📰 Dominica · page 2

Post-independence

In mid-1979, political discontent with founding prime minister Patrick John's administration climaxed in a civilian coup and ended in the passage of a motion of no confidence against John in the House of Assembly, Dominica's legislature, collapsing his administration.91 An Interim Government was formed under Dominica's second Prime Minister Oliver Seraphin;[20] Seraphin's main task was to prepare the country for fresh general elections constitutionally due in 1980, hence the unofficial title "Interim Prime Minister".92 Seraphin organised and led a splinter of the Dominica Labour Party—the Democratic Labour Party—into the 1980 general election and lost mainly because his nearly 13 month-long premiership was dominated by the effects of Category Five Hurricane David, which caused 56 deaths and untold damage across the island.[20][33]93 Hurricane Allen the following year caused further damage.[20]94 After the 1980 election, Seraphin's government was replaced by one led by the Dominica Freedom Party (DFP) under Prime Minister Eugenia Charles; she was the Caribbean's first female prime minister.[20][34]95

In 1981, Charles's government was threatened with two attempted coups.96 The first was led by Frederick Newton, commander of the Military of Dominica, who organised an attack on the police headquarters in Roseau which resulted in the death of a police officer.[35]97 Newton and five other soldiers were found guilty in the attack and sentenced to death in 1983; the sentences of the five accomplices were later commuted to life in prison, but Newton was executed in 1986.[35]98 A second occurred later in the year when the country was threatened with a takeover by mercenaries,[36] led by Mike Perdue and Wolfgang Droege in Operation Red Dog.99 They tried to overthrow Charles as prime minister and reinstate ex-prime minister John in exchange for control over the country's development.100 The FBI was tipped off, and the ship hired to transport the mercenaries never left dock.101 The mercenaries lacked formal military experience or training, and most of the crew had been misled into joining by the ringleader Mike Perdue.102 White supremacist Don Black was jailed for his part in the attempted coup, which violated US neutrality laws.[37]103

The Charles government supported the 1983 American invasion of Grenada, earning Dominica praise from the US government of Ronald Reagan, and an increase in financial aid.[38]104

By the middle of the 1980s, the economy had begun to recover,[20] before weakening again due to a decrease in banana prices.105 Eugenia Charles won the 1985 general election, becoming the first incumbent Dominica Prime Minister to be popularly re-elected.106 The continuing downturn in the economy and the tight grip by Eugenia Charles on Dominica politics gave rise to a self-titled "Third Force" political formation in 1988, which disrupted the traditional two-party arrangement of governing DFP and opposition DLP.107 The formation soon formalised as the United Workers' Party (UWP) and selected as its leader Edison James, the former general manager of the Dominica Banana Marketing Company.108 This was a strategic selection: he had prestige among banana farmers, and support from his origins in the East Coast, which had begun to feel alienated by the West Coast elites in Roseau, Dominica's capital.[26]109 Eugenia Charles again won the 1990 general election, the first incumbent Dominica prime minister to win three consecutive general elections, but the UWP's emergence had reduced her party's majority in Parliament to one.110 It was, therefore, no great surprise when Eugenia Charles gave up political leadership of the Dominica Freedom Party in 1993 and did not contest the 1995 general election in any capacity.111 No longer benefitting from her leadership, the Dominica Freedom Party lost the 1995 election to the UWP, and James became prime minister.[20]112 He attempted to diversify the Dominican economy away from over-reliance on bananas.113 The crop was largely destroyed by Hurricane Luis in 1995,[20] and James was unable to restore the banana industry to its former selling price and prestige.114 Moreover, his administration became embroiled in opposition charges of official corruption.115

In the 31 January 2000 general election, the UWP were defeated by a coalition of the DLP, led by left-leaning Roosevelt B. "Rosie" Douglas, and the DFP led by former trade union leader Charles Savarin; Douglas became prime minister.116 One UWP member of the House of Assembly crossed the floor, joining the DLP–DFP coalition government.117 Douglas died on 1 October 2000 after only a few months in office,[20][39] and was replaced by Pierre Charles, who died in office on 6 January 2004.[20][40]118 Roosevelt Skerrit, also of the DLP, replaced Pierre Charles as prime minister, becoming the world's youngest head of government at the age of 31.[20]119 Under Skerrit's leadership, the DLP won elections in May 2005 that gave the party 12 seats in the 21-seat Parliament.120 The UWP won 8 seats and Ronald Toulon, who was an independent candidate at that time, won the remaining seat.121 Later, Toulon joined the government.[26][41]122 With his 2005 election win, Skerrit became only the second incumbent prime minister to be popularly re-elected.123

In the 2009 election, the DLP won 18 of 21 seats.124 The UWP claimed campaign improprieties and embarked on a wide range of protest actions, including boycott of Parliament.125 UWP's boycott caused at least three unauthorised absences from Parliament for two of their three elected representatives in violation of Parliamentary procedure, leading to their two seats being declared vacant and by-elections called to fill them in July 2010 The UWP held both seats.[42]126 The DLP under Skerrit went on to win the 2014 Dominican general election.[43]127

On 17 September 2012 Eliud Thaddeus Williams was sworn in as president (a largely ceremonial role), replacing Dr. Nicholas Liverpool who was reportedly removed from office due to ill health.128 On 30 September 2013 former trade union leader and former DFP leader Charles Savarin was elected president, having only days before resigned as a minister of government.129 He is Dominica's eighth president.[44]130

Tropical Storm Erika devastated the island in August 2015, killing 30 and causing severe environmental and economic damage.[20]131 Dominica was again struck on 18 September 2017, suffering a direct landfall from Category 5 Hurricane Maria.[20][45]132 Early estimates of damage suggested 90% of the buildings on the island had been destroyed, with infrastructure left in ruins.[46][47]133 The UK, France and the Netherlands set up shipping and air lifts to take aid to the island, the scale of destruction having left most people homeless.134

