Dominican Republic ( o republica dominicana) is a nation on the island of Hispaniola,(or Island of Santo Domingo) part of the Greater Antilles archipelago in the Caribbean region . The western third of the island is occupied by the nation of Haiti, . Both by area and population, the Dominican Republic is the second largest Caribbean nation , with 48,445 square kilometres (18,705 sq mi) and an estimated 10 million people, almost three million of which in the capital city, Santo Domingo.
The Dominican Republic has the ninth largest economy in Latin America and the largest economy in the Caribbean and Central American region according to the U.S. State Department .Though long known for sugar production, the economy is now dominated by services. The country's economic progress is exemplified by its advanced telecommunication system.
The Dominican Republic is the most visited destination in the Caribbean. The country's year-round golf courses are among the top attractions on the island In this mountainous land is located the Caribbean's highest mountain, Pico Duarte, as is Lake Enriquillo, the Caribbean's largest lake and lowest elevation. It has an average temperature of 26 °C (78.8 °F) and great biological diversity. Music and sport are of great importance in the Dominican culture, with Merengue and Bachata as the national dance and music, and baseball as the favorite sport.[
National name: República
Dominicana
Language:
Spanish
Ethnicity/race:
white 16%, black 11%, mixed 73%
National Holiday:
Independence Day, February 27
Religion:
Roman Catholic 95%
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.
