1. Dominica
By: Becca & Erika

2. Music
Dominica had imported many genres of music such as
calypso, reggae, and rock and roll, although they have
created their own known as Bouyon. Bouyon combines
lots of different sounds of music to create one popular
genre throughout Dominica. It includes sounds from
African, European, & American elements, also including
Carnival music. This influences the music of America
because, similar to Dominica, many of our songs
include elements of African music brought to us from
African slaves. This style of music later was combined
with others to create the rhythmic music that we are
familiar with today.

3. Current Standard of Living
In Dominica, the literacy rate is quite high; 94% of
people can read and/or write-- that is not too far off
from the United States literacy rate at 99%. The life
expectancy of the average person is about 76 years,
and the U.S.'s is 82. The unemployment rate in
Dominica is around 20 percent compared to the
unemployment rate in America being 8.2 percent
unemployed. To portray an idea of health,
Dominica's death rate is 8 in every thousand. The
U.S's death rate is the same at about 8 in every
thousand. These aspects are all connected to the
U.S.'s statistics because once people from Dominica
move here, we are faced with some of their health
issues.

4. Foods
Most main dishes contain meat, such as chicken,
goat, lamb or beef. These dishes are usually
served covered in a sauce. The sauces usually
contain spicy pepper, or mixes made from the
local fruit. There are fruits such as tamarind and
passion fruit, are usually served on the island as
sauce or juice. Soursop is a fruit that is peeled
and eaten raw. Sorrel is a red flower that blooms
only in December and is boiled into a bright red
drink.

5. Economic Aspect
• Ethnic Groups- African descent, mixed Black & European,
Syrian and Carib Amerindians.
• Population - 72,000 people.
• Government - Parliamentary democracy; republic within
the Commonwealth.
• Resources - timber, hydropower, copper.
• Exports - $39.0 million (merchandise) and $82.0 million
(commercial)- Japan, U.S., Antigua, Guyana, Jamaica,
Trinidad and Tobago.
• Imports - $165.0 million (merchandise) and $49.0 million
(commercial) - Japan, U.S., Trinidad and Tobago, China.

6. Economic Aspect cont.
Agriculture - (products) bananas, citrus,
coconuts, cocoa, herbal oils and extracts.
Dominica almost had a financial crisis in 2003
and 2004. The economy had grown in
previous years, but growth under the last 10
years is still under 1%. The economy had
growth in 2006 because of gains in tourism,
construction, and some sub-sectors in the
banana industry.

7. Languages
English is the official language but because of the
French domination, the most spoken dialect is
French- based Creole.

8. Bibliography
• 1960s, the beginning of the, calypso, and Trinidadian steelpan.
"Music of Dominica - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia." Wikipedia,
the free encyclopedia. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Apr. 2012.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Music_of_Dominica>.
• "dominicanmusic.com." dominicanmusic.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 26
Apr. 2012. <http://www.dominicanmusic.com>.
• 1980s, the end of the, the economy recovered, and but weakened
again in the 1990s because of a decrease in banana prices..
"Dominica - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia." Wikipedia, the free
encyclopedia. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Apr. 2012.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dominica>.
• "Dominica." U.S. Department of State. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Apr. 2012.
<http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/2295.htm>.
• "Tamarind's herb details." Herbs and Cures. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Apr.
2012. <http://www.herbsandcures.com/330/tamarind-details>.
• "Literacy ." Books. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Apr. 2012.
<www.co.bibb.ga.us>.
• "dominicanmusic.com." dominicanmusic.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 26
Apr. 2012. <http://www.dominicanmusic.com>.