Dominica

Dominica was sighted and named by Christopher Columbus on November 3, 1493. The indigenous Carib people successfully resisted early European attempts at colonization. In 1632 the French gained a foothold on the island, and they retained parts of it until 1763, when it was assigned to Great Britain by the Treaty of Paris. Under British rule Dominica became part of the Leeward Islands dependency in 1833 and was attached to the Windward Islands group in 1940. In 1967 it became an internally self-governing state associated with Great Britain. Dominica attained full independence on November 2, 1978, and subsequently joined the Commonwealth of Nations and the United Nations. The republic's first prime minister was Patrick R. John; he was succeeded by Oliver Seraphin in 1979 and by Mary Eugenia Charles in 1980, 1985, and 1990.