Introduction
The Dominican Republic (/ˌdəˈmɪnɪkən/; Spanish: República Dominicana Spanish pronunciation: [reˈpuβliˌka ðoˌminiˈkana] (listen)) is a country located in the island of Hispaniola, in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean region. It occupies the eastern five-eighths of the island, which it shares with the nation of Haiti, making Hispaniola one of two Caribbean islands, along with Saint Martin, that are shared by two sovereign states. The Dominican Republic is the second-largest Caribbean nation by area (after Cuba) at 48,671 square kilometers (18,792 sq mi), and third by population with approximately 10 million people, of which approximately three million live in the metropolitan area of Santo Domingo, the capital city.
Christopher Columbus landed on the island on December 5, 1492, which the native Taíno people had inhabited since the 7th century. The colony of Santo Domingo became the site of the first permanent European settlement in the Americas, the oldest continuously inhabited city, and the first seat of the Spanish colonial rule in the New World. After more than three hundred years of Spanish rule the Dominican people declared independence in November 1821. The leader of the independence movement José Núñez de Cáceres, intended the Dominican nation to unite with the country of Gran Colombia, but no longer under Spain's custody the newly independent Dominicans were forcefully annexed by Haiti in February 1822. Independence came 22 years later after victory in the Dominican War of Independence in 1844. Over the next 72 years the Dominican Republic experienced mostly internal conflicts and a brief return to colonial status before permanently ousting Spanish rule during the Dominican War of Restoration of 1863–1865. A United States occupation lasted eight years between 1916 and 1924, and a subsequent calm and prosperous six-year period under Horacio Vásquez was followed by the dictatorship of Rafael Leónidas Trujillo until 1961. A civil war in 1965, the country's last, was ended by U.S. military occupation and was followed by the authoritarian rule of Joaquín Balaguer (1966–1978 & 1986–1996), the rules of Antonio Guzmán (1972–1978) & Salvador Jorge Blanco (1982–1986). Since 1996, the Dominican Republic has moved toward representative democracy and has been led by Leonel Fernández for most of the time since 1996. Danilo Medina, the Dominican Republic's current president, succeeded Fernandez in 2012, winning 51% of the electoral vote over his opponent ex-president Hipólito Mejía.
Selected general articles
The Senate of the Dominican Republic (Spanish: Senado de la República Dominicana) is the upper legislative chamber in the bicameral legislature of the Dominican Republic, and together with the Chamber of Deputies makes up the Congress.
The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Third Title, Chapter 1 in the First Section of the Dominican Constitution. Each province, and the Distrito Nacional, regardless of population, is represented by one senator who serves for a four-year term, with possibility of reelection. The Senate Chamber is located in the west wing of the Congress Palace, in Santo Domingo. The Chamber of Deputies convenes in the east wing of the same building. Read more...
The Chamber of Deputies (Spanish: Cámara de Diputados) is the lower chamber of the Congress which, along with the Senate, composes the legislature of the Dominican Republic.
The composition and powers of the House are established by Constitution of the Dominican Republic. The Chamber is composed of deputies who are divided in 178 by province, five nationally, and seven overseas. Read more...
The Dominican Independence War gave the Dominican Republic autonomy from Haiti on February 27, 1844. Before the war, the island of Hispaniola had been united under the Haitian government for a period of 22 years when the newly independent nation, previously known as the Captaincy General of Santo Domingo, was unified with Haiti in 1822. The criollo class within the country overthrew the Spanish crown in 1821 before unifying with Haiti a year later.
In 1844, the members of La Trinitaria chose El Conde, the prominent “Gate of the Count” in the old city walls, as the rallying point for their insurrection against the Haitian government. On the morning of 24 February 1844, El Conde rang with the shots of the plotters, who had emerged from their secret meetings to openly challenge the Haitians. Their efforts were successful, and for the next ten years, Dominican military strongmen fought to preserve their country's independence from their Haitian neighbors. Read more...
The Central Bank of the Dominican Republic (Spanish: Banco Central de la República Dominicana, BCRD) was established by the Monetary and Banking Law of 1947 as the central bank of the Dominican Republic, responsible for regulating the country's monetary and banking system.The Banks headquarter is in Santo Domingo and current governor is Héctor Valdez Albizu. Read more...- This article is about the demographic features of the population of the Dominican Republic, including population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations and other aspects of the population. Read more...
