About
Explored and claimed by Columbus on his first voyage in 1492, the
island of Hispaniola became a springboard for Spanish conquest of the Caribbean and the American mainland. In 1697, Spain
recognized French dominion over the western third of the island, which in 1804 became Haiti. The remainder of the island, by
then known as Santo Domingo, sought to gain its own independence in 1821, but was conquered and ruled by the Haitians for 22
years; it finally attained independence as the Dominican Republic in 1844. In 1861, the Dominicans voluntarily returned to the
Spanish Empire, but two years later they launched a war that restored independence in 1865. A legacy of unsettled, mostly
non-representative, rule for much of its subsequent history was brought to an end in 1966 when Joaquin BALAGUER became
president. He maintained a tight grip on power for most of the next 30 years when international reaction to flawed elections
forced him to curtail his term in 1996. Since then, regular competitive elections have been held in which opposition
candidates have won the presidency. The Dominican economy has had one of the fastest growth rates in the hemisphere over the
past decade.
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Source: The World Factbook
Population: 8,950,034 (July 2005 est.)
Capital: Santo Domingo
Languages: Spanish
Religions: Roman Catholic 95%
Government: representative democracy
Climate: tropical maritime; little seasonal temperature
variation; seasonal variation in rainfall
Terrain: rugged highlands and mountains with fertile valleys interspersed
Geography: shares island of Hispaniola with Haiti
Ethnic groups: white 16%, black 11%, mixed 73%
Economy: The Dominican Republic is a Caribbean representative democracy which enjoyed GDP growth of more
than 7% in 1998-2000. Growth subsequently plummeted as part of the global economic slowdown. 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. The country suffers from marked
income inequality; the poorest half of the population receives less than one-fifth of GNP, while the richest 10% enjoys nearly
40% of national income. Growth turned negative in 2003 with reduced tourism, a major bank fraud, and limited growth in the US
economy (the source of about 85% of export revenues), but recovered in 2004 and 2005. Resumption of a badly needed IMF loan,
slowed due to government repurchase of electrical power plants, is basic to the restoration of social and economic stability.
Newly elected President FERNANDEZ in mid-2004 promised belt-tightening reform. His administration has passed tax reform and
arranged a $600 million IMF standby arrangement in March 20005 to ease the country's fiscal situation. Although the economy
continues to grow at a respectable rate, inflation and unemployment remain the two biggest challenges.
GDP per capita: purchasing power
parity - $6,500 (2005 est.)
GDP real growth: 4.1% (2005 est.)
Unemployment rate: 17% (2005 est.)
Internet country code: .do
Dial code: +809
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Local currency is the Dominican Peso
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