Dominican Republic Travel Guide & Location Information

The Dominican Republic, is a country located on the eastern two-thirds of the Caribbean island of Hispaniola, bordering Haiti. Hispaniola is the second-largest of the Greater Antilles islands, and lies west of Puerto Rico and east of Cuba and Jamaica. A legacy of unsettled, mostly non-representative rule lasted for much of the 20th century; the move towards representative democracy has improved vastly since the death of military dictator Rafael Leónidas Trujillo in 1961. Dominicans sometimes refer to their country as Quisqueya, a name for Hispaniola used by indigenous Taíno people. The Dominican Republic is not to be confused with Dominica, another Caribbean country.

The indigenous inhabitants of the island of Hispaniola, on which the Dominican Republic is located, were the Taíno Amerindians. The Taínos were a seafering branch of the South American Arawaks. Taíno means "the good" or "noble" in that native language. A system of Cacicazgos (chiefdoms) was in place, and Marien, Maguana, Higuey, Magua and Xaragua (Also written as Jaragua) were their names. These chiefdoms were then subdivided into subchiefdoms. The Cacicazgos were based on a system of tribute, consisting of the food grown by the Taino. Among the cultural signs that they left were cave paintings around the country, which have become touristic and nationalistic symbols of the Dominican Republic, and words from their language, including "hurricane" (hurrakan) and "tobacco" (tabakko).

The islands was subsequently explored and claimed by Christopher Columbus on his first voyage in 1492, and 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. Later the United States ruled Dominican territory with a military government from 1916-1924.

The Dominican Republic is divided into 31 provinces. Capitals with names differently than the provinces are provided in parentheses. The national capital, Santo Domingo, is contained within its own Distrito Nacional.

1. Ázua
2. Bahoruco (Neiba)
3. Barahona
4. Dajabón
5. Duarte (San Francisco de Macorís)
6. Elías Piña (Comendador)
7. El Seibo
8. Espaillat (Moca)
9. Hato Mayor
10. Independencia (Jimaní)
11. La Altagracia (Higüey)
12. La Romana
13. La Vega
14. María Trinidad Sánchez (Nagua)
15. Monseñor Nouel (Bonao)
16. Monte Cristi
17. Monte Plata
18. Pedernales
19. Peravia (Baní)
20. Puerto Plata
21. Salcedo
22. Samaná
23. Sánchez Ramírez (Cotuí)
24. San Cristóbal
25. San José de Ocoa
26. San Juan
27. San Pedro de Macorís
28. Santiago
29. Santiago Rodríguez (Sabaneta)
30. Santo Domingo
31. Valverde (Mao)

The capital of the country is the city of Santo Domingo-full name Santo Domingo de Guzman, located in the south part of the island. Originally a single city located within the province Distrito Nacional (National District), it has now been divided into a Province of Santo Domingo and the National District. The Province of Santo Domingo is comprised of several municipalities: Santo Domingo Norte (North Santo Domingo), Santo Domingo Este (East Santo Domingo, which is the provincial capital), Santo Domingo Oeste (West Santo Domingo) and Boca Chica. The Ozama River serves a natural border between the National District and the Province of Santo Domingo. Thus the capital city of the Country is the City of Santo Domingo de Guzman, Province of National District. The second largest city is Santiago de los Caballeros, more commonly referred to as simply Santiago.

The country has three major mountain ranges: The Central Mountains (Cordillera Central), which originate in Haiti and span the central part of the island, ending up in the south. This mountain range boasts the highest peak in the Antilles, Pico Duarte (3,087 m / 10,128 ft above sea level). The Septentrional Mountains, running parallel to the Central Mountains, separate the Cibao Valley and the Atlantic coastal plains. The highest point here is Pico Diego de Ocampo. The lowest and shortest of the three ranges is the Eastern Mountains, in the eastern part of the country. There are also the Sierra Bahoruco and the Sierra Neyba in the southwest. This is a country of many rivers, including the navigable Soco, Higuamo, Romana (also known as 'Rio Dulce'), Yaque del Norte, Yaque del Sur, Yuna, Yuma, and Bajabonico. Puerto Plata's Mount. Isabela is famous for the Cuban plane that crashed there in 1992.

