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Dominican Republic
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National name: República
Dominicana
President: Leonel Fernández (2004)
Current government officials
Land area: 18,680 sq mi (48,381 sq km);
total area: 18,815 sq mi (48,730 sq km)
Population (2008 est.): 9,507,133
(growth rate: 1.4%); birth rate: 22.6/1000; infant mortality rate:
26.9/1000; life expectancy: 73.3; density per sq km: 196
Capital and largest city (2003 est.):
Santo Domingo, 2,851,300 (metro. area),
2,252,400 (city proper)
Other large city: Santiago de los
Caballeros, 501,800
Monetary unit: Dominican Peso
Language:
Spanish
Ethnicity/race:
white 16%, black 11%, mixed 73%
National Holiday:
Independence Day, February 27
Religion:
Roman Catholic 95%
Literacy rate: 85% (2003 est.)
Economic summary: GDP/PPP (2007
est.): $85.4 billion; per capita $9,200. Real growth rate:
7.2%. Inflation: 5.8%. Unemployment: 15.5%. Arable
land: 23%. Agriculture: sugarcane, coffee, cotton, cocoa,
tobacco, rice, beans, potatoes, corn, bananas; cattle, pigs, dairy
products, beef, eggs. Labor force: 3.9 million (2007 est);
services and government 58.7%, industry 24.3%, agriculture 17% (1998
est.). Industries: tourism, sugar processing, ferronickel and
gold mining, textiles, cement, tobacco. Natural resources:
nickel, bauxite, gold, silver. Exports: $6.881 billion f.o.b.
(2007 est.): ferronickel, sugar, gold, silver, coffee, cocoa,
tobacco, meats, consumer goods. Imports: $12.89 billion
f.o.b. (2007 est.): foodstuffs, petroleum, cotton and fabrics,
chemicals and pharmaceuticals. Major trading partners: U.S.,
UK, Belgium, Venezuela, Colombia, Mexico (2006).
Communications: Telephones: main lines
in use: 897,000 (2007); mobile cellular: 4.606 million (2006).
Radio broadcast stations: AM 120, FM 56, shortwave 4 (1998).
Television broadcast stations: 25 (1997). Internet
hosts: 81,218 (2007). Internet users: 1.232 (2006).
Transportation: Railways: total: 517 km
(2006). Highways: total: 12,600 km; paved: 6,224 km; unpaved:
6,376 km (1999). Ports and harbors: Boca Chica, Puerto Plata,
Rio Haina, Santo Domingo. Airports: 34 (2007).
International disputes: increasing
numbers of illegal migrants from the Dominican Republic cross the
Mona Passage each year to Puerto Rico to find work.
Major sources and definitions
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Geography
The Dominican Republic in the West Indies
occupies the eastern two-thirds of the island of Hispaniola, which it
shares with Haiti. Its area equals that of Vermont and New Hampshire
combined. Duarte Peak, at 10,417 ft (3,175 m), is the highest point in the
West Indies.
Government
Representative democracy.
History
The Dominican Republic was explored by Columbus
on his first voyage in 1492. He named it La Española, and his son, Diego,
was its first viceroy. The capital, Santo Domingo, founded in 1496, is the
oldest European settlement in the Western Hemisphere.
Spain ceded the colony to France in 1795, and
Haitian blacks under Toussaint L'Ouverture conquered it in 1801. In 1808,
the people revolted and captured Santo Domingo the next year, setting up
the first republic. Spain regained title to the colony in 1814. In 1821
Spanish rule was overthrown, but in 1822 the colony was reconquered by the
Haitians. In 1844, the Haitians were thrown out and the Dominican Republic
was established, headed by Pedro Santana. Uprisings and Haitian attacks
led Santana to make the country a province of Spain from 1861 to 1865.
President Buenaventura Báez, faced with an
economy in shambles, attempted to have the country annexed to the U.S. in
1870, but the U.S. Senate refused to ratify a treaty of annexation.
Disorder continued until the dictatorship of Ulíses Heureaux; in 1916,
when chaos broke out again, the U.S. sent in a contingent of marines, who
remained until 1924.
A sergeant in the Dominican army trained by the
marines, Rafaél Leonides Trujillo Molina, overthrew Horacio Vásquez in
1930 and established a dictatorship that lasted until his assassination in
1961, 31 years later. In 1962, Juan Bosch of the leftist Dominican
Revolutionary Party, became the first democratically elected president in
four decades.
Freely-Elected President Balaguer Witnesses Withdrawal of Foreign Troops
In 1963, a military coup ousted Bosch and
installed a civilian triumvirate. Leftists rebelled against the new regime
in April 1965, and U.S. president Lyndon Johnson sent in marines and
troops. After a cease-fire in May, a compromise installed Hector
Garcia-Godoy as provisional president. In 1966, right-wing candidate
Joaquin Balaguer won in free elections against Bosch, and U.S. and other
foreign troops withdrew.
In 1978, the army suspended the counting of
ballots when Balaguer trailed in a fourth-term bid. After a warning from
President Jimmy Carter, however, Balaguer accepted the victory of Antonio
Guzmán of the Dominican Revolutionary Party. In 1982 elections, Salvador
Jorge Blanco of the Dominican Revolutionary Party defeated Balaguer and
Bosch. Balaguer was again elected president in May 1986 and remained in
office for the next ten years.
In 1996, U.S.-raised Leonel Fernández secured
more than 51% of the vote through an alliance with Balaguer. The first
item on the president's agenda was the partial sale of some state-owned
enterprises. Fernández was praised for ending decades of isolationism and
improving ties with other Caribbean countries, but he was criticized for
not fighting corruption or alleviating the poverty that affects 60% of the
population.
President Fernández Lights Fire Under Dominican Republics Failing Economy
In Aug. 2000, the center-left Hipólito Mejía was
elected president amid popular discontent over power outages in the
recently privatized electric industry, but in May 2004 presidential
elections, he was defeated by former president Leonel Fernández
(1996–2000). Fernández instituted austerity measures to rescue the country
from its economic crisis, and in the first half of 2006, the economy grew
11.7%.
On May 16, 2008, incumbent president Leonel
Fernández was reelected, taking 53% of the vote. He defeated Miguel Vargas
of the Dominican Revolutionary Party, who won 41%.
See also Encyclopedia: Dominican Republic
U.S. State Dept. Country
Notes: Dominican Republic
National Statistics Office (In Spanish
Only) www.one.gov.do/ .
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