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Dominican Republic is located in the Caribbean, on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago. Hispaniola lies west of Puerto Rico and east of Cuba and Jamaica. The western third of Hispaniola is the nation of Haiti, making Hispaniola one of two Caribbean islands that are occupied by two countries, Saint Martin being the other. The total land boundary stretches upto 360 km and share boundary with Haiti stretching upto 360 km.
The coastline stretches upto 1,288 km. Measured from claimed archipelagic straight baselines Dominican Republic claims a territorial upto 6nm, and contiguous zone upto 24 nm, exclusive economic zone upto 200 nm and continental shelf upto200 nm or to the edge of the continental margin. The geographical terrain has rugged highlands and mountains with fertile valleys interspersed. The lowest point in Dominican Republic is Lago Enriquillo at -46 m and highest point is Pico Duarte at 3,175 m. The chief natural resources to be found are nickel, bauxite, gold and silver.
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| Climate |
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The climate is tropical, maritime nation. The season from May to November is generally wet and between June and November there are periodic hurricanes. The northern and eastern region enjoys most of the rainfalls. The average temperature in Santo Domingo, in January is 25 °C and 30 °C in July. However, the highest mountaintops are covered in pine forests and have temperatures that can go several degrees below freezing during winter nights. The temperature and rainfall varies with season.
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| People |
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| The population of Dominican Republic is estimated to be about 9,507,133. The ethnic composition of the Dominican population is, 73% mixed race which consists majority of Mulatto, 16% white and 11% black. Other ethnic groups in the Dominican Republic include Haitians, Germans, Italians, French, Jews, Spaniards, and Americans. East Asians primarily ethnic Chinese and Japanese and Middle Easterners mainly Lebanese are also part of the country's ethnicity. 95% of the inhabitants follow Christianity predominantly Roman Catholic followed by Protestants such as Seventh-day Adventist, and Jehovah's Witnesses. 5% of the population believes in other religious belief. The majority language is Spanish. |
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| Government |
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Dominican Republic operates under the political framework of democratic republic type of government. President is both the chief of the state and head of the government. The Cabinet nominated by the president. The president and vice president elected on the same ticket by popular vote for four-year terms and is eligible for a second consecutive term.
Dominican republic is administratively divided into 31 provinces and 1 district. The provinces are Azua, Bahoruco, Barahona, Dajabon, Duarte, El Seibo, Elias Pina, Espaillat, Hato Mayor, Independencia, La Altagracia, La Romana, La Vega, Maria Trinidad Sanchez, Monsenor Nouel, Monte Cristi, Monte Plata, Pedernales, Peravia, Puerto Plata, Salcedo, Samana, San Cristobal, San Jose de Ocoa, San Juan, San Pedro de Macoris, Sanchez Ramirez, Santiago, Santiago Rodriguez, Santo Domingo, Valverde and the disctrict is Distrito Nacional.
Capital: Santo Domingo
Independence day: 27 February 1844
President: Leonel Fernandez Reyna |
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| Economy |
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Since 2005, Dominican Republic has enjoyed strong GDP growth, with double digit growth in 2006. In 2007, exports were bolstered by the nearly 50% increase in nickel prices. Even though the country has been a principal exporter of sugar, coffee, and tobacco, in recent years the service sector has overtaken agriculture as the economy's largest employer due to expansion in tourism and free trade zones.
About 58.7% of the total labor population is in the service sector, 24.3% in the industrial sector and 17% are into agriculture. The economy is highly reliant upon the US. Although the economy is mounting at a decent rate, high unemployment and underemployment remains an important challenge. 15.5% of the inhabitants are unemployed.
Dominican Republic suffers from marked income inequality and the poorest half of the population receives less than one-fifth of GNP, while the richest 10% enjoys nearly 40% of national income.
Chief agricultural products to be found are sugarcane, coffee, cotton, cocoa, tobacco, rice, beans, potatoes, corn, bananas, cattle, pigs, dairy products, beef and eggs. The key industrial produce and services are tourism, sugar processing, ferronickel and gold mining, textiles, cement and tobacco.
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