Dominican Republic

The Dominican Republic is a country located in the Caribbean, located in the central area of the Antilles; It occupies the central and eastern part of the island of Hispaniola. Its capital and most populated city is Santo Domingo. It is bordered to the north by the Atlantic Ocean, to the east by the Mona channel, which separates it from Puerto Rico, to the south by the Caribbean Sea, and to the west by Haiti, which is the other country located on Hispaniola. With 48,448 km² and a population of over 11 million, it is the second largest and most populous country among the Caribbean islands, after Cuba.

In the territory of the country, inhabited by Tainos since the VII century, Christopher Columbus landed in 1492, making it the site of the first permanent European settlement in America. The country achieved its first independence in 1821, but was invaded by Haiti in 1822. After the victory obtained in the Dominican war of independence in 1844, the Dominicans experienced several struggles, mostly internal, and also a brief return of domination Spanish (1861-1865). In a period of twelve years, two presidents were assassinated (Ulises Heureaux in 1899 and Ramón Cáceres in 1911). The United States occupied the country between 1916 and 1924, which was followed by a relatively quiet and prosperous six-year period under the leadership of Horacio Vásquez.

Around 1930, the Dominican Republic found itself under the control of dictator Rafael Trujillo, who ruled the country until his assassination in 1961. Juan Bosch was elected president in 1962, but was deposed in a military coup in 1963. In 1965, the United States led an intervention in the midst of a civil war sparked by an uprising to restore Bosch. In 1966, Joaquín Balaguer defeated Bosch in the presidential elections. Balaguer maintained a tight grip on power for most of the next 30 years, when international reaction to flawed elections forced him to cut his term in office in 1996. Since then, periodic competitive elections have been held in which opposition candidates They have won the presidency. Former President Leonel Fernández (first term 1996-2000) won election for a new term in 2004 following a constitutional amendment allowing presidents to serve more than one term, and was later re-elected for a second consecutive term. Following the two-term presidency of Danilo Medina (2012-2020), Luis Abinader was elected president in July 2020.

The Dominican Republic has the ninth largest economy in Latin America and the first in Central America and the Caribbean and occupies the seventh position in per capita income in Latin America, surpassed by Puerto Rico, Panama, Chile, Uruguay, Argentina and Mexico. The country has enjoyed strong economic growth in recent decades, averaging 5.3 percent per year between 2000 and 2018, one of the fastest rates in the Latin American and Caribbean region; between 2014 and 2018, the pace accelerated to an average of 6.3 percent per year and 7 percent in 2018, a period in which it was the fastest growing economy in Latin America and the Caribbean. It has managed to partially reduce poverty and inequality. According to FAO data, the poverty rate fell from almost 50% in 2003 to 25.5% in 2018. Although formerly known for sugar production, the economy is now dominated by services. The economic progress of the country is exemplified by its advanced telecommunications system but with slow connection. International migration greatly affects the country, since it receives and sends a large flow of migrants. The irregular immigration of Haitians and the legal integration of their descendants is the main immigration problem; the total population of Haitian origin is estimated at around 750,000. In the United States there is a large Dominican diaspora, numbered at 1.5 million people; this diaspora helps national development, sending billions of dollars to its families, which represents a tenth of GDP.

The Dominican Republic is the most visited destination in the Caribbean. Throughout the year the country's golf courses are among the main attractions of the island. The country is home to the highest mountain in the Caribbean, Pico Duarte in the San Juan Province, as well as Lake Enriquillo in the Independencia, the lowest point in terms of sea level and the largest lake in the Caribbean. The Dominican Republic, as it is also called, is a tropical country with an average temperature of 27 °C, which varies very little during the year, and a great biological diversity.

The population is 47.8 percent Catholic and 21.3 percent Protestant, while 28% do not declare themselves a believer. The country held the pro tempore presidency of CELAC for the period 2016-2017.

Toponymy

Santo Domingo de Guzmán, whose name bears the country.

The island is named after Santo Domingo de Guzmán, founder of the Dominican Order. Indeed, Santo Domingo was the name chosen by Bartholomew Columbus when founding the first Spanish city in America east of the Ozama River at the end of the XV century .

Historians say there were three reasons Columbus chose that name. The first reason was that the day he arrived in the city there was a festival in honor of Santo Domingo de Guzmán, founder of the order of Dominican preachers; the second, that that day was Sunday and the third, that the father of the Columbus brothers was called Domingo.

Of the three versions, only the first has verification, through written sources, of documents from the time, written by the first Spaniards who founded the city and which are still preserved in the General Archive of the Indies in Seville. They confirm that it was in honor of Santo Domingo, since he was also the patron saint of the Dominican friars, the first order of preachers to arrive on the island.

The Dominicans established a house of higher studies on the island of Santo Domingo that functioned from the mid-XVI century until 1822, recreated in 1914 as the Autonomous University of Santo Domingo, and dedicated to the protection of the native Tainos of the island, who were subjected to slavery, and to the education of the island's inhabitants.

On February 27, 1844, when the Dominicans managed to secede from Haiti, they called the new nation the 'Dominican Republic' in recognition of the Religious Order of the Dominican Fathers for its contribution to the defense of the human rights of indigenous people and the development of education and the Literate Culture in the country, since the arrival of the Europeans.

As for the name Domingo, it comes from the Latin Dominicus, "of the Lord" (from the Latin Dominus, "Lord", that is, "owner", a word that also comes from dominus).

In the national anthem of the Dominican Republic, the term "Dominicanos" does not appear. The author of his lyrics, Emilio Prud'Homme, constantly uses the poetic term "Quisqueyanos". The word "Quisqueya" It derives from the Taíno and means "Mother of the lands".

Often the name of the country is known as the DR.

History

Aboriginal settlement

Island division upon arrival of Europeans.

The island of Santo Domingo was occupied in 8 migratory periods before the arrival of the Europeans. These peoples came from South America, specifically from the basins of the Orinoco, Xingú and Tapajós rivers (located in Venezuela on the first and the rest in Brazil), and from the Guianas, which migrated by sea from island to island, from the Lesser Antilles to the Greater Antilles.

The oldest settlers of the Antilles had a very rudimentary culture; They were collectors, fishermen, hunters and did not practice agriculture. They used instruments made with shells and bones of some animals and came to polish the stone to make objects, weapons and utensils.

This group is called Archaic (or Pre-Ceramic, due to the absence of pottery) and they probably arrived on the island around 3000 BC. C. When the Europeans arrived, the archaics were only found in the western end of the Tiburón peninsula in Haiti and in western Cuba, where they were called Guanahatabeyes. The Taínos called them siboney (also spelled ciboney), a word that means "man who lives among the stones or rocks" (ciba, stone; igney, male). The second migratory wave corresponds to the pre-Taíno Arawak group known in the Antilles as igneris, related to the Saladoid style of the Venezuelan coasts. Its pottery became the most elaborate of all the Antilles. The igneris did not occupy the interior of the island nor did they reach Cuba or Jamaica. They were displaced by the third wave of migration: the Tainos, who arrived around the VII century AD.

The Tainos occupied all of the Greater Antilles and the Bahamas. The Taíno names for the island were Bohío and Quisqueya, meaning "big house" and "mother of the lands" respectively. They developed a culture based fundamentally on agricultural production that allowed them to carry out an appreciable craft activity of clay and wooden objects. In addition, the Taínos were excellent sculptors who made ceremonial artifacts of great artistic expression.

The last migratory wave was that of the Caribs, who came to occupy all the Lesser Antilles but who had not yet settled in Puerto Rico and Hispaniola when the Spanish arrived. Apparently the Macoriges or Macorizes (singular, Macorix) and Ciguayos peoples, who occupied the Samaná peninsula and the north of the island, were Arawak groups different from the Taínos who arrived on the island about 600 years before the arrival of the Europeans.. These groups were extremely bellicose compared to their predecessors, which was demonstrated by their encounter with Columbus in the Golfo de las Flechas (which is located in the Province of Samaná).

Arrival of Christopher Columbus

Christopher Columbus arrives in the New World.

The Alcázar de Colón, Santo Domingo, is the oldest residence of the Virrey in the Americas. It was built by Diego Columbus, the son of Christopher Columbus, and used by him and his descendants.

Christopher Columbus docked on the north coast of the island on December 5, 1492, naming it Hispaniola. As he continued to explore the north coast, the caravel Santa María ran aground on a sandbar; With the remains of the ship, he built Fort La Navidad. Then Columbus ordered to return to Spain, leaving a garrison of 39 men under the command of Diego de Arana.

Upon returning to the island during his second voyage in 1493, Columbus found that Fort La Navidad had been attacked and destroyed by indigenous people under the command of cacique Caonabo. He then decided to build La Isabela, the first European city in the New World, and organized several expeditions to the interior of the island that resulted in the construction of some fortresses and the control of Cibao.

Before leaving for the Kingdom of Castile, Columbus left his brother Bartolomé Colón in charge of the colony, who, as Adelantado of the island, founded the city of Santo Domingo in 1496. But disorders and uprisings led to the The Spanish Crown sent Francisco de Bobadilla to take charge of the situation, and he ordered as a first measure the arrest of Christopher Columbus and his family, who were shipped to the Peninsula. He was succeeded by Nicolás de Ovando and then by the admiral's son, Diego Colón, between the years 1509 and 1524.

During the conquest and colonization, the first Bishopric (1504), the first General Captaincy, the first Viceroyalty and the first Royal Audience (1511) of all America were established; the first church (Ermita del Rosario, 1496), the Hospital de San Nicolás (1503) and the first cathedral (1530), among other buildings, were built. Throughout the 16th century, Hispaniola enjoyed a good economic and social position; the first conquering expeditions left from the island. But from the end of that century and after the conquest of Mexico and Peru, the island was relegated to the background, sinking more and more into poverty and oblivion.

Slavery

With the conquest and colonization of the island, the Spanish began to import large contingents of enslaved Africans to replace the native labor force, greatly depleted by wars, brutal working conditions, and lethal epidemics. Approximately 80 o 90% of the native population died in the first century of the conquest. For their part, between 1492 and 1870 some 300,000 Africans were imported into Dominican territory.

The Spanish only had permanent control of the southeastern part of the island, leaving a large sector of the center and north of the island, very mountainous regions, as places where Africans and Tainos, slaves in the plantations, could escape.

Both in the plantations and in the isolated towns of escapees there will be a strong miscegenation between indigenous and Africans and also Europeans. From this miscegenation together with the social, cultural and economic dominance of the European element will constitute the basis of national identity of the Dominicans. It is estimated that the population of the colony in 1777 was 400,000 people, of whom 100,000 were Europeans and Creoles, 60,000 Africans, 100,000 mestizos, 60,000 zambos and 100,000 mulattoes. Spanish province of Santo Domingo, 2 out of 10 people were slaves and of the remaining 8, 4 were white and 4 were Taino sometimes and mostly free people, of color, essentially mulattoes. Thus, in 1785 the population was around 150,000 and only 30,000 were slaves.^{[citation required]}

The definitive abolition of slavery took place in 1822, during the Haitian occupation of the Dominican territory.

Division of the island

Between 1605 and 1606 a process of depopulation of the western part of the island took place, in what became known as the Devastations of Osorio. It received that name because the process was implemented by Antonio de Osorio, then Spanish governor of the island, which began the process of gradual settlement of the western part of the island by French buccaneers and filibusters.

Around 1630, the French, Dutch and English seized the island of La Tortuga. From there the French began the penetration into the western part of Hispaniola. Starting in 1697, after the Treaty of Ryswick, France assumed that the western part of the island belonged to it and increased colonization efforts, already officially. The eastern part of the island, to be differentiated from the French colony of Saint Domingue, was called Spanish Santo Domingo or Oriental Santo Domingo.

In 1777, with the Treaty of Aranjuez, Spain officially recognized the existence of the French colony of Santo Domingo for the first time, and set the limits between the French and Spanish parts, as well as establishing deportation measures for fugitives, return of slaves, among others.

French rule

On August 16, 1791, a slave uprising broke out in the French part of the island that was quickly put down by the French navy and troops. On July 22, 1795, at the end of the Roussillon War against the First Coalition, Revolutionary France achieved, with the Treaty of Basel, that Spain was forced to renounce its sovereignty over the entire island, thus passing into French hands..

In 1801 the slave insurgency resumed. Toussaint Louverture advanced on the eastern part of the island and reached the capital, Santo Domingo, accompanied by a large army, but was repulsed. That same year, they captured Santo Domingo, taking control of the entire island, but in 1802 an army sent by Napoleon captured Louverture and sent him to France as a prisoner. However, Toussaint Louverture's lieutenants, and yellow fever, managed to drive the French out of Saint-Domingue again. On January 1, 1804, while Jean-Jacques Dessalines proclaimed the independence of Haiti, the French period began in Santo Domingo, under the administration of Louis Marie Ferrand.

Monument to the Battle of Palo Hincado

In 1805, Henri Christophe and Dessalines took the city of Santiago and then headed for Santo Domingo with a large army, but in the face of Ferrand's resistance they were forced to withdraw. During the retreat, numerous towns on the southern and northern bands were reduced to ashes, and the inhabitants who could not flee in time were massacred.

