Dominican Republic
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| National motto: Dios, Patria, Libertad ( Spanish: God, Fatherland, Liberty) |
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| Official language | Spanish | ||||
| Capital | Santo Domingo | ||||
| Largest City | Santo Domingo | ||||
| President | Leonel Fernández | ||||
| Area - Total - % water |
Ranked 128th 48,730 km² 1,6% |
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| Population - Total (July 2004 est) - Density |
Ranked 86th 8,833,634 181/km² |
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| HDI (2003) | 0.749 ( 95th) – medium | ||||
| Independence since |
from Haiti 27 February 1844/Spain |
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| Currency | Peso | ||||
| Time zone | UTC -4 | ||||
| National anthem | Quisqueyanos valientes | ||||
| Internet TLD | .do | ||||
| Calling Code | + 1-809 and + 1-829 | ||||
The Dominican Republic, ( Spanish: República Dominicana, IPA [re'puβlika domini'kana]) 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.
History
The country has had a history of changing ownership, with occasional attempts at independence and self-rule. First a Spanish colony and then a French colony, it was subsequently ruled by Haiti and then Spain again, and later the United States twice ruled Dominican territory.
In the beginning the island was primarily inhabited by the Taíno, a branch of the 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 arrival of the Guamikena (the covered ones)
On December 5, 1492, the Europeans arrived. Believing that these beings from over the horizon were in someway supernatural, the Taínos welcomed the Europeans with all the honors available to them. This was a totally different society from the one the Europeans came from. One of the things that piqued the curiosity was the amount of clothing worn by the Europeans. Therefore they came to call them "guamikena" (the covered ones). Guacanagarix, the chief who hosted Christopher Columbus and his men, treated them kindly and provided him with everything they desired. Yet the Taínos' allegedly "egalitarian" system clashed with the Europeans' feudalist system, with more rigid class structures. This led the Europeans to believe the Taínos to be either weak or misleading, and they began to treat the tribes with more violence. Columbus tried to temper this when he and his men departed from Quisqueya and they left on a good note. Columbus had cemented a firm alliance with Guacanagarix, a powerful chief on the island. After the shipwrecking of the Santa Maria, he decided to establish a small fort with a garrison of men that could help him lay claim to this possession. The fort was called La Navidad, since the events of the shipwrecking and the founding of the fort occurred on Christmas day. The garrison, in spite of all the wealth and beauty on the island, was wracked by divisions within and the men took sides, that evolved into conflict amongst these first Europeans. The more rapacious ones began to terrorize the Taíno, Ciguayo and Macorix tribesmen up to the point of trying to take their women.
Viewed as weak by the Spaniards and even some of his own people, Guacanagarix tried to come to an accommodation with the Spaniards, who saw his appeasement as the actions of someone who submitted, they treated him with contempt and even took some of his wives too. The powerful cacique of the maguana, Caonabo could brook no further affronts, attacked the Europeans and destroyed La Navidad. Guacanagarix, dismayed as he was by this turn of events did not try too hard to aid these guamikena, probably hoped that the troublesome outsiders would never return. However, they did return.
The twentieth century
The twentieth century was marked by repeated U.S. intervention in local affairs. The reason for this was the island's strategic location in the middle of the Caribbean Sea. During the World Wars the islands of the Caribbean were used as stop-off points for German U-boats from which to plan possible attacks against the North American continent. During the Cold War, Soviet and capitalist ideologies clashed openly on the island. Apart from tentative U.S. support for the Trujillo dictatorship (1930-1961) (though this faded during his final years), the largest example of this was the 1965 invasion by American troops in the midst of a Dominican civil war, an uprising that was sparked by an attempt to restore the republic's first democratically-elected president of the 20th century, Juan Bosch, who had been overthrown by a right-wing coup in 1963. Following this civil war, and America's deployment of troops in Operation Power Pack, Joaquín Balaguer (1966-1978) was democractically elected, winning by 57%. Juan Bosch's constitutional government never returned to power. The Johnson administration justified the 1965 intervention by stating that it suspected many of Bosch's supporters were pro-Cuban Communists.
