Dominican Republic

Santo Domingo
Climate diagram
	Temperature in ° C , precipitation in mm
	Source: wetterkontor.de

	República Dominicana
	Dominican Republic
flag	coat of arms
	Motto : Dios, patria, libertad; (Spanish for God, Fatherland, Freedom )
Official language	Spanish
capital city	Santo Domingo
State and form of government	presidential republic
Head of state , also head of government	President Luis Abinader
surface	48,730 km²
population	10.7 million ( 83rd ) (2019; estimate)
Population density	220 inhabitants per km²
Population development	+ 1.0% (estimate for 2019)
gross domestic product Total (nominal); Total ( PPP ); GDP / inh. (nom.); GDP / inh. (KKP);	2019 (estimate) $ 89 billion ( 67th ) ; $ 206 billion ( 67. ) ; 8,596 USD ( 79. ) ; 19,898 USD ( 72. ) ;
Human Development Index	0.756 ( 88th ) (2019)
currency	Dominican Peso (DOP)
independence	February 27, 1844 (from Haiti ) ; March 3, 1865 (from Spain )
National anthem	Quisqueyanos valientes
National holiday	February 27th and August 16th
Time zone	UTC − 4
License Plate	DOM
ISO 3166	DO , DOM, 214
Internet TLD	.do
Phone code	+1 (809), +1 (829) and +1 (849) see NANP

The Dominican Republic ( Spanish República Dominicana ) is a on the island of Hispaniola of the Greater Antilles between the Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean situated island nation . It covers the east and the center of the island, the western third belongs to the state of Haiti .

The nationals are called Dominicans in German. The Dominican Republic should not be confused with the island of Dominica , which belongs to the Lesser Antilles and whose nationals are called Domini c aner.

The name of the state is derived from the capital Santo Domingo , which in turn is named after the founder of the Dominican Order, St. Dominic (Latin Dominicus).

flag

The blue stands for freedom, the red for the blood shed in the struggle for freedom and the white cross for the people's faith.

In the center on the surface of the white cross is the coat of arms of the Dominican Republic.

geography

The Dominican Republic comprises the east and the center of the island of Hispaniola , the western third belongs to the state of Haiti. The border between the two states stretches for 388 kilometers. Geologically, the island of Hispaniola lies over the border between the Caribbean and North American plates . Dominican country neighbors include the Turks and Caicos Islands , Jamaica , Cuba and the Bahamas .

topography

Waterfalls at Bayaguana

The Dominican Republic is largely mountainous . Only the east and the wide long valley Valle Del Cibao in the north are relatively flat . The four great mountains of the country are:

Cordillera Central in the center of the island with the five highest peaks in the Caribbean:
- the Pico Duarte ( 3098 m ),
- the Loma La Pelona ( 3097 m ),
- the Loma Rucilla ( 3039 m ),
- the Loma de la Viuda ( 2802 m ) and
- the Yaque ( 2760 m ).
Cordillera Septentrional in the north of the island, highest point 1249 m (between Puerto Plata and Santiago )
Cordillera Oriental and Costera del Caribe in the east, highest point 815 m (north of Higüey )
Sierra de Baoruco in the southwest of the island, highest elevations 2368 m (directly on the border with Haiti ) and 2085 m (west of Barahona )

climate

The north coast has a tropical climate with high humidity; even in winter, temperatures never drop below about 16 ° C. The air temperature there is on average 28 ° C. The water temperatures in the north (Atlantic) are between 24 and 29 ° C and in the south (Caribbean) between 26 and 31 ° C.

It is drier in the south. Many regions in the southwest are in the rain shadow of the Cordillera Central. The temperatures on the coast are comparable to those in the north, but in the north it is a little cooler in winter.

It's cooler in the mountains. In the Cordillera Central, temperatures below freezing point are also possible in winter, e.g. B. in the city of Constanza at 1,200 meters above sea level .

The Dominican Republic is within the reach of tropical cyclones ( hurricanes ).