In 1808, after the Napoleonic invasion of Spain, the Creoles of Santo Domingo led by the soldier Juan Sánchez Ramírez rebelled against French rule with the help of Great Britain (an ally of Spain) in the so-called Battle of Palo Hincado.

On July 11, 1809, the French administrators capitulated. The English troops occupied the city of Santo Domingo, until in August of the same year they abandoned the sector and the eastern part nominally returned to be a colony of Spain. Thus began the period known as España Boba, that is, with little or no metropolitan intervention in the affairs of the colony, which lasted until 1821.

Ephemeral independence and subsequent Haitian occupation

Inspired by liberal ideas, José Núñez de Cáceres conspired against Spain in the eastern part, and on December 1, 1821, proclaimed the independence of this part of the island, thus creating the Independent State of Spanish Haiti. This is recorded in history as Ephemeral Independence, since in just three months Haitian General Boyer consolidates his domination over the entire island.

The new system was widely opposed by Dominican farmers, although there was a boom in sugar and coffee production.

Jean Pierre Boyer

All levels of education plummeted, the university was closed, as young Dominican men ages 16 to 25 were recruited by the Haitian army, and deprived of food. During the occupation by Boyer's troops, who were largely Dominican, those who received no pay engaged in looting Dominican civilians. Haiti imposed a tribute on the Dominican people. This tribute helped Haiti pay for its negotiated independence from France. Many fled from Santo Domingo to Puerto Rico and Cuba (both still under Spanish rule), Venezuela, and other countries. In the end, the economy and taxation became more onerous.

With the arrival of Boyer in the eastern part of the island, slavery was abolished and a profound agrarian reform was proposed. The Rural Code was also imposed, which prohibited former slaves from leaving their masters' properties without the permission of the owner and the Haitian authorities, thus nullifying the liberation of the slaves.

In addition, Boyer's Rural Code had implications for the free colored Dominican population, which was the majority of people of color, which increased discontent with the boyerista regime among Dominicans of all colors and classes. With this, the Haitian Domination began on February 9, 1822. In the western part of the island, conspiracies against Boyer began in 1827, which forced him to go into exile in January 1843.

Independence

John Paul Duarte, leader and leader of the trinitarians and propulsor of the war for Dominican independence.

In the east, a revolutionary process against Haitian rule began, led by liberals, including Juan Pablo Duarte, Francisco del Rosario Sánchez and Matías Ramón Mella. The clandestine movement La Trinitaria was founded on July 16, 1838 and when Charles Hérard came to power, his persecution began. At this time there were groups that wanted annexation to England, France or Spain, all of which came before the independence ideas of the Trinitarians.

Even with Juan Pablo Duarte absent, in 1843 the Trinidadians did not give up their actions and continued fighting for the cause of the country's freedom. Rosario Sánchez, Mella and Vicente Celestino Duarte led the Trinidadians, who with almost no resources circulated ideas on handwritten sheets, to organize themselves and add adherents to separatist ideas.

Flag used by the trinitarians to declare independence in 1844.

On January 16, 1844, Tomás Bobadilla y Briones drafted the Manifestation of the peoples of the eastern part of the island, formerly Spanish or Santo Domingo, on the causes of their separation from the Haitian Republic, in which the reasons for their separation from Haiti were stated. This document would be the law that would govern the newly proclaimed republic until its constitution was promulgated on November 6.

Francisco del Rosario Sánchez took the lead in the war for Dominican independence after the absence of John Paul Duarte.

Matías Ramón Mella, in charge of giving the plot of freedom on the night of February 27, 1844 at the Gate of Mercy.

On the night of February 27, 1844, little by little groups of patriots gathered from different areas of Santo Domingo. The beginning of the radical separatist action was indicated by a "trabucazo" fired by Mella at the Puerta de La Misericordia, and which was heard by a large part of the city's inhabitants.

On the night of Tuesday, February 27, 1844, at the Puerta del Conde, the Dominican Republic was proclaimed by Francisco del Rosario Sánchez, head of the movement after the absence of Juan Pablo Duarte, Tomás Bobadilla y Briones, representative of the conservatives, Matías Ramón Mella, Manuel Jimenes, Vicente Celestino Duarte, José Joaquín Puello, Gabino Puello, Eusebio Puello, Eduardo Abreu, Juan Alejandro Acosta, Remigio del Castillo, Jacinto de la Concha, Tomás de la Concha, Cayetano Rodríguez, Félix María del Monte, and others.

That February 27, the Dominican flag was hoisted at the Puerta del Conde and, embroidered by Concepción Bona and María Trinidad Sánchez, it waved in the city of Santo Domingo. The flag had emerged from a project presented by Juan Pablo Duarte, approved on July 16, 1838 in La Trinitaria, where the colors and the shape of the banner that would represent the new State were defined.

The nascent republic was led by a Central Government Board under the power of the conservatives until November 14, 1844, when Pedro Santana was elected the first president of the Dominican Republic.

Pedro Santana & Buenaventura Báez, the warlords that led the Dominican Republic in its first republican period

The decades that followed were filled with tyranny, partisanship, economic hardship, rapid changes in government, and political exile. Over the years, the Haitians made several invasions (1844, 1845-49, 1849-55, and 1855-56), but they were thwarted by Dominican forces. Meanwhile, archrivals Santana and Báez alternated power most of the time, ruling the country arbitrarily. Both promoted plans to annex the new republic to another power: the first favored Spain, the second the United States.

This period of history was called the First Republic, which spans from the formation of the nation, on February 27, 1844, until its annexation to Spain in 1861.

The first power to formally recognize Dominican independence was Great Britain in 1850. Three years later France followed (although it had a consul in the country since 1844), and Spain in 1855; Haiti did not accept Dominican independence until 1874, and the United States did so in 1882.

Annexation to Spain and Restoration

Spanish troops against Dominican troops

In 1861, after imprisoning, silencing, exile, and executing many of his opponents and for political and economic reasons, Pedro Santana signed a pact with the Spanish Crown and reverted the Dominican nation to colonial status, the only American country in doing it. His ostensible purpose was to protect the nation from another annexation of Haiti. But the opponents launched the Restoration War in 1863, led by José Antonio Salcedo. Haiti, fearing that Spain would return as a colonial power on its border, gave shelter and supplies to the revolutionaries.

Little by little, the Spanish were forced to abandon the north coast. In September 1863, the 2,000-strong Santiago garrison abandoned the city and marched on Puerto Plata, the main northern port, attacked by the Dominicans all the way. There they joined the garrison of the fort, leaving the city to be sacked by the rebels. Eventually 600 Spaniards came out and drove off the rebels, with the help of the fort's cannon, but by then the town had been sacked and burned almost to nothing. Damage to Santiago and Puerto Plata was estimated at $5,000,000.

Battle of Monte Cristi

The Spanish had prepared a telegraph line from Cuba to Santo Domingo in June 1864, only to hear almost the first news of the death of Pedro Santana, their best general. However, the tide had turned once more, with the Spanish pushing along the north coast and capturing Monte Cristi, near the Haitian border. This seems to have caused a loss of spirit among many of the rebels and many deserted. During this time, the Dominican leadership had changed frequently, only to be deposed in coups for corruption, politics, or in the case of Polanco (which lasted 3 months) leading a disastrous direct attack on the Spanish at Monte Cristi in December 1864.

After two years of fighting, Spain abandoned the island in 1865. Political conflicts reigned again in the following years; a state of war was in force, military revolts were very common, and the nation accumulated more and more debt. After Báez took possession of it, he hatched his plan to annex the country to the United States, where the government at the time, headed by President Ulysses S. Grant, gave him his support. Grant asked for a naval base at Samaná and also for a place for the newly freed blacks to settle. The deal, which included the payment by the United States of 1.5 million dollars for the amortization of the Dominican debt, was rejected in the Senate of that country in 1870.

Báez was overthrown in 1874, returned, and was overthrown again in 1878, this time for good. With the removal of Santana (who died in 1864) and Báez from the political scene, a new generation of politicians emerged. A relative peace came to the country in the 1880s, which saw the rise to power of General Ulises Heureaux.

Lilís, as the new president was nicknamed, enjoyed a brief period of popularity. It was, however, "a sham," putting the nation deep in debt, while using most of the proceeds for his personal use and maintaining his police state. Heureaux was a despotic and unpopular dictator who was assassinated in 1899. However, the relative calm after his death allowed for an improvement in the Dominican economy. The sugar industry modernized, and the country attracted foreign workers and immigrants, both from the Old World and the New.

President Alejandro Woss and Gil took office in 1903.

Starting in 1902, short-term governments returned, power was usurped by caudillos in the country's regions. On the other hand, the Dominican government was bankrupt and unable to pay the debts left by Heureaux, faced with the threat of military intervention by France and other European creditor powers.

US occupation

President Theodore Roosevelt of the United States tried to prevent European intervention, largely to protect the routes of the future Panama Canal, which was already under construction. He made a small military intervention to protect himself from the European powers, proclaimed his famous Roosevelt Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine, and in 1905 obtained the Dominican agreement for his government to take over the administration of Dominican customs, which at that time was the main source of income for the Dominican Republic. A 1906 agreement provided for a duration of 50 years. The United States agreed to use part of the customs revenue to reduce the immense foreign debt of the Dominican Republic, and assumed responsibility for said debt.

Ramon Cáceres.

After six years in power, President Ramón Cáceres, who had assassinated Heureaux, was himself assassinated in 1911. The result was several years of great political instability and civil war. With the mediation of the United States under the administrations of William Howard Taft and Woodrow Wilson respectively, a brief respite was achieved. The political stalemate that existed in 1914 was broken after Wilson's ultimatum gave the Dominicans to elect a president or the United States would impose one. A provisional president was elected, and later the same year in relatively free elections former president Juan Isidro Jimenes Pereyra was elected. In order to achieve a government with more support, with identifiable people Jimenes appointed several opponents in his cabinet. But this did not bring peace, also with his former Secretary of War Desiderio Arias maneuvering to depose him and despite an offer from the United States to help him militarily against Arias, Jimenes resigned on May 7, 1916. But some negotiations between the followers of Juan Isidro Jimenes (Jimenistas) and the followers of Horacio Vásquez (Horacistas) Francisco Henríquez y Carvajal was appointed to the presidency. However, the new president disagreed with the intervention.

Wilson ordered the occupation of the Dominican Republic. The United States Marine Corps landed on May 16, 1916, and took control of the country two months later. The military government established by the United States, headed by Rear Admiral Harry Shepard Knapp, was widely repudiated by the Dominicans. Some cabinet positions had to be filled by officers of the United States Navy. The Dominicans refused to serve in the administration. Censorship and limits on public speech were imposed. But the occupation regime maintained most of the Dominican laws and institutions, reactivated the economy, reduced the Dominican debt, built a network of highways that finally interconnected all regions of the country, and created a professional National Guard.

The president-elect of the Dominican Republic, Horacio Vásquez, meets with U.S. officials.

The most intense opposition to the occupation occurred in the eastern provinces of El Seibo and San Pedro de Macorís. From 1917 to 1921, US forces fought a guerrilla movement in that area known as the gavilleros. The movement survived the capture and execution of its leader, Vicente Evangelista, and some initially fierce clashes with the Marines. However, the gavilleros eventually gave in to the occupying forces' superior firepower, air power (a squadron of six Curtis Jennys), and determined (often brutal) counterinsurgency methods.

In the San Juan Valley, near the border with Haiti, the followers of a voodoo healer named Liborio, resisted the occupation until his death in 1922. However, the persecution of his followers continued, resulting in the massacre from Palma Sola in 1962. Around 600 people died as a result of a napalm attack carried out by the Dominican government.

After World War I, public opinion in the United States began to oppose the occupation. There, President Warren G. Harding (1921-1923), Wilson's successor, was working to end the occupation, as he had promised to do during his campaign, and a presidential election was called in March 1924.

The winner of these elections was former President Horacio Vásquez, who had cooperated with the United States to end the occupation. Vásquez gave the country six years of good government, in which political and civil rights were respected and the economy grew strongly, in a calm environment.

The era of Trujillo

Rafael Trujillo imposed a 31-year dictatorship in the country (1930-1961).

Horacio Vásquez blindly trusted Trujillo and for this reason he never knew his true intentions, he even named him as his trusted soldier. He also commissioned him to fight against Estrella Ureña, who was Secretary of State and had left the Horacista ranks, since he was opposed to the re-election of Vásquez; but he was unaware that Trujillo had already hatched a plan to overthrow him along with Estrella Ureña.

During the government of Horacio Vásquez, Trujillo held the rank of lieutenant colonel and was chief of the Police. This position helped him put into motion his plans to overthrow the Vásquez government. Trujillo had the support of Carlos Rosario Peña, who formed the Civic Movement, whose main objective was to overthrow the Vásquez government.

