Introduction: The Dominican Republic Destruction: Hurricane Georges Gallery of Images: Health, Water and Sanitation Agricultural and Economic Reactivation Utilities Disaster Mitigation Housing Rising to the Challenge Message From Elena Brineman, Mission Director Last updated: Monday, 11-Mar-2002 07:35:19 EST

THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC

The Dominican Republic, with a population of more than eight million, is located on the second largest island in the Caribbean. It occupies the eastern two-thirds of the island of La Hispaniola, which it shares, with Haiti to the west. The Dominican Republic is located between the Atlantic Ocean to the north and the Caribbean Sea to the south and east. Christopher Columbus discovered La Hispaniola on December 5, 1492.

On May 16, 2000, Hipolito Mejia, the Revolutionary Democratic Party candidate, was elected president of the Dominican Republic in a free and fair election. President Mejia took office on August 16 with six priorities: education, health, housing, agriculture, pension reform and the environment, all aimed at making Dominican society more inclusive and reducing poverty. Mejia also champions the causes of expanding Central American and Caribbean trade and reaching out to help its neighbor Haiti.

U.S. relations with the Dominican Republic are excellent, and the United States has been a strong supporter of the Dominican Republic's democratic and economic development. In addition, the Dominican government has supported many U.S. initiatives in the United Nations and related organizations. The two governments cooperate in the fight against the trafficking of illegal substances and illegal aliens. The Dominican Republic has worked closely with United States law enforcement officials on issues such as the return of stolen cars to the United States and reducing illegal migration. The United States supports the Mejia administration's efforts to open the economy to more trade, increase foreign private investment, privatize state-owned firms, and modernize the tax system.

The Dominican Republic is a middle-income developing country primarily dependent upon services (principally commerce, tourism, and telecommunications), manufacturing (including free trade zones), construction and agriculture for its economic base. Tourism, Free Trade Zones and remittances are the largest sources of foreign exchange earnings. Remittances from Dominicans living in the United States are estimated to be between $1.7 billion and $1.9 billion a year. Although the service sectors have taken over as the leading employers of Dominicans, agriculture remains an important sector in terms of employment (particularly in rural areas), exports and domestic consumption.

The U.S. Embassy in Santo Domingo estimates that 60,000 U.S. citizens live in the Dominican Republic, although precise figures are unavailable; many are dual nationals. An important element of the relationship between the two countries is the more than one million Dominicans residing in the United States. The majority of Dominicans live in the metropolitan New York City area.