Average monthly temperatures and rainfall for Santo Domingo

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Max. Temperature ( ° C )	29.2	29.2	29.6	30.2	30.4	30.8	31.3	31.5	31.4	31.1	30.6	29.6	O	30.4
Min. Temperature (° C)	19.6	19.7	20.2	21.1	22.2	22.9	22.8	22.7	22.7	22.3	21.4	20.3	O	21.5

Precipitation ( mm )	63	57	54	72	188	140	145	177	181	187	100	84	Σ	1448

Hours of sunshine ( h / d )	7.4	8.2	8.3	8.4	7.9	7.8	7.4	7.7	7.4	6.7	7.3	6.6	O	7.6

Rainy days ( d )	7th	6th	6th	7th	11	10	11	12th	11	13	9	9	Σ	112

Water temperature (° C)	27	26th	26th	27	27	27	28	28	28	28	27	27	O	27.2

Humidity ( % )	83	81	79	79	83	84	84	85	85	86	84	83	O	83

Source: wetterkontor.de

environment

31.5% of the state area belongs to various nature reserves. The country's CO ₂ emissions are around 20.3 million tons annually. Fresh water consumption is broken down as follows: agriculture 89%, households 10%, industry 1%.

Cities

The largest cities according to a 2010 census are:

rank	Surname	resident	location
01	Santo Domingo (capital)	2,374,370	South coast
02	Santiago de los Caballeros	507.418	inland, north
03	La Vega	394.205	inland
04th	Puerto Plata	321,597	North coast
05	San Pedro de Macorís	290,458	South coast
06th	Higüey	251.243	inland, east
07th	La Romana	245,433	South coast
08th	San Cristobal	232.769	Santo Domingo agglomeration
09	San Francisco de Macorís	188.118	inland, northeast
10	Los Alcarrizos	166.930	Santo Domingo agglomeration

Administrative structure

Since July 30, 2004, the country has been divided into ten regions (regiones). These are divided into 31 provinces (provincias) and a national district ( Distrito Nacional ), which includes the capital Santo Domingo de Guzmán. The population figures in the table below refer to the December 2010 census.

region	Area in km²	Inhabitants 2010	Density per km²	Provinces
Cibao Norte	5,454.9	1,516,957	278	Espaillat , Puerto Plata , Santiago
Cibao Nordeste	4,146.2	624.186	151	Duarte , Hermanas Mirabal , María Trinidad Sánchez , Samaná
Cibao Noroeste	4,877.6	394.186	81	Dajabón , Monte Cristi , Santiago Rodríguez , Valverde
Cibao Sur	4,470.3	710.821	159	La Vega , Monseñor Nouel , Sánchez Ramírez
El Valle	4,759.3	295,362	62	San Juan , Elías Piña
Enriquillo	7,102.58	342,759	48	Barahona , Baoruco , Independencia , Pedernales
Higuamo	5,175.3	561,431	108	Hato Mayor , Monte Plata , San Pedro de Macorís
Ozama	1,393.8	3,339,410	2,396	Santo Domingo , Distrito Nacional
Valdesia	5,445.27	973.970	179	Azua , Peravia , San Cristóbal , San José de Ocoa
Yuma	5,439.0	606.323	111	El Seibo , La Altagracia , La Romana
Dominican Republic	48,311.0	9,445,281	196

population

School class near Santo Domingo in typical uniform

Population pyramid of the Dominican Republic in 2016

The population is essentially descended from early European immigrants, mostly of Spanish origin, and from African slaves . The descendants of the slaves represent a smaller proportion of the population than in Haiti . In 1790, 15,000 of the 125,000 inhabitants were slaves, but there were many freedmen. Analyzes of the mtDNA showed that in the maternal line 70% of the population are of African, 15% European or Asian and 15% indigenous descent.

