The Taino - indigenous inhabitants of Hispaniola prior to the arrival of the Europeans - divided the island into five chiefdoms and territories. Christopher COLUMBUS explored and claimed the island on his first voyage in 1492; it became a springboard for Spanish conquest of the Caribbean and the American mainland. In 1697, Spain recognized French dominion over the western third of the island, which in 1804 became Haiti. The remainder of the island, by then known as Santo Domingo, sought to gain its own independence in 1821 but was conquered and ruled by the Haitians for 22 years; it finally attained independence as the Dominican Republic in 1844. In 1861, the Dominicans voluntarily returned to the Spanish Empire, but two years later they launched a war that restored independence in 1865. A legacy of unsettled, mostly non-representative rule followed, capped by the dictatorship of Rafael Leonidas TRUJILLO from 1930 to 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, Joaquin BALAGUER defeated BOSCH in an election to become president. BALAGUER maintained a tight grip on power for most of the next 30 years when international reaction to flawed elections forced him to curtail his term in 1996. Since then, regular competitive elections have been held in which opposition candidates have won the presidency. Former President Leonel FERNANDEZ Reyna (first term 1996-2000) won election to a new term in 2004 following a constitutional amendment allowing presidents to serve more than one term, and was since reelected to a second consecutive term.

Caribbean, eastern two-thirds of the island of Hispaniola, between the Caribbean Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean, east of Haiti

slightly more than twice the size of New Hampshire

measured from claimed archipelagic straight baselines

tropical maritime; little seasonal temperature variation; seasonal variation in rainfall

rugged highlands and mountains with fertile valleys interspersed

nickel, bauxite, gold, silver

lies in the middle of the hurricane belt and subject to severe storms from June to October; occasional flooding; periodic droughts

water shortages; soil eroding into the sea damages coral reefs; deforestation

shares island of Hispaniola with Haiti

mixed 73%, white 16%, black 11%

Roman Catholic 95%, other 5%

10,088,598 (July 2012 est.)

19.44 births/1,000 population (2012 est.)

4.41 deaths/1,000 population (July 2012 est.)

-1.98 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2012 est.)

SANTO DOMINGO (capital) 2.138 million (2009)

150 deaths/100,000 live births (2010)

2.41 children born/woman (2012 est.)

1 beds/1,000 population (2009)

urban: 87% of population

rural: 74% of population

total: 83% of population

urban: 13% of population

rural: 26% of population

total: 17% of population

31 provinces (provincias, singular - provincia) and 1 district* (distrito); Azua, Bahoruco, Barahona, Dajabon, Distrito Nacional*, Duarte, El Seibo, Elias Pina, Espaillat, Hato Mayor, Independencia, La Altagracia, La Romana, La Vega, Maria Trinidad Sanchez, Monsenor Nouel, Monte Cristi, Monte Plata, Pedernales, Peravia, Puerto Plata, Salcedo, Samana, San Cristobal, San Jose de Ocoa, San Juan, San Pedro de Macoris, Sanchez Ramirez, Santiago, Santiago Rodriguez, Santo Domingo, Valverde

27 February 1844 (from Haiti)

Independence Day, 27 February (1844)

28 November 1966; amended 25 July 2002 and January 2010

civil law system based on the French civil code; Criminal Procedures Code modified in 2004 to include important elements of an accusatory system

accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction; accepts ICCt jurisdiction

18 years of age, universal and compulsory; married persons regardless of age can vote; note - members of the armed forces and national police cannot vote by law

bicameral National Congress or Congreso Nacional consists of the Senate or Senado (32 seats; members elected by popular vote to serve four-year terms) and the House of Representatives or Camara de Diputados (183 seats; members are elected by popular vote to serve four-year terms)

Supreme Court or Corte Suprema (judges are appointed by the National Judicial Council comprised of the president, the leaders of both chambers of congress, the president of the Supreme Court, and an additional non-governing party congressional representative)

Dominican Liberation Party or PLD [Leonel FERNANDEZ Reyna]; Dominican Revolutionary Party or PRD [Miguel VARGAS Maldonado]; National Progressive Front [Vinicio CASTILLO, Pelegrin CASTILLO]; Social Christian Reformist Party or PRSC [Carlos MORALES Troncoso]

Citizen Participation Group (Participacion Ciudadania); Collective of Popular Organizations or COP; Foundation for Institution-Building and Justice or FINJUS

ACP, AOSIS, BCIE, Caricom (observer), CD, CELAC, FAO, G-77, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC (national committees), ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO (correspondent), ITSO, ITU, ITUC (NGOs), LAES, LAIA (observer), MIGA, NAM, OAS, OIF (observer), OPANAL, OPCW, PCA, Petrocaribe, SICA (associated member), UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, Union Latina, UNWTO, UPU, WCO, WFTU (NGOs), WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO

a centered white cross that extends to the edges divides the flag into four rectangles - the top ones are blue (hoist side) and red, and the bottom ones are red (hoist side) and blue; a small coat of arms featuring a shield supported by a laurel branch (left) and a palm branch (right) is at the center of the cross; above the shield a blue ribbon displays the motto, DIOS, PATRIA, LIBERTAD (God, Fatherland, Liberty), and below the shield, REPUBLICA DOMINICANA appears on a red ribbon; in the shield a bible is opened to a verse that reads "Y la verdad nos hara libre" (And the truth shall set you free); blue stands for liberty, white for salvation, and red for the blood of heroes

