Dominica

Dominica, officially the Commonwealth of Dominica (in English, Commonwealth of Dominica; in French, Commonwealth of Dominique), is an island and a republic of the Americas, which is part of the Lesser Antilles, in the Caribbean Sea. It is located, specifically, between the French overseas territories of Guadeloupe to the north and Martinique to the south. It belongs to the Commonwealth of Nations.

History

In the 14th century, the Caribs exterminated or expelled the indigenous Arawak population from the island. Christopher Columbus arrived in Dominica on November 3, 1493, on his second voyage to America. The name Columbus gave the island derives from the name of the day of the week they sighted the island, Sunday. Spanish ships arrived frequently during the 16th century, but fierce resistance from the Caribs discouraged Spain from settling there.

In 1627 the British also failed to capture the island.

The first Europeans to colonize the island were the French. In the 17th century, French loggers arrived in the area who renamed a Caribbean town Roseau and developed a city that is today the capital of the country. The new colony managed to have its own church in 1730, which is today the Catholic cathedral. Although the British took the island by force a century later, the French presence transcended the passing of the years, since today they continue to speak, as will be seen below, a language derived from French and likewise, the majority of the population professes The Catholicism.

For almost a century, Dominica remained isolated and still more Carib Indians from other islands came to settle Dominica, after leaving the neighboring islands and taking refuge in Dominica due to the European dominance of the region. France formally ceded possession of the island to the United Kingdom in 1763, which made the island a colony in 1805 and a government was finally established by the British.

The emancipation of the African slaves causes the interruption of relations with the British Empire in 1834 and in 1838 it becomes the first and only British colony in the Caribbean to have a legislature dominated by blacks. In 1896, the British retake the control of the island and it is turned into a Crown Colony. Half a century later it became a province of the Federation of the West Indies from 1958 to 1962.

A market in Dominica about 1770.

Following the dissolution of the federation, Dominica became an associate state of the United Kingdom in 1967 and formally took over its internal affairs. On November 3, 1978, the United Kingdom granted independence to the Commonwealth of Dominica, within the British Commonwealth of Nations.

Independence did little to resolve the problems resulting from centuries of economic underdevelopment, and by mid-1979 political discontent led to the formation of an interim government. This was replaced after the 1980 elections by a government led by the Dominica Freedom Party, under Prime Minister Eugenia Charles, the first woman to hold that position in the Caribbean. Chronic economic problems were compounded by the severe impact of hurricanes in 1979 and 1980. In the late 1980s, the economy enjoyed a healthy recovery, faltering in the 1990s due to declining commodity prices. the bananas.

In the February 2000 elections, Edison James' United Workers Party (UWP) was defeated by the Dominica Labor Party (DLP), led by Roosevelt P. "Rosie" Douglas. Douglas passed away only a few months after taking office and was succeeded by Pierre Charles, also from the DLP.^{[citation needed]}

Scotts Head.

On September 17, 2012, Eliud Thaddeus Williams was sworn in as President, replacing Dr. Nicholas Liverpool, who had reportedly been removed from his position for health reasons. Williams was elected by Parliament, as required by the constitution, and took office amid controversy after the opposition United Workers Party (UWP) questioned the process that led to his appointment, did not attend the vote and held a protest near the Parliament building to express their disagreement.

Government and politics

Dominica is a parliamentary democratic republic within the Commonwealth of Nations and, since 1979, a member of the Organization internationale de la Francophonie. The President of Dominica is the head of state, while the executive power rests in the cabinet, headed by the head of government, a position carried out by the Prime Minister of Dominica. Legislative power is vested in the House of Assembly consisting of a 31-member unicameral assembly, consisting of 21 directly elected members, 9 senators selected by the president or elected by other members of the Assembly, and the attorney general as dictated by the article 18 of the Constitution of Dominica of 1978. The president is elected by the House of Assembly and serves for a period of five years.

Unlike other former British colonies in the region, Dominica does not have the British monarch as Head of State, but is an independent republic; Although it is part of the Commonwealth of Nations.

Dominica is a full member and participant of the Caribbean Community, of the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States.

Dominica is a member of the International Criminal Court with a bilateral protection immunity agreement for the US military, already regulated in article 98. In January 2008, it joined the Bolivarian Alliance for the Americas (SUNRISE). The Dominica Social Security Agency is a member of the Inter-American Conference on Social Security (CISS) since 1988.