Officially, around half a million people of Haitian origin live in the Dominican Republic, plus another half a million Haitians illegally. Around 600 German Jews settled in Sosúa during the Second World War . In the mountains of the Cordillera Central near Constanza and in the vicinity of Lake Enriquillo there are Japanese colonies (recognizable especially by the (identical) place names "Colonia Japonesa"), as well as near the Haitian border in the north of the country not far from Dajabón ("Colonia de los Japoneses ”), there are also some people of Hungarian descent in the Dominican Republic . Cities and places in the vicinity of tourist areas (e.g. Puerto Plata , Sosúa , Cabarete , Río San Juan , Samaná and Las Terrenas ) in particular have up to approx. 20% residents with origins from the USA , Canada and Europe , sometimes also Cubans in exile , Chileans and other nationalities. Around 40,000 Venezuelans have recently fled to the Dominican Republic.

The urban population makes up 67%. The population is growing by 1.33% annually; the fertility rate is 2.3 births per woman.

Population numbers

year	resident	year	resident
1950	02,365,000	1990	07,184,000
1960	03,294,000	2000	08,563,000
1970	04,503,000	2010	09,898,000
1980	05,809,000	2019	10,739,000

Source: UN

language

The national language is Spanish . Many people of Haitian descent live in the Dominican Republic who speak Haitian Creole and sometimes French . An English-speaking minority of around 8,000 people live in the city of Samaná in the north-east of the country . These are descendants of former US slaves who settled here in 1824. In the south ( San Pedro de Macorís ) there is also an English-speaking minority.

Of the languages spoken in Spain Spanish language differs in the Dominican Republic many times, and has some words and phrases retained from Spanish colonial times. On the other hand, the language is heavily mixed with Anglo-American expressions.

For more information, see the article on Dominican Spanish .

religion

Most Dominicans are Christians; Christmas is an important holiday in the country

The Catholicism is in the Dominican Republic for a Concordat with the Holy See state religion , although religious freedom is. At the end of the 1980s, over 80% of the residents of the Roman Catholic Church belonged to the Roman Catholic Church , which in this country is divided into two archdioceses with nine Sufragan dioceses and 250 parishes. Of the more than 500 Catholic clergy in the country, around 70% belonged to different orders. In its publications, the German Foreign Office gives shares of around 75% Catholics, 4% Protestants, 1.5% Adventists, 2% other Christian churches (such as Jehovah's Witnesses with around 38,000 active members or the New Apostolic Church with around 5,000 Members) and 16% without religious affiliation. However, numerous declared "Catholics" practice a type of Catholicism that is pervaded by African elements ( syncretism ). Said practices are subsumed under the term brujería - "witchcraft" - or more recently also las 21 Divisiones . They are often carried out undercover and receive little official attention. In the context of media reporting, Creole beliefs are portrayed either as “backward” or as folklore, as if they were antiquated ideas that have already disappeared from everyday life. Their structural proximity to Haitian Voodoo repeatedly gives rise to hostility, because the relationship between the Dominican Republic and the economically weaker neighboring republic has always been extremely problematic. Members of the more privileged classes who orientate themselves on Europe and the USA on a cultural, religious and ideological level are particularly hostile. Faith conflicts sometimes arise even among the practitioners themselves, and converts to a Pentecostal Church under great missionary pressure .

Healthcare

There is sufficient basic supply in the larger agglomerations. The state hospitals are called "hospitals"; their services are relatively cheap. The hygienic conditions are often precarious. Dominican medical professionals are i. d. Usually very well educated in Cuba , but often do not have sufficient practical experience. A "clínica" is a private hospital - and as a rule significantly more expensive, and therefore not affordable for many Dominicans.

In 2011 UNAIDS estimated that 44,000 people (approximately 0.4% of the population) are infected with HIV. She also found that the number of new infections fell by 73% between 2001 and 2011.

Abortions are banned in the Dominican Republic and neighboring Haiti , but very often they are performed illegally (often by medical laypeople), often resulting in deaths.

