ABSTRACT
This chapter provides a brief historical background and a description of major events in Dominica. It also provides basic political, economic, and social data arranged in the following categories: polity, economy, population, purchasing power parities, life expectancy, ethnic groups, capital, political rights, civil liberties, and status. The chapter discusses the progress and decline of political rights and civil liberties in Dominica. Dominica has been an independent republic within the Commonwealth since 1978. Dominica's offshore business sector includes some 4,600 international companies, 5 offshore banks, and 5 Internet gambling companies. During 2001, Dominica's important banana-growing sector was told by senior government officials that it must quickly achieve commercial profitability if it is to survive the pending end of preferential access to the Economic Union. The Dominica Defense Force was disbanded in 1981 after being implicated in attempts by supporters of former Prime Minister Patrick John to overthrow the government.