When Vásquez tried to win a new term, the opponents rebelled in February 1930, in a secret alliance with the commander of the National Army (the former National Guard), General Rafael Leónidas Trujillo Molina, for whom the latter maintained "neutral" facing the rebellion, while Vásquez resigned and went into exile; then he is sworn in as provisional president Estrella Ureña on March 3, 1930. During the 5 months of president, all the laws that prevented Trujillo from aspiring to the presidency were repealed; In this way, Trujillo was able to aspire to the presidential elections of that time and not only that, but to all this was added the harassment and repression of all the candidates who aspired, as well as their followers. During the electoral campaign, Trujillo used the army to unleash all kinds of repression, thus forcing his opponents to withdraw from the electoral contest. Trujillo stood up to elect himself, and in May he was elected president with virtually no opposition, after a violent campaign against his opponents.

Rafael Leónidas Trujillo Molina ascended to power on August 16, 1930, after the manipulations he carried out in complicity with Rafael Estrella Ureña, who was elected his vice president and complied with all his directives.

During World War II, when Trujillo was president, the country sided with the allies and declared war on Japan, Germany, and Italy. As a result, several Dominican merchant ships were sunk by German submarines, and 27 crew members were killed.

There was considerable economic growth during Trujillo's long regime, although much of the wealth was taken by the dictator for his personal vanities. He made progress in health care, education, and transportation, with the construction of hospitals and clinics, schools, roads, and ports. Trujillo also carried out a housing construction program and started a major pension plan. Finally, he terminated the United States' 50-year customs administration loan in 1941, which was scheduled to end in 1956. He made the country debt-free in 1947.

This was accompanied by outright repression and extensive killing, torture, and terrorist methods against the opposition. On the other hand, Trujillo's megalomania was seen in the name change of the capital, Santo Domingo to "Ciudad Trujillo", also the highest mountain in the country and the Caribbean renamed it from Pico Duarte to &# 34;Pico Trujillo", in addition to several towns and a province. Some other places he renamed after members of his family. At the end of his first term in 1934 he was the richest person in the country, one of the richest in the world in the 1950s, and near the end of his regime his fortune was estimated at $ 800 million.

In October 1937, Trujillo, in an event known as the Perejil Massacre, ordered the Army to kill Haitians living on the northwestern border of the Dominican Republic and in certain parts of the adjoining Cibao region. The Army killed an estimated 20,000 Haitians in five days. Dominican troops, who came mostly from other areas of the country, interrogated anyone with dark skin, using the shibboleth "parsley" to differentiate Haitians from Dominicans when necessary, the "r" de parsley was difficult for Haitians to pronounce. As a result of the massacre, the Dominican Republic agreed to pay Haiti an amount of $750,000 in compensation, later reduced to $525,000. Later, during the first half of 1938, thousands more Haitians were forcibly deported and hundreds were massacred in the southern region of the border.

Trujillo extended his tyranny to the United States. In 1956, in New York, his henchmen kidnapped and murdered Jesús Galíndez. Trujillo's henchmen then executed Charles Murphy, an Oregon aviator who had piloted the plane that took Galíndez from New York to the Dominican Republic.

On June 14, 1959, approximately two hundred Dominican exiles and Cuban revolutionaries launched an invasion of the Dominican Republic from Cuba in hopes of overthrowing the Trujillo regime. The invaders were massacred just hours after landing.

On November 25, 1960, Trujillo had three of the four Mirabal sisters, nicknamed Las Mariposas, assassinated. Minerva, the second of her sisters, who was a lawyer, was opposed to the dictatorship, but Trujillo denied her the right to practice her profession. The sisters have received many posthumous honors, and have many memories in various cities in the Dominican Republic. Salcedo, her native province, changed its name to Hermanas Mirabal province. On the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, events are held in her honor on the day of her death.

For a long time, the United States supported the Trujillo government, as did the Catholic Church and the Dominican elite. This support persisted despite the assassinations of opposition politicians, the massacre of Haitians, and Trujillo's conspiracies against other countries. The United States finally broke with Trujillo in 1960, after Trujillo agents tried to assassinate Venezuelan President Rómulo Betancourt, a fierce critic of Trujillo. The Venezuelan government resisted the Trujillo dictatorship, and received Dominican migrants who sought refuge from the dictatorship. Trujillo was assassinated on May 30, 1961. The conspirators were summarily executed, some of them being fed to sharks.

Post-Trujillo instability (1962-1964) and Dominican civil war (1965)

Juan Bosch, the first democratically elected president after the end of the trujillist regime.

After Trujillo's death, the country went through various political leaderships, including that of Professor Juan Bosch, who was elected president in December 1962, and took office in February 1963, but was overthrown the 7 months in September, due to his intentions of social reforms and his supposed Marxist inclination. A Triumvirate representing the neo-Trujillo oligarchy would replace the first Dominican democratic experience after 31 years of dictatorship.

After nineteen months of military rule, a pro-Bosch rebellion broke out in April 1965. The insurgents were armed with the San Cristóbal assault rifle, Browning M1919A4 light machine gun, Browning M-2HB medium machine gun, cannon M3 tank destroyer, Kurk 75mm howitzer, Willy jeep with machine guns, Lanverk Lynx assault cars, Panhard AMX-13 and Lanverk L-60 light tanks. The members of the high command of the Dominican Air Force and CEFA disagreed with admitting Bosch. On April 26, 2 Vampire FB50 aircraft and 2 Mustang F-51 aircraft bombed rebel positions. One of the rebel-held AMX-13 tanks at the National Palace attacked a police post. His cannon shots demolished the barracks causing the death of all the policemen inside the building. Two F-51 Mustang aircraft attacked the rebel artillery position and machine gun emplacements using rockets and dropping 4 500lb bombs. Then two Vampire FB50 planes made an appearance repeating the attacks of the Mustangs. The Vampire plane attacks were more disastrous because they were armed with 20mm cannons. It was a massacre where body parts, heads, hands, arms and legs were scattered all over the place.

United States President Lyndon Johnson, concerned that an alleged revolt by communists might create a "second Cuba," sent in marines a day later, followed immediately by the 82nd Airborne Division and others. elements of the XVIII Airborne Corps in Operation Powerpack. "We do not propose to sit here in a rocking chair with our arms crossed and let the communists implement any government in the Western Hemisphere" Johnson said. They were soon joined by comparatively small contingents from the Organization of American States. They all stayed in the country for more than a year, leaving after overseeing the 1966 elections won by Joaquín Balaguer, who had been Trujillo's last puppet president.

Without collaborators, a US invasion against an army united with the people would have been difficult and costly in lives. In an optimistic estimate, the Pentagon believed that at least two full US divisions were required to overcome the extensive weaponry the Dominican Republic had acquired as protection against a Haitian invasion.

The twelve years of Balaguer (1966-1978)

Joaquín Balaguer, puppet president of Rafael Leonidas Trujillo (1960-1962) and Constitutional President for 22 years (1966-1978 & 1986-1996)

In 1966 Joaquín Balaguer rose to power and remained in power for a period of 12 years, in an authoritarian government that used repression against its political opponents, so that competition was practically nil and legitimize his re-election " democratically". His tenure was a period of crackdown on human rights and civil liberties, which claimed 11,000 victims of enforced disappearances and political assassinations.His government was widely criticized for a growing disparity between rich and poor. He was, however, praised for an ambitious infrastructure program, which includes large housing projects, sports complexes, theaters, museums, aqueducts, back roads, highways, and the Columbus Lighthouse monument.

For the 1970 elections, a political crisis arose when the Vice President of the Republic at that time, Lic. Francisco Augusto Lora, was upset with President Balaguer, since he understood it was his turn to lead the electoral ballot as presidential candidate for the Reform Party, he realizes that Dr. Balaguer wants to run for office and opt for a new term and would not back down from his aspirations, and that leads him to found another political party, the Integration Movement Democrática, MIDA, stopping attending the National Palace.

Faced with this situation, and also aggravated by political pressure from opposition parties, Dr. Balaguer stated that he would temporarily leave the presidency of the Republic in the hands of the President of the Supreme Court of Justice, Dr. Manuel Ramón Ruiz Tejada.

Quickly, Ruiz Tejada publicly disagreed with President Balaguer's criteria and stated that he would only assume him as head of the Executive Power, if the President and Vice President of the Republic were temporarily absent, as provided in article 58 of the Dominican Constitution.

Events happened quickly and on April 17, 1970, Ruiz Tejada, after President Balaguer signed an agreement with the opposition political parties, took office as Interim President and immediately ordered the "absolute and effective political neutralization of the public administration to guarantee the necessary impartiality in the electoral process". Manuel Ramón Ruiz Tejada, President of the Supreme Court of Justice in Exercise of the Executive Power, performed his functions fully and without limitations in his exercise, without pressure from the government. president on leave and carrying out a management praised by all sectors and active forces of the nation. After 36 days he handed over command to Joaquín Balaguer and resumed his judicial functions (1966-1974).

On January 12, 1972, the armed confrontation of the revolutionary group known as Los Palmeros or Comandos de la Resistencia took place, against the intentions of the president Joaquín Balaguer of reinstating a government similar to the recently overthrown Trujillo government regime in which it was formed, violating the people's right to democratic political exercise. The confrontation took place at kilometer 14 of the Las Américas highway, Santo Domingo.

Los Palmeros were: Amaury Germán Aristy, Bienvenido Leal Prandy, also known as La Chuta, Ulises Cerón Polanco i> and Virgilio Perdomo Pérez. This group was part of the strategy of military support for General Francisco Alberto Caamaño Deñó, leader of the forces opposed to the US military intervention, in his intentions to overthrow Joaquín Balaguer and carry out a social revolution. in the country, it also had the board member of Miguel Cocco Guerrero.

Period 1978-1996

During the 1978 elections, Antonio Guzmán Fernández was elected by the Dominican Revolutionary Party. His term was characterized by being one of the most liberal the country had had in decades and since the government of Juan Bosch. His term culminated when Guzmán unexpectedly committed suicide on July 4, 1982. He was succeeded by the vice president on duty, Lic. Jacobo Majluta, who governed for 43 days on an interim basis. The presidential election of that year was won by his fellow party member Salvador Jorge Blanco.

In 1986, Joaquín Balaguer, who was nearly 80 years old, resumed power. In 1990 Joaquín Balaguer was re-elected in an election marred by allegations of fraud. In 1994, Joaquín Balaguer was again victorious in the elections against José Francisco Peña Gómez and Juan Bosch, changing the electoral panorama only from the point of view of the opposition parties. As a result of the allegations of fraud, a constitutional reform was made, cutting the presidential term to two years and agreeing to hold elections in 1996.

Period 1996-present

Leonel Fernández was president of the country for two non-consecutive periods (1996-2000 and 2004-2012)

Danilo Medina was president of the country since 2012-2020

In 1996, with the support of Joaquín Balaguer and the Social Christian Reformist Party in a coalition called the Patriotic Front, Leonel Fernández of the Dominican Liberation Party (PLD) was elected. This government was characterized by macroeconomic growth and the privatization of state companies through foreign investment. This administration supported the process of modernizing the judicial system, making transparent the formation of an independent Supreme Court of Justice. Efforts were also made for the reform and modernization of the other estates of the State. In addition, relations with Cuba were reestablished and the Free Trade Agreement with Central America was signed, which was the genesis for the signing of DR-CAFTA.

In 2000, Hipólito Mejía ascended to the Executive Power by the Dominican Revolutionary Party. His government was marked by major economic and social reforms, apart from a decentralization of the national budget. Among the laws created in this period are the Social Security, Monetary and Financial Code, Stock Market, Electricity, Electronic Commerce, Police Law, Environment, Public Health, Chamber of Accounts, Insurance Law, Administrative Independence and Budgetary of the Legislative Power and Judicial Power; In addition, the creation of the Santo Domingo Province and its municipalities, a larger budget item for the municipalities, as well as other laws. This meant for him in the 2002 elections, obtaining a congressional and municipal majority. In this period, large sports structures were built for the 2003 Pan American Games.

Bajo Mejía, the Dominican Republic participated in the US-led coalition, as part of the Plus Ultra Multinational Brigade, during the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Dominican troops were under constant mortar fire but suffered no casualties. In 2004, the country withdrew its approximately 300 troops from Iraq.

The government of President Mejía had to negotiate the Free Trade Agreement with the United States, the main trading partner. He also promoted various trade measures, popularly called & # 34; Paquetazo Económico & # 34;. This "package" It was accompanied by a series of social measures, such as aid to agricultural producers, subsidies for electricity rates, construction of streets, sidewalks, neighborhood roads, etc., as well as subsidies to poor families whose children attended school, as well as the creation of new taxes and increases in existing ones.

In 2003, the effects of the bankruptcy of three banking entities whose savers were protected by the government, which financed this situation by creating inflation. This caused a strong economic crisis accompanied by currency devaluation and capital outflows, an instability that led many companies to bankruptcy. With the congressional majority obtained in 2002, President Mejía promoted a constitutional reform that restored the possibility of presidential re-election, which had been abolished in 1994 at the request of his own party. This reform caused problems within his party, causing a division within his main leaders.

