Background: A legacy of unsettled mostly non-representative rule for much of the 20th century was brought to an end in 1996 when free and open elections ushered in a new government.

Geographic coordinates: 19 00 N 70 40 W

Map reference: Central America and the Caribbean

Area
Total: 48,730 km²
Land: 48,380 km²
Water: 350 km²
Comparative: slightly more than twice the size of New Hampshire

Land boundaries
Total: 275 km
Border countries: (1) Haiti 275 km

Coastline: 1288 km

Maritime claims
Contiguous zone: 24 NM
Continental shelf: 200 NM or to the edge of the continental margin
Exclusive economic zone: 200 NM
Territorial sea: 6 NM

Climate: tropical maritime; little seasonal temperature variation; seasonal variation in rainfall

Terrain: rugged highlands and mountains with fertile valleys interspersed

Elevation
Extremes lowest point: Lago Enriquillo -46 m
Extremes highest point: Pico Duarte 3,175 m

Natural resources: nickel bauxite gold silver

Land use
Arable land: 21%
Permanent crops: 9%
Permanent pastures: 43%
Forests and woodland: 12%
Other: 15% (1993 est.)

Irrigated land: 2,300 km² (1993 est.)

Natural hazards: lies in the middle of the hurricane belt and subject to severe storms from June to October; occasional flooding; periodic droughts

Geography
Note: shares island of Hispaniola with Haiti (eastern two-thirds is the Dominican Republic western one-third is Haiti)

Population: 8,581,477 (July 2001 est.)
Growth rate: 1.63% (2001 est.)
Below poverty line: 25% (1999 est.)

Nationality
Noun: Dominican
Adjective: Dominican

Ethnic groups: white 16% black 11% mixed 73%

Languages: Spanish

Religions: Roman Catholic 95%

Age structure
0-14 years: 34.11% (male 1,495,477; female 1,431,406)
15-64 years: 60.99% (male 2,664,679; female 2,569,398)
65 years and over: 4.9% (male 199,240; female 221,277) (2001 est.)

Population growth rate: 1.63% (2001 est.)

Birth rate: 24.77 births/1000 population (2001 est.)

Death rate: 4.7 deaths/1000 population (2001 est.)

Net migration rate: -3.81 migrant(s)/1000 population (2001 est.)

Environment
Current issues: water shortages; soil eroding into the sea damages coral reefs; deforestation; Hurricane Georges damage
International agreements party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Marine Dumping, Marine Life Conservation, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution
International agreements signed but not ratified: Law of the Sea

Sex ratio
At birth: 1.05 male/female
Under 15 years: 1.04 male/female
15-64 years: 1.04 male/female
65 years and over: 0.9 male/female
Total population: 1.03 male/female (2001 est.)

Infant mortality rate: 34.67 deaths/1000 live births (2001 est.)

Life expectancy at birth
Total population: 73.44 years
Male: 71.34 years
Female: 75.64 years (2001 est.)

Total fertility rate: 2.97 children born/woman (2001 est.)

Hivaids
Adult prevalence rate: 2.8% (1999 est.)
People living with hivaids: 130,000 (1999 est.)
Deaths: 4,900 (1999 est.)

Literacy
Definition: age 15 and over can read and write
Total population: 82.1%
Male: 82%
Female: 82.2% (1995 est.)

Country name
Conventional long form: Dominican Republic
Conventional short form: none
Local long form: Republica Dominicana
Local short form: none

Government type: representative democracy

Capital: Santo Domingo

Administrative divisions: 29 provinces (provincias singular - provincia) and 1 district* (distrito); Azua Baoruco Barahona Dajabon Distrito Nacional* Duarte Elias Pina El Seibo Espaillat Hato Mayor Independencia La Altagracia La Romana La Vega Maria Trinidad Sanchez Monsenor Nouel Monte Cristi Monte Plata Pedernales Peravia Puerto Plata Salcedo Samana Sanchez Ramirez San Cristobal San Juan San Pedro de Macoris Santiago Santiago Rodriguez Valverde

Independence: 27 February 1844 (from Haiti)

National holiday: Independence Day 27 February (1844)

Constitution: 28 November 1966

Legal system: based on French civil codes

Suffrage
Note: members of the armed forces and police cannot vote

Executive branch
Chief of state: President Rafael Hipolito MEJIA Dominguez (since 16 August 2000); Vice President Milagros ORTIZ-BOSCH (since 16 August 2000); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government
Head of government: President Rafael Hipolito MEJIA Dominguez (since 16 August 2000); Vice President Milagros ORTIZ-BOSCH (since 16 August 2000); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government
Cabinet: Cabinet nominated by the president
Elections: president and vice president elected on the same ticket by popular vote for four-year term; election last held 16 May 2000 (next to be held NA May 2004)
Election results: Raphael Hipolito MEJIA Dominguez elected president; percent of vote - Rafael Hipolito MEJIA Dominguez (PRD) 49.87%, Danilo MEDINA (PLD) 24.95%, Joaquin BALAGUER (PRSC) 24.6%

Legislative branch
Elections: Senate - last held 16 May 1998 (next to be held NA May 2002); Chamber of Deputies - last held 16 May 1998 (next to be held NA May 2002)
Election results: Senate - percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - PRD 24, PLD 3, PRSC 3; Chamber of Deputies - percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - PRD 83, PLD 49, PRSC 17

Judicial branch: Supreme Court or Corte Suprema (judges are elected by a Council made up of members of the legislative and executive branches with the president presiding)

Political parties and leaders: Dominican Liberation Party or PLD [Leonel FERNANDEZ Reyna]; Dominican Revolutionary Party or PRD [Hatuey DE CAMPS]; Social Christian Reformist Party or PRSC [Joaquin BALAGUER Ricardo]

