The first written records in the history of Dominica began in November 1493, when Christopher Columbus spotted the island. Prior to European contact, Dominica was inhabited by the Arawak. Dominica was a French colony from 1715 until the end of the Seven Years' War in 1763, and then became a British colony from 1763 to 1978. It became an independent nation in 1978.
The politics of Dominica takes place in a framework of a parliamentary representative democratic republic, whereby the Prime Minister of Dominica is the head of government, and of a multi-party system. Executive power is exercised by the government. Legislative power is vested in both the government and the House of Assembly. The Judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature.
A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems a prime minister is not the head of state, but rather the head of government, serving as the principal administrator under either a monarch in a monarchy or a president in a republican form of government.
Politics of Saint Lucia takes place in the framework of an independent parliamentary democratic constitutional monarchy, with King Charles III as its head of state, represented by a Governor General, who acts on the advice of the prime minister and the cabinet. The prime minister is the leader of the majority party of the house, and the cabinet conducts affairs of state. The Governor General exercises basically ceremonial functions, but residual powers, under the constitution, can be used at the governor general's discretion. The actual power in St. Lucia lies with the prime minister and the cabinet, usually representing the majority party in parliament.
Pierre Charles was a Dominican politician who served as Prime Minister of Dominica from 2000 to his death in 2004. At the time of his death, he was also serving as Member of Parliament for Grand Bay since 1985.
Roosevelt Skerrit is a Dominican politician who has been Prime Minister of Dominica since 2004; he has also been the Member of Parliament for the Vieille Case constituency since 2000. Regionally, he has served as the chairman of the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) and most recently as chairman of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) in 2010. Skerrit is currently the longest-serving prime minister of Dominica.
The prime minister of Dominica is the head of government in the Commonwealth of Dominica. Nominally, the position was created on November 3, 1978, when Dominica gained independence from the United Kingdom. Hitherto, the position existed de facto as Premier. Roosevelt Skerrit is the incumbent prime minister. He took office on 8 January 2004
Patrick Roland John was the first Prime Minister of Dominica as well as its last Premier. He led Dominica to independence from the United Kingdom. He was leader of the Waterfront and Allied Workers' Union and mayor of Roseau before being elected to the legislature in 1970. He became Premier in 1974 following the resignation of Edward Oliver LeBlanc. After mass protest forced him to resign, John unsuccessfully attempted in 1981 to overthrow the government of Prime Minister Eugenia Charles with the backing of white supremacist groups. As a result, he was jailed for twelve years, of which he served five years.
Elections in Dominica have been taking place since 1832. Dominica elects on national level a legislature. The House of Assembly has 32 members, 21 members elected for a five-year term in single-seat constituencies, 9 appointed senators, the Speaker and 1 ex officio member. A head of state—the president—is elected by the House of Assembly.
The Dominica Labour Party is a centre-left social-democratic political party in Dominica.
The United Workers' Party is a centrist political party in Dominica. As of the 2022 general election, the party is not represented in the House of Assembly of Dominica, after boycotting the general election. The past Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly is Lennox Linton.
Mary Eugenia Charles was a Dominican politician who was Prime Minister of Dominica from 21 July 1980 until 14 June 1995. The first female lawyer in Dominica, she was Dominica's first, and to date only, female prime minister. She was the second female prime minister in the Caribbean after Lucina da Costa of the Netherlands Antilles. She was the first female in the Americas to be elected in her own right as head of government. She served for the second longest period of any Dominican prime minister, and was the world's fourth longest-serving female prime minister, behind Sheikh Hasina of Bangladesh, Sirimavo Bandaranaike of Sri Lanka and Indira Gandhi of India.
Edison Chenfil James is a Dominican politician who was the prime minister of Dominica from June 14, 1995, to February 3, 2000, as well as the member of parliament for the Marigot constituency from 1990. He graduated from the Dominica Grammar School. He has a BSc degree in botany from the University of East London, a MSc degree in biochemistry from the University of Reading and a post graduate diploma in crop protection technology from Imperial College. He worked in a number of local and regional institutions including the Caribbean Development Bank, but it was as manager of the Dominica Banana Marketing Company that he rose to prominence on the island. He was instrumental in resuscitating the island's critical banana industry which had been decimated by Hurricane David. James has been active in regional cricket as an administrator and was the manager of the Windward Islands cricket team and the Combined Islands cricket team. He is a member of the Rotary Club.
Charles Angelo Savarin, DAH is a politician from Dominica who served as President of Dominica from 2013 to 2023. He is a member of the Dominica Labour Party and served for a time as Minister for National Security, Immigration, Labour and the Public Service.
Oliver James "O. J." Seraphin is a former Dominican politician. He served as the Minister of communication and works and housing for the Labour Party government from 1975–1979 and acting Prime Minister of Dominica from 25 June 1979 until 21 July 1980.
General elections were held in Dominica on 5 May 2005. The result was a victory for the ruling Dominica Labour Party, which won 12 of the 21 seats in the House of Assembly. The opposition United Workers' Party unsuccessfully made legal challenges to several of the constituency results.
Dominica, officially the Commonwealth of Dominica, is an island country in the Caribbean. It is part of the Windward Islands chain in the Lesser Antilles archipelago in the Caribbean Sea. The capital, Roseau, is located on the western side of the island. Dominica's closest neighbours are two constituent territories of the European Union, the overseas departments of France, Guadeloupe to the northwest and Martinique to the south-southeast. Dominica comprises a land area of 750 km2 (290 sq mi), and the highest point is Morne Diablotins, at 1,447 m (4,747 ft) in elevation. The population was 71,293 at the 2011 census.
The following lists events that happened during 2022 in the Caribbean.
