Dominica History:
This 26 million year old island was discovered by The Caribs, which settled in Dominica in the 14th century and called the island Waitikubuli, meaning “Tall is her body”. Christopher Columbus named the island after the day he founded it, Sunday, which means ‘Doménica’ in Italian. Dominica was the last of the Caribbean islands to be colonized by the Europeans due to the lack of cooperation of the Caribs (natives). The Caribs’ resistance and the lack of gold on the island discouraged the Spanish and they took little interested in Dominica.
Soon after in 1635, France and Britain fought over the island through the 18th century and has remained in Britain’s possession ever since the French nearly burned Roseau to the ground. The British took advantage of their opportunity with Dominica and established sugar plantations on the island’s more accessible parts.
In 1967, Dominica gained sovereignty as a West Indies Associated State, and in November of 1978, Dominica became an independent republic within the common wealth.
