Not to be confused with the Dominican Republic, Dominica, officially the Commonwealth of Dominica, is (also) an island country in the Caribbean. It is geographically situated as part of the Windward Islands chain in the Lesser Antilles archipelago in the Caribbean Sea. The island is surrounded by the French Republic with Guadeloupe to the northwest and Martinique to the south-southeast. Dominica has been nicknamed the "Nature Island of the Caribbean" for its natural environment.