In 2004, Leonel Fernández won the presidential elections against President Hipólito Mejía with 57.11% of the votes. At the beginning of his second presidential term, he made an effort to combat the economic crisis, managing to restore macroeconomic stability, manifesting himself, among other things, through the reduction of the dollar exchange rate and the return of confidence in the economy. On the other hand, his administrations have been accused of corruption.

President Fernández's management consisted of improving the collective transport system of Santo Domingo, the first line of the Metro was built; the completion of the main communication routes to the tourist poles of the country; the construction of new schools or the construction of more classrooms, as well as the provision of computer centers with modern computers and Internet to the communities in coordination with the schools, churches or clubs. He continued his program to modernize the state, strengthening the formulation and execution of the budget and promoting laws to make the public acquisition of goods and services transparent.

Luis Abinader, the current president of the country

In 2008, Leonel Fernández is re-elected as president, defeating his most prominent contender, Miguel Vargas Maldonado, candidate for the Dominican Revolutionary Party, thus achieving his third term of government (second consecutive) 2008-2012. In the 2010 municipal and congressional elections, the Dominican Liberation Party won 31 out of 32 senatorial seats and 92 out of 155 city councils. Danilo Medina, from the same PLD party, was elected president in 2012 with the promise of investing more in social programs and education, in addition to tackling corruption.

Danilo Medina, upon assuming the presidency of the Republic, declares before the media that re-election is a deficit for the Dominican State; something that he does not fulfill later, since he modifies the constitution to be re-elected as a candidate for the presidency. The years of Danilo Medina's government have been highlighted by the stability of the currency, sustained economic growth, large investments in education, health, social services, public transportation, electricity, and road infrastructure. On the other hand, a significant increase in crime, government corruption and a weak justice system threaten to overshadow his administration.

On May 15, 2016, the elections are held where President Danilo Medina, PLD candidate, is re-elected, where preliminary results are given 5 minutes before the formally closing elections. Many opposition parties complained about this, emphasizing that this was not what was agreed by the Central Electoral Board.

On July 5, 2020, with 53.05% of the vote, Luis Abinader, of the Modern Revolutionary Party (PRM), won the presidential elections, becoming the first president not born during the Trujillo dictatorship.

Literature

20th century

During the XX century, literature in the Dominican Republic included writers such as Juan Bosch (one of the most Latin America), Pedro Mir (national poet of the Dominican Republic), Aída Cartagena Portalatín (poetess par excellence who spoke in the Trujillo era), Emilio Rodríguez Demorizi (the most important Dominican historian, with more than a thousand written works), Manuel del Cabral (the main prominent Dominican poet in Negroid poetry), Héctor Incháustegui Cabral (considered one of the most outstanding voices of Antillean social poetry of the century XX), Miguel Alfonseca (poet belonging to the Generation of 60), René del Risco (acclaimed poet who was a participant in the June 14 Movement), Mateo Morrison (poet and writer with numerous awards), among other authors.

Some images of writers of the centuryXX.

Juan Bosch	Pedro Mir		Manuel del Cabral

Geological evolution

Map of the Spanish of the centuryXVI.

The geological origin of the island of Hispaniola dates back to the second stage of the Cretaceous period of the Secondary Era, when the process of ascent of the island began due to the phenomenon of subduction of the North American plate that was embedded below the Caribbean plate, sighting the first vestiges represented by the oldest mountain systems.

At the end of the Paleocene, Eocene, Oligocene, Miocene and Pliocene epochs of the Tertiary Era, the other mountainous systems of the island were formed, forming an archipelago made up of three elongated islands separated by two marine channels.

As the uplift of the island continued, between the last periods of the Tertiary Era and the Pleistocene period of the Quaternary Era, the valleys and coastal plains of the entire island arise and the marine channel disappears. It extended between the current bays of Neyba and Puerto Príncipe, product of the permanent uplift of the island and at the time of the emergence of all its valleys and plains, the fusion of the three original islands occurs.

In this period the other marine channel disappears, giving way to the Cibao Valley, also withdrawing the waters that occupied the spaces of the old lakes, becoming the valleys, which allowed the deposition of alluvial materials deposited by the rivers and streams larger, and by the same gravitational action contributing to the formation of fans and alluvial terraces at the foot of the mountainous systems, giving rise to alluvial, sedimentary and lacustrine soils of marine origin.

Geography

Map of the Dominican Republic.

Topography of the Dominican Republic.

The territory of the Dominican Republic comprises the eastern part (74%) of the island of Hispaniola or Santo Domingo, located in the Caribbean Sea, which is the second largest island in the Antilles. Its total extension is 48,670 km², of which 350 km² are covered by water. Its maximum dimensions are:

• 390 km from east to west (Cabo Engaño a Las Lajas)
• 265 km from north to south (Cabo Isabela to Cabo Beata)

It borders on the west with the Republic of Haiti (376 km border) and is separated on the east from the island of Puerto Rico by the channel of the Monkey. It is bordered to the north by the Atlantic Ocean along 586 km of coastline and to the south by the Caribbean Sea for a distance of 545km.

Its antipode is the Indian Ocean and the North Coast of Australia. The largest city in the country and the most metropolitan is Santo Domingo, its capital, which is located on the south coast.

There are many small islands and cays that are part of the Dominican territory. The two largest islands near the coast are Saona, in the southeast, and Beata, in the southwest. Also within its territory are the Cabritos, Catalina, Catalinita and Alto Velo islands.

Relief

The Dominican territory offers a mountainous aspect for the most part, with four main orographic axes, oriented from West to East, being the Central Cordillera the most important of the island, where Pico Duarte is located with 3087 m, the highest elevation in the Antilles. Other mountainous systems are the Northern Cordillera, the Eastern Cordillera, the Sierra de Yamasá, the Sierra de Samaná, the Sierra de Bahoruco, the Sierra de Neiba and the Sierra Martín García.

Between these mountain systems there are large valleys such as the Cibao Valley, Bonao Valley, Neiba Valley, San Juan Valley, Villa Altagracia Valley, Constanza Valley, Jarabacoa Valley, Rancho Arriba Valley, Rio Valley Clean and Valley of Tireo.

As well as the northern coastal plains that are: Llano de Bajabonico, Llano de Boba-Nagua, Llano de Puerto Plata and Llano de Yásica. Those to the east, the Coastal Plains of Sabana de la Mar and Miches and the Southeastern Coastal Plain; and those to the south, the Azua Coastal Plain, Baní or Peravia Coastal Plain and the Oviedo and Pedernales Coastal Plains.

Hydrography

View of Lake Enriquillo at sunset.

Inland waters (rivers and lakes) represent 1.6% of the national territory.

There are numerous river basins, and among them there are some that, due to the volume of water they transport, the territorial dimensions they cover and the use given to their waters, are considered the most important.

The large Dominican river basins are those of the Yaque del Norte, Yuna, Yaque del Sur, Ozama and Artibonito rivers.

The lakes and lagoons are Lake Enriquillo, Laguna Redonda, Laguna Limón, Laguna Rincón or Cabral and Laguna de Oviedo.

Among the main dams or hydroelectric dams are the Hatillo, Taveras, Bao, Valdesia, Monción, Sabana Yegua, Rincón, Sabaneta, Maguaca, Chacuey, Jigüey and Aguacate dams.

Climate

Barahona province of the Southwest region in the Dominican Republic.

The Dominican Republic has a predominantly tropical climate where rainfall is abundant, an average temperature between 25 and 35 °C, with few exceptions in regions with high altitude, such as in Valle Nuevo, where temperatures can drop as low as –3 °C in winter. The day lasts between 11 and 13 hours a year, depending on the season. Some snowflakes may fall on rare occasions at the top of Pico Duarte.

The rainy season runs from April to November, with May, August, and September standing out, and, due to its torrential rains, numerous landslides are suffered during this time. The driest part of the country is in the west, particularly the northwest; Here is the municipality of Villa Vásquez where it rarely rains, where they usually spend up to six months without any precipitation. It is prone to the passage of hurricanes, which occur on average 2 or 3, and a tropical storm each year, resulting in some flooding. Hurricanes are most likely between August and October. The last time a Category 5 hurricane hit the country was Hurricane Irma in 2017.

Environmental issues

Los Bajos de Haina, 19 kilometers west of Santo Domingo, was listed by the Blacksmith Institute as one of the 10 most polluted places in the world in October 2006, due to lead poisoning. A cell and battery recycling company operated in that town, and was forced to close in 1999. The cleanup of the place began in 2008, but children continue to be born with high levels of lead, causing learning problems, retardation of physical growth and kidney failure.

However, although Haina has already been removed from that list due to the closure of many factories and companies, and attempts to build a green zone, the problems have remained. Although to a lesser degree.

There is little environmental education, since schools do not teach them sustainable ways of living. The waste management system is basic, and in most localities garbage burning is used.

State and politics

The National Palace in Santo Domingo.

The Dominican Republic is a representative democracy whose powers are divided into three: Executive Power, Legislative Power, and Judicial Power. The president appoints the Cabinet, executes the laws coming from the Legislative Branch and is the Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces. The president and vice president run under the same candidacy and are elected by direct vote every four years.

The Legislative Branch is made up of the National Congress of the Dominican Republic in two chambers: the Senate with 32 seats and the Chamber of Deputies with 195 seats.

The president and vice president are elected for a 4-year term. The congressional and municipal elections are every four years using the second round.

Elections are held on the third Sunday of May of every four years, and people over 18 years of age with the national identity document, or identity and electoral card, vote. Previously, elections were held every May 16.

Human Rights

In terms of human rights, regarding membership of the seven bodies of the International Bill of Human Rights, which include the Human Rights Committee (HRC), the Dominican Republic has signed or ratified:

Status of major international human rights instruments

Dominican Republic	International treaties
	CESCR		CCPR			CERD	CED	CEDAW		CAT		CRC			MWC	CRPD
	CESCR	CESCR-OP	CCPR	CCPR-OP1	CCPR-OP2-DP			CEDAW	CEDAW-OP	CAT	CAT-OP	CRC	CRC-OP-AC	CRC-OP-SC		CRPD	CRPD-OP
Pertenence
Signed and ratified, signed, but not ratified, neither signed nor ratified, without information, it has agreed to sign and ratify the body concerned, but also recognizes the competence to receive and process individual communications from the competent bodies.

Symbols

In the Dominican Republic the main national symbols are:

• The Flag, conceived by Juan Pablo Duarte and made by Concepción Bona and María Trinidad Sánchez during the period of independence. It has a large white cross that divides it into four parts. Two of the parts are red and two are blue. Red represents the blood shed by the liberators. Blue expresses the struggle of the liberators to give future generations a free nation. The white cross symbolizes the protection of God over the nation. An alternative interpretation is that blue represents the ideals of progress and freedom, while white symbolizes peace and unity among Dominicans. It was first released on February 27, 1844 by Francisco del Rosario Sánchez.

• The Shield, which was created at the time of the proclamation of national independence, is the only one that has the Bible in the center and is surrounded by an olive branch (on the left) and a palm branch (on the right). A blue ribbon on the shield says: "God, Homeland, Freedom" And a red one below says: "Dominican Republic". Since its inception, the shield has undergone various modifications, as more than 14 shields are recorded in Dominican history. In 1913, Casimiro Nemesio de Moya was the designer of the current official shield of the country.

• The hymn was composed by José Reyes and written by Emilio Prud'Homme, being first sung in 1897 and officially since 1934.

Armed Forces

Emblema of the Armed Forces of the Dominican Republic.

Congress authorizes a combined military force of 44,000 on active duty. The effective strength in active service is approximately 32,000. However, more than 50% are used for non-military activities, such as providing security to non-military installations and buildings of the State (such as headquarters of Ministries), highway stations toll booths, prisons, forestry work, surveillance for state companies and private companies, as well as personal security for officials. The Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces is the president of the country. The main missions are the defense of the nation and to protect the territorial integrity of the country. Larger than the other services combined with some 20,000 active duty personnel, the army consists of six infantry brigades, a combat support brigade, and a combat support service brigade. The air force operates two main bases, one in the southern region, near Santo Domingo, and another in the northern region, near Puerto Plata. The navy has two main naval bases, one in Santo Domingo and another in Las Calderas, on the southwest coast, and maintains 12 operational vessels. In the Caribbean and Central America, only Cuba and Guatemala have a larger militia.

The armed forces have organized the Specialized Corps for Airport Security & of Civil Aviation (Cesac). the Specialized Port Security Corps (CESEP) to meet the needs of international security in these areas. There is also a Specialized Border Security Corps (Cesfront). In addition, the armed forces provide 75% of the personnel of the National Directorate of Investigations (DNI) and the National Directorate of Drug Control (DNCD).

The National Police has 32,000 officers. The police are not part of the armed forces, but share some security functions.

Members of the Dominican Republic Navy performing tactical training.

Maritime territory and airspace

The Dominican Republic, like other countries in the world, has full sovereignty over an area of the surrounding sea, called the territorial sea, which is an integral and inseparable part of the territory up to a maximum of 12 miles offshore, from the baseline of the coast, of which the Dominican Navy has only mapped about 6 miles.

