Until 1958, Dominica

7350-581: The president or elected by the other members of the House of Assembly. Unlike other former British colonies in the region, Dominica was never a Commonwealth realm , instead becoming a republic on independence. Dominica is a full and participating member of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) and the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS). Dominica is also a member of the International Criminal Court , with

7448-456: The primary indigenous group. It is believed that before them were a group of paleo-Indians who arrived towards the end of the late Pleistocene period. In 1493, Christopher Columbus first spotted the island during his second voyage to the Americas. Because he saw the island on a Sunday (November 3, 1493), Columbus named the island Dominica (Latin for 'Sunday'). Some Spanish colonisers settled here. But, as European explorers and settlers entered

7546-611: The region, indigenous refugees from surrounding islands settled Dominica and pushed out the Spanish settlers. The Spanish instead focused on their first founded Island of the Americas, Hispaniola, and island shares with Haiti. Hispaniola was later renamed Dominican Republic. Spain had little success in colonising Dominica. In 1632, the French Compagnie des Îles de l'Amérique claimed it and other "Petites Antilles" for France , but no physical occupation took place. Between 1642 and 1650, French missionary Raymond Breton became

7644-802: The resemblance of the shape of the island to the fat cigars smoked by the Taíno inhabitants of the Greater Antilles. Tobago was settled by indigenous people belonging to the Ortoiroid cultural tradition some time between 3500 and 1000 BCE. In the first century of the Common Era , Saladoid people settled in Tobago. They brought with them pottery-making and agricultural traditions, and are likely to have introduced crops which included cassava , sweet potatoes , Indian yam , tannia and corn . Saladoid cultural traditions were later modified by

7742-570: The sea during the Oligocene era approximately 67 million years ago, making it one of the last Caribbean islands to be formed by volcanic activity . Dominica's precolonial indigenous inhabitants were the Island Carib people, who are thought to have driven out the previous Arawak population. However, this may be a partial misconception as ancestral Kalinago narratives mention the two groups co existing and intermarrying. The Arawak were not

7840-640: The second incumbent Prime Minister of seven to be popularly re-elected. In the 2009 election , the DLP won 18 of 21 seats. The UWP claimed campaign improprieties and embarked on a wide range of protest actions, including boycott of Parliament. UWP's boycott lasted at least three unauthorized absences from Parliament for two of their three Elected Representatives in Parliament in violation of Parliamentary procedure, leading to their two seats being declared vacant and by-elections being called to fill them; by-elections were conducted for those two vacant seats in July 2010, and

7938-415: The shores of Tobago from eroding. Little Tobago , the small neighbouring island, supports some of the best dry forest remaining in Tobago. Little Tobago and St Giles Island are important seabird nesting colonies, with red-billed tropicbirds , magnificent frigatebirds and Audubon's shearwaters , among others. Coral reefs have been damaged recently by silt and mud runoff during construction of

8036-524: The size and location of the island in Robinson Crusoe , described as being located close to Trinidad and the mouth of Orinoco . However, the book is generally thought to be based on the experiences of Alexander Selkirk , who was marooned in the Pacific's Juan Fernández Islands , on the island later named after Robinson Crusoe . On Tobago, there is Crusoe Cave . In 1958, Tobago was chosen by

8134-503: The south-southeast. Dominica comprises a land area of 750 km (290 sq mi), and the highest point is Morne Diablotins , at 1,447 m (4,747 ft) in elevation. The population was 71,293 at the 2011 census. The island was settled by the Arawak arriving from South America in the fifth century. The Kalinago displaced the Arawak by the 15th century. Christopher Columbus

8232-528: The traditional two-party arrangement of governing DFP and opposition DLP. "Third Force" soon formalized as the United Workers' Party (UWP) and selected as its leader Edison James, the former General Manager of the Dominica Banana Marketing Company. This was a strategic selection given James's prestige among banana farmers and his originating from the East or Atlantic Coast that had begun to feel alienated by

8330-454: The trans-Atlantic slave trade, the general population came to consist primarily of black-African slaves. In 1761, during the Seven Years' War in Europe, a British expedition against Dominica led by Andrew Rollo conquered the island, along with several other Caribbean islands. In 1763, France had lost the war and ceded the island to Great Britain under the Treaty of Paris . The same year,

8428-460: The usual hierarchy of a kilil , or region. These woredas have many similarities to autonomous areas in other countries. Other areas that are autonomous in nature but not in name are areas designated for indigenous peoples , such as those of the Americas : Tobago Tobago ( / t ə ˈ b eɪ ɡ oʊ / ) is an island and ward within the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago . It

