Dominica Demographics

Almost all Dominicans are descendants of African slaves bought by colonial plantation owners in the 18th century. Dominica is the only island in the Eastern Caribbean Sea that maintains some of its pre-Columbian population (the Carib aborigines), who number about 3,000 people living on the east coast of the island.

The rate of population growth is very slow, due, first of all, to emigration to more prosperous Caribbean islands, the United States, England and Canada. English is the official and universally understood language, however, due to historical French domination, Antillean Creole, a French dialect, is also widely spoken. About 80% of the population is Catholic. In recent years, a number of Protestant churches have been established.

Population: 71,540 (July 2000 est.)

Age structure:
0-14 years: 29% (men: 10,556; women: 10,254)
15-64 years: 63% (men: 23,151; women: 21,984)
65 and over: 8% (men: 2,294; women: 3,301) (2000 est.)

Population growth rate: -1.14% (2000 est.)

Birth rate: 18.27 births/1,000 inhabitants (2000 est.)

Death rate: 7.3 deaths/1,000 population (2000 est.)

Net migration rate: -22.39 migrants/1,000 inhabitants (2000 est.)

Distribution by sex:
at birth: 1.05 men/women
less than 15 years: 1.03 men/women
15-64 years: 1.05 men/women
65 and over: 0.69 men/women
total population: 1.01 men/women (2000 est.)

Infant mortality rate: 17.13 deaths/1,000 live births (2000 est.)

Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 73.35 years
men: 70.5 years
women: 76.36 years (2000 est.)

Fertility rate: 2.05 children born/woman (2000 est.)

Ethnic groups: Blacks 86.8%, Mulattos/Mestizos 8.9%, Indigenous Caribs 2.9%.

Religion: Catholics: 77%, Protestants: 15% (Methodists: 5%, Pentecostals: 3%, Seventh-day Adventists: 3%, Baptists: 2%, Others: 2%), Atheists: 2%, Others: 6%.

Languages: English (official), French dialects

Literacy:
definition: people aged 15 or over who have ever attended college
total population: 94%
men: 94%
women: 94% (1970 est.)