Global InformationDominican Republic information
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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′N 70°40′W / 19.000°N 70.667°W |
| Official languages | Spanish |
| Other spoken languages | Haitian Creole Samaná English |
| Ethnic groups (2021)[1] |
|
| Religion (2018)[2] |
|
| Demonym(s) | Dominican Quisqueyan (colloquial)[3] |
| Government | Unitary presidential republic[4] |
• President | Luis Abinader |
• Vice President | Raquel Peña de Antuña |
| Legislature | Congress |
• Upper house | Senate |
• Lower house | Chamber of Deputies |
| Formation | |
• Ephemeral Independence | 1821–1822 |
• First Republic | 1844–1861[5] |
• Second Republic | 1865–1916[6] |
• Third Republic | 1924–1965[7][8] |
• Fourth Republic | 1966–present[9] |
| Area | |
• Total | 48,671 km2 (18,792 sq mi) (128th) |
• Water (%) | 0.7[4] |
| Population | |
• 2023 estimate | 10,790,744[10] (88th) |
• Density | 220/km2 (569.8/sq mi) (65th) |
| GDP (PPP) | 2023 estimate |
• Total | $277.741 billion (64th) |
• Per capita | $25,896 (67th) |
| GDP (nominal) | 2023 estimate |
• Total | $121.289 billion (64th) |
• Per capita | $11,308 (74th) |
| Gini (2020) |  39.6[11]medium |
| HDI (2021) |  0.767[12]high · 80th |
| Currency | Dominican peso[13] (DOP) |
| Time zone | UTC – 4:00[4] (Atlantic Standard Time) |
| Driving side | right |
| Calling code | +1-809, +1-829, +1-849 |
| ISO 3166 code | DO |
| Internet TLD | .do[4] |
Sources for area, capital, coat of arms, coordinates, flag, language, motto and names: [13] For an alternate area figure of 48,730 km2 (18,810 sq mi), calling code 809 and Internet TLD: [4] | |
The Dominican Republic (/dəˈmɪnɪkən/ də-MIN-ik-ən; Spanish: República Dominicana, pronounced [reˈpuβlika ðominiˈkana] ⓘ) is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean region. It occupies the eastern five-eighths of the island, which it shares with Haiti,[14][15] making Hispaniola one of only two Caribbean islands, along with Saint Martin, that is shared by two sovereign states. The Dominican Republic is the second-largest nation in the Antilles by area (after Cuba) at 48,671 square kilometers (18,792 sq mi), and third-largest by population, with approximately 10.7 million people (2022 est.), down from 10.8 million in 2020, of whom approximately 3.3 million live in the metropolitan area of Santo Domingo, the capital city.[4][16][17] The official language of the country is Spanish.
The native Taíno people had inhabited Hispaniola before the arrival of Europeans, dividing it into five chiefdoms.[4] They had constructed an advanced farming and hunting society, and were in the process of becoming an organized civilization.[18] The Taínos also inhabited Cuba, Jamaica, Puerto Rico, and the Bahamas. The Genoese mariner Christopher Columbus explored and claimed the island for Castile, landing there on his first voyage in 1492.[4] The colony of Santo Domingo became the site of the first permanent European settlement in the Americas and the first seat of Spanish colonial rule in the New World. After twenty-five years of Spanish occupation, the Taíno population in the Spanish-dominated parts of the island significantly decreased due to genocide. The survivors intermixed with Spaniards, Africans, and others, forming today's tripartite Dominican population. In 1697, Spain recognized French dominion over the western third of the island, which became the independent state of Haiti in 1804.[4]
After more than three hundred years of Spanish rule, the Dominican people declared independence in November 1821.[4] The leader of the independence movement, José Núñez de Cáceres, intended the Dominican nation to unite with the country of Gran Colombia, but the newly independent Dominicans were forcefully annexed by Haiti in February 1822. Independence came 22 years later in 1844,[4] after victory in the Dominican War of Independence. Over the next 72 years, the Dominican Republic experienced mostly civil wars (financed with loans from European merchants), several failed invasions by its neighbour, Haiti, and brief return to Spanish colonial status, before permanently ousting the Spanish during the Dominican War of Restoration of 1863–1865.[19][20][21] During this period, three presidents were assassinated (José Antonio Salcedo in 1864, Ulises Heureaux in 1899, and Ramón Cáceres in 1911).
