Dominica

tropical; moderated by northeast trade winds; heavy rainfall

rugged mountains of volcanic origin

Caribbean, island between the Caribbean Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean, about halfway between Puerto Rico and Trinidad and Tobago

148 km

NA

Central America and the Caribbean

flash floods are a constant threat; destructive hurricanes can be expected during the late summer months volcanism: Dominica lies in the middle of the volcanic-island arc of the Lesser Antilles that extends from the island of Saba in the north to Grenada in the south; of the 16 volcanoes that make up this arc, five are located on Dominica, more than any other island in the Caribbean: Morne aux Diables (861 m), Morne Diablotins (1,430 m), Morne Trois Pitons (1,387 m), Watt Mountain (1,224 m), which last erupted in 1997, and Morne Plat Pays (940 m); the two best-known volcanic features on Dominica, the Valley of Desolation and the Boiling Lake thermal areas, lie on the flanks of Watt Mountain, and both are popular tourist destinations

known as "The Nature Island of the Caribbean" due to its lush and varied flora and fauna, which are protected by an extensive natural park system; the most mountainous of the Lesser Antilles, its volcanic peaks are cones of lava craters and include Boiling Lake, the second-largest thermally active lake in the world

timber, hydropower, arable land

slightly more than four times the size of Washington, D.C.

15 25 N, 61 20 W

population is mostly clustered along the coast, with roughly a third living in the parish of St. George, in or around the capital of Roseau; the volcanic interior is sparsely populated