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More than 5000 entries on the history, culture and life of Britain (published in 1993 by Macmillan, now out of print)
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Dominica
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Member of the *Commonwealth since 1978. A volcanic island in the eastern group of the West Indies, Dominica was named from the Latin for Sunday, the day of the week on which Columbus discovered it in 1493. Claimed by the French from 1632, it changed hands between France and Britain several times before coming finally under British control in 1805. After membership of the *West Indies Federation, the island exercised internal self-government from 1967 as a step towards full independence in 1978. (The Dominican Republic, also in the West Indies but not in the Commonwealth, is a separate independent state, sharing the island of Hispaniola with Haiti.)
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