1988 Edition

Climate

tropical maritime; little seasonal temperature variation

Coastline

1,288 km

Comparative area

about the size of New Hampshire and Vermont combined Land boundary 361 km with Haiti

Contiguous zone

24 nm

Continental shelf

outer edge of continental margin or 200 nm

Environment

subject to occasional hurricanes; deforestation

Ethnic divisions

73% mixed, 16% white, 11% black

Extended economic zone

200 nm

Infant mortality rate

63/1,000 (1983)

Labor force

25,000; 40% agriculture, 32% industry and commerce, 28% services; 15-20% unemployment (1984)

over 2 million (1986); 45% agriculture, 34% industry, 16% services

Land use

23% arable land; 7% permanent crops; 43% meadows and pastures; 13% forest and woodland; 14% other; includes 4% irrigated

Language

Spanish

Life expectancy

60

Literacy

about 80%

68%

Nationality

noun — Dominican(s); adjective— Dominican

Organized labor

25% of labor force

between 200,000 and 250,000 (1986); 10-15% of labor force

Population

6,960,743 (July 1987), average annual growth rate 2.49%

Religion

95% Roman Catholic

Special notes

shares island of Hispaniola with Haiti

Terrain

rugged highlands and mountains

Territorial sea

6 nm

Total area

48,730 km2; land area: 48,380 km2

Administrative divisions

10 parishs

29 provinces and the National District

Branches

legislative, 51-member bicameral House of Assembly (1 ex-officio member, 9 appointed members, and 21 popularly elected members; executive, Cabinet headed by Prime Minister; judicial, magistrate's courts and regional court of appeals

President popularly elected for a four-year term; bicameral legislature (National Congress — 30-seat Senate and 120-seat Chamber of Deputies elected for four-year terms); Supreme Court

Capital

Roseau

Santo Domingo

Communists

negligible

an estimated 8,000 to 10,000 members in several legal and illegal factions; effectiveness limited by ideological differences and organizational inadequacies

Elections

every five years; last held 2 July Political parties and leaders: Labor Party of Dominica (DLP, a leftist-dominated coalition), Michael Douglas; Dominica Freedom Party (DFP), (Mary) Eugenia Charles

last national election 16 May 1986; next election 16 May 1990 Political parties and leaders: Dominican Revolutionary Party (PRD), Salvador Jorge Blanco, Jacobo Majluta, and Jose Francisco Pefia Gomez; Social Christian Reformist Party (PRSC), Joaquin Balaguer Ricardo (formed in 1984 by merger of Reformist Party and Social Christian Revolutionary Party); Dominican Liberation Party (PLD), Juan Bosch Gavino; The Structure (LE), Andres Van Der Horst; Democratic Quisqueyan Party (PQ D), Elias Wessin y Wessin; Constitutional Action Party (PAC), Luis Arzeno Rodriguez; National Progressive Force (FNP), Marino Vinicio Castillo; Popular Christian Party (PPC), Rogelio Delgado Bogaert; Dominican Communist Party (PCD), Narciso Isa Conde; AntiImperialist Patriotic Union (UPA), Ivan Rodriguez; in 1983 several leftist parties, including the PCD, joined to form the Dominican Leftist Front (FID); however they still retain individual party structures

Government leader

Joaquin BALAGUER Ricardo, President (since August 1986)

Government leaders

(Mary) Eugenia CHARLES, Prime Minister (since July 1980); Sir Clarence SEIGNORET, President (since December 1983)

Legal system

based on English common law; three local magistrate courts and the British Caribbean Court of Appeals

based on French civil codes; 1966 constitution

Member of

CARICOM, Commonwealth, FAO, GATT (de facto), G-77, IBRD, IDA, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMF, IMO, INTERPOL, OAS, UN, UNESCO, UPU, WHO, WMO

FAO, G-77, GATT, IADB, IAEA, IBA, IBRD, ICAO, ICO, IDA, IDE — Inter-American Development Bank, IFAD, IFC, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IOOC, IRC, ISO, ITU, OAS, PAHO, SELA, UN, UNESCO, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WMO, WTO

