Background: Explored and claimed by Columbus on his first voyage in 1492 the island of Hispaniola became a springboard for Spanish conquest of the Caribbean and the American mainland. In 1697 Spain recognized French dominion over the western third of the island which in 1804 became Haiti. The remainder of the island by then known as Santo Domingo sought to gain its own independence in 1821 but was conquered and ruled by the Haitians for 22 years; it finally attained independence as the Dominican Republic in 1844. In 1861 the Dominicans voluntarily returned to the Spanish Empire but two years later they launched a war that restored independence in 1865. A legacy of unsettled mostly non-representative rule for much of its subsequent history was brought to an end in 1966 when Joaquin BALAGUER became president. He maintained a tight grip on power for most of the next 30 years when international reaction to flawed elections forced him to curtail his term in 1996. Since then regular competitive elections have been held in which opposition candidates have won the presidency. The Dominican economy has had one of the fastest growth rates in the hemisphere over the past decade.

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: 360 km
Border countries: (1) Haiti 360 km

Coastline: 1288 km

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

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: 22.65%
Permanent crops: 10.33%
Other: 67.02% (2001)

Irrigated land: 2,590 km² (1998 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

Population: 8,833,634 (July 2004 est.)
Growth rate: 1.33% (2004 est.)
Below poverty line: 25%

Nationality
Noun: Dominican
Adjective: Dominican

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

Languages: Spanish

Religions: Roman Catholic 95%

Age structure
0-14 years: 33.3% (male 1,502,062; female 1,435,135)
15-64 years: 61.4% (male 2,767,880; female 2,658,861)
65 years and over: 5.3% (male 219,230; female 250,466) (2004 est.)

Median age
Total: 23.7 years
Male: 23.5 years
Female: 23.9 years (2004 est.)

Population growth rate: 1.33% (2004 est.)

Birth rate: 23.6 births/1000 population (2004 est.)

Death rate: 7.1 deaths/1000 population (2004 est.)

Net migration rate: -3.22 migrant(s)/1000 population (2004 est.)

Environment
Current issues: water shortages; soil eroding into the sea damages coral reefs; deforestation
International agreements party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Marine Dumping, Marine Life Conservation, 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: 1.05 male/female
15-64 years: 1.04 male/female
65 years and over: 0.88 male/female
Total population: 1.03 male/female (2004 est.)

Infant mortality rate
Total: 33.28 deaths/1000 live births
Male: 35.75 deaths/1000 live births
Female: 30.68 deaths/1000 live births (2004 est.)

Life expectancy at birth
Total population: 67.63 years
Male: 65.98 years
Female: 69.35 years (2004 est.)

Total fertility rate: 2.89 children born/woman (2004 est.)

Hivaids
Adult prevalence rate: 1.7% (2003 est.)
People living with hivaids: 88,000 (2003 est.)
Deaths: 7,900 (2003 est.)

Literacy
Definition: age 15 and over can read and write
Total population: 84.7%
Male: 84.6%
Female: 84.8% (2003 est.)

Country name
Conventional long form: Dominican Republic
Conventional short form: The Dominican
Local long form: Republica Dominicana
Local short form: La Dominicana

Government type: representative democracy

Capital: Santo Domingo

Administrative divisions: 31 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 Jose de Ocoa San Juan San Pedro de Macoris Santiago Santiago Rodriguez Santo Domingo Valverde

Independence: 27 February 1844 (from Haiti)

National holiday: Independence Day 27 February (1844)

Constitution: 28 November 1966 amended 25 July 2002

Legal system: based on French civil codes; undergoing modification in 2004 towards an accusatory system

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

Executive branch
Chief of state: President Leonel FERNANDEZ Reyna (since 16 August 2004); Vice President Rafael ALBURQUERQUE de Castro (since 16 August 2004); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government
Head of government: President Leonel FERNANDEZ Reyna (since 16 August 2004); Vice President Rafael ALBURQUERQUE de Castro (since 16 August 2004); 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 terms; election last held 16 May 2004 (next to be held in May 2008)
Election results: Leonel FERNANDEZ elected president; percent of vote - Leonel FERNANDEZ (PLD) 57.1%, Rafael Hipolito MEJIA Dominguez (PRD) 33.7%, Eduardo ESTRELLA (PRSC) 8.7%

Legislative branch
Elections: Senate - last held 16 May 2002 (next to be held NA May 2006); Chamber of Deputies - last held 16 May 2002 (next to be held NA May 2006)
Election results: Senate - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - PRD 29, PLD 2, PRSC 1; Chamber of Deputies - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - PRD 73, PLD 41, PRSC 36

Judicial branch: Supreme Court or Corte Suprema (judges are appointed by a the National Judicial Council comprised of the President the leaders of both chambers of congress the President of the Supreme Court and an opposition or non-governing party member)

Political parties and leaders: Dominican Liberation Party or PLD [Leonel FERNANDEZ Reyna]; Dominican Revolutionary Party or PRD [Vicente Sanchez BARET]; Social Christian Reformist Party or PRSC [Enrique ATUN]