The Republic is entitled to a zone of 24 nautical miles for fiscal, customs and other control, and an economic and scientific research zone of up to 200 miles offshore.

The country has full sovereignty over the portion of air called airspace that surrounds the national territory, which legally belongs to the country at a certain altitude with respect to sea level.

Any air or maritime ship or vessel must request prior notice from the authorities to be able to penetrate or else it may be attacked by the defense forces of the Dominican Republic.

Political-administrative organization

The territory of the Dominican Republic is administratively divided into 31 provinces and one national district, which in turn are subdivided into a total of 158 municipalities and 231 municipal districts.

Flag	Shield	Province	Capital of Province	Most populated city	Region	Surface (km2)	Population 2015	Density	Map
		Azua	Azua		South	2531.77	219 224	86.59
		Bahoruco	Neiba		South	1.282.23	99 244	77,40
		Barahona	Barahona		South	1739.38	188 706	108.49
		Dajabón	Dajabón		Cibao	1020.73	65 271	63.95
		National District	Santo Domingo		East	104.44	1 007 997	9651,45
		Duarte	San Francisco de Macorís		Cibao	1605.35	294 906	183,70
		Elijah Piña	Comendador		South	1786.80	63 450	35,51
		The Seibo	The Seibo		East	1426,20	90 676	63.58
		Espaillat	Moca		Cibao	838.62	236 467	281,97
		Hato Mayor	Hato Mayor		East	1329,29	85 561	64.37
		Mirabal Sisters	Balance		Cibao	440.43	92 394	209,78
		Independence	Jimaní	Duvergé	South	2006,44	55 638	27,73
		The Altagracia	Higüey		East	3010.34	314 916	104.61
		La Romana	La Romana		East	653,95	260 002	397,59
		La Vega	La Vega		Cibao	2287.24	404 013	176.64
		María Trinidad Sánchez	Nagua		Cibao	1271.71	141 372	111.17
		Monsignor Nouel	Bonao		Cibao	992.39	170 208	171.51
		Monte Cristi	Monte Cristi	Guayubín	Cibao	1924.35	113 954	59.22
		Monte Plata	Monte Plata	Yamasa	East	2632,14	188 671	71.68
		Pedernales	Pedernales		South	2074.53	33 439	16.12
		Peravia	Baní		South	792,33	191 439	241,62
		Puerto Plata	Puerto Plata		Cibao	1852,90	416 256	177.29
		Samana	Samana		Cibao	853,74	107 243	125.62
		San Cristobal	San Cristobal		South	1196.13	605 153	505,93
		San José de Ocoa	San José de Ocoa		South	1265.77	57 096	45.11
		San Juan	San Juan de la Maguana		South	3569.39	227 640	266,12
		San Pedro de Macorís	San Pedro de Macorís		East	1254.3	298 633	83.66
		Sánchez Ramírez	Cotuí		Cibao	1255.46	152 023	121.09
		Santiago	Santiago		Cibao	2836.51	1 017 808	355.30
		Santiago Rodríguez	San Ignacio de Sabaneta		Cibao	1111,14	57 460	51,71
		Santo Domingo	Santo Domingo East	Santo Domingo Norte	East	1301,84	2 650 651	2036.08
		Valverde	Mao		Cibao	823.38	170 490	207,06

Demographics

The population of the Dominican Republic (1961–2003).

Population

The population of the Dominican Republic in 2016 estimated by the United Nations is 10,650,000 people, ranking 82nd in population among the 193 nations in the world. In that year, approximately 5% of the population was over 65 years of age, while 35% of the population was under 15 years of age. There were 102 men for every 100 women in the country in 2016. According to the Dominican government, the population density in 2008 was 192 per km², and 64% of the population lived in urban areas. The southern coastal plains and the Cibao Valley are the most densely populated areas of the country. The capital city, Santo Domingo, had a population of 3,014,000 in 2019. Other major cities are Santiago de los Caballeros (pop. 756,098), La Romana (pop. 250,000), San Felipe de Puerto Plata (pop. 286 558), San Pedro de Macorís, San Francisco de Macorís and La Vega. According to the United Nations, the growth rate of the urban population for the period 2000-2005 was 2.30%.

Ethnicities

Dominican students.

Recent studies on population genetics have concluded that the Dominican population is, on average, of predominantly European and African genetic origin, in addition a significant part derives from the indigenous population of the Canary Islands (Guanches) and the original inhabitants of the island, the Tainos. Among Dominicans, the percentage of European DNA is estimated at 52%, plus 40% African and 8% Taino. Other results show 60% African contribution, 35% European contribution and 5% indigenous contribution. The European and Taíno components are highest in the North (Cibao) region, while the African components are highest in the southeastern plain and coastal areas in general.

Dominican students. Among the population of the country are mixed descendants of European, African and indigenous.

According to a 2014 survey, Dominicans classified themselves into these ethnic groups: 70.4% Mixed, 15.8% Black, 13.5% White, and 0.3% Other. There are also illegal immigrants (10% of the country), the majority are from Haiti, representing more than half of the country's blacks. ^{[citation needed]} The Dominican Republic is a largely mixed country, although for most Dominicans this mixture is not recent but rather distant, since by the 1700s most of the population was already mixed. Other groups within the country include those of West Asian descent, mainly Lebanese, Syrians, and Palestinians; there is also a presence of East Asians, mainly Chinese and Japanese. Dominicans also have ancestry from Sephardic Jews who were exiled from Spain and the Mediterranean area in 1492 and 1497, accompanied by other migrations in the 1700s and World War II. Some of these Jews still reside in Sosua, while others are scattered throughout the country. The known number of Jews (or those with genetic proof of Jewish ancestry and/or practices, customs, and religion for generations) is close to 3,000; however the exact number of Jewish lineage is unknown due to the mixing of Jews and other Dominicans over time over a period of more than five centuries. The eastern region of the country was historically influenced by large waves of immigrants from Puerto Rico, Cuba, Haiti, and the Lesser Antilles, who came around 1900 to work in sugarcane, but that industry was eventually completely dominated by Haitians.

The multiracial population is mainly a mixture between Europeans, Tainos and Africans. The studies had been questioned in 2004, so they were carried out again two years later in various areas of the country, the results also established the existence of differences between the Dominican and Puerto Rican mtDNA (transmissible exclusively through the mother), in addition to demonstrating the differences between the various areas of the country, with Cibao being the region with the greatest indigenous contribution. However, according to the Puerto Rican doctor himself, there are no studies on the genetic contribution through the paternal route of the various peoples that have settled in the country. Studies of the Dominican genetic composition had already emerged before. It was Dr. José de Jesús Álvarez Perelló who in 1948 stated that at least 17% of the current population, depending on the different regions of the country, conserves indigenous genes. Other studies carried out by an Italian company together with Dr. Fernando Luna Calderón in Barahona concluded that of the 29 samples all had African DNA and 10 had Taino DNA. The country's foreign population also includes a large illegal Haitian minority. Other ethnic groups in the country include Asians, mainly West Asians, mostly Lebanese, Syrians, and Palestinians. A significant East Asian presence, mainly of Chinese and Japanese origin, you can also find Europeans represented mostly by Spanish, German Jews, Sephardic Jews, Italians, Portuguese, British, Dutch, Danish and Hungarian. Recently, apart from the large population of Haitians, the Dominican Republic has been receiving many immigrants from surrounding Latin American countries, including Venezuelans, Cubans, Puerto Ricans, among others. The Venezuelan immigrant population is almost beginning to rival that of Haiti in number. Haitians. Today, Haitians and Venezuelans are the largest foreign groups in the country. There are also dozens of United States citizens, most of those coming from United States borders are Americans of Dominican descent.

In another study by Dr. Juan Carlos Martínez-Cruzado, Guanche genes from the Canary Islands have been found in the Dominican population.

Religion

The Catholic Church began to lose popularity in the late 19th century. This was due to a lack of funding, priests, and support programs. During the same period, the Protestant evangelical movement began to gain support. Religious tension between Catholics and Protestants in the country is rare.

There has always been religious freedom throughout the country. It was not until the 1950s that Trujillo imposed restrictions on churches. Protest letters were sent against the mass arrests of opponents of the government. Trujillo began a campaign against the Church and planned to arrest priests and bishops who preached against the government.

Judaism, after remaining low profile and hidden for fear of persecution caused by the Inquisition since the days of the Spanish colony, reappeared in the Dominican Republic at the end of 1930. During World War II, and thanks to the Evian Conference (1936), a group of Jews escaped from Nazi Germany and took refuge in the Dominican Republic, where they founded the city of Sosúa. It has remained the center of Jewish population ever since. Today Judaism is experiencing a slight increase, due to the fact that many Dominican families are rediscovering their Jewish roots, which must have been hidden by the persecution imposed by the Catholic inquisition in previous centuries.

Language

The official language of the country is Spanish and its Antillean form is used in common speech. Taíno words, Africanisms, neologisms and foreign words are used, especially from English, due to cultural pressure from the United States. Another of the characteristics that Dominican Spanish has is that it uses hundreds of archaisms, which makes it both modern and ancient Spanish. If we tried to compare or find the root of the accent of Dominican Spanish, the closest to its way of speaking would be Canarian Spanish. Linguists agree that Dominican Spanish has its roots in the dialects of Andalusia and the Canary Islands, with influences from Taíno and African languages.

Other languages

There is a community of about 8,000 English speakers on the Samaná peninsula. They are the descendants of freed American slaves who arrived in the 19th century. Tourism, American pop culture, the influence of Dominican-Americans, and the country's economic ties to the United States motivate Dominicans to learn English. French is also spoken by a good part of the population. In the Chinese-Dominican community, made up of just over 60,000 members, many speak and understand little or no Spanish, others have a limited level of Spanish. The most comfortable language used by members of the Chinese-Dominican community to communicate with each other is Chinese, they mainly speak Cantonese Chinese, since most of them come from Guangdong and Hong Kong; and also Mandarin Chinese.

Education

The Ministry of Education of the Dominican Republic (Minerd), according to the General Education Law 66-97, as an organ of the Executive Power in the field of Education, is the public institution in charge of guiding and managing the educational system national pre-university and execute the pertinent provisions of the Constitution of the Republic.

Primary education is officially free and compulsory for children between the ages of 5 and 14, although those living in isolated areas have limited access to schooling. Primary education is followed by Intermediate School with a six-year secondary study cycle. Low-income students are relatively unable to achieve this level, due to financial difficulties and location limitations. Most upper-class students attend private schools, which are often religious institutions. Some public and private vocational schools are available, particularly in the field of agriculture, but this also reaches only a small percentage of the population.

Of 122 countries analyzed in the World Report on Information Technologies 2006-2007, the country is in position number 66. It rose 23 places with respect to the previous year and is above countries such as Trinidad and Tobago, Peru, Guatemala, Venezuela, among others.

Health

In 2007, the Dominican Republic had a birth rate of 22.91 per 1,000, and a death rate of 5.32 per 1,000.

The prevalence of AIDS in the Dominican Republic in 2003 was an estimated 1.7 percent, with an estimated 88,000 Dominicans being HIV-positive. A US-sponsored mission is helping to fight AIDS in the Dominican Republic. Although since the first case of AIDS was registered in the Dominican Republic in 1983, the disease has become the main cause of death in women between the ages of 15 and 49 and in adults of productive age.

Dengue is endemic in the country, and there are cases of malaria. There have also been cases of Zika transmission through Aedes mosquitoes. Other common illnesses are bacterial diarrhea, hepatitis A, and typhoid fever.

The practice of abortion is illegal in all respects in the Dominican Republic, a prohibition that includes rape, incest, and in situations where the health of the mother is in danger. This prohibition was tacitly contained in Art. 8.1 of the previous constitution of July 25, 2002, but it was with the promulgation of the current constitution, dated January 26, 2010 (the work for this constitutional reform began in 2006, with the appointment of a commission by President Leonel Fernández, which was made up of lawyers from different political parties), which the Dominican legislator expressly dealt with. Indeed, the Art. 37 of the current constitution establishes the following:

"Right to life. The right to life is inviolable from conception to death. The death penalty may not be established, pronounced or applied, in any case."

Regarding tobacco, Law 48-00 "which prohibits smoking in closed indoor places" contains certain provisions, through which exposure to smoke in certain places, certain aspects of advertising, sponsorship, promotion and minors are regulated. The Dominican Republic is one of the few countries that have not adopted the Framework Convention of the World Health Organization for Tobacco Control.

The average person's health rate is 80% to 60%, as a result of poor diet and little physical activity, as a consequence of high prices and poor accessibility of food consumption and little stimulation by part of the government to encourage the people to practice sports.

In the Dominican Republic, life expectancy at birth is 74 years.

