Comparative Essay Example: St. Lucia vs. Dominica

Dominica is known as the Nature Isle of the Caribbean while St Lucia is called Helen of the West Indies. These islands have a prolific variety of landscapes and fauna. The Two islands have similar tourist attractions, however, differ in the income created and their cultures. 

Dominica and St Lucia both use their natural resources as tourist attractions. These tourist attractions include hiking trails on their large mountains, luxurious hotels surrounded by beautiful landscapes, and diving locations.  Dominica's famous Waitukubuli hiking trail is divided into 14 sections spanning an incredible 114 miles. St Lucia also has many hiking trails, one called Tet paul nature trail which spans 0.6 miles. It is not as long as Dominica's but it's a hiking trail. Furthermore, the hotels surrounded by forested scenery are similar. Dominica's jungle bay and St Lucia's Jade Mountain resort are some examples. Diving sites are common in both regions due to the abundance of caves and coral reefs. Examples include Scuba Steves for St Lucia and Scotts Head marine reserve. These countries have many similarities but even more differences. 

The incomes of both islands are severely different. Income, in this case, will be measured as Gross Domestic Product in Unites States Dollars. Dominica's Gross Domestic Product is $469.9 million and has experienced two major drops in 2017 and 2020 because of environmental factors. St Lucia Gross Domestic Product is 1.703 million but has experienced a drop in 2020 also because of environmental factors. The difference between these two Gross Domestic Products is approximately four hundred million. Additionally, there is a difference in the sources of the Gross Domestic Product. Dominica has limited sources such as Tourism, soaps, and coconut oil while St Lucia has Tourism, a diverse manufacturing market, and a cluster of crops for export such as bananas, avocadoes, and mangoes. Therefore, one can say confidently that St Lucia is doing better than Dominica economically.

The culture is different within the islands. Dominica and St Lucia differ a lot in their flag format and the content of their national dish. The Dominican flag comprises a parrot, and stars and has a variety of colours such as purple and green. The St Lucian flag however has Caribbean blue and a series of triangles on the flag.  This sets it apart from Dominica's. Another difference is that the national dish of St Lucia is Saltfish. This is a dish comprised of unripped bananas and Codfish. However, Dominica's dish is comprised of varying ground provisions, dumplings, and coconut milk. 

Dominica and St Lucia have some similarities but are greater in differences. Both islands have similar tourist attractions but differ in income and Culture. However, These countries are both unique and cannot be compared so easily.