In 1493 Christopher Columbus landed on an Island inhabited by natives known as Caribs. The name of the island was "Waitikubuli" which means "tall is her body". The way was Sunday so the Spanish explorers called it "Dominica", (not to be confused with Santo Domingo Dominican Republic) which means, Sunday.
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. The harsh mountainous terrain assisted the natives with their resistance refusing to give-up control of their island, they knew the island well and used that knowledge to discourge their would be conquerors. 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 conquered the island. Thus making Dominica the last Caribbean island to be colonized.
That victory however lasted a very short time as France and Britain began what turned out to be a long war over control of the island, finally in 1763 France surrended Dominica to Great Britain. Roughly 71 years (1834) later Britain abolished slavery and Dominica became the first British colony to be governed with blacks in control of the Administration.
From 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 failed to live and grow beyond those 4 years.
Dominica gained political Independence on November 3, 1978 from Britain Colonel Patrick R. John Premier of Dominica at the time of i became it's first Prime Minister. Mass protests forced his resignation 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
