La Republica Dominicana
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
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%.
Among the First to Offer Aid to Haiti
After
the devastating earthquake on January 12, 2010 in Haiti, the Dominican
Republic was one of the first countries to offer aid despite the two
countries having a history of conflict. The Dominican Republic sent
food, medicine, and teams to assess the damage. The country also eased
visa requirements so the injured could seek treatment at Dominican
hospitals.
Over a year later, in the spring of 2011, protests started and
signs were posted, calling for the refugees to go home. By August 2011,
Haitian refugees were turned away at the border and in some cases,
deported. The shift in attitude showed impatience with Haiti's slow
recovery as well as other concerns, including a high unemployment rate,
among the highest in Latin American, and cholera, which had killed more
than 90 people in the Dominican Republic, many of them Haitian migrants.
In October 2011, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights
(IACHR) received over 450 complaints from people in the Dominican
Republic who said their citizenship had been revoked. The complaints
came from people who have been recognized as citizens for decades. The
IACHR condemned the policy, but on December 1st, the country's Supreme
Court rejected a Dominican-born male's request for a birth certificate
so he could relocate to the United States. The new policy could affect
some 200,000 Dominicans of Haitian origin.
Ruling Party Candidate Wins Presidential Election
In
May 20, 2012, Danilo Medina, candidate of the ruling Dominican
Liberation Party, won the presidential election. Medina narrowly
defeated Hipólito Mejía, receiving 51.24 percent of the vote. Voting
fraud allegations followed the election, including claims from other
political parties that votes were bought. The Organization of American
States confirmed vote-buying, but concluded that it was not enough to
determine the outcome of the election so the organization approved the
results.
On August 16, 2012, Medina takes over for Leonel Fernández, who
has been president for 12 of the last 16 years. Fernández's wife,
Margarita Cedeño, will serve as Medina's vice-president. Fernández is
eligible and expected to run for another term (his fourth) in 2016.
Tourism
Tourism is fueling the Dominican Republic's economic growth. With the construction of projects like
Cap Cana, San Souci Port in Santo Domingo, and Moon Palace Resort in
Punta Cana, the Dominican Republic expects increased tourism activity in the upcoming year.
Ecotourism has been a topic increasingly important in the nation, with towns like
Jarabacoa and neighboring
Constanza,
and locations like the Pico Duarte, Bahia de Las Aguilas and others
becoming more significant in efforts to increase direct benefits from
tourism. Most residents from other countries
are required to get a tourist card, depending on the Country that he or she lives in.
Sports
Baseball is by far the most popular sport in the Dominican Republic. The country has a baseball league of six teams.
In boxing, the country has produced scores of world-class fighters and several world champions.Basketball also enjoys a relatively high level of popularity. Al Horford, Felipe Lopez, and Francisco Garcia are among the Dominican-born players currently or formerly in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Olympic gold medalist and world champion hurdler Félix Sánchez hails from the Dominican Republic, as does NFL defensive end Luis Castillo.Other important sports include, Volleyball, which was introduced in 1916 by US Marines, is controlled by the Dominican Volleyball Federation. Other sports include Tae Kwon Do, in which Gabriel Mercedes is an Olympic silver medalist; and Judo.
Music
Musically, the Dominican Republic is known for the creation of the musical style called merengue,
a type of lively, fast-paced rhythm and dance music consisting of a
tempo of about 120 to 160 beats per minute (though it varies) based on
musical elements like drums, brass, chorded instruments, and accordion,
as well as some elements unique to the Spanish-speaking Caribbean, such
as the tambora and güira.
Some well-known merengue performers include Johnny Ventura, singer/songwriter Juan Luis Guerra, Fernando Villalona, Eddy Herrera, Sergio Vargas, Toño Rosario, Milly Quezada, and Chichí Peralta. Merengue became popular in the United States, mostly on the East Coast, during the 1980s and 1990s,
when many Dominican artists, among them Victor Roque y La Gran Manzana,
Henry Hierro, Zacarias Ferreira, Aventura, and Milly Jocelyn Y Los
Vecinos, residing in the U.S. (particularly New York) started performing
in the Latin club scene and gained radio airplay. The emergence of bachata, along with an increase in the number of Dominicans living among other Latino groups in New York, New Jersey, and Florida have contributed to Dominican music's overall growth in popularity
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