Dominica
 

to 1871                   1871 - 1 Jan 1940 Leeward Islands                   1 Jan 1940 - 1955 Windward Islands                             1955 - 9 Nov 1965                        9 Nov 1965 - 3 Nov 1978                        3 Nov 1978 - 3 Nov 1981                           3 Nov 1981 - 1988                                Adopted 1988   Map of Dominica Hear National Anthem "Isle of Beauty, Isle of Splendour" Text of National Anthem Adopted 1978 (unofficial 1967-78) Constitution  (3 Nov 1978) Capital: Roseau (1765-1768 Portsmouth) Currency: East Caribbean  Dollar (XCD)  National Holiday: 3 Nov (1978) Independence Day Population: 72,514 (2008) GDP: $719.8 million (2008) Exports: $94 million (2006) Imports: $296 million (2006) Ethnic groups: black 86.8%, mixed 8.9%, Carib Amerindian 2.9%, white 0.8%, other 0.7% (2001) Total Police Force: 300 (2003) Merchant marine: 53 ships (2008) Religions: Roman Catholic 61.4%, Seventh Day Adventist 6%, Pentecostal 5.6%, Baptist 4.1%, Methodist 3.7%, Church of God 1.2%, Jehovah's Witnesses 1.2%, other Christian 7.7%, Rastafarian 1.3%, other or unspecified 1.6%, none 6.1% (2001) International Organizations/Treaties: ACP, ACS, AOSIS, APM, BTWC, C, Caricom, CDB, CELAC, CWC, ENMOD, ESCR, FAO, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO (observer), ICCt, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, ISA, ISO (correspondent), ITU, ITUC, KP, MIGA, NAM, NPT, OAS, OECS, OIF, OPANAL, OPCW, UN, UNCLOS, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNFCC, UNHCR, UNIDO, UPU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO Dominica Index Chronology  3 Nov 1493                Discovered and claimed for Spain by Christopher                              Columbus, named Isla Dominga. 1627                       Dominica claimed for England by Earl of Carlisle,                              no settlement. 1635                       Claimed by France, no settlement until 1690's. 31 Mar 1660                Agreed between the Caribs, French and English that                              Dominica will be left for the Caribs.  7 Feb 1686                French and English redesignate Dominica a Carib                              territory, French settlers continue to arrive. 1700                       British attempted settlement. 18 Oct 1748 -  6 Jun 1761  Neutral territory (as agreed by France                               and Britain).  6 Jun 1761                Occupied by Britain. 10 Feb 1763                British colony.  7 Sep 1778 - Jan 1784     French rule. Jan 1784                   British colony. 1833 -  1 Jan 1940         Part of the Leeward Islands colony                              (see under Antigua and Barbuda).  1 Jan 1940 -  1 Jan 1960  Part of the Windward Islands colony                               (see under Grenada).  3 Jan 1958 - 31 May 1962  Part of the Federation of the West Indies                              (see under Trinidad and Tobago).  1 Mar 1967                Associated state  3 Nov 1978                Independence (Commonwealth of Dominica). Carib Reserve

