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A Short History of Dominica

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The Commonwealth of Dominica has gone thru a lot of invasions by different nations during the early times. It is called the Nature Island of the Caribbean because of its rich natural resources, picturesque natural sites and seemingly untouched island beauty. This is the reason why a number of nations were interested in controlling the island. The island was merely just an island full of mountains and forests until the Europeans arrived and made developments in the island like agricultural lands and ports.

The island was first discovered by Christopher Columbus in November 3, 1943. It was a Sunday then, where he got the island’s name, Dominica (Sunday in Latin language is Dominica). From then on, the nature island in the Caribbean Sea is called Dominica.

The Arawaks and the Kalinago Carib tribes are the original inhabitants of the island and they have been the country’s only inhabitants until the year when Europeans discovered and invaded the island. In 1763, the French conquered the country, followed by the English in the year 1805. From then on, the United Kingdom made it their island colony.

The English continued their invasion in the island and brought African slaves to the country in the year 1834. After a few years, Africans have become a significant majority in the country and Dominica became the first Caribbean island colony of the English controlled by an African majority. After several years though, the United Kingdom reassumed governance and turned Dominica into a Crown colony.

After almost a century, Dominica gained its independence as a nation in the year 1978.