DOMINICA“the nature island”

By Julie Roberts

Introduction

• Dominica is an island in the Caribbean.

• Language: English and

French patois.

• People: Mostly descendents of African

slaves and Carib Indians.

• Currency: East Caribbean dollar (XCD).

• Population: Est. 72514

A brief history of Dominica

Fought over by Britain and France

1627 to 1978

Slavery abolished

1834

Independence

1978

1493

Discoveredby Columbus

Climate

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

400

450

Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec

Max Temp (°C)

Min Temp (°C )

Rain (mm)

Mildly tropical… Winter: 21°C-28°C … Summer: 23°C-30°C…

Dry season: February to April…

Rainy season: June to October…

Weather facts• Hurricane season between

June and October

• Reaching its peak in late August to early September.

• In 1979 (Hurricane David),

• 1980 (Hurricane Allen),

• 1995 (Hurricane Luis)

• 1999 (Hurricane Lenny)

• In November 2004 an earthquake occurred in the north of Dominica causing millions of dollars of damage.

• Hurricane Dean destroyed most of Dominica's banana crop in August 2007.

• Climate change has had a devastating effect.

• School bus, a gift from Canada

• Three days later, unused

• It was demolished due to a hurricane

Places of Interest• Trafalgar Falls

– Twin cascades crash down a 220ft rock face.

• Emerald Pool– A small basin at the foot of a

waterfall.

• Sulphur Spring

– Some people like to take advantage of its healing qualities.

• The Boiling Lake

– Is 270ft wide and is the second largest in the world.

Culture

• Originally inhabited by Arawak and Carib Indians.

• Colonised by Europeans (the English and French in particular).

• Strong African influence during the 18th century.

• Dominica's culture is multi-

faceted.

• High rate of unemployment

• Many locals depend on tourism

• I found a very wide division between the rich and poor.

The Population

• The population is made up as shown in chart.

• The contrast between the black population and everyone else is very clear.

86%

9%

1%1%

3%

Black

Mixed

Caribs

White

Other

Summary

• Dominica is a very beautiful island.

• Which has lots of natural resources:

– timber, water (hydropower), and copper.

– Agriculture: Products- bananas, citrus, coconuts,

cocoa, herbal oils and extracts.

• It is a very eco-friendly island, which recycles almost

everything.

• I really enjoyed my visit to Dominica, I found it really

beautiful, friendly, and educational.

Bibliography

• Background photo by kretyen

• Trafalgar Falls photo by Mike Bowler

• Emerald Pool photo by luna76

• Sulphur Spring photo by quintanomedia

• The Boiling Lake photo is in the public domain.

• Squashed bus photo by Mike Bowler

• Fish market photo by eschipul

• IMG_ 7144 3rdeyek

• Rainbow photo by Mike Bowler

• Text taken from Thomson brochure & Kuoni brochure.