Life expectancy in the Dominican Republic between 2010 and 2015 was 73.2 years (women: 76.5, men: 70.2)

Life expectancy development in the Dominican Republic

year	Life expectancy in years	year	Life expectancy in years
1955-1960	49.9	1985-1990	66.5
1960-1965	53.6	1990-1995	69.0
1965-1970	57.0	1995-2000	70.1
1970-1975	59.9	2000-2005	71.1
1975-1980	62.1	2005-2010	72.2
1980-1985	64.0	2010-2015	73.2

Source: UN

training

There is general compulsory schooling, but this is not guaranteed everywhere because the nearest school is too far away for the children, especially in rural areas. Those who can afford what only very few can do not send their children to the state school (“escuela”), but to a privately run (expensive) “colegio”. The state schools are free of charge for the children, but uniform school clothes, which are expensive for those countries, have to be bought. Parents with several “school-age” children in particular often cannot afford the required clothing.

Many Haitians live legally, many illegally in the country. The “illegal” Haitians have no right to send their children to school because they would need a Dominican birth certificate to do so. Many children in the country do not receive any school education. Some of these children are trained by private foreign organizations, which leads to envy and tension on the part of the Dominican population.

According to the teachers' association ADP, the Dominican state spends only 2.45% of GDP per year on education instead of the statutory 4. Eleven percent of children did not go to school in 2011 despite compulsory school attendance. According to the ADP, half a million children are systematically denied the right to education.

The PISA study of 2015, which was carried out with mostly 15-year-old students in at least 7th grade , shows how precarious the educational situation is . It ranks the Dominican Republic last of the 72 participating states and economies in science and mathematics, and places fifth from bottom in reading skills. The study found that 72.1% of students failed to reach the basic level of reading skills, and of these, 13.1% were unable to solve even the simplest of tasks. According to the OECD , the Dominican Republic is still a long way from equipping all students with a minimum level of reading skills in order to take advantage of further educational opportunities and to participate in a knowledge-based society. If one assumes that the group of 15-year-olds who did not meet the inclusion criteria for the study had also not achieved the basic competence level, the number would probably be even higher. In the field of mathematics, 90.5% of the participants did not meet the minimum requirements to be able to participate in a modern society. The worst 68.3% of these can do simple arithmetic on integers at best when they have clearly defined instructions. In science, 85.7% of students did not meet the minimum level required to engage in science as critical and informed citizens. A significant part of them (15.8%) are unlikely to be able to solve the PISA questions other than by guessing.

There are universities in Santo Domingo , Santiago de los Caballeros and San Pedro de Macorís and, since autumn 2006, in Higüey . The oldest university in America (1538) is located in Santo Domingo .

poverty

According to data from Welthungerhilfe , 24% of the population suffer from malnutrition and with a global hunger index of 10.2, the severity of hunger is still classified as "serious" (as of 2011, based on data from 2004 to 2009). However, there has been a steady improvement since 1990 (28% malnutrition, GHI 14.2).

Following the massive recession of 2003, which caused many jobs to be lost and poverty to rise, the Administradora De Subsidios Sociales found itself under great pressure to provide traditional means of providing basic food support to the widely dispersed needy. Due to the increasingly chaotic organization, they were not always the recipients of the support. In 2004 the government decided to switch from delivering goods to paying out funds; the Comer es primero (“food comes first”) program was launched. This enabled recipients to purchase basic groceries in local stores. Later there were additional benefits for school-age children, gas, electricity and grants for old people without a pension. It was realized via a non-transferable prepaid card , called tarjeta solidaridad , which was made available to selected people and through which they could purchase certain goods for a certain amount each month. In June 2011, around 850,000 such prepaid cards were in circulation and around 28 billion pesos (€ 407 million) have been distributed in targeted social subsidies since they were introduced.

The unemployment rate fell between 2005 and 2010 from 17.9 to 14.3%. This corresponds to the creation of around 315,000 new jobs. Nevertheless, it is the highest rate in Latin America and is well above the average of 7.6%.