- The Dominican Republic has achieved impressive increases in access to water supply and sanitation over the past two decades. However, the quality of water supply and sanitation services remains poor, despite the country's high economic growth during the 1990s. Read more...
In the history of the Dominican Republic, the period of España Boba (Middle Spanish: "Meek Spain") lasted from 1809 to 1821, during which the Captaincy General of Santo Domingo was under Spanish rule, but the Spanish government exercised minimal powers because its resources were attenuated by the Peninsular War and the various Spanish American wars of independence. The period ended when Dominican officials declared a short-lived independence on 30 November 1821. In February 1822, Haiti annexed former Santo Domingo, leading to an occupation that lasted until 1844. Read more...- Dominican Spanish is Spanish as spoken in the Dominican Republic; and also among the Dominican diaspora, most of whom live in the United States, chiefly in New York City, New Jersey, Boston, and Miami.
Dominican Spanish, a subset of Caribbean Spanish, is based on the Andalusian and Canarian Spanish dialects of southern Spain, and has borrowed vocabulary from Taíno and other Arawakan languages, from West African languages, and from English. Speakers of Dominican Spanish may also use conservative words that in the so-called "upper-class speech of Spain" would be considered archaisms. The variety spoken in the Cibao region is a mixture of two dialects: that of the 16th- and 17th-century Portuguese colonists in the Cibao valley, and that of the 18th-century Canarian settlers. According to the linguist John Lipski, the greatest extra-Hispanic influences on Dominican Spanish have been Haitian Creole and West African languages. Read more...
The flag of the Dominican Republic represents the Dominican Republic and, together with the coat of arms and the national anthem, has the status of national symbol. The blue on the flag stands for liberty, the white for salvation, and the red for the blood of heroes. The civil ensign follows the same design, but without the charge in the center. The flag was designed by Juan Pablo Duarte.
As described by Article 21 of the Dominican Constitution, the flag features a centered white cross that extends to the edges and 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. The national coat of arms, featuring a shield with the flag design and supported by a bay laurel branch (left) and a palm frond (right), is at the center of the cross. Above the shield, a blue ribbon displays the national motto Dios, Patria, Libertad (English: God, Fatherland, Liberty). Below the shield, the words República Dominicana appear on a red ribbon (this red ribbon is depicted in more recent versions as having its tips pointing upward). In the center of the shield, flanked by three spears (two of them holding Dominican banners) on each side, is a Bible with a small cross above it and said to be opened to the Gospel of John, chapter 8, verse 32, which reads Y la verdad os hará libres (And the truth shall make you free). Read more...- Pico Duarte is the highest point in the Dominican Republic, the Island of Hispaniola, and the entire Caribbean.
This article comprises three sortable tables of major mountain peaks of the islands of the Caribbean Sea.
The summit of a mountain or hill may be measured in three principal ways:- The topographic elevation of a summit measures the height of the summit above a geodetic sea level. The first table below ranks the 20 highest major summits of the Caribbean by elevation.
- The topographic prominence of a summit is a measure of how high the summit rises above its surroundings. The second table below ranks the 20 most prominent summits of the Caribbean.
- The topographic isolation (or radius of dominance) of a summit measures how far the summit lies from its nearest point of equal elevation. The third table below ranks the 20 most isolated major summits of the Caribbean.
- Statues of the three founding fathers. From left to right: Francisco del Rosario Sánchez, Juan Pablo Duarte and Matías Ramón Mella.
La Trinitaria (Spanish: [la tɾiniˈtaɾja], The Trinity) was a secret society founded in Juan Pablo Duarte's home situated in what today is known as Arzobispo Nouel Street, across from the "Del Carmen's Church" in the then occupied Santo Domingo, the current capital of the Dominican Republic. The founder, Juan Pablo Duarte and a group of like minded young people, led the struggle to establish the Dominican Republic as a free, sovereign, and independent nation in the 19th century. They helped bring about the end of the Haitian occupation of the island from 1822 to 1844. Read more... - Cayo Levantado, Samana.
