Map of Dominica

Commonwealth of Dominica

President: Nicholas Liverpool (2003)

Prime Minister: Roosevelt Skerrit (2004)

Current government officials

Total area: 290 sq mi (751 sq km)

Population (2008 est.): 72,514 (growth rate: 0.1%); birth rate: 15.7/1000; infant mortality rate: 14.1/1000; life expectancy: 75.3; density per sq mi: 96

Capital and largest city (2003 est.): Roseau, 20,000

Monetary unit: East Caribbean dollar

Languages: English (official) and French patois

Ethnicity/race: black, mixed black and European, European, Syrian, Carib Amerindian

National Holiday: Independence Day, November 3

Religions: Roman Catholic 77%, Protestant 15% (Methodist 5%, Pentecostal 3%, Seventh-Day Adventist 3%, Baptist 2%, other 2%), none 2%

Literacy rate: 94% (2003 est.)

Economic summary: GDP/PPP (2003 est.): $384 million; per capita $5,500. Real growth rate: –1%. Inflation: 1% (2001 est.). Unemployment: 23% (2000 est.). Arable land: 7%. Labor force: 25,000 (1999 est); agriculture 40%, industry and commerce 32%, services 28%. Agriculture: bananas, citrus, mangoes, root crops, coconuts, cocoa; forest and fishery potential not exploited. Industries: soap, coconut oil, tourism, copra, furniture, cement blocks, shoes. Natural resources: timber, hydropower, arable land. Exports: $74 million f.o.b. (2004 est.): bananas, soap, bay oil, vegetables, grapefruit, oranges. Imports: $234 million f.o.b. (2004 est.): manufactured goods, machinery and equipment, food, chemicals. Major trading partners: UK, Jamaica, Antigua and Barbuda, Guyana, Japan, Trinidad and Tobago, U.S., China, South Korea (2004).

Member of Commonwealth of Nations

Communications: Telephones: main lines in use: 23,700 (2002); mobile cellular: 9,400 (2002). Radio broadcast stations: AM 2, FM 4, shortwave 0 (2004). Television broadcast stations: 1 (2004). Internet hosts: 681 (2003). Internet users: 12,500 (2002).

Transportation: Railways: 0 km. Highways: total: 780 km; paved: 393 km; unpaved: 393 km (1999 est.). Ports and harbors: Portsmouth, Roseau. Airports: 2 (2004 est.).

International disputes: joins other Caribbean states to counter Venezuela's claim that Aves Island sustains human habitation, a criterion under UNCLOS, which permits Venezuela to extend its EEZ/continental shelf over a large portion of the Caribbean Sea.

Major sources and definitions