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

Diplomatic representation
In the us chief of mission: Ambassador-designate Flavio Dario Espinal JACOBO
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: Chicago, Mayaguez (Puerto Rico), Miami, New Orleans, New York, and San Juan (Puerto Rico)
In the us consulates: Mobile
From the us chief of mission: Ambassador Hans H. HERTELL
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 featuring a shield supported by an olive branch (left) and a palm branch (right) is at the center of the cross; above the shield a blue ribbon displays the motto DIOS PATRIA LIBERTAD (God Fatherland Liberty) and below the shield REPUBLICA DOMINICANA appears on a red ribbon

Economy overview: The Dominican Republic is a Caribbean representative democracy which enjoyed GDP growth of more than 7% in 1998-2000. Growth subsequently plummeted as part of the global economic slowdown. 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 10% enjoys nearly 40% of national income. Growth turned negative in 2003 with reduced tourism a major bank fraud and limited growth in the US economy the source of 87% of export revenues. Resumption of a badly needed IMF loan was slowed due to government repurchase of electrical power plants.

Real gdp growth rate: -0.7% (2003 est.)

Real gdp per capita: purchasing power parity - $6,000 (2003 est.)

Gdp composition by sector of origin
Agriculture: 10.7%
Industry: 31.5%
Services: 57.8% (2003)

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: 2% (2001 est.)

Labor force: 2.3 million - 2.6 million (2000 est.)
By occupation agriculture: 17%
By occupation industry: 24.3%
By occupation services and government: 58.7% (1998 est.)

Unemployment rate: 16.5% (2003 est.)

Population below poverty line: 25%

Household income or consumption by percentage share
Lowest 10: 2.1%
Highest 10: 37.9% (1998)

Distribution of family income gini index: 47.4 (1998)

Budget
Revenues: $2.601 billion
Expenditures: $3.353 billion, including capital expenditures of $1.1 billion (2003 est.)

Public debt: 59.4% of GDP (2003)

Fiscal year: calendar year

Inflation rate consumer prices: 27.5% (2003 est.)

Current account balance: $867 million (2003)

Exports: $5.524 billion f.o.b. (2003 est.)
Commodities: ferronickel sugar gold silver coffee cocoa tobacco meats consumer goods
Partners: US 83.8% Canada 1.5% Haiti 1.5% (2003)

Imports: $7.911 billion f.o.b. (2003 est.)
Commodities: foodstuffs petroleum cotton and fabrics chemicals and pharmaceuticals
Partners: US 52.1% Venezuela 11.9% Mexico 4.7% Colombia 4.2% (2003)

Debt external: $6.567 billion (2003 est.)

Exchange rates: Dominican pesos per US dollar - 30.8307 (2003) 18.6098 (2002) 16.9516 (2001) 16.415 (2000) 16.0331 (1999)

Electricity
Production: 9.186 billion kWh (2001)
Consumption: 8.543 billion kWh (2001)
Exports: 0 kWh (2001)
Imports: 0 kWh (2001)

Telephones
Main lines in use: 901,800 (2003)
Mobile cellular: 2,120,400 (2003)

Telephone system
General assessment: NA
Domestic: relatively efficient system based on island-wide microwave radio relay network
International: country code - 1-809; 1 coaxial submarine cable; satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean)

Internet
Country code: .do
Hosts: 64,197 (2003)
Users: 500,000 (2003)

Military expenditures
Dollar figure: $180 million (1998)
Percent of gdp: 1.1% (1998)

Airports: 31 (2003 est.)
With paved runways total: 13
With paved runways over 3047 m: 3
With paved runways 2438 to 3047 m: 3
With paved runways 15-24 to 2437 m: 3
With paved runways 914 to 1523 m: 3
With paved runways under 914 m: 1 (2004 est.)
With unpaved runways total: 18
With unpaved runways 15-24 to 2437 m: 3
With unpaved runways 914 to 1523 m: 5
With unpaved runways under 914 m: 10 (2004 est.)

Railways
Total: 1,743 km
Standard gauge: 375 km 1.435-m gauge
Narrow gauge: 142 km 0.762-m gauge
Note: additional 1,226 km operated by sugar companies in 1.076-m, 0.889-m, and 0.762-m gauges (2003)

Merchant marine
Total: 3 ships (1,000 GRT or over) 11,230 GRT/17,011 DWT
By type: cargo 1, petroleum tanker 2
Foreign owned: Pakistan 1, Singapore 1
Registered in other countries: 1 (2004 est.)

Disputes international: despite efforts to control illegal migration destitute Haitians fleeing poverty and violence continue to cross into the Dominican Republic; illegal migration of Dominicans and other nationals across the Mona Passage to Puerto Rico has increased in the last year

Illicit drugs: transshipment point for South American drugs destined for the US and Europe; has become a transshipment point for ecstasy from the Netherlands and Belgium destined for US and Canada; substantial money-laundering activity; Colombian narcotics traffickers favor the Dominican Republic for illicit financial transactions