Most people, when first heard of Dominica, think of the Dominican Republic, which is owned by the United States of American. Spanish is the language spoke in the Dominica Republic. Dominica, located in the Caribbean chain, is pronounced dɒmɪˈniːkə – DOM-ih-NEE-kə or dəˈmɪnɪkə də-MIH-nih-kə because of its French, past.
Dominique; Wai’tu Kabuli), officially is the Commonwealth of Dominica, an island in the Caribbean, and the capital is Roseau, located on the western side of the island. The island is geographically part of the Leeward Islands chain in the Lesser Antilles archipelago in the Caribbean Sea.
The island is located between Guadeloupe to the northwest and Martinique to the south-southeast. Its area is 750 km2 (290 sq mi), and the highest point is Morne Diablotins, at 1,447 m (4,747 ft) in elevation. The population was 71,293 at the 2011 census.
The island got settled by the Arawak arriving from South America in the 5th century. The Island Caribs or Kalinagos displaced the Arawak violently by the 15th century. Columbus is said to have passed the island on Sunday, 3 November 1493. It was later colonized by Europeans, predominantly by the French from the 1690s to 1763.
The French brought slaves from West Africa to Dominica to work on coffee plantations. Great Britain took possession in 1763 after the Seven Years’ War, and it gradually established English as its official language. The island republic gained independence in 1978.
Dominica nicknamed the “Nature Isle of the Caribbean” for its natural environment. It is the youngest island in the Lesser Antilles, and in fact, it is still being formed by geothermal–volcanic activity, as evidenced by the world’s second-largest hot spring, called Boiling Lake.
The island has lush mountainous rainforests, and it is the home of many rare plants, animals, and bird species. There are xeric areas in some of the western coastal regions, but heavy rainfall occurs inland. The sisserou parrot, also known as the imperial amazon and found only on Dominica, is the island’s national bird and featured on the national flag, which is one of only two national flags containing the color purple (the other being Nicaragua).