The U.S. occupied the Dominican Republic (1916–1924) due to threats of defaulting on foreign debts; a subsequent calm and prosperous six-year period under Horacio Vásquez followed. From 1930 the dictatorship of Rafael Leónidas Trujillo ruled until his assassination in 1961.[4] Juan Bosch was elected president in 1962 but was deposed in a military coup in 1963. A civil war in 1965, the country's last, was ended by U.S. military intervention and was followed by the authoritarian rule of Joaquín Balaguer (1966–1978 and 1986–1996). Since 1978, the Dominican Republic has moved toward representative democracy,[22] and has been led by Leonel Fernández for most of the time after 1996. Danilo Medina succeeded Fernández in 2012, winning 51% of the electoral vote over his opponent ex-president Hipólito Mejía.[23] He was later succeeded by Luis Abinader in the 2020 presidential election after anti-government protests erupted that year.[24]
The Dominican Republic has the largest economy (according to the U.S. State Department and the World Bank) in the Caribbean and Central American region and is the seventh-largest economy in Latin America.[25][26] Over the last 25 years, the Dominican Republic has had the fastest-growing economy in the Western Hemisphere – with an average real GDP growth rate of 5.3% between 1992 and 2018.[27] GDP growth in 2014 and 2015 reached 7.3 and 7.0%, respectively, the highest in the Western Hemisphere.[27] In the first half of 2016, the Dominican economy grew 7.4% continuing its trend of rapid economic growth.[28] Recent growth has been driven by construction, manufacturing, tourism, and mining. The country is the site of the third largest gold mine in the world, the Pueblo Viejo mine.[29][30] Private consumption has been strong, as a result of low inflation (under 1% on average in 2015), job creation, and a high level of remittances. Income inequality, for generations an unsolved issue, has faded thanks to its rapid economic growth and now the Dominican Republic exhibits a Gini coefficient of 39, similar to that of Israel and Uruguay, and better than countries like the United States, Costa Rica or Chile. The Dominican Republic's largest export partners are the United States, Haiti, and Switzerland, while its largest import partners are the United States and China.[4]
The Dominican Republic is the most visited destination in the Caribbean.[31] The year-round golf courses and resorts are major attractions.[32] A geographically diverse nation, the Dominican Republic is home to both the Caribbean's tallest mountain peak, Pico Duarte, and the Caribbean's largest lake and lowest point, Lake Enriquillo.[33] The island has an average temperature of 26 °C (78.8 °F) and great climatic and biological diversity.[32] The country is also the site of the first cathedral, castle, monastery, and fortress built in the Americas, located in Santo Domingo's Colonial Zone, a World Heritage Site.[34][35] The Dominican Republic is highly vulnerable to natural disasters.
- ^ Breve Encuesta Nacional de Autopercepción Racial y Étnica en la República Dominicana (PDF). Santo Domingo: Oficina Nacional de Estadística de la República Dominicana. September 2021. p. 25. Archived (PDF) from the original on March 18, 2022. Retrieved November 3, 2022.
- ^ "Dominican Republic". The World Factbook. Central Intelligence Agency. Retrieved January 22, 2021.
- ^ Roorda, Eric Paul (April 28, 2016). Historical Dictionary of the Dominican Republic. Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 9780810879065 – via Google Books.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Cite error: The named reference
CIADemowas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Historia de la República Dominicana. Ediciones Doce Calles, S.L. 2010. p. 409. ISBN 978-84-00-09240-5. Retrieved July 1, 2013.
- ^ "II República Dominicana". Rincon del Vago. January 20, 2013. Retrieved January 20, 2013.
- ^ "12 de julio de 1924, una fecha relegada al olvido". Diario Libre. August 18, 2012. Retrieved September 24, 2014.
- ^ "La Tercera República: La fragua de nuestra contemporaneidad". Hoy. May 11, 2013. Retrieved May 11, 2013.