Crime

The Dominican Republic has become a hub for drug trafficking from South America to Europe, as well as to the United States and Canada. Money laundering through the Dominican Republic is seen favored by Colombian cartels and by the ease of illicit financial transactions. It is also very common for cartel leaders to use foreigners to smuggle drugs into the United States using the promise of marriages to American women. In 2004 it was estimated that 8% of all cocaine smuggled into the United States States had come through the Dominican Republic. The country responded with new efforts to prevent the shipment of drugs, the arrest and extradition of those involved, and combat money laundering.

The soft treatment of violent criminals has been a continuing source of controversy in the country. In April 2010, five teenagers between the ages of 15 and 17 (including 2 women) shot and killed two taxi drivers and tortured five others, forcing them to drink acid to clean drains. On September 24, 2010, the teenagers were sentenced to only 3 to 5 years in prison, despite protests from the taxi drivers' relatives.

Immigration

In the 20th century, many Arabs (mainly from Lebanon and Syria), Italians, Japanese, and, to a lesser extent, extent Koreans settled in the country as agricultural laborers and merchants. The Chinese, fleeing the final crises of the Qing dynasty, the food, economic and political crises of the Republic of China, the civil wars between nationalists and communists, the First Sino-Japanese War, the Second Sino-Japanese War and the People's Liberation Army (EPL), found work in the mines. The current Dominican-Chinese population numbers just over 60,000. The Arab community is growing at a fairly rapid rate, estimated at about 3,400. Japanese immigrants, working mainly in the business districts and markets, an estimated 2,000 live in the country. Among the Spanish-speaking immigrants, the Spanish presence is very evident as well as the immigration of Puerto Ricans, Cubans, Mexicans and Venezuelans who have also formed large communities. The presence of Koreans is minor, but evident, with an estimate of 510.

In addition, there are descendants of immigrants who arrived from other Caribbean islands, including Saint Kitts and Nevis, Dominica, Antigua, Saint Vincent, Montserrat, Tortola, Saint Croix, Saint Thomas, Martinique and Guadeloupe. They worked in the sugar cane plantations and docks, and settled mainly in the cities of San Pedro de Macorís and Puerto Plata. There are a growing number of immigrants from Haiti, especially around Santo Domingo, believed to be around a million. Before and during World War II, 800 Jewish refugees settled in the Dominican Republic.

Through a ruling issued on September 25, 2013 by the Constitutional Court, it was decided to annul the citizenship of the descendants of illegal immigrants born in Dominican territory. That month, the court declared that such citizens did not have nationality Dominican Republic. The affected parties include the children of foreign parents born in the Dominican Republic after 1929 and who are illegally within the country. As a result of this ruling, more than 500,000 citizens became stateless retroactively.

Haitian Immigration

Haiti is much poorer than the Dominican Republic. In 2003, 80% of all Haitians were poor (54% in extreme poverty) and 47.1% were illiterate. The country of nine million people has a rapidly growing population, but more than two-thirds of the jobs are lacking in the formal labor force. Haiti's GDP per capita was $1,300 in 2008, or less than one-sixth the Dominican figure. Hundreds of thousands of Haitians have immigrated to the Dominican Republic as a result, with some estimates as many as 800,000 Haitians in the country., while others estimate that there are more than a million. They generally work in low-paid and unskilled jobs in building construction, household cleaning, and in sugar plantations, most of them are hired without documents or labor benefits, being victims of labor exploitation by private sectors. who hires them for very cheap labor.

The children of illegal Haitian immigrants often have dubious immigration status (some foreign NGOs even claim statelessness), as their parents are denied Dominican nationality, and are therefore considered transitory residents, due to their illegal and undocumented status, and the children often have to opt only for Haitian nationality.

A large number of Haitian women, often arriving with various health problems, cross the border into Dominican territory during their last weeks of pregnancy to obtain necessary medical attention for childbirth, since the Dominican public hospitals do not deny them the medical services based on nationality or legal status. Statistics from a hospital in Santo Domingo reports that more than 22% of deliveries are to Haitian mothers.

In 2005, Dominican President Leonel Fernández criticized the collective expulsions of Haitians as "abusive and inhumane. After a UN delegation issued a preliminary report indicating that it found a deep problem of racism and discrimination against people of Haitian origin, Dominican Foreign Minister Carlos Morales Troncoso issued a formal statement saying "Our border with Haiti it has its problems, this is our reality, and this must be understood. It is important not to confuse national sovereignty with indifference, and also not to confuse security with xenophobia."

After the earthquake that struck Haiti in 2010, the number of Haitians doubled to 700,000, most of them crossing illegally, after the border was opened for international aid, sparking a cholera outbreak in the country.

Due to the low wages paid, Haitians have supplanted Dominican labor through the ages. This trend has been disappearing; today in sectors of the economy such as construction, Dominican and Haitian workers receive practically the same wages.

In 2012 the Dominican government invested 10% of the health budget in Haitians. This figure increased in 2013 to reach RD$5.3 billion. In 2012 the Dominican government invested RD$762 million in education for Haitians.

Many illegal Haitians are victims of trafficking by Haitian-Dominican mafias that are dedicated to crossing them into Dominican territory, by falsifying Dominican records and documents.^{[citation required]}

The ruling of the Dominican Constitutional Court of September 23, 2013 that retroactively denies Dominican nationality to any person born after 1929 who does not have at least one parent of Dominican blood or legal residence in the country, significantly affects the illegal Haitians because they are the majority within it. Many of the illegal Haitians who start the procedures of the Regularization Plan do not have identity documents.

Emigration

The first of the three waves of emigration at the end of the XX century began in 1961, after the assassination of the dictator Trujillo, fearing reprisals from Trujillo's allies, and general political uncertainty. In 1965, the United States militarily occupied the Dominican Republic to end a civil war. Because of this, the United States lifted travel restrictions, making it easier for Dominicans to obtain United States visas. From 1966 to 1978, the exodus continued, fueled by high unemployment and political repression. Communities established by the first wave of immigrants to the United States created a network that helped future immigrants. In the 1980s, underemployment, inflation, and the rising value of the dollar contributed to a third wave of emigration from the island. However, at that time the first wave of emigrants who settled in Europe began to arrive, Spain being the main destination. Today, emigration from the Dominican Republic remains high. In 2006, there were approximately 1.3 million people of Dominican descent in the United States and over 300,000 in Puerto Rico counting both natives and immigrants.

Culture

Due to cultural syncretism, the culture and traditions of the Dominican people have a European cultural base, influenced by Taino and African elements, although endogenous elements have been integrated into the culture. Spanish institutions in colonial times were able to predominate in Dominican culture, making the acculturation and cultural assimilation of African slaves a success.

European, African, and Taino cultural elements are most prominent in food, family structure, religion, and music. Many Arawak/Taino names and words are used in everyday conversation and for many indigenous foods.

Arts

Artistic manifestations in the Dominican Republic date back to pre-colonial times with the presence of petroglyphic art and the rock cave system, whose elaboration is attributed to the Tainos. The history of the arts in the Dominican Republic is relatively young.

Some of the most widely used art techniques in the Dominican Republic are pointillism, cubism, and watercolors.

Gastronomy

Dominican cuisine is predominantly a mix between Spanish, Taíno and African. The typical cuisine is quite similar to what can be found in other Latin American countries, but many of the names of the dishes are different. A typical breakfast consists of mangú (boiled green plantain puree) and eggs, a dish that the Dominican Republic shares with Cuba and Puerto Rico. In other versions it is accompanied by fried meat (usually with Dominican salami) and/or cheese. As in Spain, lunch is the main and most important meal of the day. Lunch usually consists of rice, meat (either chicken, beef, pork, or fish), kidney beans (beans), and a serving of salad, commonly called "la bandera". Sancocho is a stew often with seven varieties of meat.

Meals tend to contain more starches and meats than dairy products and vegetables. Many dishes are made with stir-fry, which is a mixture of herbs and spices. Along the south-central coast, bulgur, or whole wheat, is a main ingredient in quipes or tipili (bulgur salad). Other favorite foods are pork rinds, cassava, casabe, pastelitos (empanadas), sweet potato, yams, sheet cake, chimichurris, tostones. In the area of desserts are the Majarete, rice pudding, the Dominican cake, beans with sweet, chacá, flan, the cold cold, dulce de leche and caña (sugar cane). Drinks include dying dreaming, rum, beer, mamajuana, batida (smoothie), natural juices, and mabí.

Music

Musically, the Dominican Republic is known for the creation of the musical style called merengue (The merengue is a dance music genre originating in the Dominican Republic at the end of the XIX). It is very popular throughout Latin America, where it is considered, along with salsa, as one of the great danceable musical genres that distinguish the Latin American genre. It is also very popular in parts of Europe, such as Spain, among other latitudes. The meringue was registered on November 30, 2016 in the representative list of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity of Unesco.

In its origins, the Dominican merengue was performed with string instruments (bandurria and/or guitar). Years later, the string instruments were replaced by the accordion, thus forming, together with the güira and the tambora, the instrumental structure of the typical merengue ensemble. This set, with its three instruments, represents the synthesis of the three cultures that made up the idiosyncrasies of Dominican culture. The European influence comes to be represented by the accordion, the African by the tambora, which is a drum with two patches, and the Taíno or aboriginal by the güira.

Although in some areas of the Dominican Republic, especially in Cibao and in the Northwest sub-region, there are still typical ensembles with similar characteristics to those pioneers, this rhythm evolved throughout the century XX. First, with the introduction of new instruments such as the saxophone and later with the appearance of orchestras with complex instrumental wind sections.

The evolution of merengue with decent lyrics to liven up one of his rumbas. From then on, it spread very quickly throughout the country. In 1875, President Ulises Francisco Espaillat (known for his writings against the merengue) began a campaign against the merengue for its dances and explicit lyrics, but it was totally useless, since the dance had already taken over the Cibao, where it became strong to such an extent. point that is associated today with this region as the cradle of merengue.

Since educated musicians established the musical form of the new merengue, popular musicians tried to imitate and follow this model, while the country man continued to play merengue in its original form. This gave rise to two forms of merengue: the folkloric or typical merengue, which is still found in the fields, and the salon merengue, typical of urban centers. In this way, it displaced some other typical dances such as the tumba, which required great physical and mental effort, while the merengue choreography, in which the man and the woman never let go, was quite simple, although little by little. Many different figures were developed for this ballroom dance with people. Today there is a large repertoire of this musical genre in which the so-called "street merengue" has stood out, as well as bachata (bachata is a danceable musical genre originating in the Dominican Republic, within what is called urban folklore, considered a derivative of the rhythmic bolero, with influences from other styles such as Cuban son and merengue).

In the execution of the traditional bachata, the bolero maracas were replaced by the güira, the virtuoso and free execution of the bongo characteristic of the Cuban son was assumed and guitars were incorporated in the style of the popular Latin American trios in Mexico, Cuba and Puerto Rico. At first, this crude way of interpretation was known as "bolerito de guitarra".

Bachata arose in the urban marginality of the bars and brothels of Santo Domingo. During the 1960s and early 1970s, scorned as music of the poorer classes, it was known as "música de bitter". This concept referred to the state of melancholy caused by heartbreak, always reflected in the theme of his compositions. Its diffusion in those years was limited to a few stations, since it was considered vulgar music. Massive interest in rhythm arose from the 1980s, with the prominence of rhythm in the media, a type of fast-paced and danceable music consisting of a tempo of around 120 to 160 beats per minute (although may vary) from musical elements such as drums, brass, string instruments, and accordion, as well as some elements unique to the Spanish-speaking Caribbean, such as the tambora and the güira. His syncopated rhythms use Latin percussion, woodwinds, bass, and piano or keyboard. Between 1937 and 1970 the merengue made itself felt within the Dominican Republic by groups such as Billo's Caracas Boys, Chapuseaux and Damirón "Los Reyes del Merengue", Joseíto Mateo, Johnny Ventura, among others. In the early 1980s, merengue took a more sentimental turn, including more romantic compositions in its lyrics and melodies. This type of softer merengue (but it was still danceable) counts as main performers with Fernando Villalona, Eddy Herrera, Sergio Vargas, Toño Rosario, Milly Quezada, among others. Merengue became popular in the United States, especially on the East Coast, during the 1980s and 1990s, when many Dominican artists, including Wilfrido Vargas, Víctor Roque y La Gran Manzana, Henry Hierro, Juan Luis Guerra, among others decided to internationalize it. At the end of the 80s, a type of merengue emerged that made reference to the Dominican idiosyncrasy led by Pochy Familia & Su Coco Band and Kinito Mendez & The Rokaband. The typical merengue, another subgenre of merengue that is very popular regionally within the main provinces of the country, especially in Santiago; Its main exponents are Tatico Henríquez, Fefita La Grande, Francisco Ulloa, El Ciego de Nagua, among others. A variation of merengue called "merengue de mambo" or "street merengue" It emerged in the mid-90s. After a few years of dormancy, this merengue subgenre resurfaced in early 2007.