The Dominican Republic has long been viewed primarily as an exporter of sugar, coffee, and tobacco, but in recent years the service sector has overtaken agriculture as the economy's largest employer, due to growth in telecommunications, tourism, and free trade zones. The economy is highly dependent upon the US, the destination for more than half of exports. Remittances from the US amount to about a 10th of GDP, equivalent to almost half of exports and three-quarters of tourism receipts. The country suffers from marked income inequality; the poorest half of the population receives less than one-fifth of GDP, while the richest 10% enjoys nearly 40% of GDP. High unemployment and underemployment remains an important long-term challenge. The Central America-Dominican Republic Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA-DR) came into force in March 2007, boosting investment and exports and reducing losses to the Asian garment industry. The growth of the Dominican Republic's economy rebounded from the global recession in 2010-12 and remains one of the fastest growing in the region although its fiscal situation is weak; the fiscal deficit climbed from 2.6% in 2011 to approximately 8% in 2012.

$98.74 billion (2012 est.)

$94.9 billion (2011 est.)

$90.83 billion (2010 est.)

$59.13 billion (2012 est.)

4.806 million (2012 est.)

16.4% of GDP (2012 est.)

14.1% of GDP (2012 est.)

-8% of GDP (2012 est.)

40% of GDP (2012 est.)

38.6% of GDP (2011 est.)

15.9% (31 December 2012 est.)

15.55% (31 December 2011 est.)

$4.895 billion (31 December 2012 est.)

$4.409 billion (31 December 2011 est.)

$17.85 billion (31 December 2012 est.)

$16.38 billion (31 December 2011 est.)

$22.68 billion (31 December 2012 est.)

$21.23 billion (31 December 2011 est.)

sugarcane, coffee, cotton, cocoa, tobacco, rice, beans, potatoes, corn, bananas; cattle, pigs, dairy products, beef, eggs

-$4.254 billion (2012 est.)

-$4.521 billion (2011 est.)

$9.467 billion (2012 est.)

$8.536 billion (2011 est.)

ferronickel, sugar, gold, silver, coffee, cocoa, tobacco, meats, consumer goods

US 48.8%, Haiti 16.7% (2011)

$18.2 billion (2012 est.)

$17.42 billion (2011 est.)

foodstuffs, petroleum, cotton and fabrics, chemicals and pharmaceuticals

US 43.6%, Venezuela 7.2%, Mexico 5.8%, China 5.7% (2011)

$4.317 billion (31 December 2012 est.)

$4.117 billion (31 December 2011 est.)

$16.58 billion (31 December 2012 est.)

$14.86 billion (31 December 2011 est.)

$24.18 billion (31 December 2012 est.)

$21.38 billion (31 December 2011 est.)

$59 million (31 December 2012 est.)

$59 million (31 December 2011 est.)

Dominican pesos (DOP) per US dollar -

12.3 billion kWh (2010 est.)

9.881 billion kWh (2009 est.)

2.973 million kW (2009 est.)

83% of total installed capacity (2009 est.)

0% of total installed capacity (2009 est.)

16.6% of total installed capacity (2009 est.)

0.3% of total installed capacity (2009 est.)

0 bbl/day (2011 est.)

0 bbl/day (2009 est.)

26,150 bbl/day (2009 est.)

0 bbl (1 January 2012 est.)

33,800 bbl/day (2008 est.)

122,300 bbl/day (2011 est.)

0 bbl/day (2008 est.)

88,480 bbl/day (2008 est.)

820 million cu m (2010 est.)

0 cu m (1 January 2012 est.)

19.6 million Mt (2010 est.)

1.044 million (2011)

combination of state-owned and privately-owned broadcast media; 1 state-owned TV network and a number of private TV networks; networks operate repeaters to extend signals throughout country; combination of state-owned and privately-owned radio stations with more than 300 radio stations operating (2007)

2.701 million (2009)

Puerto Haina, Puerto Plata, Santo Domingo

Army, Navy (Marina de Guerra, includes naval infantry), Air Force (Fuerza Aerea Dominicana, FAD) (2011)

16-21 years of age for compulsory military service; recruits must be Dominican Republic citizens; women may volunteer (2010)

Haitian migrants cross the porous border into the Dominican Republic to find work; illegal migrants from the Dominican Republic cross the Mona Passage each year to Puerto Rico to find better work

transshipment point for South American drugs destined for the US and Europe; has become a transshipment point for ecstasy from the Netherlands and Belgium destined for US and Canada; substantial money laundering activity in particular by Colombian narcotics traffickers; significant amphetamine consumption (2008)