The Dominican Republic occupies the eastern two-thirds of the Caribbean island of Hispaniola, located in between Puerto Rico and Cuba. This island, shared with Haiti, was the earliest Spanish colony in the Americas after Columbus landed in 1492. It is the second largest island in the Caribbean. The Dominican Republic is renowned for the rich tropical island beaches, friendly, hospitable Caribbean culture, and baseball players. The white-sand beaches, impressive mountain ranges veined with spectacular rivers and waterfalls, and saltwater lakes teeming with exotic wildlife are just part of the Dominican Republic's appeal. Steer a small boat through endless mangrove forests in search of gentle manatees. Spy on lovesick humpback whales in the Bahía de Samaná. And once you've had your fill of this exquisite island's natural wonder, get back to civilization and prepare to party. Folks in the Americas' first European city, Santo Domingo love to have fun. They have two complete Carnivals, complete with parades, elaborate floats, lots of live music and plenty of dancing in the streets. Whether you're looking to party, relax or explore, the Dominican Republic has a lot to offer.

Facts at a Glance:

Full country name: The Dominican Republic (Locally known as Republica Dominicana)
Area: 48,730 sq. km or 18,814.8 sq. miles (about the size of Vermont and New Hampshire combined)
Population: 8,950,034 (growth rate 1.29%)
Population density: 177 persons per sq km (459 per sq mi)
Capital city: Santo Domingo (pop: 2,400,000) (the biggest city in the country)
People: 16% white-European, 11% black-African, 73% mulatto
Language: Spanish
Religion: 95% Roman Catholic, small minority of other Christian denominations
Government: Representative Democracy
Administrative divisions: 31 provinces and the National District of Santo Domingo. The provinces are subdivided into municipalities and townships.
President: Leonel Fernandez Reyna
Independence: February 27, 1844 (from Haiti)

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Land and Environment:

The Dominican Republic is a fertile, well-watered, mountainous country. About 80 percent of the country is covered with a series of massive mountain ranges, extending in a northwestern to southeastern direction. Pico Duarte (10,417 ft) is the highest mountain in the country and in the West Indies. Between the Cordillera Central and the Cordillera Septentrional (a parallel range to the north) is the Cibao Valley, one of the most fertile and best-watered areas of the country. The coastal plain in the southeast is another fertile region. The principal lake is the saltwater Lake Enriquillo, 27 mi long, situated in the southwest. The coastline of the Dominican Republic, 800 mi in length, is irregular and indented by many bays forming natural harbors, notably Ocoa Bay in the south and the Samaná Bay in the northeast.

Elevation extremes:
Lowest point: Lake Enriquillo, 46m below sea level
Highest point: Duarte Peak 3,175 m

Weather / Climate:

The Dominican Republic has a semitropical climate, tempered by the prevailing easterly winds. There is little temperature variation and a seasonal variation in rainfall. Temperatures of more than 74°F are registered in the lowlands throughout the year. During the summer months, temperatures range between 80° and 95°F in these regions. The highlands are considerably cooler. The average annual temperature is 77 ºF, and typically the weather feels hot and humid during the day. Annual precipitation averages about 60 in, but considerably more moisture is received by the mountainous areas of the north. The wet season is from June to November. Tropical hurricanes occur occasionally; Hurricane Georges, which struck in 1998, caused great damage.

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Environmental Issues:

Back in the good old days, the Dominican Republic was blanketed with lush rainforests teeming with diverse flora and fauna, including some 1500 species not found anywhere else. Today, many of the swamps have been drained and trees cut down for charcoal, but there are still isolated pockets of untamed and relatively untouched nature.

The main challenges facing the environment are overpopulation and poverty. It's a familiar cycle: Forests are leveled to provide firewood, building materials, and farmland; the mountainous countryside and heavy rains then send the fragile topsoil into the ocean; and the earth is rendered all but barren. Various organizations in the DR are working to build a sustainable relationship between the growing population and the increasingly pressured ecosystem, but any such changes are difficult to make.
Urban dwellers of the Dominican Republic enjoy good access to safe water, but rural communities do not. While current water use is low relative to available resources, amounting to an annual withdrawal of 39.7 percent (1980-1999), water shortages do occur.