Bachata, a form of music and dance that originated in the fields and rural areas of the Dominican Republic, has become very popular in recent years. His themes are usually romantic, commonly called bitter, especially with lyrics of anguish and sadness. The bachata was born and is still closely related to the bolero. This musical rhythm has managed to become international thanks to the artists who started in this rhythm, as well as the new generation that has brought this music to international markets, among the pioneering and new generation bachata singers are: Luis Segura, José Manuel Calderón, Teodoro Reyes, Luis Vargas, Antony Santos, Raulín Rodríguez, Frank Reyes, Zacarias Ferreira, Romeo Santos, Prince Royce In recent times, this rhythm has gained space among the most important Latin music awards and the Anglo-Saxon market.

Salsa has also had a certain boom in the country, beginning in the 1960s with the contributions of veteran musician and producer Johnny Pacheco, who created the legendary Fania All-Stars orchestra. Salsa continued to be heard in the Dominican Republic by performers such as José Alberto "El Canario" during the 80s and Raulín Rosendo during the 90s. At the beginning of the XXI century, new exponents of the so-called «Dominican salsa» emerged.

Rock is also popular in the country. This genre had its greatest splendor in the 90s with exponents such as Luis Días, Toque Profundo, Aljadaqui, among others.

Rap has been growing in popularity in recent years. The influence of rap began at the end of the 70s with the arrival of the musical theme that became a worldwide hit "Rapper's Delight" by the group The Sugarhill Gang and this would become the first Dominican rap and in turn the first rap song recorded in Spanish, titled "Come here" by Dominican arranger Jorge Taveras and performed by comedians Freddy Beras-Goico and Felipe Polanco in 1979. A more urban rap known as "Rap del patio" originated in the mid-1990s but rose to popularity in the early 2000s. Urban artist Maloko mixed rap and rock in the 2020s. Among Christian music and rap, the following stand out: rapper Redimi2, Grupo Barak, Tercer Cielo, Lilly Goodman, Nancy Amancio, Isabel Valdez, Sarah La Profeta, Yamilka, Ingrid Rosario (Dominican-Colombian), Grupo Kabed, Marcos Yaroide, Preston López, Christopher Henry (2017 Soberano Award) These and many more singers and composers of Christian music in the country have become international and are heard on the main Christian stations in the Dominican Republic.

Cinema

The Dominican cinema is a cinematographic industry that has recently taken off, although in the Caribbean country the history of cinema begins with the first cinematographic projection at the Curiel theater in Puerto Plata in August 1900.

In 1915, José de Diego's Excursion to Santo Domingo was produced by Puerto Rican photographer Rafael Colorado, which is considered the first film shot in Dominican territory, although it is not considered the first. first purely Dominican. It was not until 1922 when the filming of the documentary "La Leyenda de la Virgen de La Altagracia" was recorded, which is considered the first clearly Dominican film made by Francisco Arturo Palau.

Among the most outstanding films made in the Dominican Republic we can mention A One Way Passage (1988), by Agliberto Meléndez, Nueba Yol: Por Balbuena has finally arrived! (1995), starring comedian Luisito Martí, directed by renowned director Ángel Muñiz, Four men and a coffin (1996) by Pericles Mejía, Perico Ripiao (2003), Andrea (2005), Sanky Panky (2007), The Natural Daughter of Leticia Tonos, Ana's Struggle, by Bladimir Abud, Veneno, by Tabaré Blanchard (2018).

The Dominican filmmaker Jean-Louis Jorge also stands out, who in 1976 was chosen by the Cannes Film Festival in the "Critics Week" for his feature film Melodrama.

In the country there is the Dominican Association of Film Industry Professionals or ADOCINE, which is a Dominican organization created to promote the film industry. This association is in charge of producing the La Silla Awards.

Sports

Baseball is the national sport in the Dominican Republic, apart from being the one that has given the people of Quisqueyan the most satisfaction. The country has a six-team baseball league. The season usually begins in October and ends in January. The winning team of the National Baseball Championship acquires the right to represent the country in the so-called "Little World Series", the Caribbean Series, an event in which the country has won the most times, with 22 crowns. After the United States, the Dominican Republic is the second country with the most major league baseball players. Ozzie Virgil, became the first Dominican to play in the Major Leagues in 1956. Then, in 1958, Felipe Alou became in the second and from there, more than 700 quisqueyanos have stepped on the diamond. Some other notable players born in the Dominican Republic are: Julián Javier, Ricardo Carty, Manny Ramírez, Robinson Canó, Albert Pujols, Adrián Beltré, and Sammy Sosa. Juan Marichal, Pedro Martínez, Vladimir Guerrero and David Ortiz, are the only Dominican members of the Hall of Fame; Marichal was exalted in 1983, Martínez in 2015, Guerrero in 2018 and Ortiz in 2022. The country is the former champion of the World Baseball Classic held in 2013, considered the biggest World Cup event in this sport.

In athletics, the Olympic champion Félix Sánchez, although born in New York, has Dominican sports nationality. He gave the Dominican Republic its first Olympic gold medal, since it began its participation in the Olympics in 1962 with a symbolic delegation made up of only one person.

In boxing, the country has produced dozens of top-level fighters and several world champions. Basketball also enjoys a relatively high level of popularity. Al Horford, Felipe López, Charlie Villanueva, Francisco García and Karl-Anthony Towns are among the players of Dominican origin who have made it to the NBA.

Soccer is a growing sport in the Dominican Republic, which has been reflected with the creation of the first Dominican Professional Soccer League, which began on March 8, 2015 with the participation of ten teams, prior to the start of this campaign, there was already a League in the country in which the Moca FC team achieved total leadership with 13 titles, thus becoming the Capital of Dominican Soccer. The governing body of soccer in the Dominican Republic is the Dominican Soccer Federation; the best known teams in the league are: Moca FC, Cibao FC, Club Atlético Pantoja and Atlántico FC

American football controlled by the Dominican American Football League.

Volleyball, which was introduced in 1916 by the United States Marines, is, along with baseball, one of the sports that stands out the most in terms of success for the country, especially the women's team.

Other sports that are included in the preference of Dominicans are Taekwondo, with the Olympic silver medalist in Beijing 2008, Gabriel Mercedes; and judo. Artistic gymnastics has also recently become known as a sport with the arrival of Yamilet Peña on the Olympic stages.

Economy

Historical developments in per capita GDP in the Dominican Republic and Haiti

A proportional representation of exports from the Dominican Republic.

The Dominican Republic has the largest economy in Central America and the Caribbean. With a GDP (PPP) per capita of 7,116 dollars (2018), which places it in 100th place among 182 nations for which data is available at the regard. It has enjoyed strong economic growth in recent years, averaging 5.3 percent per year between 2000 and 2018, one of the fastest rates in the Latin American and Caribbean (LAC) region, but government corruption has not has managed to reduce the level of poverty of Dominicans. Between 2014 and 2018, the pace accelerated to an average of 6.3 percent per year and 7 percent in 2018, driven by strong domestic demand. In that five-year period, it was the fastest growing economy in Latin America and the Caribbean, driven mainly by tourism and remittances, a performance that has been shown under a low inflation scenario.

The Dominican Republic depends mainly on tourism, domestic consumption and free zones. The service sector has recently overtaken agriculture as the main employer (mainly due to growth in tourism and free zones), agriculture remains the most important sector in terms of domestic consumption and is in second place, behind the mining, in terms of export earnings. The service sector in general has experienced growth in recent years, such as construction. Free Trade Zones and tourism are the fastest growing export sectors. Real estate tourism represented $1.5 billion in earnings for 2007. Remittances from Dominicans living abroad amounted to almost $3.2 billion in 2007.

According to the government, the monetary poverty rate in 2019 stood at 22%.

Among the cities with the lowest poverty rate are Santo Domingo, Santiago and La Vega.

According to the 2005 National Human Development Report of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), the country ranks #71 in the world for resource availability, #79 for human development, and #14 in the world for resource mismanagement. These statistics emphasize government corruption, foreign interference in the country's economy, and the gap between rich and poor. However, the exclusive nature of the economic model that has been imposed has not reversed this growth in the welfare of the population.

Currency

The national currency of the Dominican Republic is the Dominican peso. Its symbol is RD$ and it is divided into one hundred equal parts called cents. In accordance with the country's Constitution, the issuance of the national currency is the responsibility of a single and autonomous issuing entity, the Central Bank of the Dominican Republic, whose capital corresponds exclusively to the Dominican State. Although the US dollar (USD) and the euro (EUR) are also accepted in the most touristic places, the US dollar is involved in almost all commercial transactions in the Dominican Republic. The exchange rate in 1993 was 14 pesos per dollar and 16 pesos in 2000, but it increased to 53 pesos per dollar in 2003. In 2004, the exchange rate dropped again to 31 pesos per dollar. In February 2009, the exchange rate was around 35.65 pesos per dollar. Until 2011, the rate remained around 38.55 pesos per dollar. Until 2013 the price of the dollar was 42'32 Dominican pesos for purchase and 42'57 for sale.^{[citation required]}. As of September 15, 2017, the US dollar was quoted at 47'64 Dominican pesos for purchase and 47'72 for sale, according to data from the Central Bank of the Dominican Republic, in October 2020, the rate The exchange rate was about 57'63 for the purchase and 58'50 Dominican pesos for the sale equivalent to 1 US$, this being the point highest dollar per peso to date.

Exports and imports

Exports to		Imports
Country	Percentage	Country	Percentage
United States	48.6 %	United States	42.3%
SwitzerlandSwitzerland	11.1%	ChinaChina	17.5 %
HaitiHaiti	6.83%	Mexico Mexico	3.61 %
CanadaCanada	4.34 %	SpainSpain	3.52 %
NetherlandsNetherlands	3.82 %	BrazilBrazil	2.78 %
Other	25.31 %	Other	30.29 %

Graphic representation of the country's export products in 28 color-coded categories.

The Dominican economy is particularly dependent on capital flows from the United States, representing this the first item of commercial exchange (87.5% in exports towards 2000, and close to 61% in imports). With the signing of DR-CAFTA, both indices are expected to increase even more (98% in exports and close to 75% in imports), thus expressing a figure of approximately 32 million dollars.

The House of Representatives of the United States Congress approved DR-CAFTA on July 28, 2005, which was then signed by the President of the United States on August 2, 2005. This agreement has generated divided opinions among the population with regarding whether it will benefit or harm local producers and the population in general.

Tourism

Punta Cana Beach.

The Dominican Republic has numerous places of tourist interest that are visited by millions of tourists a year from the United States, Canada, Europe, Latin America and other parts of the world.

The Dominican Republic has become a major tourist attraction in recent decades, preferred by celebrities, athletes and travelers; for its exuberant beauty, paradise environment due to its tropical climate, its location, the hospitality of its people, among other things. Among its main tourist areas are Puerto Plata, Punta Cana, Bávaro, Uvero Alto, Bayahíbe, La Romana, Sosúa, Cabarete, Nagua, Río San Juan, Las Terrenas, Samaná, Santiago de los Caballeros, Santo Domingo, Juan Dolio, Boca Chica, Jarabacoa, Constanza, Bahía de las Águilas (Pedernales) and Barahona.

It has 1,600 kilometers of coastline and 400 kilometers of beaches, mountains, rivers, lagoons and a lake; with interesting tourist projects Casa de Campo, Cap Cana, Puerto Sans Souci in Santo Domingo, and Hard Rock Hotel in Punta Cana. It is the number one golf destination in the Caribbean and Latin America with twenty-five renowned golf courses designers.

Ecotourism is also very active in the country, its national parks and scientific reserves represent 25% of the national territory, this facilitates the exploration of caves, bird watching, humpback whales, hiking, safaris, zip-line practice or canopy, rafting and tubing, it has beautiful destinations such as the Baní Dunes, the island of Cayo Levantado, the Salto del Limón, Lake Enriquillo, the Puerto Silver, and many more just as incredible. It also has cities such as Jarabacoa and Constanza, the highest sea level in the Caribbean region, the first houses Pico Duarte, the highest point in the Antilles, and between the provinces Independencia and Bahoruco is the lowest point located in the Lake Enriquillo.

For the protection of tourists visiting the country, it has the Specialized Tourist Security Corps (CESTUR), a dependency of the Ministry of Defense. Its objective is to execute the security measures planned by the Ministry of Tourism.

The Dominican Republic has 537 hotels and 75,030 rooms available as of December 2016. It holds the fourth position as the country with the most tourist arrivals in Latin America. The number of foreign visitors by air for 2001 doubled compared to 1994. The arrival of tourists by air has increased gradually, in 2013 it reached 5,163,682. In 2015, the Dominican Republic entered the figure of 5.5 million tourists, in 2016 it increased to 5.9 million and in 2017 it is expected that the number of tourists will exceed 6 million. The current government has a proposal to increase the number of tourists to 10 million in 2022.

Mining and hydrocarbons

The Dominican Republic currently has the Pueblo Viejo gold and silver mine, which is the 4th largest gold mine in the world and the largest in Latin America and the Caribbean, located in the Sánchez Ramírez Province. Considered a world-class mine, Pueblo Viejo in 2017 had reached the production of some 4,179,417 ounces of gold, also achieving the production of some 12,334,405 ounces of silver.

