Dominican Republic

Dominican Republic República Dominicana(Spanish)
Flag Coat of arms
Motto:"Dios, Patria, Libertad"(Spanish) "God, Homeland, Freedom"
Anthem:¡Quisqueyanos Valientes! ¡Valiant Quisqueyans!
Capital and largest city	Santo Domingo 19°00′N70°40′W
Official languages	Spanish
Ethnic groups	50%Mulatto 40%Black 10%White
Demonym(s)	Dominican Quisqueyan (colloquial)
Government	Unitarypresidentialrepublic
•President	Luis Abinader
•Vice President	Raquel Peña
Legislature	Congress
•Upper house	Senate
•Lower house	Chamber of Deputies
Independence
• fromHaiti	January 24, 1856
• fromUnited States	July 12, 1924b
• fromUnited States	November 28, 1966
•Current constitution	November 28, 1966
Area
• Total	48,315 km2(18,655 sq mi) (128th)
• Water (%)	0.7
Population
• Estimate	7,293,390 hab
• Density	228/km2(590.5/sq mi)
GDP(PPP)	2018 estimate
• Total	$186.983 billion
• Per capita	$18,164
GDP(nominal)	2018 estimate
• Total	$81.653 billion
• Per capita	$7,932
Gini(2015)	44.9 medium
HDI(2015)	0.691 medium·99th
Currency	Peso(DOP)
Time zone	UTC– 4:00(Standard Time Caribbean)
Driving side	right
Calling code	+1-809, +1-829, +1-849
ISO 3166 code	DO
Internet TLD	.do
Race was dropped from the census after 1960. Haiti did not recognize the Dominican Republic until 1874.
Sources for area, capital, coat of arms, coordinates, flag, language, motto and names: For an alternate area figure of 48,730 km2,calling code 809 and Internet TLD:

For the country in the Caribbean, seeDominica.

TheDominican Republic(Spanish:República Dominicana) is aLatin Americancountry on theCaribbeanislandofHispaniola;the other country on the island isHaiti.Itscapital,and largestcity,isSanto Domingo.The national language isSpanish.

The country was part of theSpanish empireuntil the late 18th century. In the 19th century France, Spain and Haiti controlled it at various times, and later it was independent. It was occupied by the United States from 1916 to 1924. The Dominican Republic is apresidentialdemocraticrepublic.The country has atropical climatebut modified byelevationand thetrade winds(windsthat come from the northeast, from theAtlantic Ocean).

The Spanish brought African slaves to the country.

Dominican Republic is one of the biggest producers ofcacao.

History

The island of Hispaniola was discovered byChristopher Columbuson December 5th, 1492,but the first time that he saw part of the present Dominican Republic was on January 4th, 1493 when he saw aheadlandthat he namedMonte Cristi( "Mountain of Christ" ).That mountain is called nowEl Morroand is near the city ofMonte Cristi.

From Monte Cristi, Columbus went east along the north coast of the island and on 6 January, after visiting theSamaná Bay,he went back toSpain.In his second trip toAmerica,he founded the first European city in the continent,La Isabela,near the present city ofPuerto Plata.

Later,Bartholomew Columbusfounded the city ofSanto Domingo,the oldest permanent European city in the Americas. From here, manySpaniardswent to conquer other islands (Cuba,Jamaica,Puerto Rico). Because Cuba was closer to the continent, many people moved there from Hispaniola, and then to the continent. Because of that, the population of the island grew very slowly. By the Treaty of Ryswick in 1697, Spain gave the western third of the island toFranceand kept the eastern part, and so the island had two different colonies: the FrenchSaint-Domingueand the SpanishSanto Domingo.In 1795, France got the whole island but they could only control the eastern part becauseHaitibecame independent very soon. In 1809, the French government gave back the old colony of "Santo Domingo" to Spain.

On 1 December 1821, the Spanish lieutenant governorJosé Núñez de Cáceresdeclared theindependencefrom Spain. The new country had the nameEstado Independiente del Haití Español( "Independent State of Spanish Haiti" ). But on 9 February 1822, the Haitian army occupied the country and stayed for 22 years.Juan Pablo Duartefounded a secret society,La Trinitaria,to fight for the Dominican independence. The Haitian occupation ended on 27 February 1844, when the inhabitants of the eastern part of the Hispaniola made a new country namedRepública Dominicana( "Dominican Republic" ). From 1861 to 1865, the country was again a Spanish colony. On 16 August 1863 began theRestoration Warwhen the Dominicans fought to be free again. That war ended in 1865 when the Spanish left and the Dominican Republic was again an independent country.

The country was occupied by theUnited Statesfrom 1916 to 1924. In 1930,Rafael Trujillobecame the president of the country through acoup d'état.Trujillo was a crueldictator,killing thousands of people, among them many Haitians. Trujillo was killed in 1961. After the death of Trujillo, Juan Bosch was elected in 1962 and became, in 1963, the first elected president since 1930. But Bosch was in power for only seven months. In 1965, there was a civil war between those that wanted Bosch back on power and those that were opposed to him. Then the country was invaded again by the United States.

