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roseau administrative divisions: 10 parishes; saint andrew. saint david. saint george. saint john. saint joseph. saint luke. saint mark. saint patrick. saint paul. saint peter independence: 3 november 1978 (from uk) national holiday: independence day. 3 november (1978) constitution: 3 november 1978 legal system: based on english common law suffrage: 18 years of age; universal executive branch: chief of state: president nicholas j. o. liverpool (since october 2003) head of government: prime minister roosevelt skerrit (since 8 january 2004); note - assumed post after death of prime minister pierre charles cabinet: cabinet appointed by the president on the advice of the prime minister elections: president elected by the house of assembly for a five-year term; election last held 1 october 2003 (next to be held october 2008); prime minister appointed by the president election results: nicholas liverpool elected president; percent of legislative vote - na% legislative branch: unicameral house of assembly (30 seats. 9 appointed senators. 21 elected by popular vote; members serve five-year terms) elections: last held 5 may 2005 (next to be held by 5 august 2010); note - tradition dictates that the election will be held within five years of the last election. but technically it is five years from the first seating of parliament (12 may 2005) plus a 90-day grace period election results: percent of vote by party - dlp 52.08%. uwp 43.6%. dfp 3.15%; seats by party - dlp 12. uwp 8. independent 1 judicial branch: eastern caribbean supreme court. consisting of the court of appeal and the high court (located in saint lucia; one of the six judges must reside in dominica and preside over the court of summary jurisdiction) political parties and leaders: dominica freedom party or dfp [charles savarin]; dominica labor party or dlp [roosevelt skerrit]; united workers party or uwp [edison james] political pressure groups and leaders: dominica liberation movement or dlm (a small leftist party) international organization participation: acct. acp. c. caricom. cdb. fao. g-77. ibrd. icct. icftu. icrm. ida. ifad. ifc. ifrcs. ilo. imf. imo. interpol. ioc. iso (subscriber). itu. miga. nam (observer). oas. oecs. opanal. opcw. un. unctad. unesco. unido. upu. wcl. who. wipo. wmo. wto diplomatic representation in the us: chief of mission: ambassador swinburne lestrade chancery: 3216 new mexico avenue nw. washington. dc 20016 telephone: [1] (202) 364-6781 fax: [1] (202) 364-6791 consulate(s) general: new york diplomatic representation from the us: the us does not have an embassy in dominica; the us ambassador to barbados is accredited to dominica flag description: green. with a centered cross of three equal bands - the vertical part is yellow (hoist side). black. and white and the horizontal part is yellow (top). black. and white; superimposed in the center of the cross is a red disk bearing a sisserou parrot encircled by 10 green. five-pointed stars edged in yellow; the 10 stars represent the 10 administrative divisions (parishes) economy - overview: the dominican economy depends on agriculture. primarily bananas. and remains highly vulnerable to climatic conditions and international economic developments. production of bananas dropped precipitously in 2003. a major reason for the 1% decline in gdp. tourism increased in 2003 as the government sought to promote dominica as an "ecotourism" destination. development of the tourism industry remains difficult. however. because of the rugged coastline. lack of beaches. and the absence of an international airport. the government began a comprehensive restructuring of the economy in 2003 - including elimination of price controls. privatization of the state banana company. and tax increases - to address dominica's economic crisis and to meet imf targets. in order to diversify the island's production base the government is attempting to develop an offshore financial sector and is planning to construct an oil refinery on the eastern part of the island. gdp (purchasing power parity): $384 million (2003 est.) gdp (official exchange rate): na gdp - real growth rate: -1% (2003 est.) gdp - per capita: purchasing power parity - $5.500 (2003 est.) gdp - composition by sector: agriculture: 18% industry: 24% services: 58% (2002 est.) labor force: 25.000 (1999 est.) labor force - by occupation: agriculture 40%. industry and commerce 32%. services 28% unemployment rate: 23% (2000 est.) population below poverty line: 30% (2002 est.) household income or consumption by percentage share: lowest 10%: na highest 10%: na inflation rate (consumer prices): 1% (2001 est.) budget: revenues: $73.9 million expenditures: $84.4 million. including capital expenditures of na (2001) agriculture - products: bananas. citrus. mangoes. root crops. coconuts. cocoa; forest and fishery potential not exploited industries: soap. coconut oil. tourism. copra. furniture. cement blocks. shoes industrial production growth rate: -10% (1997 est.) electricity - production: 69.98 million kwh (2003) electricity - production by source: fossil fuel: 47.1% hydro: 52.9% nuclear: 0% other: 0% (2001) electricity - consumption: 65.09 million kwh (2003) electricity - exports: 0 kwh (2003) electricity - imports: 0 kwh (2003) oil - production: 0 bbl/day (2003) oil - consumption: 800 bbl/day (2003 est.) oil - exports: na (2001) oil - imports: na (2001) exports: $74 million f.o.b. (2004 est.) exports - partners: uk 21.6%. jamaica 14.8%. antigua and barbuda 8.8%. guyana 7.5%. japan 5.4%. trinidad and tobago 4.8%. us 4.3%. saint lucia 4% (2004) imports: $234 million f.o.b. (2004 est.) imports - partners: china 20.4%. us 16.8%. trinidad and tobago 12.3%. uk 6.9%. south korea 4.6%. japan 4.3% (2004) debt - external: $161.5 million (2001) economic aid - recipient: $22.8 million (2003 est.) currency (code): east caribbean dollar (xcd) currency code: xcd exchange rates: east caribbean dollars per us dollar - na (2005). 2.7 (2004). 2.7 (2003). 2.7 (2002). 2.7 (2001) fiscal year: 1 july - 30 june telephones - main lines in use: 23.700 (2002) telephones - mobile cellular: 9.400 (2002) telephone system: general assessment: na domestic: fully automatic network international: country code - 1-767; microwave radio relay and shf radiotelephone links to martinique and guadeloupe; vhf and uhf radiotelephone links to saint lucia radio broadcast stations: am 2. fm 4. shortwave 0 (2004) radios: 46.000 (1997) television broadcast stations: 1 (2004) televisions: 6.000 (1997) internet country code: .dm internet hosts: 681 (2003) internet service providers (isps): 16 (2000) internet users: 12.500 (2002) airports: 2 (2004 est.) airports - with paved runways: total: 2 914 to 1.523 m: 2 (2005 est.) roadways: total: 780 km paved: 393 km unpaved: 387 km (1999) merchant marine: total: 32 ships (1.000 grt or over) 13.771 grt/19.736 dwt by type: bulk carrier 2. cargo 19. chemical tanker 2. container 1. passenger/cargo 1. petroleum tanker 5. refrigerated cargo 1. roll on/roll off 1 foreign-owned: 21 (estonia 6. greece 3. pakistan 1. russia 2. singapore 6. syria 2. uae 1) (2005) ports and terminals: portsmouth. roseau military branches: no regular military forces; commonwealth of dominica police force (includes coast guard) military expenditures - dollar figure: na military expenditures - percent of gdp: na disputes - international: joins other caribbean states to counter venezuela's claim that aves island sustains human habitation. a criterion under unclos. which permits venezuela to extend its eez/continental shelf over a large portion of the caribbean sea illicit drugs: transshipment point for narcotics bound for the us and europe; minor cannabis producer; anti-money-laundering enforcement is weak. making the country particularly vulnerable to money laundering
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