Dominica
POPULATION 70,158
ROMAN CATHOLIC 70.0 percent
SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTIST 4.7 percent
PENTECOSTAL 4.3 percent
METHODIST 4.2 percent
BAPTIST 2.8 percent
ANGLICAN 0.7 percent
OTHER (INCLUDING BAHAI, MUSLIM, RASTAFARIAN) 13.3 percent
Country Overview
Introduction
The Commonwealth of Dominica, an island in the Caribbean, was known as Waitikubuli when first sighted by Christopher Columbus in 1493. It was renamed Dominica, or Dies Dominica (Day of the Lord), in thanksgiving to God.
Part of the Lesser Antilles, the island lies between Guadeloupe to the north and Martinique to the south. It is mostly volcanic, mountainous, and densely covered with lush virgin rainforests. The topography of the island made colonization difficult for both the French and the British, who laid claim to the island and fought at various times for possession of it during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Finally, in 1783, after five years of French occupation, the British took permanent possession of Dominica as stipulated by the Treaty of Versailles. By then French influence already had a tremendous impact on Dominica's cultural development. From as early as the seventeenth century, the Caribs, the indigenous inhabitants, were exposed to French Catholic missionaries, who had come with the purpose of converting them. The French priests were also instrumental in converting the slaves to Catholicism.
