Dominica: A Random Country

By Brian Englesma

Hello everybody. I’m back, and this time I’d like to take the opportunity to talk to you about a truly random country: Dominica. Dominica, as I’m sure you already know, is located somewhere in the Caribbean, between the islands of Martinique and Guadeloupe.

Over 72,000 people choose to call the 290 square mile island of Dominica home. The population is primarily located around the aptly named port town of Portsmouth, and the capital Roseau. Geographically, Dominica is rather typical of what you’d find in the Lesser Antilles. It features a large mountain in the center of the island, which slowly slopes down to the sea. Dominica is, however, the largest of the Windward Islands, as well as the newest. The island is famous throughout the Caribbean for having the lushest rainforest, as well as for being the home of the Sisserou Parrot.

Dominica was “discovered” by Christopher Columbus on his second journey in 1493. The first stop on Columbus’s journey, Dominica was spotted on November 3rd. This date, a Sunday, explain Dominica’s name. Finding nothing more meaningful or notable to name the name after, Columbus decided to name the island after the day of the week, Dominica, the Latin word for Sunday.

The French, whose occupation was never fully accepted, finally claimed the island in 1635. In 1660, after 25 years of Carib incursions, the French abandoned the island for the native Carib population to control. In 1761, during the Seven Years War, also known as the French and Indian War, the British invaded the island and took it as a protectorate. The French attempted to regain control of the island during the American Revolution, as well as in 1795 and in 1805, failing in every attempt.

Dominica had a relatively peaceful colonial period, with slow transitioning that eventually culminated in independence in 1978. Dominica was dealt its worse tragedy ever in 1979 with the islands destruction due to Hurricane David, destroying over 75% of the homes on the island.
Ask any Dominican what makes them proudest of Dominica, they will surely answer that it is the Boiling Lake. Situated in the Morne Trois Pitons National Park, a United Nations World Heritage Site, a title achieved after extensive lobbying by the Dominican government in 1997, the Boiling Lake is second largest boiling lake in the world. With temperatures ranging from 180 to 197 degrees Fahrenheit around the edges, it’s no wonder how the Boiling Lake earned its hot name!

In recent years the nation of Dominica has become more elusive and restricted from tourists, part of a concerted effort by the Dominican people to keep its pristine wildlife intact. However, Dominica’s lack of beaches makes tourism an unreliable sector regardless of their demeanor towards tourists. Despite all of this, Dominica’s economy, one of the weakest in the industrial hotbed that is the Caribbean, is based on a combination of what little tourism it gets, and growing bananas.

Dominica, the Caribbean’s North Dakota, is a nation that is rather unremarkable and unnoticeable in nearly every way. In nearly every aspect of being, Dominica is truly a random nation.