Tourism in the Dominican Republic is an industry that generates over 6 million arrivals each year. It is an important source of revenue in the country, particularly in coastal areas. The Dominican Republic is the most popular tourist destination in the Caribbean region, and ranks top 5 overall in the Americas. Its tropical climate, white sand beaches, diverse mountainous landscape, and colonial history attracts visitors from around the world.
As one of the most geographically diverse nations in the region, the Dominican Republic is home to the Caribbean's tallest mountain peak, Pico Duarte, as well as the largest lake and lowest elevation, Lake Enriquillo. The country is also the site of the first cathedral, castle, monastery, and fortress built in all of the Americas, located in Santo Domingo's Colonial Zone, an area declared as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. Read more...
Dominican Republic cuisine is predominantly made up of a combination of Spanish, indigenous Taíno, and African influences. Many Middle-Eastern dishes have been adopted into Dominican cuisine,[why?] such as the "Quipe" that comes from the Lebanese kibbeh. Dominican cuisine resembles that of other countries in Latin America, those of the nearby islands of Puerto Rico and Cuba, most of all, though the dish names differ sometimes.
A traditional breakfast would consist of mangú, fried eggs, fried salami, fried cheese and sometimes avocado. This is called "Los Tres Golpes" or "The Three Hits". Read more...
The power sector in the Dominican Republic has traditionally been, and still is, a bottleneck to the country's economic growth. A prolonged electricity crisis and ineffective remedial measures have led to a vicious cycle of regular blackouts, high operating costs of the distribution companies, large losses including electricity theft through illegal connections, high retail tariffs to cover these inefficiencies, low bill collection rates, a significant fiscal burden for the government through direct and indirect subsidies, and very high costs for consumers as many of them have to rely on expensive alternative self-generated electricity. According to the World Bank, the revitalization of the Dominican economy depends greatly on a sound reform of the sector. Read more...
The first United States occupation of the Dominican Republic lasted from 1916 to 1924. It was one of the many interventions in Latin America undertaken by the military forces of the United States in the 20th century. On the 13 May 1916, Rear Admiral William B. Caperton forced the Dominican Republic's Secretary of War Desiderio Arias, who had seized power from Juan Isidro Jimenes Pereyra, to leave Santo Domingo by threatening the city with naval bombardment. Read more...
Rafael Leónidas Trujillo Molina (/truːˈhiːjoʊ/; Spanish: [rafaˈel leˈoniðas tɾuˈxiʝo]; 24 October 1891 – 30 May 1961), nicknamed El Jefe (Spanish: [el ˈxefe], "The Chief" or "The Boss"), was a Dominican politician, soldier and dictator, who ruled the Dominican Republic from February 1930 until his assassination in May 1961. He served as president from 1930 to 1938 and again from 1942 to 1952, ruling for the rest of the time as an unelected military strongman under figurehead presidents. His 31 years in power, to Dominicans known as the Trujillo Era (Spanish: El Trujillato), are considered one of the bloodiest eras ever in the Americas, as well as a time of a personality cult, when monuments to Trujillo were in abundance. Trujillo and his regime were responsible for many deaths, including between 20,000 and 30,000 Haitians in the infamous Parsley massacre.
During this long period of oppression and death, the Trujillo government extended its policy of state terrorism beyond national borders. Notorious examples of Trujillo’s reach abroad are the unsuccessful assassination attempt in Caracas against Venezuelan President Rómulo Betancourt (1960), the abduction and subsequent disappearance in New York City of the Spaniard Jesús Galíndez (1956), the murder of writer José Almoina in Mexico, also a Spaniard, and crimes committed against Cubans, Costa Ricans, Nicaraguans, Puerto Ricans, as well as United States citizens. Read more...
Dominican law theorists make a fundamental distinction between primary sources of law, which can give rise to binding legal norms, and secondary sources, sometimes called authorities. The primary sources are enacted law and custom, with the former overwhelmingly more important. Sometimes, “general principles of law” are also considered a primary source. Authorities may have weight when primary sources are absent, unclear, or incomplete, but they are never binding, and they are neither necessary nor sufficient as the basis for a judicial decision. Case law and the writings of legal scholars are as such secondary sources.
Primary sources of law included enacted law, custom, and general principles. Enacted law includes legal rules adopted by the legislature, the executive and administrative agencies. The various types of enacted law form a hierarchy with the constitution at the pinnacle, followed by legislation, then by executive decrees, then by administrative regulations, and finally by local ordinances. Account must also be taken of the increasing importance of international treaties and conventions. Parliamentary legislation, including the Civil and Commercial codes, is today the principal source of law in the Dominican Republic. Read more...
