Dominica Overview
Dominica, officially the Commonwealth of Dominica, is an island country in the Lesser Antilles area of the Caribbean Sea. Dominica has earned the nickname the “Nature Isle of the Caribbean” for its natural beauty, and it was named by Christopher Columbus for the day on which he found it (Sunday, or Dominica in Latin).
Dominica remained isolated for nearly 100 years after it was discovered by Columbus, but more Caribs began to move to the area after they were driven from surrounding islands. France maintained a colony on the island for some time and imported African slaves to the area before it was ceded to Great Britain.
Dominica’s population eventually began to grow, although it has remained fairly stagnant for the last four decades. Much of the population is concentrated in the largest city and capital of Roseau, which has 16,500 residents. No other city has more than 5,000 residents.
Dominica Demographics
Most Dominicans are of African descent, with a large mixed population and Indo-Caribbean and East Indian populations. There is still a small group of people of European descent who are descendants of the Irish, British and French colonists, and some Lebanese, Syrians, and Asians.
In 2011 the ethnic breakdown of the country was: black (86.8%), mixed (8.9%), Kalinago (2.9%), European (0.8%), and other (0.7%).
Dominica remains the only Eastern Caribbean country that still has a population of native pre-Columbian Caribs. There are only 3,000 Caribs remaining in the world, and they live in villages on the eastern coast of the island.
Interestingly, Dominica has three times the average number of centenarians of developed countries. This is currently being studied.