Saint John Parish, Dominica
Encyclopedia
Saint John is one of Dominica
Dominica
Dominica , officially the Commonwealth of Dominica, is an island nation in the Lesser Antilles region of the Caribbean Sea, south-southeast of Guadeloupe and northwest of Martinique. Its size is and the highest point in the country is Morne Diablotins, which has an elevation of . The Commonwealth...

's 10 administrative parishes
Parishes of Dominica
-See also:*ISO 3166-2:DM...

. It is bordered by St. Andrew
Saint Andrew Parish, Dominica
Saint Andrew is one of Dominica's 10 administrative parishes. It is bordered by St. John and St. Peter , St. Joseph , and St. David ....

 to the east, and St. Peter
Saint Peter Parish, Dominica
Saint Peter is one of Dominica's 10 administrative parishes. It is bordered by St. John to the north, St. Joseph to the south, and St. Andrew to the east. It has an area of 27.7 km² , and has a population of 1,452. Colihaut , Dublanc and Bioche are its only settlements....

 and the Espagnole River
Espagnole River
-References:* * *...

 to the south. It has an area of 59 km² (22.78 mi²).
5,897 people live in the parish, half of which (2,977) live in the main settlement, Portsmouth
Portsmouth, Dominica
Portsmouth is the second largest town in Dominica, with 2,977 inhabitants. It lies on the Indian River on Dominica's northwest coast, in Saint John Parish. Cabrits National Park is located on a peninsula to the north of town. Portsmouth has its own sea port in Prince Rupert Bay.Portsmouth was...

 (Dominica's second largest town, also called Grand Anse by locals). Glanvilla and Lagoon serve as the town's suburb
Suburb
The word suburb mostly refers to a residential area, either existing as part of a city or as a separate residential community within commuting distance of a city . Some suburbs have a degree of administrative autonomy, and most have lower population density than inner city neighborhoods...

s.

Other settlements include:
  • Capucin
  • Clifton
  • Cottage
  • Toucari
  • Tanetane
  • Bornes


The highest peak is Morne aux Diables, with a height of 861 m (2827 ft).

Education

St. John is home to Ross University School of Medicine
Ross University School of Medicine
Ross University School of Medicine is a private Caribbean medical school with campuses in Picard, Dominica, and Grand Bahama. A majority of the students who attend the school are from the United States and Canada. The admissions process is less stringent than that of U.S. medical schools; Ross...

 in Picard
Picard, Dominica
Picard is on the North side of Dominica. It is part of Portsmouth, Dominica.The DeVry University is in Picard. Picard is filled with apartments and restaurants because of Ross University...

, a branch of the American Ross University
Ross University
Ross University, founded in 1978, is a for-profit college offering degrees in Doctor of Medicine and Doctor of Veterinary Medicine. The School of Medicine is located in Dominica, in the West Indies, with clinical education centers in Miami, Florida, Saginaw, Michigan and Freeport, Bahamas. The...

 .

Portsmouth Secondary School, the island's first rural secondary school, opened in St. John in the 1960s.

Notable names

Via Portsmouth, the parish is the birthplace of local historian Lennox Honychurch
Lennox Honychurch
Lennox Honychurch is Dominica's most noted historian and a politician. He is well-known for writing 1975's The Dominica Story, the 1980s textbook series The Caribbean People, and the 1991 travel book Dominica: Isle of Adventure...

, and former Prime Minister
Prime minister
A prime minister is the most senior minister of cabinet in the executive branch of government in a parliamentary system. In many systems, the prime minister selects and may dismiss other members of the cabinet, and allocates posts to members within the government. In most systems, the prime...

 Rosie Douglas
Rosie Douglas
Roosevelt Bernard Douglas was a Dominican politician. In 2000 he was prime minister of the Caribbean island for eight months, from 3 February 2000 until his death later that year....

.

Transportation

St. John shares some of Dominica's best roads with adjacent St. Andrew. In addition, the island's northernmost road, connecting Tanetane with Penville
Penville
Penville or Pennville is a village in Dominica's Saint Andrew Parish. The community is situated just north of Vieille Case, and has a population of 524....

, was opened in 2004.

Prince Rupert Bay, near Portsmouth, has been an often-used stop-over for yacht
Yacht
A yacht is a recreational boat or ship. The term originated from the Dutch Jacht meaning "hunt". It was originally defined as a light fast sailing vessel used by the Dutch navy to pursue pirates and other transgressors around and into the shallow waters of the Low Countries...

s and cruise ship
Cruise ship
A cruise ship or cruise liner is a passenger ship used for pleasure voyages, where the voyage itself and the ship's amenities are part of the experience, as well as the different destinations along the way...

s.

Tourism

The best known tourist attractions in St. John's are the Indian River
Indian River (Dominica)
The Indian River is a river on the Caribbean island of Dominica. It flows to the Caribbean Sea between the town of Portsmouth and the village of Glanvillia....

 and the Cabrits National Park
Cabrits National Park
Cabrits National Park is on a peninsula at the north end of the Caribbean island of Dominica, north of Portsmouth. The park protects tropical forest, coral reefs and wetlands. There are hiking trails and an English garrison called Fort Shirley. Cabrits National Park occupies 1,313 acres and was...

, which consists of the Cabrits Peninsula
Peninsula
A peninsula is a piece of land that is bordered by water on three sides but connected to mainland. In many Germanic and Celtic languages and also in Baltic, Slavic and Hungarian, peninsulas are called "half-islands"....

 and Fort Shirley
Fort Shirley
Fort Shirley was a fort erected by the Province of Pennsylvania during the French and Indian War.-History:During the mid-1750s, the mountainous ridges and valleys of south central Pennsylvania were an important theater for colliding European and Native American cultures...

.
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