Dominica

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Current government officials

Languages: English (official) and French patois

Ethnicity/race: black, mixed black and European, European, Syrian, Carib Amerindian

National Holiday: Independence Day, November 3

Religions: Roman Catholic 77%, Protestant 15% (Methodist 5%, Pentecostal 3%, Seventh-Day Adventist 3%, Baptist 2%, other 2%), none 2%

Literacy rate: 94% (2011 est.)

Economic summary: GDP/PPP (2011 est.): $1.02 billion; per capita $13,600. Real growth rate: 0.9%. Inflation: 3.5% (2012 est.). Unemployment: 23% (2011 est.). Arable land: 7%. Labor force: 25,000 (2011 est); agriculture 40%, industry and commerce 32%, services 28%. Agriculture: bananas, citrus, mangoes, root crops, coconuts, cocoa; forest and fishery potential not exploited. Industries: soap, coconut oil, tourism, copra, furniture, cement blocks, shoes. Natural resources: timber, hydropower, arable land. Exports: $47.8 million f.o.b. (2011 est.): bananas, soap, bay oil, vegetables, grapefruit, oranges. Imports: $207.1 million f.o.b. (2011 est.): manufactured goods, machinery and equipment, food, chemicals. Major trading partners: UK, Jamaica, Antigua and Barbuda, Guyana, Japan, Trinidad and Tobago, U.S., China, South Korea (2004).

Member of Commonwealth of Nations

Communications: Telephones: main lines in use: 15,500 (2011); mobile cellular: 98,100 (2011). Radio broadcast stations: AM 2, FM 4, shortwave 0 (2004). Television broadcast stations: 1 (2004). Internet hosts: 722 (2011). Internet users: 28,000 (2011).

Transportation: Railways: 0 km. Highways: total: 780 km; paved: 393 km; unpaved: 393 km (2012 est.). Ports and harbors: Portsmouth, Roseau. Airports: 2 (2011 est.).

International disputes: joins other Caribbean states to counter Venezuela's claim that Aves Island sustains human habitation, a criterion under UNCLOS, which permits Venezuela to extend its EEZ/continental shelf over a large portion of the Caribbean Sea.

Major sources and definitions