International organization participation: ACP Caricom (observer) ECLAC FAO G-11 G-77 IADB IAEA IBRD ICAO ICFTU ICRM IDA IFAD IFC IFRCS IHO ILO IMF IMO Intelsat Interpol IOC IOM ISO (subscriber) ITU LAES LAIA (observer) NAM (observer) OAS OPANAL OPCW PCA UN UNCTAD UNESCO UNIDO UPU WCL WFTU WHO WIPO WMO WToO WTrO

Diplomatic representation
In the us chief of mission: Ambassador Roberto Bienvenido SALADIN-SELIN
In the us chancery: 1715 22nd Street NW, Washington, DC 20,008
In the us telephone: [1] (202) 332-6,280
In the us fax: [1] (202) 265-8,057
In the us consulates general: Boston, Chicago, Mayaguez (Puerto Rico), Miami, New Orleans, New York, Philadelphia, San Francisco, and San Juan (Puerto Rico)
In the us consulates: Houston, Jacksonville, Mobile, and Ponce (Puerto Rico)
From the us chief of mission: Ambassador Charles T. MANATT
From the us embassy: corner of Calle Cesar Nicolas Penson and Calle Leopoldo Navarro, Santo Domingo
From the us mailing address: Unit 5,500, APO AA 34,041-5,500
From the us telephone: [1] (809) 221-2,171
From the us fax: [1] (809) 686-7,437

Flag description: a centered white cross that extends to the edges divides the flag into four rectangles - the top ones are blue (hoist side) and red and the bottom ones are red (hoist side) and blue; a small coat of arms is at the center of the cross

Economy overview: The Dominican economy experienced dramatic growth over the last decade even though the economy was hit hard by Hurricane Georges in 1998. 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 ten percent enjoy 40% of national income. In December 2000 the new MEJIA administration passed broad new tax legislation which it hopes will provide enough revenue to offset rising oil prices and to service foreign debt.

Real gdp growth rate: 8% (2000 est.)

Real gdp per capita: purchasing power parity - $5,700 (2000 est.)

Gdp composition by sector of origin
Agriculture: 11.3%
Industry: 32.2%
Services: 56.5% (1999 est.)

Agriculture products: sugarcane coffee cotton cocoa tobacco rice beans potatoes corn bananas; cattle pigs dairy products beef eggs

Industries: tourism sugar processing ferronickel and gold mining textiles cement tobacco

Industrial production growth rate: 8% (2000 est.)

Labor force: 2.3 million - 2.6 million
By occupation services and government: 58.7%
By occupation industry: 24.3%
By occupation agriculture: 17% (1998 est.)

Unemployment rate: 13.8% (1999 est.)

Population below poverty line: 25% (1999 est.)

Household income or consumption by percentage share
Lowest 10: 1.6%
Highest 10: 39.6% (1989)

Budget
Revenues: $2.3 billion
Expenditures: $2.9 billion, including capital expenditures of $867 million (1999 est.)

Fiscal year: calendar year

Inflation rate consumer prices: 7.9% (2000 est.)

Exports: $5.8 billion (f.o.b. 2000)
Commodities: ferronickel sugar gold silver coffee cocoa tobacco meats
Partners: US 66.1% Netherlands 7.8% Canada 7.6% Russia 7.4% UK 4.5% (1999 est.)

Imports: $9.6 billion (f.o.b. 2000 est.)
Commodities: foodstuffs petroleum cotton and fabrics chemicals and pharmaceuticals
Partners: US 25.7% Venezuela 9.2% Mexico 4% Japan 3% Panama 2.6% (1999 est.)

Debt external: $4.7 billion (2000 est.)

Exchange rates: Dominican pesos per US dollar - 16.888 (January 2001) 16.415 (2000) 16.033 (1999) 15.267 (1998) 14.265 (1997) 13.775 (1996)

Electricity
Production: 7.29 billion kWh (1999)
Production by source fossil fuel: 87.19%
Production by source hydro: 12.4%
Production by source nuclear: 0%
Production by source other: 0.41% (1999)
Consumption: 6.78 billion kWh (1999)
Exports: 0 kWh (1999)
Imports: 0 kWh (1999)

Telephones
Main lines in use: 709,000 (1997)
Mobile cellular: 130,149 (1997)

Telephone system
General assessment: NA
Domestic: relatively efficient system based on islandwide microwave radio relay network
International: 1 coaxial submarine cable; satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean)

Internet
Country code: .do
Service providers isps: 24 (2000)
Users: 25,000 (1999)

Military expenditures
Dollar figure: $180 million (FY98)
Percent of gdp: 1.1% (FY98)

Airports: 29 (2000 est.)
With paved runways total: 13
With paved runways over 3047 m: 3
With paved runways 2438 to 3047 m: 2
With paved runways 15-24 to 2437 m: 4
With paved runways 914 to 1523 m: 3
With paved runways under 914 m: 1 (2000 est.)
With unpaved runways total: 16
With unpaved runways 15-24 to 2437 m: 2
With unpaved runways 914 to 1523 m: 4
With unpaved runways under 914 m: 10 (2000 est.)

Pipelines: crude oil 96 km; petroleum products 8 km

Railways
Total: 757 km
Standard gauge: 375 km 1.435-m gauge (Central Romana Railroad)
Narrow gauge: 142 km 0.762-m gauge (Dominican Republic Government Railway)
Note: 240 km operated by sugar companies in various gauges (0.558-m, 0.762-m, 1.067-m gauges) (2000)

Waterways: none

Merchant marine
Total: 1 ship (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 1,587 GRT/1,165 DWT
Ships by type: cargo 1 (2000 est.)

Disputes international: none