Politics
The Dominican Republic is a representative democracy whose national powers are divided among independent executive, legislative, and judicial branches. The president appoints the cabinet, executes laws passed by the legislative branch, and is commander-in-chief of the armed forces. The president and vice president run for office on the same ticket and are elected by direct vote for four-year terms.
Legislative power is exercised by a bicameral National Congress — the Senate (32 members), and the Chamber of Deputies (150 members). Presidential elections are held in years evenly divisible by four. Congressional and municipal elections are held in even-numbered years not divisible by four.
Geography
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, 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 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, Yaque del Norte, Yaque del Sur, Yuna, Yuma, and Bajajabonicoco.
Demographics
The majority of Dominicans are of mixed European and African descent. A small presence of Asian, mostly of Chinese descent, and Middle Easterners, mostly Arab can be found. Dominican culture is essentially Hispanic, and also has many African, Antilliean, and United States influences.
Since the early 1960s, economic problems have led to a vast migration of Dominicans to the U.S., mainly to large east coast cities, and coming on the heels of a similar migration of Puerto Ricans. New York City's Washington Heights is so densely populated by Dominicans, it is sometimes referred to as Quisqueya Heights. Quisqueya is a popular name for Hispaniola that many believe derives from the island's original Arawak name, although this is disputed by some historians. Dominicans are now one of the largest Latino groups in the US; less numerous than the Mexican majority and Puerto Ricans, and about even with Cubans. There are also sizeable Dominican emigre communities in the Netherlands, Puerto Rico, Spain, and St. Maarten.
Dominican Republic has a history of race and prejudice issues. In recent years, illegal immigration from Haiti has dramatically increased as the Dominican economy improves and the Haitian economy remains virtually moribund. Most Haitian immigrants work at low-paying, unskilled labor jobs, including construction work and household cleaning. The Dominican sentiment towards these immigrants is frequently negative, and at times in its history, including the period during and after Haiti merged the two nations (the 19th century and the reign of Rafael Leonidas Trujillo), there have been anti-Haitian pogroms, slaughtering 18,000 Haitians at the border [1]. This also led to Dominican Republic paying Haiti $750,000 to avert war. [2] Many foreigners reside in the country for business, religious, and leisure reasons, and there are significant populations of Americans, Canadians, Germans, French, and Koreans in the country.
Economy
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 $130 million to the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Commodity Credit Corporation.
Peso
The Dominican Peso (RD$) is the national currency of the country although the US dollar is often acceptable in some places, especially tourist oriented shops and hotels. At the beginning the peso was worth about the same as a US dollar. In 1993 the US dollar was worth about RD$14.00, in 1998 RD$16.00, in 2002 RD$20.00, but in 2003 almost RD$55.00, 2004 RD$37.00, [2005]] RD$29.90. The US dollar currently fluctuates on a daily basis, and is usually worth between $-34.90-35.00 pesos.
Culture
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, Pedro Martinez, David Ortiz, 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 is known for a form of music called Merengue, which has been popular since the mid- to late- 1900s. It has sexually charged syncopated beats using Latin percussion, brass instruments, bass and electric guitars. What was considered unpopular to the youth, until today, is a form of folk music called Bachata. Bachata is usually slow, romantic, and Spanish guitar driven. However, bachata's rhythm can be sped up to the same syncopation as Merengue, and its called bacharengue. Both genres of music are popular throughout the world. Reggaeton, a style of music that orginated in Panama, Jamaica, Reggae and Puerto Rico, is the dominant music of the country's youth, and defines the party lifestyle of the country. Reggaeton is a mix of hip hop, reggea, bomba, and plena.
- Music of the Dominican Republic
- List of Dominicans
- List of players from Dominican Republic in Major League Baseball
- Tigres de Licey
Carnival in the Dominican Republic, 27, February.