Since the end of the civil war, the presidents of the Dominican Republic have been:

• Joaquín Balaguer (1966-1978)
• Antonio Guzmán (1978-1982)
• Salvador Jorge Blanco (1982-1986)
• Joaquín Balaguer (1986-1996)
• Leonel Fernández (1996-2000)
• Hipólito Mejía (2000-2004)
• Leonel Fernández (2004-2012)

Government

See the main article:Government of the Dominican Republic

The Dominican Republic is apresidentialdemocraticrepublic.The government is divided in three branches: the Executive, theLegislativeand theJudiciary.The Executive branch is made up of thePresident,theVice Presidentand the Ministers who are calledSecretaries of State.The President is chief of state and head of government and is elected every 4 years. He nominates the cabinet. The current president is Luis Abinader.

The Legislative branch makes the laws and is made up of the Congress, which is inSanto Domingo,the capital of the Dominican Republic. The Congress is divided into two groups: the Senate, with 32 members (one for every province and one for the National District), and the Chamber of Deputies with 178 members.

The Judicial branch is made up of thecourtsof the country, including the Supreme Court of Justice.

Politics

The Dominican Republic is aconstitutionaldemocracyruled by apresident.The president is elected every 4 years. The current president is Luis Rodolfo Abinader Corona, of the PRM.

There are 3 importantpolitical partiesin the Dominican Republic:

• PRD:the Dominican Revolutionary Party (Spanish:Partido Revolucionario Dominicano). The PRD is a somewhatsocialistparty. The party was founded in 1939 inHavana,Cuba.It was then established in the Dominican Republic in 1961.
• PRSC:the Social Christian Reformist Party (Spanish:Partido Reformista Social Cristiano). It is aconservativeparty founded in 1964 by Joaquín Balager, who was President of the Republic from 1966 to 1978 and 1986-96.
• PLD:the Dominican Liberation Party (Spanish:Partido de la Liberación Dominicana) was somewhatsocialistwhen it was founded in 1973; currently it's aliberalparty.

The land

See the main article:Geography of the Dominican Republic

There are several mountain chains in the Dominican Republic. The four main chains, from North to South, are:

1. Cordillera Septentrional(in English, "Northern mountain range" ), close to the Atlantic Ocean.
2. Cordillera Central(in English, "Central mountain range" ) that continues into northern Haiti where it is calledMassif du Nord.The highest mountains of theWest Indiesare in this chain;Pico Duarte,with 3,087 m, is the highest.The main rivers of the Hispaniola have their sources in this mountain range.
3. Sierra de Neiba.
4. Sierra de Bahoruco,known in Haití asMassif de la Selle.

Between those mountains, there are several important valleys, such as:

• The Cibao Valley (Dominican Republic) is the largest and most important valley of the country. This long valley stretches from North Haiti to Samaná Bay, south of the Cordillera Septentrional.
• The San Juan Valley andPlainof Azua are big valleys south of the Cordillera Central.
• TheHoya de Enriquilloor Neiba Valley is a very arid valley south of Sierra de Neiba.
• Llano Costero del Caribe(in English, "Caribbean Coastal Plain" ) is in the southeast of the country. It is a largeprairieeast ofSanto Domingo.There are very importantsugar caneplantations in this plain.

There are other smaller valleys in the mountains: Constanza, Jarabacoa, Bonao, Villa Altagracia.

The four most important rivers of the Dominican Republic areYaque del Norte,Yuna, Yaque del Sur andOzama.There are many lakes; the largest is theLake Enriquillo,in theHoya de Enriquillo.

The country has atropical climatebut modified byelevationand thetrade winds(windsthat come from the northeast, from theAtlantic Ocean). At sea level, theaveragetemperature is 25 °C, with small changes from one season to another. In the highest mountains, the temperature inwintercan be as low as 0 °C.

There are two wet seasons: April-June and September-November. The most dry period is from December to March.Rainfallvaries greatly; eastern regions, like the Samaná Peninsula, get an average of over 2,000 mm in a year, but less than 500 mm fall in the southwest (Hoya de Enriquillo).

From June to November,hurricanesare frequent and can do much damage in the island.

People

Population changes in the Dominican Republic.

The Dominican Republic has a total population, estimated for July 2009, of 9,650,054 inhabitants, for adensityof 236.30 inhabitants per km².

About 64% of Dominicans live in cities and towns and 87% of people that are 15 years old or more can read and write.

The two largest cities areSanto Domingo(the capital city) with 1,817,754 inhabitants, and Santiago, in the Cibao Valley and with 908,250 inhabitants.

The ethnic composition of Dominicans is around 85%Mulattoand Black, 14% White and 1% Asian.

• Indigenous Dominicans: They are mainly descendants of the Taino people that have survived to the first century of European colonization, slavery or epidemic diseases. They just have a different genetic origin than most Dominicans, but they share the same culture with mulatto and mestizo Dominicans. Most of them have their origins in the Central Mountain Range, the Mountain Range of Neiba and some valleys at the North and South regions.

Provinces

See the main article:Provinces of the Dominican Republic

The Dominican Republic is divided into 31 provinces. The national capitalSanto Domingo de Guzmánis in theDistrito Nationalthat is like a province and elects one Senator.