Again and again, individual Dominicans try to get to the more affluent neighboring island of Puerto Rico in overloaded boats for economic reasons .

crime

In the Dominican Republic, 10,955 people were killed by firearms between 2005 and 2011. Although there has been a law against the import of firearms since July 2006 (Decree 309-06), statistically one in 30 Dominicans had a firearm in 2012. If women and children are excluded from the statistics, around 10% of Dominican men own a firearm.

In 2011, 28.7 murders were recorded per hundred thousand inhabitants. In 2010 it was 24.7, in 2003 it was 18.7 (according to ONE - Statistical Office of the Dominican Republic).

story

→ for the history up to independence in 1844 see main article: History of Hispaniola
→ for the history of the state "Dominican Republic" see main article: History of the Dominican Republic

The territory of the Dominican Republic was part of the Spanish crown colony of Santo Domingo . In 1805 the colony area was conquered by Haiti . In 1844, Santo Domingo finally fought for independence. In order to fend off attempts to recapture Haiti, the young republic submitted to the Spanish crown again in 1861, but regained statehood in 1865. After several years of unstable democracy, the dictator Ulises Heureaux seized power in 1882 .

Marines land under fire on Santo Domingo Beach. Copy of illustration by Dickson., Ca.1916 - NARA - 532356

Heureaux's assassination in 1899 was followed by chaotic conditions, which resulted in the US military intervention in the Dominican Republic from 1916 to 1924. Even after the US withdrew in 1924, the democratic government was not yet firmly in the saddle. In 1930, Rafael Trujillo was able to put his way into the presidency. In 1942 the active and passive right to vote for women was introduced. After Trujillo was killed in an assassination attempt in 1961, elections were held in 1963, which the progressive politician Juan Bosch won, but was overthrown in a military coup after only seven months.

In 1964 a civil war broke out, the aim of which was the reinstatement of the democratically elected President Juan Bosch. When the revolutionary forces were on the verge of victory, the USA invaded under a pretext in 1965 and put down the uprising with the help of the OEA Organization of American States (see Operation Power Pack ). In 1966 there was a presidential election and a withdrawal of the intervention troops. The office of president was held until 1978 by Joaquín Balaguer from the conservative Partido Reformista Social Cristiano (PRSC), who also held the presidency between 1986 and 1994, but had to retire in 1996 after allegations of election manipulation and international pressure, and from Leonel Fernández Reyna from the liberal partido de la Liberación Dominicana (PLD) was replaced. As a result of the (now repealed) "Lex Balaguer", a constitutional amendment that forbids the president from immediate re-election, he could no longer run for president in 2000 . Hipólito Mejía from the social democratic Partido Revolucionario Dominicano (PRD) won this election - again against Balaguer, who ran for the last time at the age of 93. The 2004 presidential election won again Leonel Fernández, who ran in 2008 as the top candidate of his party and won the election on May 16, 2008 in the first ballot. The presidential election of May 20, 2012 won the PLD again, but this time with the new candidate Danilo Medina Sánchez , who was sworn in as president on August 16, 2012. Danilo Medina also won the presidential election on May 15, 2016, well ahead of Luis Abinader from the Partido Revolucionario Moderno (PRM), a spin-off from the PRD. In the 2020 presidential election , Abinader was finally elected to office.

politics

Political system

According to the constitution of 1966 (amendment 1994), the Dominican Republic has a presidential system in which the head of state also holds the office of head of government. The president is elected every four years.

Voting is compulsory for all citizens between the ages of 18 and 70. In reality, however, many do not vote.

The bicameral parliament consists of the Chamber of Deputies ("Cámara de Diputados", lower house ) with 190 members and the Senate ("Senado", upper house ) with 32 members. The united parliament from both chambers forms the congress ("Congreso Nacional"). Senators and MPs are elected for four years.