Although deforestation was once a serious problem in the Dominican Republic, the situation is improving. About 31.5 percent (1997) of the land area is officially protected in some way, but the country lacks the institutional and legal frameworks necessary for effective environmental management. The government has ratified international environmental agreements pertaining to climate change, desertification, endangered species, marine dumping, marine life conservation, and ozone layer protection.

Despite all this, the Dominican Republic boasts some gorgeous countryside, from mangrove swamps to highland cloud forests, dozens of gorgeous blooming trees, and more than 218 species of birds. Offshore the wildlife is even more spectacular, particularly the famous gathering of humpback whales in the Bahía de Samaná during the breeding season. Manatees, pilot whales and more than eight species of sea turtle call the waters surrounding Hispaniola home.

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History:

Prior to “discovery” by Christopher Columbus in 1492, the island that is now Haiti and the Dominican Republic was inhabited by the Taíno Indians. Columbus named the island “Hispaniola (“little Spain”), and the Taíno people were forced by the Spaniard colonists to work to build the “new” empire. Within six years of Columbus' arrival, they had been thoroughly decimated by cruel working conditions and European diseases. Though some independent communities survived in hard-to-reach areas of the island, much of the original culture was lost. Christopher Columbus decided to live on Hispaniola for many years, and it is believed that his remains are located in the capital.

The original Spanish settlement near Isabela was abandoned after just a few years and settlers shifted to the present site of Santo Domingo, where Columbus' son, Diego, tried to flesh out his father's blueprint for the new Spanish empire. Hispaniola, however, ran out of gold rather quickly, and Santo Domingo soon lost prominence when gold and silver were discovered in Mexico and Peru. Pirates ransacked Spanish settlements, particularly in what's now Haiti, and Spain finally gave up on the western third of the island and ceded it to France in 1697. This decision no doubt came to be a great regret, as the French turned what became known as Haiti into the world's richest sugar cane producer.

Then a slave rebellion led by a French man, Toussaint L'Ouverture, invaded the eastern (Spanish) part of Hispaniola, took Santo Domingo and freed the island's 40,000 slaves. This prompted much of the Spanish elite to relocate to neighboring islands like Puerto Rico and Cuba. Toussaint was eventually driven back to the formerly French territories, and Haiti declared independence from the French in 1804. Then, in 1821 they took over the eastern portion of the island. This time they stayed for 23 years, looting the country, freeing the slaves (again) and bringing economic activity to a standstill. In 1844 the Spanish-speaking inhabitants of the east rebelled against the Haitians and proclaimed their independence as well, naming their nation, the Dominican Republic. The leader of this important revolution was Spanish hero Juan Pablo Duarte, now hailed as the father of the Dominican Republic.

The new nation experienced severe economic difficulties for many decades, and in 1905 the United States established partial control of the Dominican economy to protect American investors. Increasing debt and internal disorder continued, and the neighboring United States saw trouble in the Caribbean as opportunity for expansion. In 1916, US troops moved in resulting in occupation of the country by the US Marines. Then in 1924, the US stepped back when the island became viewed as less strategically important to the military, and President Horacio Vásquez stepped up.

The new president built roads and schools, initiated irrigation programs and got the economy hopping. Just when things were going really well, army chief Rafael Leonidas Trujillo got jealous of all that power he didn't have and forced Vásquez to resign. From 1930-1947 (and indirectly until 1961), Trujillo established a dictatorship. Repression, murder, and torture went side by side with building, land reform, and economic success during the Trujillo administration. He led this violent reign until his assassination in 1961.

In December of 1962 the first free election in 40 years brought Juan Bosch to the presidency. He was overthrown in 1963 and civil war resulted in 1965 when he tried to regain the presidency. In 1966, Joquin Balaguer was elected. He remained in power until 1978 when he was defeated and succeeded by Antonio Guzman, who was succeeded by Salvador Jorge Blanco in 1982. Blanco was convicted of corruption in 1988 and sentenced to jail for 20 years. The Dominican economic decline was an ongoing issue in the 1986 and 1990 elections. Balaguer, elderly and blind, narrowly won fourth and fifth terms as president. Leonel Fernandez came to power in August 1996. The government is now a representative democracy with bouts of political instability, usually related to the economy. Current President Leonel Fernandez Reyna, a lawyer who grew up in New York City, has his work cut out for him. Yet, internal troubles have not interrupted the country’s quest to become a recognizable tourist destination. Tourism is the single largest industry in the nation.