The two largest islands, nearshore, are Saona Island in the southeast and Beata Island in the southwest. To the north, at a distance between 100 and 200 km, are three extensive, largely submerged banks, which geographically are a southeast continuation of the Bahamas:

The country is a Tropical maritime, with a wet season from May to November, and periodic cyclones between June and November. Most rain falls in the Northern and Eastern regions. The average rainfall is 1346 mm, with extremes of 2500 mm in the North-east and 500 mm in the West. The mean annual temperature is ranges from 21°C in the mountainous regions to 25°C on the plains and the coast. The average temperature in Santo Domingo in January is 23.9°C, and 27.2°C in July.

The Dominican Republic is a middle-income developing country primarily dependent on agriculture, trade, and services, especially tourism. Although the service sector has recently overtaken agriculture as the leading employer of Dominicans (due principally to growth in tourism and Free Trade Zones), agriculture remains the most important sector in terms of domestic consumption and is in second place (behind mining) in terms of export earnings. Tourism accounts for more than $3 billion in annual earnings. Free Trade Zone earnings and tourism are the fastest-growing export sectors. Remittances from Dominicans living abroad are estimated to be about $3 billion per year.

Following economic turmoil in the late 1980s and 1990, during which the GDP fell by up to 5% and consumer price inflation reached an unprecedented 100%, the Dominican Republic entered a period of moderate growth and declining inflation until 2002 after which the economy entered a recession, after the second commercial bank of the country collapsed, caused by a major fraud. GDP dropped by 1% in 2003 while inflation ballooned by over 27%.

Despite a widening merchandise trade deficit, tourism earnings and remittances have helped build foreign exchange reserves. The Dominican Republic is current on foreign private debt, and has agreed to pay arrears of about $130 million to the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Commodity Credit Corporation.

According to the 2005 Annual Report of the United Nations Subcommitee on Human Development in the Dominican Republic, the country is ranked #71 in the world for resource availability, #94 for human development, and #14 in the world for resource mismanagement. These statistics emphasize the national government corruption, the foreign economic interference in the country, and the rift between the rich and poor.

The Dominican Republic is a Hispanic country, therefore, as with all Hispanic countries in the Americas, its culture is derived predominantly from Spain, though heavily blended with African traditions, and to a much smaller degree with indigenous Amerindian cultural elements. The Spanish heritage of the culture is most evident in the national language and predominant religion - Catholicism. African cultural elements are most prominent in musical expressions and the carnival vibe of life, testimony to the rich African heritage that existed before and after slavery, but was not allowed to be practiced during it. More recent Antilliean and Anglo-American influences also exist.

Baseball is the top national sport in the Dominican Republic and there are many popular Dominicans who play Major League Baseball in the U.S., including Albert Pujols, Sammy Sosa, Vladimir Guerrero, Pedro Martínez, David Ortiz, Rafael Furcal, Miguel Tejada, and Manny Ramirez. The Dominican Republic also has its own baseball league, which many MLB players go to during off-season, and which is also a "training ground" for the MLB.

Eighty-nine percent of Dominicans are baptized in the Roman Catholic Church. Other substantial religious groups are the Evangelical Christians and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Around one percent of the nation's inhabitants practice pure spiritism, although it is very common for Catholicism and spiritism to be mixed in Santeria's seancees and "saint" parties.

The Dominican Republic has national holidays on January 26 (Duarte), February 27 (Independence Day), May 1 (Labour Day), July 16 (Foundation of Sociedad la Trinitaria), August 16 (Restoration Day), October 12 (Columbus Day), and October 24 (United Nations Day).