Dominica 🇩🇲
Dominica is a country in North America with a population of 72,737. Its capital is Roseau. The official currency is XCD, and the main languages are English.
Quick facts
- Capital: Roseau
- Continent: North America
- Population: 72,737
- Area: 751 km²
- Density: 96.9 people per km²
- Currency: XCD
- Languages: English
- ISO code: DM
Where Dominica sits
Dominica 🇩🇲 is one of 23 countries in North America, with its capital at Roseau. It covers 751 square kilometres — 176th in the world — and is home to about 72,737 people, 188th globally.
The countries it shares a continent with include United States, Mexico, Canada, Guatemala and Haiti. If you are learning geography region by region — which works far better than alphabetically, because memory for places is spatial — those are the ones to learn alongside it.
How Dominica compares
Raw figures are hard to hold on their own, so it helps to anchor them. In population, Dominica sits closest to Andorra and Antigua and Barbuda. In land area, its nearest counterparts are Tonga and Bahrain.
At 96.9 people per square kilometre it is somewhat above the world average of 59.4. It ranks higher by area than by population, so it is more spacious than its population alone suggests.
English is an official language in 58 countries here, among them Antigua and Barbuda, Australia, Bahamas and Barbados, and 53 others. The XCD is shared with 5 other countries, including Antigua and Barbuda, Grenada and Saint Kitts and Nevis, and 2 others.
To see Dominica next to every other country, sort the country rankings by population, area or density; its currency and languages are listed alongside every other country's in world currencies and world languages.
How to remember Dominica
Dominica is not the Dominican Republic. Dominica is the small island, with its capital Roseau (say 'roe-ZOH'). The flag with the purple parrot is Dominica's.
The flag of Dominica: green, yellow, black, white and red, with a purple parrot
🇩🇲 The flag is a green flag with a cross of yellow, black and white stripes, and a red disc in the centre showing a Sisserou parrot surrounded by ten green stars. Green stands for the island's lush plant life, the ten stars for its ten parishes, and the yellow, black and white cross for the Christian Trinity. The Sisserou parrot is the national bird, and its purple makes Dominica's one of the very few national flags with purple in it.
Region and neighbours
Dominica is a mountainous island country in the Caribbean, part of the Windward Islands, between the French islands of Guadeloupe and Martinique. As an island country it has no land neighbours.
Three facts about Dominica
- Dominica is nicknamed the 'Nature Isle of the Caribbean' for its rainforests, rivers and waterfalls.
- Morne Trois Pitons National Park, which includes the Boiling Lake, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
- The Boiling Lake is the second-largest hot lake in the world, after Frying Pan Lake in New Zealand.
Sources: Wikipedia: Dominica, Wikipedia: Flag of Dominica, Wikipedia: Roseau, CIA World Factbook.
Quiz yourself on Dominica
- North American capitals quiz — match Dominica to Roseau
- North American flags quiz — spot the Dominica flag among its neighbours
- Island nations quiz — Dominica is an island country
Quizzes that include Dominica
Three angles are worth covering for any country — where it is, what its flag looks like, and what its capital is. For Dominica those are:
- North America map quiz — place it on a blank map
- North America flags quiz — identify its flag among its neighbours
- North America capitals quiz — match it to Roseau
- Dominica capital quiz — five quick questions starting with Dominica
- Daily Map Challenge — five countries to find on a blank world map, the same five for everyone each day
Doing all three for one continent before moving on is far more efficient than learning flags globally, then capitals globally, then the map.
Read more about Dominica
- Capital of Dominica: Roseau — the capital in detail, with size and density rankings
- All 23 countries of North America
Nearby countries
- Antigua and Barbuda 🇦🇬 — capital Saint John's
- Bahamas 🇧🇸 — capital Nassau
- Barbados 🇧🇧 — capital Bridgetown
- Belize 🇧🇿 — capital Belmopan
- Canada 🇨🇦 — capital Ottawa
- Costa Rica 🇨🇷 — capital San José
- Cuba 🇨🇺 — capital Havana
- Dominican Republic 🇩🇴 — capital Santo Domingo
- El Salvador 🇸🇻 — capital San Salvador
- Grenada 🇬🇩 — capital Saint George's
- Guatemala 🇬🇹 — capital Guatemala City
- Haiti 🇭🇹 — capital Port-au-Prince
Frequently asked questions
What are the colours of the Dominica flag?
The flag of Dominica is a green flag with a cross of yellow, black and white stripes, and a red disc in the centre showing a Sisserou parrot surrounded by ten green stars. Green stands for the island's lush plant life, the ten stars for its ten parishes, and the yellow, black and white cross for the Christian Trinity. The Sisserou parrot is the national bird, and its purple makes Dominica's one of the very few national flags with purple in it.
Which countries border Dominica?
None. Dominica is a mountainous island country in the Caribbean, part of the Windward Islands, between the French islands of Guadeloupe and Martinique, so it has no land borders with other countries.
How can I remember the capital of Dominica?
Dominica is not the Dominican Republic. Dominica is the small island, with its capital Roseau (say 'roe-ZOH'). The flag with the purple parrot is Dominica's.