8526-461: The western coastal regions, but heavy rainfall occurs inland. The Sisserou parrot , also known as the Imperial amazon, is critically endangered and found only on Dominica. It is the island's national bird and is featured on the national flag , making Dominica one of only two sovereign nations whose official flag features the color purple. The country is a member of the Commonwealth of Nations ,

8624-555: Was destroyed by Hurricane Flora in 1963. The tree still remains, however, and is located on the property of the Roberts Auto Service and Tyre Shop, located in Goldsborough, just off of Windward Road. A local Tobago resident says, "The tree has fallen into obscurity; only a few of the older people knew of its significance. As a matter of fact, not many people know of the film Swiss Family Robinson , much less that it

8722-405: Was elected president having only days before resigned as a Minister of Government. He is Dominica's eighth President. Tropical Storm Erika devastated the island in August 2015, killing 30 and causing severe environmental and economic damage. Dominica was again struck on 18 September 2017, suffering a direct landfall from Category 5 Hurricane Maria . Early estimates of damage suggested 90% of

8820-642: Was filmed here in Tobago." The Tobago Forest Reserve (Main Ridge Reserve) is the oldest protected rain forest in the Western hemisphere and is biodiverse. It was designated a protected Crown reserve on 17 April 1776 after representations by Soame Jenyns , a Member of Parliament in Britain responsible for Tobago's development. It has remained a protected area since. This forested area has great biodiversity , including many species of birds (such as

8918-539: Was governed as part of the British Windward Islands . Caribbean islands sought independence from 1958 to 1962, and Dominica became a province of the short-lived West Indies Federation in 1958. After the federation dissolved in 1962, Dominica became an associated state of the United Kingdom in 1967, and formally took responsibility for its internal affairs. On 3 November 1978, the Commonwealth of Dominica

9016-539: Was granted independence as a republic , led by Prime Minister Patrick John . In mid-1979, political discontent with founding prime minister Patrick John's administration climaxed in a civilian coup and ended in the passage of a Motion of No Confidence in the House of Assembly, Dominica's legislature, against John, collapsing the John administration. A new, so-called "Interim Government" was formed under Dominica's second Prime Minister Oliver Seraphin ; Seraphin's main task

9114-474: Was re-elected in 2018 for a new five-year term. In December 2019, incumbent Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit won his fourth consecutive general election eighteen seats to three, becoming the first Dominica Prime Minister ever to do so. Dominica received its first Olympic gold medal in the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris when Thea LaFond won the women's triple jump with a length of 15.02 metres. Dominica

9212-630: Was re-established in 1633. The new colony was destroyed by the Spanish in Trinidad after the Dutch supported a Nepoyo-led revolt in Trinidad. Attempts by the English to colonize Tobago in the 1630s and 1640s also failed due to indigenous resistance. The indigenous population also prevented European colonization in the 1650s, including an attempt by the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth , but the Polish or Lithuanian explorers did not colonize

9310-500: Was re-established in 1896. In World War I , many Dominicans, mainly the sons of small farmers, volunteered to fight in Europe for the British Empire. After the war, an upsurge of political consciousness throughout the Caribbean led to the formation of the Representative Government Association . Marshaling public frustration with the lack of a voice in governing Dominica, this group won one-third of

9408-554: Was seen throughout the world after hosting the popular golf show "Shell's Wonderful World of Golf". The course is built amongst coconut palms and has a view of the Caribbean Sea from almost every hole. Formerly known as Tobago Plantations Golf Course, the recently renamed Magdalena Grand Hotel & Golf Club was opened in 2001 and has hosted the European Seniors Tour on three occasions. Tobago roughly matches

9506-440: Was struck by Hurricane Flora in 1963. The effects were so severe that they changed the face of Tobago's economy. The hurricane laid waste to the banana, coconut, and cacao plantations that largely sustained the economy, and it wreaked considerable damage on the largely pristine tropical rainforest that makes up a large proportion of the interior of the island's northern half. Many of the plantations were subsequently abandoned, and

9604-595: Was to prepare the country for fresh general elections constitutionally due in 1980, hence the unofficial title "Interim" Prime Minister. Seraphin organized and led a splinter of the Dominica Labour Party called the Democratic Labour Party into the 1980 general election and lost mainly because his nearly 13 month-long premiership was dominated by the fallout from Category Five Hurricane David , which caused 56 deaths and untold damage across

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