The most important parties are the liberal Partido de la Liberación Dominicana (PLD), the social democratic Partido Revolucionario Moderno (PRM), a spin-off from the previously important Partido Revolucionario Dominicano (PRD), and the conservative Partido Reformista Social Cristiano (PRSC).

The Dominican Republic is a member of the International Cocoa Organization .

Political indices

Political indices published by non-governmental organizations
Name of the index	Index value	Worldwide rank	Interpretation aid	year
Fragile States Index	64.4 out of 120	107 of 178	Stability of the country: Warning 0 = very sustainable / 120 = very alarming	2020
Democracy index	6.32 out of 10	63 of 167	Incomplete democracy 0 = authoritarian regime / 10 = complete democracy	2020
Freedom in the World Index	67 of 100	---	Freedom status: partially free 0 = not free / 100 = free	2020
Freedom of the press ranking	25.6 out of 100	50 of 180	Recognizable problems for the freedom of the press 0 = good situation / 100 = very serious situation	2021
Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI)	28 out of 100	137 of 180	0 = very corrupt / 100 = very clean	2020

Presidential election

In the presidential election on July 5, 2020, Luis Abinader of the Partido Revolucionario Moderno (PRM) was elected President with a share of 52.51% of the vote. He took office with the swearing-in on August 16, 2020.

see also: Presidential elections in 2000 , 2004 , 2008 , 2012 and 2016

military

Patrol boat Altair (PB 112) of the Dominican Navy

62,000 soldiers served in the Dominican Armed Forces ( Fuerzas Armadas de la República Dominicana ) in 2019 . 33,000 of them in the army, 17,000 in the air force and 12,000 in the navy. The service is voluntary. The country spent just under 0.7 percent of its economic output or $ 0.5 billion on its armed forces in 2017.

The Dominican Army has 52 armored vehicles, 22 artillery systems and 15 helicopters in service. The Air Force has 35 aircraft in service, 25 of which are helicopters.

In 2007 the United States offered the Dominican Air Force three Sikorsky S-61 helicopters as gifts; However, the Air Force rejected the offer because it could not finance the necessary repairs. In the same year, the Air Force announced that it would purchase ten Embraer EMB-314 attack aircraft from Brazil. Furthermore, additional radar and anti-air installations are planned to better protect the Dominican airspace.

The Dominican Navy has 17 ships in service, including five corvettes .

Dominican soldiers were also on missions by Allied troops abroad (such as in Iraq ). The Dominican Republic withdrew from the Iraq mission after a short time (as did other countries, e.g. Nicaragua , Honduras , Thailand or New Zealand ).

immigration

Due to a 2010 constitutional amendment, residents of the Dominican Republic whose ancestors entered the country illegally lost their citizenship even if they were born in the Dominican Republic. This particularly affected hundreds of thousands of people whose ancestors had immigrated from Haiti and whose Dominican citizenship was subsequently withdrawn in this way. After this decision was confirmed by the court in 2013, Haiti dismissed its ambassador in protest. The United Nations is investigating whether this court ruling violates international law. On May 23, 2014, President Medina signed a new law that will give them Dominican citizenship after all.

Citizen communication

In 2006 the Presidential Office for Information and Communication Technology (OPTIC) set up a modern call center that can be reached nationwide via the service telephone number “gob” (abbreviation for “gobierno” - “government”, digit sequence “462”) and on the Internet is. Citizens receive a wide range of information on administrative matters here.

Foreign policy

The government of the Dominican Republic pursues a pragmatic foreign policy. The most important partner is traditionally the USA, especially in (security) political cooperation. The USA is also the main trading partner and home to around 1.5 million Dominicans, two thirds of whom live in the New York area. Both countries have signed free trade agreements and the Dominican Republic is considered a US-friendly force in Latin America.