National holiday

Independence Day, 27 February

Official name

Commonwealth of Dominica

Dominican Republic

Other political or pressure groups

Dominica Liberation Movement (DLM), a small leftist group

Suffrage

universal adult suffrage at age 18

universal and compulsory, over age 18 or married, except members of the armed forces and police, who cannot vote

Type

independent state within Commonwealth

republic

Voting strength

(1985 election) House of Assembly seats— DFP 15, LPD 5, independent 1

(1986 election) 72% voter turnout; 40.6% PRSC, 33.5% PRD, 18.3% PLD; 5.3% LE; 2.3% minor parties

Agriculture

bananas, citrus, coconuts, cocoa, essential oils

sugarcane, coffee, cocoa, tobacco, rice, corn

Aid

bilateral ODA and OOF (1970-80), from Western (non-US) countries, $22.6 million

US economic commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70-85), from US, $868 million; ODA and OOF from other Western countries (1970-84), $330 million

Budget

revenues, $33.4 million; expenditures, $38.5 million (FY84)

revenues, $828 million; expenditures, $750 million (1985 est.)

Electric power

7,000 kW capacity; 16 million kWh produced, 220 kWh per capita (1986)

1,332,000 kW capacity; 3,800 million kWh produced, 560 kWh per capita (1986)

Exports

$28.7 million (f.o.b., 1985); bananas, coconuts, lime juice and oil, cocoa, reexports

$735 million (f.o.b., 1985); sugar, nickel, coffee, tobacco, cocoa, gold, silver

Fiscal year

1 July-30 June

calendar year

GDP

$85.4 million (1984 est.), $1,034 per capita; real growth rate 1.2% (1986 est.)

$14.9 billion, $858 per capita; real GDP growth 2.0% (1986 est.)

Imports

$57.0 million (f.o.b., 1985); machinery and equipment, foodstuffs, manufactured articles, cement

$1.5 billion (c.i.f., 1985); foodstuffs, petroleum, industrial raw materials, capital equipment

Major industries

agricultural processing, tourism, soap and other coconut-based products, cigars

tourism, sugar processing, nickel mining, gold mining, textiles, cement

Major trade partners

(1984) exports — 46% UK, 16% Jamaica, 15% Trinidad and Tobago, 2% US, 0.3% other EC; imports— 27% US, 13% UK, 8% Trinidad and Tobago, 6% other EC

exports — 77% US, including Puerto Rico (1984 est.); imports— 45% US, including Puerto Rico (1980)

Military transfers

US (1970-85), $48 million

Monetary conversion rate

2.70 East Caribbean dollars=US$l (November 1986)

3.05 pesos=US$l (November 1986)

Natural resources

timber

nickel, bauxite, gold, silver

Airfields

2 total, 2 usable; 2 with permanent-surface runways; 1 with runways 1,220-2,439 m

46 total, 34 usable; 14 with permanent-surface runways; 2 with runways 2,440-3,659 m, 9 with runways 1,220-2,439 m

Branches

Commonwealth of Dominica Police Force

Army, Navy, Air Force

Civil air

unknown number of major transport aircraft

14 major transport aircraft

Highways

750 km total; 370 km paved, 380 km gravel and earth

12,000 km total; 5,800 km paved, 5,600 km gravel and improved earth, 600 km unimproved

Military budget

for fiscal year 1986, $2.9 million; 4.6% of the central government budget 100km North Atlantic Ocean Caribbean Sea Sec refionil map III

Military manpower

males 15-49, 1,782,000; 1,129,000 fit for military service; 84,000 reach military age (18) annually

Pipelines

crude oil, 96 km; refined products, 8 km

Ports

1 major (Roseau), 1 minor (Portsmouth)

4 major (Santo Domingo, Haina, San Pedro de Macoris, Puerto Plata), 17 minor

Railroads

none

1,655 km total in numerous segments; 4 different gauges from .558 m to 1.435 m

Telecommunications

4,600 telephones in fully automatic network (5.6 per 100 popl.); VHP and UHF link to St. Lucia; new SHF links to Martinique and Guadeloupe; 3 AM, 1 FM, 1 cable TV stations Defense Forces

relatively efficient domestic system based on islandwide radio-relay network; 190,000 telephones (3 per 100 popl.); 123 AM, 18 TV stations; 1 coaxial submarine cable; 1 Atlantic Ocean satellite station Defense Forces