English Commander
1700                       Tobias Frere                         (d. 1707)
French Commandants
 1 Dec 1727 - 1742         Le Grand                             (d. 1748)
1742 - 1754                Descasseaux Bontemps                 (d. 1754)
1754                       Descasseaux (acting)
                             (brother of above)
1754 - Jun 1761            Louis Robert de la Touche de Longpré
Governors
 6 Jun 1761 - 1763         Andrew Rollo, Lord Rollo             (b. 1703 - d. 1765)
 8 Oct 1763 - 1765         Robert Melville                      (b. 1723 - d. 1809) 
1765 - 1767                George Scott                         (d. 1767)
 8 Mar 1768 - Oct 1770     William Young                        (b. 1725 - d. 1788)
18 Oct 1770 - 1774         William Stewart
 5 Feb 1774 - 1778         Sir Thomas Shirley                   (b. 1727 - d. 1800)
1778 - Jul 1781            Marie Charles, marquis du Chilleau   (b. 1734 - d. 1794)
Jul 1781 - Jan 1782        comte de Bourgon
Jan 1782 - Jan 1784        de Beaupré
10 Jan 1784 - 17 Jul 1789  John Orde (1st time)                 (b. 1751 - d. 1824)
Jul 1789 - 23 Nov 1790     Thomas Bruce (1st time)(acting)      (b. 1738 - d. 1797)
24 Nov 1790 - 17 Oct 1792  John Orde (2nd time)                 (s.a.)
18 Oct 1792 - 30 Nov 1794  Thomas Bruce (2nd time)(acting)      (s.a.)
1794 - 1796                Henry Hamilton                       (b. 1734 - d. 1796)
 2 Sep 1796 - 1797         John Matson (acting)
 8 Mar 1797 - 27 Sep 1802  Andrew James Cochrane Johnstone      (b. 1767 - d. 1833)
27 Sep 1802 - 24 Jun 1805  Sir George Prevost                   (b. 1767 - d. 1816)
1805 - 27 May 1808         George Metcalfe (acting)
27 May 1808 - 1809         James Montgomery
1809 - 1812                Edward Barnes                        (b. 1776 - d. 1838)
16 Apr 1812 - 18 Apr 1813  John Corlet (acting)
Apr 1813 - Jun 1814        George Robert Ainslie                (b. 1776 - d. 1839)
Jun 1814 - 1815            B. Lucas (acting)
1815 - 1816                R. Reid (1st time) (acting)
1816 - 1819                Charles William Maxwell              (b. 1776 - d. 1848)
1819 - 1820                R. Reid (2nd time) (acting)
1819 - 1821                Samuel Ford Whittingham              (b. 1772 - d. 1841)
1821 - 1822                R. Reid (3rd time) (acting)
1822 - 1824                Hans Francis Hastings,               (b. 1779 - d. 1828)
                             Earl of Huntingdon
1824 - 1831                William Nicolay                      (b. 1771 - d. 1842)
1831 - 1832                J.P. Lockhart (acting)               (d. 1837)
1832 - 1833                Evan John Murray MacGregor           (b. 1785 - d. 1841)
Lieutenant governors
1833 - Jan 1835            Charles Marsh Schomberg              (b. 1779 - d. 1835)
Jan 1835 - 1837            J.P. Lockhart (acting)               (s.a.)
1837 - 1838                Henry Light                          (b. 1783 - d. 1870)
1838                       John Longley
1839 - 1843                John McPhail
1843 - 1845                D.S. Laidlaw (acting)
1845 - 1851                George McDonald
1851 - 1857                Samuel Wensley Blackall              (b. 1809 - d. 1871)
1857 - 1861                Harry St. George Ord                 (b. 1819 - d. 1885)
                             (acting from 1860)
1861                       G. Berkeley (acting)
1861 - 1864                Thomas Price
 5 Jan 1865 - 18 Oct 1865  William Cleaver Francis Robinson     (b. 1834 - d. 1897)
                             (acting)
1865 - 1867                James Robert Longden                 (b. 1827 - d. 1891)
1867 - 1869                Henry Gascoyne Ernest Bulwer         (b. 1836 - d. 1914)
1869 - 1871                Sanford Freeling                     (b. 1828 - d. 1894)
1871 - 1872                Neale Porter (acting)
Presidents  
1872 - 1873                Alexander Wilson Moir                (b. 1825 - d. 1897)
1873 - 1882                Charles Monroe Eldridge              (b. 1825 - d. 1888)
1882 - 1887                James Meade
1887 - 1894                George Ruthven Le Hunte              (b. 1852 - d. 1925)
1894 - 1895                Edward Baynes (acting)
Administrators
1895 - 1899                Philip Arthur Templer                (b. 1846 - d. 1899)
1899 - 1905                Henry Hesketh Joudou Bell            (b. 1864 - d. 1952)
1905 - 1914                William Douglas Young                (b. 1859 - d. 1943)
                             (acting from 1913)
1914                       Edward Rawle Drayton                 (b. 1859 - d. 1927)
1915 - 1919                Arthur William Mahaffy               (b. 1869 - d. 1919)
1919 - 1923                Robert Walter                        (b. 1873? - d. 1959)
Nov 1923 - 1924            Wilfred Bennett Davidson-Houston     (b. 1870 - d. 1960) 
                             (acting) 
Jul 1924 - 1930            Edward Carlyon Eliot                 (b. 1879 - d. 1940)
11 Nov 1927 - 10 Apr 1928  Herbert Walter Peebles               (b. 1877 - d. 1955)
                             (acting for Eliot)
1930 - 1931                Thomas Edwin Percival Baynes         (b. 1885 - d. 1952)
                             (1st time)(acting)
1931 - 1933                Walter Andrew Bowring                (b. 1875 - d. 1950)
1933 - 1937                Henry Bradshaw Popham                (b. 1881 - d. 1947)
1937 - 1938                Thomas Edwin Percival Baynes         (s.a.)
                             (2nd time)(acting)
1938 - 1946                James Scott Neill                    (b. 1889 - d. 1958)
                             (acting from 1945)
1946 - 1952                Edwin Porter Arrowsmith              (b. 1909 - d. 1992)
1952 - 1959                Harry Laurence Lindo                 (b. 1911 - d. 1980)
1959 - Dec 1964            Alec Lovelace                        (b. 1907 - d. 1981)
1965 -  1 Mar 1967         Geoffrey Colin Guy                   (b. 1921 - d. 2006)
Governors
 1 Mar 1967 - Nov 1967     Geoffrey Colin Guy                   (s.a.)
Nov 1967 -  3 Nov 1978     Sir Louis Cools-Lartigue             (b. 1905 - d. 1993)
Presidents
 3 Nov 1978 - 19 Jan 1979  Sir Louis Cools-Lartigue (interim)   (s.a.)
19 Jan 1979 - 29 Jan 1980  Frederick "Fred" Eutrope Degazon     (b. 1913)
                             (left Dominica on 11 Jun 1979)
15 Jun 1979 - 16 Jun 1979  Sir Louis Cools-Lartigue             (s.a.)
                             (acting for Degazon)
21 Jun 1979 - 15 Feb 1980  Jenner Bourne Maude Armour           (b. 1936? - d. 2001)
                             (acting [for Degazon to 29 Jan 1980])
16 Feb 1980 - 25 Feb 1980  Vacant
26 Feb 1980 - 20 Dec 1983  Aurelius John Baptiste Lamothe Marie (b. 1903 - d. 1995)
23 May 1983 - 24 Oct 1993  Clarence Henry Augustus Seignoret    (b. 1919 - d. 2002)  DLP
                             (from 25 Oct 1985, Sir Clarence 
                             Henry Augustus Seignoret)
                             (acting for Marie to 20 Dec 1983)
25 Oct 1993 -  5 Oct 1998  Crispin Anselm Sorhaindo             (b. 1931 - d. 2010)  DFP 
 6 Oct 1998 -  1 Oct 2003  Vernon Lorden Shaw                   (b. 1930)            DUWP
 2 Oct 2003 - 17 Sep 2012  Nicholas Joseph Orville Liverpool    (b. 1934)            Non-party
17 Sep 2012 -              Eliud Thaddeus Williams              (b. 1948)            Non-party