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Social Statistics

Population: 8,950,034 (July 2005 est.)
Population growth rate: 1.29% (2005 est.)
Infant mortality rate: 32.38 deaths/1,000 live births (2005 est.)
Life expectancy at birth: 67.26 years (2005 est.)
Total fertility rate: 2.86 children born/woman (2005 est.)
HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate: 1.7% (2003 est.)
HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS: 88,000 (2003 est.)
HIV/AIDS - deaths: 7,900 (2003 est.)
Population below poverty line: 25%
Unemployment rate: 17% (2004 est.)
Literacy: 84.7% =age 15+ that can read and write (2003 est.)
Education: years compulsory - 6; attendance -70%

Education:

The Dominican Republic provides free, compulsory education to children between the ages of 5 and 14. In the 1994-1995 school year 1.5 million pupils attended primary schools. While virtually all children attend primary school, only 54 percent of secondary school-aged children were enrolled. The Autonomous University of Santo Domingo, founded in 1538, is the oldest in the western hemisphere. Other universities include Pedro Henríquez Ureña National University (1966) in Santo Domingo, and institutions in Santiago, San Pedro de Macorís, and San Francisco de Macorís. There also are vocational schools and institutions for teacher training.

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Health and Welfare:

In 1964 the government of the Dominican Republic inaugurated a program aimed at raising health standards. Drainage systems, garbage disposal plants, and aqueducts were built in all of the larger cities. Several government agencies were established for the purpose of increasing water facilities in rural and urban areas. Government programs provide some health services, but the republic has no comprehensive system for welfare. The country had 793 inhabitants for every physician in 1999.

Culture:

A plethora of cultures have left their stamp on Dominican society. Spanish settlers gave the country their language, the Roman Catholic faith and a deep strain of machismo. Africans brought here as slaves brought their own faith and their folk culture, especially the music. These two traditions blend in the popular national song and dance, the merengue. Even US troops left their mark - Dominicans love baseball. It is a heady mixture. The first permanent colony of Europeans in the western hemisphere was established in the Dominican Republic, and Western traditions have been a strong presence ever since. Despite repeated US government involvement in Dominican politics, anti-American sentiment is virtually non-existent. Many Dominicans have family ties to the US especially in Miami and New York. Art, music, and literature are developed in part on Western patterns. The Dominican middle class is inundated with American television, fashion and sports. Architecture is another important part of Dominican culture, from the well-preserved colonial Spanish buildings of Santo Domingo, the Americas' first European city, to the brightly colored farmhouses of the countryside. Color and style are ignored by no one in the DR, which makes for some very interesting sightseeing. The Dominican culture is very out-going and hospitable.

Food:

Typical Dominican food is excellent and but not elaborate. Rice and beans are a staple and are called moro when mixed together or la bandera dominicana, the Dominican flag, when mixed with meat. Tostones, fried plantains, often accompany the main dish. Another Dominican specialty is sancocho, a stew of chicken, meat, yucca, and plantains. Pork and goat are also popular.

The climate in the Dominican Republic produces a variety of fruits and vegetables. Passion fruit or chinola, makes excellent juice and gets its name from the Spaniards, who said that the dramatic color of the fruit in purple and white reminded them of Christ’s crucifixion. Other fruits native to the DR are tamarindo, nispero, jagua, guanabana and zapote.

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Suffrage:

Universal and compulsory, over 18 or married (members of the armed forces and police cannot vote).

Agriculture/Natural Resources:

The principal cash crops of the Dominican Republic are raised on large plantations. Sugarcane is the main cash crop; the largest plantations are in the southeast. Other important were rice, coffee, fruits and berries, cacao, and tobacco. Cattle, hogs, and poultry are raised primarily for local consumption. The main resources of the Dominican Republic are agricultural. The fertile soil in the valleys is conducive to farming, and many of the mountain slopes are covered with forests. The country also has valuable deposits of nickel, gold, and silver.