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) persons in the Dominican Republic do not enjoy the same rights as non-LGBT residents, and face legal and social challenges that are not experienced by other people. While the Dominican Criminal Code does not expressly prohibit homosexuality or cross-dressing, it also does not address discrimination or harassment on the account of sexual orientation or gender identity, nor does it recognize same sex unions in any form, whether it be marriage or partnerships. Household headed by same-sex couples are also not eligible for any of the same rights given to opposite-sex married couples, as same sex marriage is constitutionally banned in the country.
A majority of Dominicans affiliate with the Catholic Church. As such, attitudes towards members of the LGBT community tend to reflect prevailing Catholic mores. Nevertheless, LGBT people have gained more and more visibility and acceptance in recent years, in line with worldwide trends. Support for same-sex marriage was 25% according to a 2013/2014 opinion poll, but had grown to 45% by 2018. Additionally, the Dominican Republic is legally bound to the January 2018 Inter-American Court of Human Rights ruling, which held that same-sex marriage and the recognition of one's gender identity on official documents are human rights protected by the American Convention on Human Rights. Read more...
Crime in the Dominican Republic is investigated by the Dominican Republic National Police. Read more...
Santo Domingo, officially Captaincy General of Santo Domingo (Spanish: Capitanía General de Santo Domingo [kapitaˈni.a xeneˈɾal ðe ˈsanto ðoˈmĩnɣo]) or alternatively Kingdom of Santo Domingo (Spanish: Reino de Santo Domingo) was the first colony established in the New World under Spain. The island was named "La Española" (Hispaniola) by Christopher Columbus. In 1511, the courts of the colony were placed under the jurisdiction of the Real Audiencia of Santo Domingo. French buccaneers took over part of the west coast in 1625 and French settlers arrived soon thereafter. After decades of conflicts Spain finally ceded the western third of Hispaniola to France in the Treaty of Ryswick in 1697, thus establishing the basis for the later national divisions between the Dominican Republic and Haiti.
The Captaincy General of Santo Domingo had an important role in the establishment of Spanish colonies in the New World. It was the headquarters for Spanish conquistadors on their way to the conquest of the Americas. Read more...
The Dominican Republic National Police (Spanish: Policía Nacional Dominicana) is the national police force of the Dominican Republic. It is the largest police force in the Dominican Republic under the control of the Ministry of Interior and Police.
Its main function is to protect the Dominican nation, enforce the law by constitutional mandate to maintain and guarantee the necessary conditions for public freedoms and rights and to ensure peaceful cohabitation among the population. Read more...- Location of the Dominican Republic
The Dominican Republic is a sovereign state occupying the eastern five-eighths of the island of Hispaniola, in the Greater Antilles archipelago in the Caribbean region. The country has the ninth-largest economy in Latin America and is the largest economy in the Caribbean and Central American region. Though long known for agriculture and mining, the economy is now dominated by services. Over the last two decades, the Dominican Republic have been standing out as one of the fastest-growing economies in the Americas - with an average real GDP growth rate of 5.4% between 1992 and 2014. GDP growth in 2014 and 2015 reached 7.3 and 7.0%, respectively, the highest in the Western Hemisphere. In the first half of 2016 the Dominican economy grew 7.4% continuing its trend of rapid economic growth.
For further information on the types of business entities in this country and their abbreviations, see "Business entities in the Dominican Republic". Read more...
In the Dominican Republic, education is free and compulsory at the elementary level, and free but non-mandatory at the secondary level. It is divided into four stages:- preschool education (Nivel Inicial);
- primary education (Nivel Básico);
- secondary education (Nivel Medio);
- higher education (Nivel Superior).
Literacy rates and school participation in the Dominican Republic has risen over the past years. Through these efforts, women have reported fast upward movement in social class partially due to increased education. There have been numerous efforts to evaluate teachers, students, and facilities through examinations. Teachers in the Dominican Republic rate higher in multiple aspects than other countries in Latin America, however, still rank below many other countries. The school conditions vary based on whether the school is private, polytechnic, or public non-polytechnic, with decreasing quality facilities respectively. A very similar trend has been found in student performance. Despite advances in the education system, there are still issues in regards to gender inequality, participation in the education system, and involvement of outside organizations. Read more...- List of the National parks of the Dominican Republic, located on and near the island of Hispaniola, in the Caribbean region. Read more...