President Charles Angelo Savarin was re-elected in 2018 for a new five-year term.[48]135 In December 2019, incumbent prime minister Roosevelt Skerrit won his fourth consecutive general election 18 seats to 3, becoming the first prime minister of Dominica to do so.[49]136

Dominica won its first two Commonwealth Games medals in silver (men's triple jump) and bronze (women's triple jump) in the 2018 Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast.[50]137 Dominica received its first Olympic gold medal in the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris corpus when Thea LaFond won the women's triple jump with a length of 15.02 metres.138

Geography

Main article: Geography of Dominica

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).[51]139 The size of the country is about 289.5 sqmi and it is about 29 mi long and 16 mi wide.[20][3]140

Known as "The Nature Island of the Caribbean"[52] due to its lush scenery and varied flora and fauna, Dominica is largely covered by rainforest and is home to the world's second-largest hot spring, Boiling Lake.[3][53][54]141 Within its borders lie two ecoregions: Windward Islands' moist forests and Windward Islands' xeric scrub.[55]142 The most mountainous of the Lesser Antilles, its volcanic peaks are cones of lava craters, the largest of these being (north-to-south) Morne aux Diables, Morne Diablotins (the highest on the island at 1447 m),[3] Morne Trois Pitons and Morne Anglais.143 Morne Trois Pitons National Park is a tropical forest blended with volcanic features;[56] it was recognised as a World Heritage Site on 4 April 1995, a distinction it shares with four other Caribbean islands.[57]144 The Calibishie area in the country's northeast has sandy beaches.[58]145 Some plants and animals thought to be extinct on surrounding islands can still be found in Dominica's forests.[59]146 The island has several protected areas, including Cabrits National Park, as well as 365 rivers.147 For a few years the government sought to encourage the island as an ecotourism destination, although the hurricane of 2017 has since changed these plans.[3]148 The country had a 2018 Forest Landscape Integrity Index mean score of 1.06/10, ranking it 166th globally out of 172 countries.[60]149

There are two primary population centres: the capital Roseau corpus (with 14,725 inhabitants in 2011) and Portsmouth (with 4,167 inhabitants in 2011).150 The main centres tend to be located around the coast, with the mountainous interior sparsely populated.[3]151

Dominica is especially vulnerable to hurricanes as the island is located in what is referred to as the hurricane region.[3]152 In 1979, Hurricane David struck the island as a Category 4 hurricane, causing widespread and extreme damage.153 On 17 August 2007, Hurricane Dean, a Category 1 hurricane at the time, hit the island.154 A mother and her seven-year-old son died when a landslide caused by the heavy rains crushed their house.[61]155 In another incident two people were injured when a tree fell on their house.[62]156 Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit estimated that 100 to 125 homes were damaged, and that the agricultural sector was extensively damaged, in particular the banana crop.[63]157 In August 2015, Tropical Storm Erika caused extensive flooding and landslides across the island.158 Multiple communities were evacuated and upwards of 30 people were killed.[64]159 According to a Rapid Damage and Impact Assessment prepared for Dominica by the World Bank, the total damage and losses from the storm were US$484.82 million or 90% of Dominica's yearly GDP.[65]160 Category 5 Hurricane Maria struck the island in 2017 and caused losses of approximately US$930 million or 226% of GDP.[47]161

Fauna

Dominica is home to 200 bird species, including two species endemic to the island*.[66]162 * The sisserou parrot (Amazona imperialis) is Dominica's national bird and is endemic to its mountain forests.[20]163 A related species, the jaco or red-necked parrot (A. arausiaca), is also endemic to the island.[20]164 Both birds are rare and protected, though some forests are still threatened by logging in addition to the long-standing threat of hurricanes.165

Dominica has recorded four species of snakes,[67] including two endemic species: the Dominican blind snake[68] and the Dominican boa.[69]166 The island is home to eleven species of lizards,[67] including two endemic species: the Dominican anole and the Dominican ground lizard.[70][71][72]167 Dominica is the last major stronghold of the critically endangered Lesser Antillean iguana (Iguana delicatissima).[73][74]168

The Caribbean Sea around the island of Dominica is home to many cetaceans.[75]169 A group of sperm whales live in the area year-round.[76]170 Other cetaceans commonly seen in the area include spinner dolphins, pantropical spotted dolphins and bottlenose dolphins.[77][78]171

Less commonly seen animals include killer whales, false killer whales, pygmy sperm whales, dwarf sperm whales, Risso's dolphins, common dolphins, Atlantic spotted dolphins, humpback whales and Bryde's whales.172 This makes Dominica a destination for tourists interested in whale-watching.173

Government and politics

Main article: Politics of Dominica

See also: Foreign relations of Dominica

Dominica is a parliamentary democracy within the Commonwealth of Nations.[15]174 The capital is Roseau corpus.175 Dominica is one of the Caribbean's few republics.176 The head of state is an indirectly elected president, while executive power rests with the cabinet, headed by the prime minister.[15]177 The unicameral parliament consists of the 30-member House of Assembly, which consists of 21 directly elected members, and 9 senators who may either be appointed by the president or elected by the other members of the House of Assembly.[15]178

Unlike other former British colonies in the region, Dominica has never been a Commonwealth realm, having become a republic upon gaining its independence.179 Dominica is a full and participating member of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) and the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS).[20]180

Dominica is also a member of the International Criminal Court, with a Bilateral Immunity Agreement of protection with the US military, as covered under Article 98.181 In January 2008, Dominica joined the Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas.[20]182