The relationship with neighboring Haiti, the poorest country in Latin America, is very complex and not free from tensions. The clear gap in prosperity is leading to continued migration to the Dominican Republic, where cheap labor from Haiti is indispensable, especially in agriculture and construction. However, they are viewed with suspicion, often exploited and discriminated against. Trade disputes, often concealed by alleged customs, security and other measures, also cloud the bilateral relationship. Drugs, weapons and people are smuggled in the border area between Haiti and the Dominican Republic.

Economy and Infrastructure

Basic data

Currency: Dominican Peso (RD $)
Gross Domestic Product (GDP): $ 72.2 billion
Gross domestic product growth rate: 7% (2001 only 2.7%)
Inflation rate: an average of 5.9% between 2004 and 2011 (according to President Leonel Fernández's speech on the State of the Union on February 27, 2012); in 2011 it was 7.76%
External debt: around US $ 25.087 billion (as of 2017) or US $ 26.5 billion according to an estimate dated December 31, 2016
Employment: services 62%, industry 23%, agriculture 15%
Agricultural products: sugar , bananas , coffee , cocoa , tobacco , vegetables , rice , coconut
Raw materials: ferronickel , gold , silver , zinc , larimar
Industry: food production, sugar, tobacco, rum , iron, steel, cement
Tourism: Between 3.5 and 4 million foreign visitors stood in 2011 with an income of 2 billion euros

The Dominican Republic is a middle income country. The gross domestic product per capita in 2016, adjusted for purchasing power, was 16,049 US dollars and was thus roughly on par with the People's Republic of China . The Dominican economy has recorded continuous economic growth for years and has had the strongest growth in the region (Caribbean) with an average of 5.4% since 1992, while the Latin American average is 2.7%. In 2015 a growth of 7% was achieved. It is increasingly becoming a production site due to the low wages. The unemployment rate for 2017 is given as 5.5%, but underemployment is widespread.

In the Global Competitiveness Index , which measures a country's competitiveness, the Dominican Republic ranks 76th out of 138 countries (as of 2016). In 2017, the country ranks 66th out of 180 countries in the index for economic freedom .

Corruption is a problem in the Dominican Republic.

Development of the key figures

All GDP values are given in US dollars ( purchasing power parity ).

year	1980	1985	1990	1995	2000	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017
GDP (purchasing power parity)	13.36 billion	18.95 billion	25.41 billion	37.47 billion	55.62 billion	74.08 billion	83.36 billion	91.92 billion	96.73 billion	98.39 billion	107.87 billion	113.52 billion	118.84 billion	126.48 billion	138.55 billion	149.91 billion	161.91 billion	172.36 billion
GDP per capita (purchasing power parity)	2,364	2,984	3,571	4,822	6,623	8,260	9,189	10,020	10,424	10,489	11,381	11,849	12,275	12,927	14,018	15,021	16,071	16,944
GDP growth (real)	8.0%	−2.1%	−5.5%	5.7%	4.6%	9.4%	9.2%	7.4%	3.2%	0.9%	8.3%	3.1%	2.8%	4.7%	7.6%	7.0%	6.6%	4.6%
Inflation (in percent)	21.7%	45.3%	50.5%	12.5%	7.2%	4.2%	7.6%	6.1%	10.6%	1.4%	6.3%	8.5%	3.7%	4.8%	3.0%	0.8%	1.6%	3.3%
Public debt (as a percentage of GDP)	...	...	...	...	17%	21%	20%	17%	20%	23%	24%	26%	30%	34%	34%	33%	35%	38%

tourism

The country is visited by almost four million people every year. The number of tourists in the years 2006 to 2009 remained constant at around three million and has increased significantly since then. In 2011, 3.7 million non-resident travelers came to the Dominican Republic, of whom 3.3 million stayed in hotels. 182,500 of them were Germans. Increasingly, the tourists come from the USA and Canada . In addition, there are still many tourists from Europe - Scandinavia , Germany , Austria , Switzerland , Italy , Spain and the Benelux countries. Increasingly, however, the tourists also come from Eastern and Central European countries, especially from Russia , Hungary and Poland , as well as from South American countries such as Brazil , Argentina or Chile and from other parts of the world such as. B. South Africa , Australia , the People's Republic of China or Japan . The sector with the largest supply in the Caribbean (2016: 71,000 hotel rooms) grew by 8% in 2016. The capacities will be further expanded, especially in the cruise sector. Another record attendance was achieved in July 2016. The government of Danilo Medina has set itself the goal of increasing the number of tourists to 10 million visitors by 2020 (currently around 5.5 million per year).