Economy:

Over the last decade, Dominican Republic has experienced dramatic growth even though the it was hit hard by Hurricane Georges in 1998. The economy, once heavily dependent on sugar and other agricultural exports, has in recent years diversified. Although the country has long been viewed primarily as an exporter of sugar, coffee, and tobacco, in recent years the service sector has overtaken agriculture as the economy's largest employer, due to growth in tourism and free trade zones. Today, 20 percent of the workforce is still employed in farming or raising livestock, but services such as Tourism and Free Trade Zones (FTZ) employ 55 percent of the working population. Free trade zones were implemented in the 1980’s in order for foreign companies to take advantage of low labor cost in Central America and the Caribbean. These companies are permitted to import and export without being taxed. Their presence, in return, provides jobs. The country also has an important mining sector.

Another significant factor in the economy are the remittances from abroad that provide as estimated 10 percent of the gross domestic product, which is about $1, 572 per capita. State owned firms such as the State Sugar Council, the Corporation for State Enterprises, and the Dominican Electricity Corporation have impeded economic growth because of financial and administrative ineptitude.

The country suffers from marked income inequality; the poorest half of the population receives less than one-fifth of GNP, while the richest ten percent enjoy 40% of national income. In December 2000, the new MEJIA administration passed broad new tax legislation which it hopes will provide enough revenue to offset rising oil prices and to service foreign debt.

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Economic Statistics:

GDP: $55.68 billion (2004 est.)
Per capita GDP: $6,300 (2004 est.)
Inflation rate: 55% (2004 est.)
Population below poverty line: 25%
Unemployment rate: 17% (2004 est.)
Agriculture (10.7% of GDP): Sugarcane, coffee, cotton, cocoa, bananas, tobacco, rice, beans, plantains, cattle, pigs, flowers, corn, potatoes.
Industry (31.5% of GDP): Tourism, sugar refining, nickel & gold mining, textiles, cement, tobacco Services: 57.8% of GDP (2003 est.)
Exports – commodities: sugar, coffee, gold, silver, ferronickel, cocoa, tobacco, meats, consumer goods.
Imports – commodities: foodstuffs, petroleum, industrial raw materials, capital goods.
Major trading partners: USA, Venezuela, Mexico, Columbia (2003 est.)
External Debt: $7.745 billion (2004 est.)

Facts for the Traveler:

Currency: Dominican peso (DOP)
Exchange rates: Dominican pesos per US dollar = 42.12 (2004)
Credit cards: Credit cards and dollars are easy to use and transfer when shopping.
Time: Eastern Standard Time/ GMT minus four hours, with no adjustment for daylight saving time.

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Major Cities and Attractions:

Santo Domingo

It's the capital of the Dominican Republic and the first European city in the 'New World.' It's also a vibrant, exciting, polluted, sometimes dangerous (leave the Rolex at home) and always interesting Caribbean city with more to do and see than you'll manage no matter how long you stay. There are more colonial sites in Santo Domingo than you'll ever be able to see in one visit. Do check out the Zona Colonial, ground zero of the Spanish conquest of the Americas, the point of disembarkation for settlers, businesspeople and conquistedores, and an administrative center helmed by Christopher Columbus' son, Diego. The city also boasts the oldest extant cathedral in the Americas, Catedral Primada de América. The nearby Parque Colón not only features a statue of the eponymous admiral, but is also the meeting place for area residents and always buzzes with activity.

There are also dozens of museums concerned with everything from indigenous and colonial history to amber, one of the country's most important products. Gardens, zoos and parks keep the city green.

Santiago

The Dominican Republic's second city officially goes by the grandiose name of Santiago de los Caballeros (Santiago of the Gentlemen). And, Santiago is indeed an aristocratic, if somewhat provincial, city. It is the commercial hub of the Valle del Cibao, the nation's breadbasket, and factories here process raw sugar and tobacco into fine rum and cigars. Santiago boasts a thriving industrial sector and one of the finest universities in the country.
Santiago's leisurely, refined tempo is a pleasant surprise to the few travelers who make their way here. It doesn't offer much in the way of impressive monuments or an exciting nightlife, but there are some nice restaurants and museums to while away a relaxing day. Possibly the most popular activity in town is taking a stroll on Calle del Sol, Santiago's main street and a pleasant shopping district.

Information adapted from the lonely planet website, Microsoft® Encarta® Online Encyclopedia 2002 & the 2005 CIA world factbook
(updated 8/05)

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