Human Rights

In terms of human rights, regarding membership of the seven bodies of the International Bill of Human Rights, which include the Human Rights Committee (HRC), Dominica has signed or ratified:

Status of major international human rights instruments

Dominica	International treaties
	CESCR		CCPR			CERD	CED	CEDAW		CAT		CRC			MWC	CRPD
	CESCR	CESCR-OP	CCPR	CCPR-OP1	CCPR-OP2-DP			CEDAW	CEDAW-OP	CAT	CAT-OP	CRC	CRC-OP-AC	CRC-OP-SC		CRPD	CRPD-OP
Pertenence
Signed and ratified, signed, but not ratified, neither signed nor ratified, without information, it has agreed to sign and ratify the body concerned, but also recognizes the competence to receive and process individual communications from the competent bodies.

Political-administrative organization

Dominica parishes.

Dominica is divided into 10 parishes:

1. Parish of Saint Andrew
2. Parish of Saint David
3. Parish of Saint George
4. Parish of Saint John
5. Parish of Saint Joseph
6. Parish of Saint Luke
7. Parish of Saint Mark
8. Parish of Saint Patrick
9. Parish of Saint Paul
10. Parish of Saint Peter

Geography

Map of Dominica.

Dominica is an island and a country without land borders located in the Caribbean Sea, north of the Windward Islands (although it is sometimes considered the southernmost of the Leeward Islands). The country covers an area of 751 km². Its capital is Roseau.

Dominica is extensively covered in jungle and boasts the second largest hot springs in the world, Boiling Lake. Dominica has many waterfalls, springs, and rivers. The Calibishie area in the northeast of the country boasts sandy beaches. Some plants and animals thought to be extinct on the surrounding islands can still be found in Dominica's forests. The volcanic nature of the island has attracted divers. The island has several protected areas, including the Cabrits National Park, as well as 365 rivers.

Morne Trois Pitons National Park is a tropical forest blending landscapes with volcanic features. It was recognized as a World Heritage Site on April 4, 1995, a distinction it shares with four Caribbean islands.

There are two main population centers: Roseau and Portsmouth.

Dominica is home to the purest desert in the Caribbean. Originally, it was protected by steep mountains which led European powers to build ports and agricultural settlements on the other islands. Recently, citizens have tried to preserve its natural beauty by discouraging high-impact tourism that has threatened nature in most of the Caribbean.

In the image appears Dominica in the center, north Guadalupe and south Martinique.

Visitors can find vast tropical forests, including one that is on the UNESCO World Heritage list, hundreds of rivers, coastlines and coral reefs.

The imperial parrot is endemic to the forested mountains of Dominica, where it is considered a national bird and appears on the flag.

The sea off Dominica is home to numerous cetaceans. Most notable are a group of sperm whales that live in this area year-round. Other cetaceans commonly seen in the area include dolphins such as long-snouted, tropical spotted and bottlenose dolphins. Less frequent animals include killer whales, false killer whales, pygmy sperm whales, dwarf sperm whales, gray dolphins, common dolphins, Atlantic spotted dolphins, humpbacks, and Bryde's whales. This makes Dominica a destination for tourists interested in whale watching.

Dominica is especially vulnerable to hurricanes as the island is in what is known as the hurricane region. In 1979, Dominica was directly hit by Category 5 Hurricane David, causing widespread damage. On August 17, 2007, Hurricane Dean, a category 1 this time, struck the island. Roosevelt Skerrit estimated that 100 to 125 homes were damaged, and that the agricultural sector suffered considerable damage, particularly bananas.

Dominica's geographic coordinates are 15°25′N 61°20′W / 15.417, -61.333, and it has 148 km of coastline.

Economy

Dominica's economy is centered around the provision of financial services, tourism, and agriculture, the latter especially the banana industry. 40% of the workers belong to the agricultural sector and are main exporters (bananas, soap, baby oil, vegetables, grapefruit, tamarind and oranges) and mainly farmers. The country also has a few industries (soap, coconut oil, tourism, shopping, furniture, cement blocks, and footwear) that account for 32% of the workforce.

The issuance of postage stamps, mainly for philatelic collecting, is also an important source of income for its economy.

Financial Services Industry

Dominica has established itself in recent years as one of the main international offshore financial centers. The most important sectors are: offshore banking, the formation of offshore companies, and the granting of investment services, structured financing, among others.