Map of the provinces of the Dominican Republic.

The provinces are:

Azua Baoruco Barahona Dajabón Duarte Elías Piña El Seibo Espaillat Hato Mayor Independencia La Altagracia La Romana La Vega María Trinidad Sánchez Monseñor Nouel Monte Cristi

Monte Plata Pedernales Peravia Puerto Plata Hermanas Mirabal Samaná Sánchez Ramírez San Cristóbal San José de Ocoa San Juan San Pedro de Macorís Santiago Santiago Rodríguez Santo Domingo Valverde D.N. -Distrito Nacional

Economy

The Dominican Republic has a mixed economy based mainly onagriculture,services (includingtourismandfinance),tradeand money sent from the many Dominicans that live in other countries (United States,Europe). Agricultural production (mainly sugarcane, with smaller amounts of coffee, cacao, and tobacco) was the main economic activity but now is in third place after tourism andmanufacturinginzonas francas( "free zones"where the industries do not paytaxesand all the production is sent to other countries).

Miningis also important, mainly ferronickel (nickelwithiron) andgold.

The Dominican Republic suffers frompoverty,with 70% of the population living below the poverty line, while 20% is middle class and 10% is upper class. The wealth distribution is uneven: the richest 10% gets nearly 40% of national income.

Culture

The culture of the Dominican Republic, like in other Caribbean countries, is a mix ofTaíno,AfricanandEuropean(mainlySpanish) cultures.

There are not many Taíno traditions in the modern Dominican culture; many places keep their Taíno names: Dajabón, Bánica, Haina, Yaque, Samaná, etc. Also many objects, plants and animals have a Taíno origin and their names have been included in other languages; for example:canoa(canoe,a smallboat),hamaca(hammock,a simple bed),maíz(maize,corn),yuca(cassava,that comes from the Taíno wordcasabe,a kind of cassava bread eaten in the Caribbean), andbatata(sweet potato).

That mix of different traditions created a culture that is known asCreole(in Spanish:Criolla), common to all countries in theCaribbean,Louisianaand some parts ofSouth AmericaandCentral America.

Languages

In the Dominican Republic, Spanish is the only official language in the country. However; there are also some other languages that are spoken such asHaitian Creole,Samana English,and a few minor African dialects such asLucumiand Habla Congo that are used for music and or religious purposes. There is a local Spanish dialect spoken known simply asDominican Spanishwhich has African and Indigenous influences.In the Chinese Dominican community (composed around 60 000 people) elder generations keep talking inMandarin ChineseandCantonese Chinese.

Religions

The official religion isRoman Catholicismbut there is freedom of religion.Protestantgroups are important, representing about 15% of the total population.Each year major festivities calledfiestas patronalesare held. They areCatholicfestivities in honor of the Patron saints of the towns and villages; it is a Spanish tradition to associate every town with a Catholic saint. The festivities includes church services, street parades, fire works, dance contests and other activities. Dominican Voodoo or Santeria is also practiced in large numbers as well as Dominican Palo, Dominican Kongo religion, and others.

African culture has the strongest influence in Dominican culture, especially in language, religion, food, and music.

National holidays

Holidays

Date	Spanish name	Local name	Remarks
January 1	El Año Nuevo	New Year's Day	Non-working day.
January 6	Día de los Reyes Magos(Ephiphany)	Three Magi Day	Movable.
January 21	La Altagracia's Day	Our Lady of High Grace	Non-working day. ACatholicholiday in honor of Our Lady of High Grace, Patroness of the Dominican People.
January 26	Juan Pablo Duarte's Birthday	Juan Pablo Duarte's Day	Movable.
February 27	National Independence	Independence's Day	Non-working day.
Variable date	Viernes Santo (Good Friday)	Good Friday	Non-working day. AChristian(Catholic) holiday.
May 1	International Labor Day	Labor Day	Movable.
Variable date	Corpus Christi	Feast of Corpus	Non-working day. ACatholicholiday. A Thursday of June (60 days after Easter).
August 16	Nacional Restoration	Restoration Day	Non-working day.
September 24	Our Lady of Mercy	Las Mercedes' Day	Non-working day. ACatholicholiday in honor of Our Lady of Mercy, Patroness of the Dominican Republic.
November 6	First Dominican Constitution	Constitution Day	Movable.
December 24	Noche Buena	Christmas Day	Non-working day. Many people, both Christians and some people who are not Christians, celebrate Christmas as a winter holiday of peace, friendship, and gift-giving.

Notes:

• The non-working holidays are not moved to another day.
• If a movable holiday falls on Saturday, Sunday or Monday then it is not moved to another day. If it falls on Tuesday or Wednesday, the holiday is moved to the previous Monday. If it falls on Thursday or Friday, the holiday is moved to the next Monday.

Related pages

• Dominican Republic at the Olympics
• Dominican Republic national football team
• List of rivers of the Dominican Republic

Other websites

• Media related toDominican Republicat Wikimedia Commons
• Dominican Republictravel guide from Wikivoyage