Dominica

Caribbean, island between the Caribbean Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean, about halfway between Puerto Rico and Trinidad and Tobago

15 25 N, 61 20 W

Central America and the Caribbean

slightly more than four times the size of Washington, D.C.

148 km

tropical; moderated by northeast trade winds; heavy rainfall

rugged mountains of volcanic origin

timber, hydropower, arable land

NA

population is mostly clustered along the coast, with roughly a third living in the parish of St. George, in or around the capital of Roseau; the volcanic interior is sparsely populated

known as "The Nature Island of the Caribbean" due to its lush and varied flora and fauna, which are protected by an extensive natural park system; the most mountainous of the Lesser Antilles, its volcanic peaks are cones of lava craters and include Boiling Lake, the second-largest thermally active lake in the world

African descent 84.5%, mixed 9%, Indigenous 3.8%, other 2.1%, unspecified 0.6% (2011 est.)

English (official), French patois

Roman Catholic 52.7%, Protestant 29.7% (includes Seventh Day Adventist 6.7%, Pentecostal 6.1%, Baptist 5.2%, Christian Union Church 3.9%, Methodist 2.6%, Gospel Mission 2.1%, other Protestant 3.1%), Jehovah's Witness 1.3%, Rastafarian 1.1%, other 4.3%, none 9.4%, unspecified 1.4% (2011 est.)

-0.04% (2025 est.)

13.02 births/1,000 population (2025 est.)

8.15 deaths/1,000 population (2025 est.)

-5.31 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2025 est.)

population is mostly clustered along the coast, with roughly a third living in the parish of St. George, in or around the capital of Roseau; the volcanic interior is sparsely populated

15,000 ROSEAU (capital) (2018)

36 deaths/100,000 live births (2023 est.)

2.01 children born/woman (2025 est.)

0.98 (2025 est.)

1.16 physicians/1,000 population (2018)

3 beds/1,000 population (2021 est.)

27.9% (2016)

3,000-3,500 Kalinago (Carib) still living on Dominica are the only pre-Columbian population remaining in the Caribbean; only 70-100 may be "pure" Kalinago because of years of integration into the broader population

parliamentary republic

10 parishes; Saint Andrew, Saint David, Saint George, Saint John, Saint Joseph, Saint Luke, Saint Mark, Saint Patrick, Saint Paul, Saint Peter

common law based on the English model

accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction; accepts ICCt jurisdiction

18 years of age; universal

ACP, ACS, AOSIS, C, Caricom, CD, CDB, CELAC, Commonwealth of Nations, ECCU, FAO, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICCt, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, ISO (correspondent), ITU, ITUC (NGOs), MIGA, NAM, OAS, OECS, OIF, OPANAL, OPCW, Petrocaribe, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO

3 November 1978 (from the UK)

Independence Day, 3 November (1978)

sisserou parrot, Carib wood flower

green, yellow, black, white, red

the coat of arms was adopted on July 21, 1961, and features two sisserou parrots supporting a shield that is divided into four sections by a cross, a reference to the island’s discovery on a Sunday; the quadrants feature a palm tree, a banana tree, a frog that is native to the island, and a canoe on the Caribbean Sea; the golden lion symbolizes Dominica’s past colonial ties with the UK; below the shield is the national motto, which means "After God is the Earth"

highly agrarian OECS island economy; ECCU-member state; large banana exporter; improved oversight of its citizenship-by-investment program; emerging ecotourism, information and communications, and education industries

$688.881 million (2024 est.)

taro, grapefruits, yams, bananas, coconuts, plantains, milk, yautia, sugarcane, oranges (2023)

soap, coconut oil, tourism, copra, furniture, cement blocks, shoes

8.8% (2024 est.)

Bahamas, The 13%, Saudi Arabia 11%, Iceland 10%, Guyana 7%, Antigua & Barbuda 7% (2023)

iron blocks, medical instruments, excavation machinery, power equipment, soap (2023)

USA 24%, China 11%, Indonesia 8%, Trinidad & Tobago 7%, Italy 7% (2023)

refined petroleum, ships, plastic products, semi-finished iron, cars (2023)

no terrestrial TV service; subscription cable TV provider offers some locally produced programming, plus channels from the US, Latin America, and the Caribbean; state-operated radio broadcasts on 6 stations; privately owned radio broadcasts on about 15 stations (2019)

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J7

2 (2025)

no regular military forces; Commonwealth of Dominica Police Force (CDPF) under the Ministry of National Security and Legal Affairs

Dominica has been a member of the Caribbean Regional Security System (RSS) since its creation in 1982; RSS signatories (Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Grenada, Guyana, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, and St. Vincent and the Grenadines) agreed to prepare contingency plans and assist one another, on request, in national emergencies, prevention of smuggling, search and rescue, immigration control, fishery protection, customs and excise control, maritime policing duties, protection of off-shore installations, pollution control, national and other disasters, and threats to national security (2025)