Leader of the government
1957 -  1 Jan 1960         Franklyn Arthur Merrifield Baron     (b. 1923)            DUPP
Chief ministers
 1 Jan 1960 - 21 Jan 1961  Franklyn Arthur Merrifield Baron     (s.a.)               DUPP
21 Jan 1961 -  1 Mar 1967  Edward Oliver LeBlanc                (b. 1923 - d. 2004)  DLP
Premiers
 1 Mar 1967 - 27 Jul 1974  Edward Oliver LeBlanc                (s.a.)               DLP
27 Jul 1974 -  3 Nov 1978  Patrick Rowland John                 (b. 1938)            DLP 
Prime ministers
 3 Nov 1978 - 21 Jun 1979  Patrick Rowland John                 (s.a.)               DLP
21 Jun 1979 - 23 Jul 1980  Oliver James "O.J." Seraphine        (b. 1943)        DLP;1980 DmLP
                             (interim)
23 Jul 1980 - 14 Jun 1995  Mary Eugenia Charles (f)             (b. 1919 - d. 2005)  DFP
                             (from 1992, Dame Mary Eugenia Charles) 
14 Jun 1995 -  3 Feb 2000  Edison Chenfil James                 (b. 1943)            DUWP
 3 Feb 2000 -  1 Oct 2000  Roosevelt "Rosie" Bernard Douglas    (b. 1941 - d. 2000)  LPD
 1 Oct 2000 -  6 Jan 2004  Pierre Charles                       (b. 1954 - d. 2004)  LPD
                             (acting to 3 Oct 2000)
 6 Jan 2004 -  8 Jan 2004  Osborne Riviere (acting)             (b. 1932?)           LPD
 8 Jan 2004 -              Roosevelt Skerrit                    (b. 1972)            LPD

Territorial Disputes: Dominica is the only Caribbean state to challenge Venezuela's sovereignty claim over Aves Island and joins the other island nations in challenging whether the feature sustains human habitation, a criterion under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), which permits Venezuela to extend its Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) and continental shelf claims over a large portion of the eastern Caribbean Sea.

Party abbreviations: DFP = Dominica Freedom Party (conservative, est.1968); DUWP = Dominica United Workers' Party (social-democratic, est.1985); LPD = Labour Party of Dominica (social-democratic, to 1985 DLP);
- Former Parties: DLP = Dominica Labour Party (social-democratic, est.1955, renamed 1985 LPD); DmLP = Democratic Labour Party; DUPP = Dominica United People's Party (est.1957, members later form DFP in 1968)

1776                       Land reserved by British Crown for Caribs (Kalinago),
                             area is called 'The Carib Quarter.'
 4 Jul 1903                Carib Reserve established (Caribs prefer to call the 
                             the area the "Carib Territory").
Sep 1930 - 1952            Office of Chief suspended by British colonial government.
1952                       Carib Council established.
31 Mar 1978                Carib Reserve Act formalizes internal self-government.

Chiefs
1667 - 1674                Thomas "Indian" Warner               (b. 1657 - d. 1674)
18.. - 18..                Petit François 
18.. - c.1850              (Popot) Wakanik 
c.1850 - c.1870            Joseph 
af.1870 - 18..             Brunie
c.1903                     Auguiste François
1916 - 1926                Jules Benjamin Corriette 
1926 - 1930                Thomas "Jolly" John                  (d. 1941)
1930  (6 months)           Simon John 
1930 - 1952                office suspended
1953 - 1959                Whitney Frederick
1959 - 1972                Jermandois Francis
1972 - 1975                Masclem Frederick
1975 - 1979                Faustulus Frederick
Jul 1979 - Jul 1984        Hilary Frederick (1st time)          (b. 1959? - d. 2004) 
Jul 1984 - Jul 1994        Faustulus Frederick
Jul 1994 - Jul 1999        Hilary Frederick (2nd time)          (s.a.)
Jul 1999 - Jul 2004        Garnette Joseph
Jul 2004 -                 Charles Williams