Almost all 81,000 Dominicans are descendants of African slaves imported by planters in the 18th century. Dominica is the only island in the eastern Caribbean to retain a colony of its pre-Columbian population, the Carib Indians, about 500 of whom live in a reserve on the island's east coast. The population growth rate is low, due primarily to emigration to more prosperous Caribbean islands, the United Kingdom, the United States, and Canada.
English is the official language; however, because of historic French domination, the most widely spoken dialect is a French patois. About 80% of the population is Catholic. In recent years, a significant number of Protestant churches have been established.
Natives 1940
Dominica was discovered November 3, 1493, by Columbus on his second voyage to the New World. He found the island inhabited by warlike Carib Indians, who in the 14th century had expelled or exterminated the indigenous Arawak Indians. Because of prevailing winds and currents, Spanish ships frequently landed on Dominica during the 16th century, but fierce resistance by the Caribs daunted the Spanish and discouraged efforts at settlement.
In 1635, with the decline of Spanish power, France claimed Dominica. Shortly thereafter, French missionaries became the first Europian inhabitants of the island. Carib incursions continued, however, and in 1660 the French and British agreed that Dominica and St. Vincent should be left to the Indians. Dominica was officially neutral for the next century. But the attraction of Dominica's resources remained; rival groups of British and French foresters were harvesting timber by the start of the 18th century, normally in expeditions rather than from permanent settlements.
Largely due to Dominica's position between Martinique and Guadeloupe, France eventually became predominant, and a French settlement was established and grew. However, as part of the 1763 Treaty of Paris that ended the Seven Years' War being fought in Europe, North America, and India, the island became a British possession. In 1778, during the American Revolutionary War, the French mounted a successful invasion with the active cooperation of the still largely French population. The 1783 Treaty of Paris, ending American hostilities, returned the island to Britain. Further French invasions failed in 1795 and 1805.
In 1763, the British established a legislative assembly, representing only the white population. In 1831, reflecting a liberalization of official British racial attitudes, the "Brown Privilege Bill" conferred political and social rights on nonwhites. Three blacks were elected to the Legislative Assembly the following year, and by 1838 the recently enfranchised blacks dominated that body. Most black legislators were smallholders or merchants, who held economic and social views diametrically opposed to the interests of the small, wealthy English planter class. Reacting to a perceived threat, the planters lobbied for more direct British rule. In 1865, after much agitation and tension, the colonial office replaced the elective assembly with one of half elected members and half appointed. The elected legislators were subsequently outmaneuvered on numerous occasions by the planters allied with colonial administrators. In 1871, Dominica became a federal colony attached to the Leeward Islands. The power of the black population progressively eroded until crown colony government, after severe colonial office pressure, was forced on the assembly in 1896. All political rights for the vast majority of the population were effectively curtailed. Development aid, offered as compensation for disenfranchisement, proved to have negligible effect.
Following World War I an upsurge of political consciousness throughout the Caribbean led to the formation of the Representative Government Association. Marshaling popular discontent with the lack of a popular voice in the governing of Dominica, this group in 1924 won one-third and in 1936 one-half of the popularly elected seats of the Legislative Assembly. Shortly thereafter, Dominica was transferred from Leeward Island administration and was governed as part of the Windwards until 1958, when it joined the short-lived Federation of the West Indies. After the federation dissolved, Dominica became an associated state of the United Kingdom in 1967 and formally took responsibility for its internal affairs. On November 3, 1978, the Commonwealth of Dominica was granted independence by the United Kingdom.
Problems stemming from centuries of economic underdevelopment have persisted since independence. In mid-1979, political discontent led to the formation of an interim government. This was replaced after 1980 elections by the Dominica Freedom Party under Prime Minister Mary Eugenia Charles, the Caribbean's first female prime minister. Chronic economic problems also were compounded by the severe impact of Hurricanes David in 1979 and Allen in 1980. But by the end of the decade, the economy had made a healthy recovery, fueled by highly profitable banana exports
