Roseau

Roseau
City
Panorama of Roseau from a cruise ship.
Nickname(s): Town
Roseau Roseau
Coordinates: 15°18′05″N 61°23′18″W / 15.301389°N 61.388333°W / 15.301389; -61.388333
Country	Dominica
Parish	Saint George
Government
• Type	Local government: Roseau City Council established 1890s
• His Worship Mayor	Cecil Joseph
• MP - Roseau Central	Hon. Norris Prevost
Elevation	141 ft (43 m)
Population (2007)
• Total	16,582
Time zone	ECT
Area code(s)	+1 767

Roseau (Dominican Creole: Wozo) is the capital and largest city of Dominica, with a population of 16,582. It is a small and compact urban settlement, in the Saint George parish and surrounded by the Caribbean Sea, the Roseau River and Morne Bruce. Built on the site of the ancient Kalinago Indian village of Sairi, it is the oldest and most important urban settlement on the island of Dominica.

It is on the west (leeward) coast of Dominica and has a combination of modern and colonial French architecture.

Roseau is Dominica's most important port for foreign trade. Some exports include bananas, bay oil, vegetables, grapefruit, oranges, and cocoa. The service sector is also a large part of the local economy.

There is a prominent diocese called Roman Catholic Diocese of Roseau.

The city of Roseau sits on an alluvial fan formed hundreds of years ago as the Roseau River meandered across the area from what is now known as Newtown to its current location. Over the last 2,000 years, Amerindians migrating through the islands settled the area attracted by the nearby river. With the arrival of the Europeans in the 16th and 17th centuries, a small settlement was established by the French who, in their tradition of naming places after what they found there, used their name for the river reeds that grew along the banks. A plan was created for the settlement that mirrored examples in France where streets extended from a central point — what is today the Old Market — and spread out to the rest of the settlement.