In 1493 Christopher Columbus landed on an Island inhabited by natives known as Caribs. Her name Waitikubuli meaning "tall is her body". It was Sunday so the strangers called Dominica, which meaning, Sunday. Her official name to date.
In 1627 Great Britain attempted to capture her but the attempt failed, likewise in 1635 a French attempt failed, as once again the Caribs many of whom had fled to Waitikubuli (Dominica) from neigbouring Caribbean islands which had already been colonized. Harsh mountainous terrain assisted the resistance as the natives would not give-up control of their island, they knew her well. A treaty signed by France and Britain in 1660 halted further attempts at colonizing the island for at least 40 years, however in the 1700's French settlers arrived and around 1720 France finally concored her. Dominica became the last Caribbean island to be colonized.(Story Continues below, but first we encourage you to view the following video, it's a video introduction to Dominica you can stop playback at anytime )
The victory was short lived however and after a long war; in 1763 France surrended Dominica to Great Britain. Slavery was abolished in 1834 by Britain and Dominica became the first British colony to be governed with blacks in control of the Administration. 1958 to 1962 Dominica was part of the West Indies Federation (WIF) which included the islands of Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Grenada, Barbados and Trinidad and Tobago the windward island chain, also the Leeward Islands: Antigua and Barbuda, Saint Christopher-Nevis-Anguilla, and Montserrat as well as some islands from the Greater Antilles to include Jamaica, the Turks and Caicos Islands and the Cayman Islands. The Federation however had a very short life span January 3, 1958 to May 31, 1962.
Dominica gained political Independence on November 3, 1978 from Britain Colonel Patrick R. John Premier of Dominica at the time of independence became Dominica's first Prime Minister. Mass protests forced his resignation after less than a year on the job (November 3, 1978-June 21, 1979). Two months later the island was hit by the most destructive hurricane in its recorded history. Hurricane David a category 5 hurricane killed 56 people and destroyed most of the island's infrastructure. More infomation here.
The Commonwealth Dominica has had 6 other Prime Ministers in 30 years Oliver Seraphine became Prime Minister under the Committee of National Salvation party on June 21 1979 after John's resignation. Yet another short Prime Ministership. July 21 1980,while Seraphine was preoccupied with rescue and rebuilding efforts he lost the gerneral election to opposition party Dominica Freedom party (DFP) leader Eugenia Charles to become the first female prime minister in the Caribbean. She kept her job for 15 years, 21 July 1980 - 14 June 1995. Edison James co-founder and leader of the United Workers Party (UWP) defeated the DFP. Dame Mary Eugenia Charles she retired from politics shortly after. The UWP governed for four and a half years 14 June 1995 - 3 February 2000, though constitutionally elections are held every five years in Dominica Prime Ministers have the legal right to call early elections, believing there was some political advantage James and his party used the strategy which proved fatal for the party. Roosevelt Douglas leader of the Dominica Labor Party (DLP) became prime minister. He was a rather controversial figure in Dominican politics, while attending college in Canada was accused of being an instigator of the ”Sir George Williams Computer Riot” in the 1969 after being convicted for burning the Canadian flag was jailed, then deported and banned from returning to the country; however the ban was lifted by the Canadian Government after he became the Prime Minister and visited the country. Sadly after retuning from a multi-nation trip he died at his home on October 1, 2000. Leaving the prime minister's suddenly chair empty once again.
Since the (DLP) had won majority of the palimentary seats on the island there was no need for special elections to select a new prime minister and on 3 October 2000 Pierre Charles was sworn into the job. 4 years an undiagnoed heart condition suddenly causes his death and Dominica is once again with a prime minister. A young DLP Cabinet member named Roosevelt Skerrit, nominated for the position by the president Dr. Nicolas Liverpool and took the oath of office on the 8 January 2004, he was just 31 years old.
Skerrit is currently the youngest head of government in the world. After becoming Prime Minister he was elected leader of the DLP which won the 2005 general elections and he retained his job as Prime Minister.
Often confused with the "Dominican Republic" (the other half of Hispaniola) the island is a melting pot of different cultures which are all visible from the French themed architecture to the Carib influenced craft, the African and French inspired music.
Descendants of African slaves the island's majority residents greatly influence the arts&culture, some traditional African dances are still performed as part of the November 3, Independence and other national celebrations. English is the official language but in recent years Creole (French-based Patois) is making a comeback, banned from being spoken in schools and in public during the colonial days didn’t keep older adults on the island from speaking it, their favorite language when speaking privately. The language survived.
Dominica is home to the second largest boiling lake in the world, and is blessed with approximately 365 rivers, many waterfalls, and some of the world’s most impressive underwater life and beautiful coral reefs, whale watching and scuba diving are a major part of the tourist industry which along with agriculture are the mainstays of the Dominican economy. Dominica is a country where many people live well past the age of 70. In 2002 out of an estimated population of 70,000 residents 21 were over the age of 100.
Dominica is not only a tourist destination but also a great location for any film industry. It offers a variety of beautiful scenic and exotic locations.We invite you to visit the website for more information. Titles filmed in Dominica
