Dominica

Coordinates: 15°25′N 61°20′W / 15.417°N 61.333°W / 15.417; -61.333

Dominica (/ˌdɒmɪˈniːkə/ DOM-i-NEE-kə;French: Dominique; Island Carib: Wai‘tu kubuli), officially the Commonwealth of Dominica, is an island country in the Lesser Antilles region of the Caribbean Sea, south-southeast of Guadeloupe and northwest of Martinique. Its area is 750 square kilometres (290 sq mi) and the highest point is Morne Diablotins, at 1,447 metres (4,747 ft) elevation. The population was 72,301 at the 2014 census. The capital is Roseau, located on the leeward side of the island.

The island was originally inhabited by the Kalinago/Arawak and later colonised by the Europeans, predominately by the French, who arrived at the island on Sunday, 3 November 1493 ("Sunday" = "Domenica" in Italian). Great Britain took it over in 1763 after the Seven Years' War and gradually established English as the official language. The island republic gained independence in 1978.

Its name is pronounced with emphasis on the third syllable, related to its former Dominique. Dominica has been nicknamed the "Nature Isle of the Caribbean" for its unspoiled natural beauty. It is the youngest island in the Lesser Antilles, still being formed by geothermal-volcanic activity, as evidenced by the world's second-largest hot spring, Boiling Lake. The island has lush mountainous rainforests, and is the home of many rare plants, animals, and bird species. There are xeric areas in some of the western coastal regions, but heavy rainfall occurs inland. The Sisserou parrot (also known as the imperial amazon), is found only on Dominica and is the island's national bird and features on the national flag. Dominica's economy depends on tourism and agriculture.

Dominican Republic

Coordinates: 19°00′N 70°40′W / 19.000°N 70.667°W / 19.000; -70.667

The Dominican Republic (ⁱ/dəˌmɪnᵻkən rᵻˈpʌblɪk/; Spanish: República Dominicana [reˈpuβlika ðominiˈkana]) is a country on the island of Hispaniola, in the Greater Antilles archipelago in the Caribbean region. The western three-eighths of the island is occupied by the nation of Haiti, making Hispaniola one of two Caribbean islands, along with Saint Martin, that are shared by two countries. Both by area and population the Dominican Republic is the second-largest Caribbean nation (after Cuba), with 48,445 square kilometres (18,705 sq mi) and nearly 10 million people, one million of whom live in the capital city Santo Domingo.

Hurricane Dean

Hurricane Dean was the strongest tropical cyclone of the 2007 Atlantic hurricane season. It was the most intense North Atlantic hurricane since Hurricane Wilma of 2005, tying for seventh overall. Additionally, it made the third most intense Atlantic hurricane landfall. A Cape Verde-type hurricane that formed on August 13, 2007, Dean took a west-northwest path from the eastern Atlantic Ocean through the Saint Lucia Channel and into the Caribbean. It strengthened into a major hurricane, reaching Category 5 status on the Saffir–Simpson hurricane wind scale before passing just south of Jamaica on August 20. The storm made landfall on the Yucatán Peninsula on August 21 as a powerful Category 5 storm. It crossed the peninsula and emerged into the Bay of Campeche weakened, but still a hurricane. It strengthened briefly before making a second landfall near Tecolutla in the Mexican state of Veracruz on August 22. Dean drifted to the northwest, weakening into a remnant low which dissipated uneventfully over the southwestern United States.

Tropical Storm

Tropical Storm may refer to:

See also

Saint Lucia

Coordinates: 13°53′N 60°58′W / 13.883°N 60.967°W / 13.883; -60.967

Saint Lucia (ⁱ/seɪnt ˈluːʃə/; French: Sainte-Lucie) is a sovereign island country in the eastern Caribbean Sea on the boundary with the Atlantic Ocean. Part of the Lesser Antilles, it is located north/northeast of the island of Saint Vincent, northwest of Barbados and south of Martinique. It covers a land area of 617 km² (238.23 sq mi) and has a population of 174,000 (2010). Its capital is Castries.

The French were the island's first European settlers. They signed a treaty with the native Carib Indians in 1660. England took control of the island from 1663 to 1667. In ensuing years, it was at war with France 14 times, and rule of the island changed frequently (it was seven times each ruled by the French and British). In 1814, the British took definitive control of the island. Because it switched so often between British and French control, Saint Lucia was also known as the "Helen of the West Indies".

Representative government came about in 1840 (with universal suffrage from 1953). From 1958 to 1962, the island was a member of the Federation of the West Indies. On 22 February 1979, Saint Lucia became an independent state of the Commonwealth of Nations associated with the United Kingdom. Saint Lucia is a mixed jurisdiction, meaning that it has a legal system based in part on both the civil law and English common law. The Civil Code of St. Lucia of 1867 was based on the Quebec Civil Code of 1866, as supplemented by English common law-style legislation. It is also a member of La Francophonie.