- ^ Cuarta República (1966-presente). Hechos Históricos Republica Dominicana. 2015. Retrieved July 13, 2015.
- ^ "Dominican Republic". The World Factbook (2023 ed.). Central Intelligence Agency. Retrieved June 22, 2023.
- ^ "GINI index (World Bank estimate) – Dominican Republic". World Bank. Retrieved May 30, 2022.
- ^ "Human Development Report 2021/2022" (PDF). United Nations Development Programme. September 8, 2022. Archived (PDF) from the original on September 8, 2022. Retrieved September 8, 2022.
- ^ a b "Embassy of the Dominican Republic, in the United States". Archived from the original on June 26, 2015. Retrieved February 27, 2009.
- ^ Dardik, Alan, ed. (2016). Vascular Surgery: A Global Perspective. Springer. p. 341. ISBN 978-3-319-33745-6.
- ^ Josh, Jagran, ed. (2016). "Current Affairs November 2016 eBook". p. 93.
- ^ "Dominican Republic | Data". data.worldbank.org. Retrieved April 28, 2016.
- ^ "Estimaciones y Proyecciones de la Población Dominicana por Regiones, Provincias, Municipios y Distritos Municipales, 2008". Archived from the original on May 11, 2011. Retrieved December 25, 2008.
- ^ Brown, Isabel Zakrzewski (1999). Culture and customs of the Dominican Republic. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press. ISBN 0-313-30314-2. OCLC 41256263.
- ^ Franco, César A. "La guerra de la Restauración Dominicana, el 16 de agosto de 1863" [The Dominican Restoration War, 16 August 1863] (PDF) (in Spanish). dgii.gov.do. Archived from the original (PDF) on June 24, 2015.
- ^ Guerrero, Johnny (August 16, 2011). "La Restauración de la República como referente histórico" [The Restoration of the Republic as an historical reference] (in Spanish). El Día. Retrieved August 23, 2016.
- ^ Sagas, Ernesto. "An Apparent Contradiction? Popular Perceptions of Haiti and the Foreign Policy of the Dominican Republic". Lehman College (Presented at the Sixth Annual Conference of the Haitian Studies Association, Boston, MA). Retrieved December 30, 2014.
- ^ "Antonio Guzmán | Ministerio Administrativo de la Presidencia". mapre.gob.do. Archived from the original on September 25, 2020. Retrieved August 4, 2020.
- ^ Fox, Ben; Ezequiel Abiu Lopez (May 20, 2012). "Dominican Republic Elections: Ex-President Hipolito Mejia Challenges Danilo Medina". Huffington Post. Archived from the original on January 31, 2016.
- ^ "Dominican Republic names opposition's Abinader president-elect". Reuters. July 8, 2020.
- ^ "CIA – The World Factbook – Rank Order – GDP (purchasing power parity)". Archived from the original on June 4, 2011. Retrieved February 27, 2009.
- ^ "Dominican Republic". World Bank. Retrieved April 28, 2016.
- ^ a b "Dominican Republic Overview". World Bank. Retrieved April 29, 2016.
- ^ "Dominican economy grows 7.4% in first half, paced by construction". Dominican Today. Archived from the original on August 26, 2016. Retrieved August 27, 2016.
- ^ "World's 10 Largest Gold Mines by Production | INN". July 31, 2019.
- ^ "World Top 20 Gold: Countries, Companies and Mines". Archived from the original on September 26, 2017. Retrieved September 27, 2017.
- ^ UNWTO Tourism Highlights: 2018 Edition | World Tourism Organization. 2018. doi:10.18111/9789284419876. ISBN 9789284419876. S2CID 240334031.
- ^ a b "Consulate-General of the Dominican Republic Bangkok Thailand". Retrieved February 27, 2009.
- ^ Baker, Christopher P.; Mingasson, Gilles (2008). Dominican Republic. National Geographic Books. p. 190. ISBN 978-1-4262-0232-2.
- ^ "Colonial City of Santo Domingo". UNESCO World Heritage Centre. Retrieved August 24, 2016.
- ^ UNESCO around the World | República Dominicana. Unesco.org (November 14, 1957). Retrieved on April 2, 2014.