Roseau, Dominica: The Commonwealth of Dominica is celebrating its 44th Independence Day on November 3, 2022. The country has a tumultuous past, with many nations attempting to colonize and rule it. To mark the struggles, the country hosts a number of activities and showcases its rich and vibrant culture.
It is the strength and determination of the people that helped it gain independence. The independence of Dominica was declared on November 3, 1978. Dominican Independence Day is an opportunity to commemorate the country’s rich culture and history. Several events take place leading up to the day, such as Heritage Day and Creole Day.
Dominica always does things a bit differently. So our Independence Day is on the same date as when the islands were sighted by a mix of 1,500 Spanish and Italian sailors and settlers on 17 ships coming in across the Atlantic Ocean on November 3 1493, some 529 years ago.
The ships sailed by and did not land because of the rugged east coast, but the island was renamed from the indigenous Wai’tukubuli to Dies Dominica, “The Day of Our Lord” in Latin because it was a Sunday.
During the colonial period, the day was observed as “Discovery Day”, and in 1932 it was made a public holiday. In 1965 it was first celebrated as National Day, and when the island gained internal self-government in 1967, celebrations and observance of the day were intensified.
When the island moved to independence as a Republic in 1978, the new nation, with its new flag, was also launched on November 3. An additional holiday, November 4, was added in 1979 as Community Day of Service.
In 1632, Dominica is colonized by the French and slavery is introduced in the country. In 1763, the British took their turn, British colonies were set up after gaining possession of the land under the Treaty of Paris.In 1978, Dominica gained independence from British rule, with Patrick John becoming the first Prime Minister of Dominica.
Dominica is an island state in the Caribbean Sea between Guadeloupe and Martinique. The dwarf state has a total area of only 750 km² (290 mi²) and a total coastline of 148 km (92.0 mi). This land area is about 1.0 times the size of New York City. Dominica is thus the 20th smallest country in the Americas and ranked 192nd in the world.
The current population of Dominica is 72,402(2022).The capital of Dominica is Roseau.The national and international languages are Creole-English.The currency in Dominica is the East Caribbean dollar (XCD).