The regulation and supervision of the financial services industry is within the attributions of the Eastern Caribbean Bank and is the specific responsibility of the Monetary Authority of Dominica (Financial Service Unit), under the Ministry of Finance.

Due to the ease of starting offshore companies without the need to go physically, Dominica is becoming one of the largest offshore centers in the world.

One of the reasons Dominica is growing as one of the largest offshore financial centers has been the concentration of some of the world's largest financial service providers. These include commercial banks, investment banks and global financial entities such as Scotiabank, Royal Bank of Canada, The Cathedral Investment Bank, Agricultural Industrial and Development Bank, as well as the Interoceanic Bank of the Caribbean.

Since 1995 offshore financial centers such as Dominica came under increasing pressure from the OECD related to their allegedly harmful tax regimes for the global environment, where the OECD wanted to prevent regimes that favored low tax rates from had advantages over the onshore market.

The OECD has threatened to blacklist Dominica and other tax havens and impose sanctions against them. However, Dominica managed to avoid being placed on that list by committing to regulatory reform to improve transparency and start exchanging information with OECD member countries about its citizens. However, its banking confidentiality requirements remain some of the strictest in the world.

Due to its high levels of financial and banking secrecy, Dominica had previously appeared on the FATF blacklist in 2000.

Dominica is currently not on any blacklist and has managed to adapt to the strict regulatory changes of the global market to improve the transparency of financial information.

Social-economic situation

The country's economy shows high poverty (30%), unemployment (23%), and a low per capita index (5400 USD). The Dominican economy has been affected by problems in the banana industry. The entire economy suffers when the weather damages banana crops or when the price of bananas falls. The United States has closed the access of bananas to its market, causing a drop in the demand for bananas. Consequently, the government privatized the banana industry. Also the Dominican government has tried to diversify the economy and has lifted price controls to try to move the economy. The government is trying to develop tourism, especially ecotourism.

For fuel supply, it participates in Petrocaribe, receiving low-cost oil from Venezuela for its needs. Dominica is part of ALBA.

Demographics

Population developments between 1961 and 2003 (FAO figures, 2005). Population in thousands of inhabitants.

Almost all of Dominica's inhabitants are descendants of African slaves brought over by colonial planters in the 18th century. Dominica is the only island in the Caribbean to retain some of its pre-Columbian population, the Carib Indians; around 3,000 live on the east coast of the island.

The rate of population growth is very low, mainly due to emigration to more prosperous Caribbean islands, the United States, and Canada. English is the official and universally understood language; however, due to historic French rule, Patwa Antillean Creole, a French patois, is widely spoken. About 80% of the population is Catholic. In recent years, various Protestant churches have been established in the country. 97.1% of the population is literate.

According to estimates made in 2013, the three most populated towns on the island had more than 3,000 residents. These were: the capital Roseau (pop. 12,897), Canefield (pop. 3,677) and Portsmouth (pop. 3,359).

Roseau, capital of Dominica.

Most populated cities

Religion

Roseau Cathedral, Dominica.

About 80% of the population is Catholic Christian, although in recent years a significant number of Protestant churches have been established. There is also a small Muslim community on Dominica that built the nation's first mosque, near Ross University.

Culture

Media

Dominica has three main newspapers, The Sun (El Sol), The Times (Los Tiempos) and The Chronicle (La Crónica). There are two national television stations and a few radio stations, including Q95 FM, the Dominica Broadcasting Corporation, and Kairi FM. Before 2004, there was a telecommunications company called Cable and Wireless. In 2005, Digicel and a French company called Orange began to offer service to the island, and in 2009 the subsidiary of the latter was acquired by Digicel. There are a number of mobile phone networks operating on the island.

Parties

Sports

Cricket is a very popular sport on the island, and Dominica competes internationally as part of the West Indies national cricket team. On 24 October 2007, the 8,000-seat Windsor Cricket Stadium was completed with a donation of EC$33 million (US$17 million, €12 million) from the government of the People's Republic of China.

The Dominica National Soccer Team is controlled by the Dominica Soccer Federation and attached to Concacaf and FIFA. It is considered one of the worst on the continent and the world. Within the country, there is the Dominica Soccer Championship, which has been held since 1950 and the most successful team is Harlem United with 20 titles.