The Dominican Republic signed its first contract in 2020 for the exploitation of an oil block (SP2) in the city of San Pedro de Macorís at the hands of the American company Apache Corporation, which will carry out the exploration and oil exploitation in this sector. The SP2 block of San Pedro de Macorís is located on its coast, to the south of the city. It has a given area of 2,535 square kilometers, and oil and gas reserves lie at a depth of 800 to 1,000 meters. It is expected that from this contract the country will obtain 40% of the benefits of exploitation, it also contemplates that 15% of the crude oil and gas extracted is sold in the Dominican Republic and the remaining 85% abroad.

Infrastructures

The Dominican Republic has five main highways, which take travelers to all major cities in the country. Among the three main highways are RD-1, RD-2 and RD-3, which connect to the north, southwest and east of the country, respectively. There is a new highway, the 106-kilometer Santo Domingo-Samaná highway that connects Santo Domingo with the Samaná peninsula. All the interconnection routes of the small cities of the country are many unpaved, especially in the fields.

Roads: The State, aware that the development of the tourism industry is impossible without good access roads, considers the construction of highways, both regional and interregional, to connect the tourist areas with the closest urban centers and service areas as a priority.

Ports: In order for the country to benefit from the tourist activity generated by maritime cruises, the State has built tourist ports and has enabled areas within the existing ones. In addition, it has allowed private investment, such as the Carnival Cruise Lines Amber Cove cruise terminal in Puerto Plata. In the same way, it has authorized tourist boats to dock in places previously not allowed, as is the case of Catalina Island.

Airports: The work of the State has been oriented towards the construction of international airports, such as those of Puerto Plata and Barahona; as well as the granting of an international function to existing national airports.

For the construction of the new airports, the State has resorted to the declaration of public interest of certain parcels.

Such is the case of the Barahona airport, which by Decree 649 of 1986 was built on land declared of public utility.

The Malecón Avenue in Santo Domingo.

The Dominican Republic currently has 8 international airports, 2 in its main city (Santo Domingo)

Las Américas International Airport, La Isabela International Airport. The others are in Santiago de los Caballeros, Punta Cana, Samaná, Puerto Plata, Barahona and La Romana.

Public Services: In the elaboration of the regulatory plans of the tourist poles, electrical works, sewerage, aqueducts and other public services that will be carried out by the public sector are also indicated.

Transportation

Santo Domingo Metro.

Metro.

First line and second line.

Almost all internal transportation is done by road. There are no railways in the Dominican Republic, except those used by the sugar mills to bring the sugar cane to the milling places, although there is a project for the construction of a passenger railway line between Santo Domingo and Santiago de los Caballeros.. In urban passenger transport, in addition to buses of various sizes, in the main cities there are carros de concho or public cars, which are cars that travel along specific routes but stop at any point of those routes to drop off and pick up passengers.

In the Dominican Republic, cargo transportation within the country is carried out by trucks of all sizes through highways scattered throughout the national territory. Foreign trade is carried out by means of maritime transport (the main one) and also by air, except for Haiti, where land transport is used due to the proximity that exists between both nations.

Although there are several international ports in the country, the main one is the Port of Haina, near Santo Domingo, at the mouth of the Haina River, in the province of San Cristóbal.

For air cargo transportation, the country's international airports are used. The main ones, in terms of cargo transportation, are the Las Américas International Airport, near Santo Domingo, and the Cibao International Airport, near the city of Santiago de los Caballeros.

Practically all urban passenger transport in the country is done by buses, called guaguas or "voladoras" (same as in the Canary Islands, Cuba and Puerto Rico). In some poor communities, cars and trucks are used instead of buses. Throughout the country, especially in rural areas, there are motorcycles (popularly called motoconchos), which transport between one and three passengers over a relatively short distance. There are also places where neither buses nor "conchos" normally pass.

In the country there is no national transportation by sea, except to cross the Bay of Samaná, between Samaná and Sabana de la Mar.

In large cities, there are also taxis similar to those in other countries but without a meter, so they charge a fee determined by the company or by agreement with the passenger, depending on distance and time.

There are two transportation services in the Dominican Republic: one controlled by the government, through the Technical Office of Land Transit (OTTT) and the Metropolitan Bus Services Office (OMSA), and the other controlled by private businessmen (unionists), these are grouped into federations, among them, the National Federation of Transport La Nueva Opción (Fenatrano), the National Confederation of Transport (CONATRA) and the National Center of Unified Transporters (CNTU). The government transportation system covers the large metropolitan areas, such as Santo Domingo and Santiago de los Caballeros.

On February 27, 2008, President Leonel Fernández carried out the official test of the Santo Domingo Metro for the first time and made it available free of charge for a limited time. In 2013 the second line of the same was inaugurated, in 2018 line 2b was inaugurated, which is constituted as an extension of line 2 of the Metro, Line 2B gives access to 300,000 people in Santo Domingo Este to the Metro and the Santo Domingo cable car, has a length of 3.6 km. Including a 645 m railway bridge, the cable-stayed bridge is one of the largest of its kind in the world and was built entirely by Dominicans. Commercial subway service began on January 30, 2009 with its first route from the Villa Mella community to Los Héroes Center, south of Santo Domingo. The Metro, which is the mass transit system with the highest capacity, is the first in the country, and the second in the Caribbean and Central America, after San Juan, Puerto Rico. On June 1, 2018, the Santo Domingo Cable Car was inaugurated, this being a 5-kilometer route and 4 stations connected to the Santo Domingo Metro.

Currently, the institution in charge of land transportation in the Dominican Republic is the National Institute of Transit and Land Transportation (INTRANT) which was created by the Law on Traffic, Transportation, and Road Safety number 63-17.

Telecommunications

The Dominican Republic has a developed telecommunications infrastructure but with slow connections and continuous interruptions. It has extensive networks of mobile (cellular) telephones and fixed line services. Cable Internet and DSL are available in most parts of the country, and many Internet Service Providers offer EDGE, 3G, HSPA+ & LTE (commonly known as 4G-LTE). Speeds range from 1Mbps/256 Kbps up to 100Mbps/10Mbps for residential service but there are speeds up to 200Mbps/20Mbps which is exclusive to Altice the second largest telecommunications company. There is a project called (Digital Republic) to expand the Free Wi-Fi hotspots in the Country. Commercial broadcasters, radio and television stations are in the process of transferring to the digital spectrum, through HD Radio and HDTV. The telecommunications regulator in the country is the Dominican Telecommunications Institute (INDOTEL).

The largest telephone company is Claro Codetel, which is a provider of wireless services, fixed telephony, broadband, IPTV. All services are part of América Móvil owned by Carlos Slim.

In the country there is a direct dialing service within it, dialing the area codes 809, 829 and 849.

A report by Indotel revealed that as of June 5, 2009, there were already more than 8 million telephone line subscribers (fixed line and cellular users) in the country, representing 81% of the country's population. country, for which there was a five-fold increase since 2000, when there were only 1.6 million. The communications sector generates around 3.0% of GDP. Indotel reported that there were 6,807,831 prepaid and just under one million (994,027) traditional payment (under contract) in cellular service. For landlines (not cellular) it issued a report of 678,901 residential lines and 266,341 for business lines. For public telephones the report showed 13,639. As of the second quarter of 2008, there are no more analog lines in the services for local providers. Indotel also reported a growth of 2,439,997 Internet users in the country by the end of March 2009.

Mobile telephony benefits 55% of the population (5.8 million people) with an annual growth of 27.1% (2006). This high number is partly due to the fact that people with low purchasing power have been able to access prepaid and postpaid plans in recent years.

In November 2009, the Dominican Republic became the first country in Latin America to commit to including a "gender perspective" in all information and communication technologies (ICT).

The postal service, which covers the entire country, is of mixed ownership (private and state). The main exponent of the sector is the official Dominican Postal Institute (INPOSDOM).

The press plays an important role in the development of Dominican communication. There are more than 100 television stations in the country and approximately 50 local channels, although the best known are: Tele Antillas, CERTV, which is currently the official channel of the Dominican state together with Quisqueya fm, Telemicro, Antena Latina, Color Visión, Telesistema 11, Telecentro, RNN channel 27, CDN channel 37, Teleamerica channel 45 and Mango TV, the latter a video clip. In the radio the country has had a great advance due to the free expression of the communicators.

Technologies

In 1995, the Internet service was commercially introduced in the Dominican Republic. According to official figures from the National Statistics Office (ONE) and the Dominican Telecommunications Institute (Indotel), the Dominican Republic has 67.6% internet penetration. Above the average in Latin America, which is 64% and the world average is 45%.

In recent years, the Dominican Republic has made progress in the aforementioned areas with the incorporation of ICTs and the implementation of development actions and initiatives, in harmony with what is incorporated in the National Development Strategy (END) and the best international practices in the matter.

With the objective of promoting competitiveness and stimulating sustained growth in the Information and Communication Technologies sector, the Dominican Chamber of Information and Communication Technologies, Inc. (known as TIC CHAMBER) was created. in April 2010.

The Dominican Republic has managed to incorporate more than a third of the population to the Internet connection, and in early 2014 the first successful robotic surgery was performed by Dominican doctors at the Hospital Metropolitano de Santiago (HOMS), which in that particular case was gallbladder. The use of robots marks a milestone in the history of Dominican medicine, which places it at the level of developed countries, thanks to the use of the ultramodern Da Vinci Si system.

In 2016, the Dominican Executive Branch issued Decree 258-16 creating the "Digital Republic" which includes a set of policies and actions to promote the inclusion of information and communication technologies in productive, educational, governmental and service processes for Dominican citizens. This program contemplates four fundamental components, which are education, access, productivity and employment, open digital government, as well as two transversal axes; security and social inclusion.

The Program of the Sustainable Human Development Unit for the United Nations (UNDP) highlighted the advances that Dominican society has experienced, where it still has a challenge in digital inclusion, since the digital divide is 30% of the This gap is one of the reasons why the country's innovation levels score 29.33 out of 100 in innovation, ranked 87 out of 126 countries, according to the 2018 Global Innovation Index.

Of the 5 million smartphones connected to mobile data in the Dominican Republic, four million are connected via 3G (1 Mbps on average), one million people who are connected via 4G LTE (approximately 10 Mbps), according to the GSMA. In the case of the Dominican Republic, 2G, 3G and 4G LTE networks still work simultaneously.

The protection of citizen data is one of the cross-cutting issues that is generating the most attention in the country, the example is found in the recent foundation in May 2018 of the Dominican Association of Fintech Companies – companies in the financial sector that use emerging technologies for their operations – this association has more than 17 active members.

For the same year, in terms of electronic commerce, it was reported that 5 percent of Dominicans who connect to the Internet bought online. This data was validated by the Central Bank and is similar to values presented by the UIT that it was located in 4 percent of Dominican users.

Electricity

The electricity sector in the Dominican Republic has traditionally been a bottleneck to the country's economic growth. A prolonged electrical crisis and blackouts and ineffective remedial measures have led to a vicious cycle of regular blackouts, high operating costs for distribution companies, large losses (including theft of electricity through illegal connections), high retail rates 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, since many depend on very expensive self-generated alternative electricity. According to the World Bank, the revitalization of the Dominican economy depends to a large extent on a major reform of the sector. The main electricity distribution companies are EdeNorte, EdeSur and EdeEste.

The Punta Catalina Thermoelectric Power Plant began operating in 2020 at full capacity, since currently only the first unit works continuously, since the second is in the test phase. It is expected to represent between 30% and 35% of the energy generated in the National Interconnected System (SENI), with the two units it would represent around 750 gross megawatts.

The Punta Catalina Thermoelectric Power Plant is made up of two 376 MW gross power generation units each, for a total of 752 gross MW, located in the Municipal District of Catalina, Baní, Peravia Province, in the Dominican Republic. The plant will generate energy from the clean burning of pulverized mineral coal, and together with this the project includes all the support facilities such as: the installation of a coal dock with a maximum capacity of 80,000 tons, unloading and storage systems for fully enclosed coal, ash deposit, central warehouse for spare parts, water production plant, wastewater treatment plant and 345 kV electrical substation 138 kV the corresponding transmission lines to connect the generated energy to the National Interconnected Electric System (SENI).

The Dominican Republic is currently carrying out an Electrical Network Rehabilitation Program that seeks to modernize the electrical distribution network, reduce losses, and make the electrical service more efficient.

National tree, flower, and bird, native dog breed

Caoba National Tree.

Flor Nacional Pereskia Quisqueyana o «rosa» de Bayahíbe.

Cigüa Palmera National Bird.

• Caoba is the national tree of the country and the rose of Bayahíbe is the national flower, declared on July 12, 2011.
• The cigua palm is the country's national bird.

The native dog breed of the Dominican Republic is the Dominican Boyero, which initially began as a cattle herder, until the '60s, when it began to be part of Dominican homes.

National holidays

Notes:

• Non-working holidays are always unmovable.
• If a movable holiday falls on Saturday, Sunday or Monday, it is commemorated on that date. If Tuesday or Wednesday falls: it is commemorated on the previous Monday. If Thursday or Friday falls: the following Monday is commemorated.