Did you know...
- ... that Rafael Brache was declared a traitor to the Dominican Republic for denouncing the "parsley massacre"?
Need help?
Do you have a question about Dominican Republic that you can't find the answer to?
Consider asking it at the Wikipedia reference desk.
Get involved
For editor resources and to collaborate with other editors on improving Wikipedia's Dominican Republic-related articles, see WikiProject Dominican Republic.
Selected images
Family of Japanese descent in Constanza's neighbourhood of Colonia Japonesa
Dominican Day Parade in New York City, 2014
The National Palace in Santo Domingo
Statues honoring Trinitarian leaders Juan Pablo Duarte, Francisco del Rosario Sánchez, and Matías Ramón Mella.
Leonel Fernández was president of the country in three constitutional periods (1996–2000, 2004–2008 and 2008–2012).
Rafael Trujillo imposed a dictatorship of 31 years in the country (1930-1961)
French and British ships fighting at the battle of Santo Domingo (1806)
Constanza valley
Köppen climate types of the Dominican Republic
Merengue music genre is native to Dominican Republic
Haitian Revolution. Blacks killing white French civilians
Dominican singer Juan Luis Guerra is an icon of the Merengue music genre
Gregorio Luperon fought against the pretensions of Pedro Santana to recover the Dominican sovereignty.
President Danilo Medina at the swearing in of his government cabinet
Hipólito Mejía was president of the nation in the period 2000–2004, trying to be re-elected in the following elections losing to Fernández.
A satellite image of the border between the denuded landscape of Haiti (left) and the Dominican Republic (right), highlighting the deforestation on the Haitian side
Joaquín Balaguer, puppet president during the dictatorship of Trujillo (1960-1962), and democratically elected president of the country for 22 years (1966-1978 & 1986-1996).
Jean-Pierre Boyer, the ruler of Haiti
Dominicans and Haitians lined up to attend medical providers from the U.S. Army Reserve
Dominican native and Major League Baseball player Albert Pujols
President Alejandro Woss y Gil taking office in 1903
Dominican native, fashion designer and perfume maker Oscar de la Renta
El Malecon av. in Santo Domingo
Dominican Republic people in the town of Moca
The Cathedral of Santa María la Menor, Santo Domingo, the oldest cathedral in the Americas, built 1512–1540
Subcategories
- Select [►] to view subcategories
Subtopics
Recognized content
No results were found.
Associated Wikimedia
The following Wikimedia Foundation sister projects provide more on this subject:
Wikibooks
Books
![](https://web.archive.org/web/20190331183216im_/https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/fa/Wikibooks-logo.svg/25px-Wikibooks-logo.svg.png)
Commons
Media
![](https://web.archive.org/web/20190331183216im_/https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/4a/Commons-logo.svg/18px-Commons-logo.svg.png)
Wikinews
News
![](https://web.archive.org/web/20190331183216im_/https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/24/Wikinews-logo.svg/46px-Wikinews-logo.svg.png)
Wikiquote
Quotations
![](https://web.archive.org/web/20190331183216im_/https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/fa/Wikiquote-logo.svg/21px-Wikiquote-logo.svg.png)
Wikisource
Texts
![](https://web.archive.org/web/20190331183216im_/https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4c/Wikisource-logo.svg/24px-Wikisource-logo.svg.png)
Wikiversity
Learning resources
![](https://web.archive.org/web/20190331183216im_/https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/91/Wikiversity-logo.svg/31px-Wikiversity-logo.svg.png)
Wiktionary
Definitions
![](https://web.archive.org/web/20190331183216im_/https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/0/06/Wiktionary-logo-v2.svg/25px-Wiktionary-logo-v2.svg.png)
Wikidata
Database
![](https://web.archive.org/web/20190331183216im_/https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/ff/Wikidata-logo.svg/45px-Wikidata-logo.svg.png)
- What are portals?
- List of portals
- This page was last edited on 3 March 2019, at 07:15 (UTC).
- Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization.