After fugitive businessman Mehul Choksi was traced and captured in Dominica, the island nation is suddenly all over the headlines. Is it the same as the Dominican Republic? Where is Dominica located? Google searches for Dominica are surging, so we'll give you a quick Geography lesson.
Dominica, an island country, is located in the eastern Caribbean Sea. It is a part of the Windward Islands chain in the Lesser Antilles group of islands. The Lesser Antilles, together with the Greater Antilles and the Lucayan Archipelago, make up the West Indies. Dominica lies between the French islands of Guadeloupe and Marie-Galante to the north and Martinique to the south.
Dominica and the Dominican Republic sound confusingly alike. And although both are located in the Caribbean Sea, they’re not the same. The Dominican Republic, also a country of the West Indies, occupies the eastern two-thirds of Hispaniola, the second biggest island in the Greater Antilles chain. The national capital is Santo Domingo.
Antigua and Barbuda, Choksi’s home for the last couple of years, is also an island nation in the West Indies. It lies in the Caribbean Sea and consists of two major islands Antigua and Barbuda - and other smaller ones.
Wanted in the Rs 13,500-crore Punjab National Bank fraud case, Choksi allegedly entered Dominica ‘illegally’ and has now been detained. He had been staying in Antigua and Barbuda since January 2018 and recently disappeared from there. Choksi is facing two cases in Antigua and Barbuda, one on his extradition to India and the other on the revocation of his citizenship.