Central America · The modern Caribbean and isthmus states
Commonwealth of Dominica
1978–present
Dominica — not to be confused with the Dominican Republic — is a rugged, densely forested island between the French territories of Guadeloupe and Martinique, and retains the Caribbean's last significant Indigenous Kalinago (Carib) community in a designated territory.
- Existed
- 1978–present
- Shown on the map
- 1979–2024
- Peak area
- 1k km²
- Region
- Central America
Overview
Dominica — not to be confused with the Dominican Republic — is a rugged, densely forested island between the French territories of Guadeloupe and Martinique, and retains the Caribbean's last significant Indigenous Kalinago (Carib) community in a designated territory. It gained independence from the United Kingdom on 3 November 1978, becoming a parliamentary republic at independence (with a president rather than the British monarch as head of state); its first prime minister was Patrick John and its capital is Roseau. Early independence was rocky, with coup attempts against Prime Minister Eugenia Charles — the Caribbean's first female head of government (1980–1995), who supported the 1983 Grenada intervention.
Later history and present status
Dominica markets itself as the "Nature Isle," with an economy based on agriculture (bananas), ecotourism, and a citizenship-by-investment program. It has been repeatedly battered by hurricanes, most catastrophically Hurricane Maria in 2017. Roosevelt Skerrit (Dominica Labour Party) has been prime minister since 2004; Sylvanie Burton became the country's first Kalinago (Indigenous) president in October 2024.
Common questions
- What was the Commonwealth of Dominica?
- Dominica — not to be confused with the Dominican Republic — is a rugged, densely forested island between the French territories of Guadeloupe and Martinique, and retains the Caribbean's last significant Indigenous Kalinago (Carib) community in a designated territory.
- When did the Commonwealth of Dominica exist?
- The Commonwealth of Dominica existed 1978–present. On this map it is drawn 1979–2024.
- How large was the Commonwealth of Dominica?
- At its greatest extent drawn on this map, the Commonwealth of Dominica covered about 1,000 km². That is the largest area the border data gives it across the years it is drawn, not necessarily its greatest extent in history.
- What is the present status of the Commonwealth of Dominica?
- Dominica markets itself as the "Nature Isle," with an economy based on agriculture (bananas), ecotourism, and a citizenship-by-investment program. It has been repeatedly battered by hurricanes, most catastrophically Hurricane Maria in 2017.
Sources
This compendium cites its sources once for the whole document rather than per territory. Its bibliography names the English Wikipedia articles for each polity and for the key figures and events as the basis of these profiles, supplemented by Encyclopaedia Britannica, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, National Geographic, EBSCO Research Starters and academic sources. The article this entry is anchored on:
- Wikipedia — Dominica en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dominica
This entry was last updated .
This entry was researched and drafted with AI from the sources above, and has not been reviewed by a historian. How entries are made
Text available under CC BY-SA 4.0: reuse it with a credit to The World Through Time and a link to this page. Passages drawing on the Wikipedia articles listed above are also licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 by their contributors.
Border geometry for the map itself comes from Cliopatria v0.12 (Seshat Global History Databank, CC-BY-4.0).
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