Kabuli Republic

Kabuli is a constituent republic of Kalina Commonwealth.

Kabuli Republic
Island of Dominica
Constituent Republic of Vekllei
Part of the Kalina Commonwealth
Accession	1967, as part of West Indies Federation dissolution
Area	750 km²
Capital	Roseau
Languages	English, Kabuli Creole, Kalina Carib
Population	167,592

The Kabuli Republic is a constituent republic in the eastern Caribbean Sea, between Madiana to the north and Lucia to the south. It is among the most mountainous and densely forested islands in the Commonwealth Kalina, and is known as the Nature Island for its biodiversity.

Kabuli is dominated by volcanic peaks, the highest being Morne Diablotin at 1,447 metres. The interior is a tangle of mountain ridges, deep valleys and rainforest, cut through by 365 rivers – one for each day of the year, as locals say. The Boiling Lake, the world’s second-largest thermally active lake, sits in a desolate volcanic valley of sulphurous vents and steaming ground.

Columbus reached the island in 1493, on a Sunday, and named it Dominica after the Sabbath. The Kalina who lived there called it Waitukubuli, “tall is her body,” for its mountains. The rugged interior and Kalina resistance kept European colonisation at bay for over two centuries. French settlers arrived in the 18th century but found it easier to leave the Kalina alone than to conquer them, and Britain, taking control in 1763, kept the same arrangement. A Kalina Territory was designated in 1903.

Kabuli has the largest surviving indigenous population in the Caribbean. The Kalina make up about 15 per cent of the republic and hold their own territory of 1,500 hectares on the east coast, centred on the village of Salybia, with an elected council and a range of traditional crafts. Larouma basket-weaving, woven from reeds, is among the finest in the Commonwealth.

The rest of the population is mostly Afro-Caribbean, descended from escaped slaves who took refuge in the island’s interior during the plantation era. Small Creole communities of mixed Kalina, African and European descent maintain their own identities. Kabuli’s lack of flat coastal land meant plantation agriculture never took hold here as it did on neighbouring islands, and the island largely escaped the worst of Caribbean slavery.

Kabuli remains the least developed of the major Kalina islands by conventional measures. Road construction has been deliberately limited to preserve the forests, and most settlements are small, dense and scattered. The capital, Roseau, is modest by Caribbean standards, with a population under 50,000 and colourful buildings along the waterfront beneath steep green hills.

Kabuli’s economy runs on what grows in its volcanic soil. It is the Commonwealth’s main producer of bay oil, pressed from the leaves of bay trees that cover the hillsides and exported for perfumes, soap and the bay rum made on neighbouring islands. Vanilla growing has expanded since Commonwealth accession, and smallholders tending vines in the forest shade now supply much of Vekllei’s vanilla. Limes and other citrus are processed at a factory in Roseau dating to the 1930s, when the island supplied the British merchant fleet.

The island’s rivers and steep terrain suit small-scale hydroelectric generation, and a network of micro-hydro plants, many run by municipal corporations, supplies most settlements. The larger Trafalgar Falls plant powers Roseau and exports surplus electricity to Lucia by undersea cable.

Kabuli has also become a centre for botanical research and pharmaceutical development. The Commonwealth University of the West Indies runs the Kabuli School of Forestry near the capital, where researchers catalogue endemic species and traditional medicines. Promising compounds identified there are synthesised at a small pharmaceutical plant in Roseau for testing and export through Commonwealth Oil’s chemical division.

The forests are the island’s greatest asset and its most closely guarded. Morne Trois Pitons National Park covers much of the southern interior, including the Boiling Lake, the Valley of Desolation and Trafalgar Falls. The northern forests around Morne Diablotin shelter the imperial parrot, or sisserou, which appears on the republic’s coat of arms.

Transport is deliberately modest. A coastal road circles most of the island, with rough tracks running into the interior valleys, and there is no airport – visitors arrive by ferry from neighbouring islands or by helijet to a small facility north of Roseau. A railway runs along the western coast from Roseau to the second town of Portsmouth, with branch lines serving agricultural areas, and most other settlements are reached by footpaths and trails that follow old Kalina routes through the mountains.

Kabuli cuisine draws on its forests and rivers. Mountain chicken – actually a large frog, the crapaud – is considered a delicacy and prepared in various ways, alongside river crayfish, land crabs and tiny fish called titivi. The Kalina make cassava bread by traditional methods, and cassareep sauce flavours many local dishes. Mangoes, soursop, passion fruit and breadfruit are abundant. Roseau’s lime juice originated here and is still made at a factory in the capital.

Most Kabulians speak English and Kabuli Creole, a French-influenced patois distinct from neighbouring islands. The Kalina Territory keeps its own language, though most younger Kalina are trilingual. Sunday remains important in Kabuli, and many businesses still close on that day.

Climate

Tropical and very wet, with over 250 inches of rain annually in the mountains. The coast is slightly drier but still humid year-round. No distinct dry season.

Public Holidays

• New Year’s Day 1 Jan
• Mardi Gras Feb
• Good Friday
• Easter Monday
• Commonwealth Day 1 May
• Whit Monday
• August Monday First Mon in Aug
• Kalina Heritage Day Second Mon in Aug
• Republic Day 3 Nov
• Christmas Day 25 Dec
• Boxing Day 26 Dec