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Dominica, officially the Commonwealth of Dominica, is an island republic in the West Indies. The capital, Roseau, is located on the western side of the island. It is part of the Windward Islands in the Lesser Antilles archipelago in the Caribbean Sea. The island is located near Guadeloupe to the northwest and Martinique to the south-southeast. Its area is 750 km2, and the highest point is Morne Diablotins, at 1,447 m in elevation. The population was 71,293 at the 2011 census.

Geography

Dominica is an island nation in the Caribbean Sea, the northernmost of the Windward Islands (though it is sometimes considered the southernmost of the Leeward Islands). The size of the country is about 750 km2.

Dominica is largely covered by rainforest and is home to the world's second-largest hot spring, Boiling Lake. Dominica has many waterfalls, springs, and rivers. The Calibishie area in the country's northeast has sandy beaches. Some plants and animals thought to be extinct on surrounding islands can still be found in Dominica's forests. The island has several protected areas, including Cabrits National Park, as well as 365 rivers.

Demographics

The vast majority of Dominicans are of African descent. There is a growing mixed population along with a small European origin minority (descendants of French and British colonists along with some people of Irish descent) and there are small numbers of Lebanese, Syrians and Asians. Dominica is also the only Eastern Caribbean island that still has a population of pre-Columbian native Kalinago (previously called Caribs), who were exterminated or driven from neighbouring islands. As of 2014 there are more than 3,000 Kalinago remaining. They live in eight villages on the east coast of Dominica. This special Carib Territory (now Kalinago Territory) was granted by the British Crown in 1903. There are also about 1,000 medical students from the United States and Canada who study at the Ross University School of Medicine in Portsmouth.

Languages

English is the official language of Dominica and is universally spoken and understood. In addition, Dominican Creole French, an Antillean Creole based on French, is widely spoken. This is due to French migration to the island starting in 1690, a majority French Creole speaking population that resided on the island, and its location between the two French-speaking departments of Martinique and Guadeloupe. Since 1979, Dominica has been a member of La Francophonie. Dominican Creole is particularly used among the older generation, which also speaks a patois language. Because of a decline in the use of Creole by the younger generation, initiatives have been set up in an effort to increase usage and promote this unique part of the nation's history and culture.

Along with Creole, a dialect known as Kokoy (or Cockoy) is spoken. It is a type of pidgin English which is a mix of Leeward Island English Creole and Dominican Creole, and is mainly spoken in the north-eastern villages of Marigot and Wesley, by the descendants of immigrants from Montserrat and Antigua. Over time there has been much intermarrying, but there are still traces of difference in origin. As a result of this mixture of languages and heritage, Dominica is a member of both the French-speaking Francophonie and the English-speaking Commonwealth of Nations.

Island Carib, also known as Igneri (Iñeri, Igñeri, Inyeri), was an Arawakan language historically spoken by the Island Caribs of the Lesser Antilles in the Caribbean. The Island Caribs lived throughout the southern Lesser Antilles such as Dominica, St Vincent and Trinidad, supposedly having conquered them from their previous inhabitants, the Igneri. Island Carib became extinct about 1920, but an offshoot survives as Garifuna, primarily in Central America.

Religion

61.4% of the population is Roman Catholic, though in recent years a number of Protestant churches have been established. About 10–12% of the population belongs to one of the 7th day (Saturday) denominations, which includes Yahweh Congregation, Church of God (Seventh-Day) and the Seventh-day Adventist Church.

According to the Association of Religion Data Archives, in 2010 the World Christian Database reported that the largest non-Christian religious groups included: spiritualism followed by 2.6% of the population; Bahai followed by 1.7%; Agnosticism followed by 0.5%; Buddhism, Hinduism, and Islam followed by 0.1% each; and Chinese folk religion, Neoreligions, and Atheism each followed by non-negligible (i.e. <0.1%) of the population. The nation's first mosque was built near Ross University.