In the first half of 2006, every tourist in the Dominican Republic spent an average of US $ 107 per day. The average length of stay is around 9.5 days; which is partly due to the fact that many Americans and Canadians only stay a few days.

Numerous all-inclusive hotel complexes have been built along the often kilometer-long palm-tree beaches since the late 1970s . The country has been served by various tour operators since then. In the early years of mass tourism, buildings were built that did not fit into the landscape. But these building sins have largely been eliminated, today's hotels fit harmoniously into the landscape and were built in a Caribbean style. Regionally, tourism has shifted significantly from the north (between Puerto Plata and Samaná ) to the east (near Punta Cana and Bávaro ).

Foreign trade

The Dominican current account has been negative since 2005. In 2015, goods worth around 18 billion US dollars were imported, but only items worth around 8 billion were exported. In the aftermath of the international financial and economic crises, imports fell more sharply than exports, but the trade balance remained clearly in the red. Most of the exports go to the USA (2015: 53.6%), followed by Haiti (2015: 12.1%) and Canada (2015: 8.4%). India (2015: 6.7%) has replaced Puerto Rico as the fourth largest export destination in recent years. Most of the imports come from the USA (2015: 41.3%), followed by China (2015: 13.2%), Mexico (2015: 4.64%) and Brazil (2015: 2, 3%). 11.3% (2015) of goods are imported from the EU, 1.8% from Germany. Thus, Germany was the ninth most important partner for imports in 2015. Mexico and Venezuela are important trading partners for the import of crude oil, but the share of imports from Venezuela fell sharply from 7.1% in 2013 to 1.6% in 2015 due to the domestic political crisis there.

In the Dominican Republic, textiles, medical and pharmaceutical articles as well as cigars and, rapidly expanding, shoe production and leather goods are manufactured and then exported to the USA. Due to the low wages and political stability, the country is an attractive production location.

State budget

The state budget in 2016 comprised expenditures equivalent to US $ 13.0 billion , which was offset by income equivalent to US $ 11.7 billion. This results in a budget deficit of 1.8% of GDP .
The national debt in 2016 was $ 23.8 billion, or 33.0% of GDP.

In 2006 the share of government expenditure (as a percentage of GDP) was in the following areas:

Health : 5.6%
Education : 3.6%
Military : 0.8%

traffic

Road traffic

The road network is mostly well developed, motorways and expressways are mostly in good condition. In rural areas, roads are often not developed or are not marked as roads. Inland roads, e.g. B. in the mountains of the Cordillera Central, are sometimes better developed than the busy roads on the north coast or the DR-1 motorway from Santo Domingo via Santiago to San Fernando de Monte Cristi ( Monte Cristi province ). There are increasing numbers of motorway routes that are subject to tolls.

There are four border crossings to neighboring Haiti :

in the north in the town of Dajabón to the Haitian town of Ouanaminthe (called 'Juana Méndez' by the Dominicans) in the Nord-Est department
at Comendador in the province of Elías Piña to the Haitian city of Belladère in the Center department
and in the south near Jimaní in the province of Independencia (province) between Lago Enriquillo and Etang Saumatre (also called Lac Azuei or Lago Azuei) in the Ouest department, and near Pedernales in the province of the same name to the Sud-Ouest department.

The road along the border (sometimes no more than a narrow gravel road) leads in the area of the Cordillera Central between the places Restauración and Pedro Santana several times over Haitian national territory due to geographical conditions; however, it is not possible to enter Haiti this way.

Local public transport in the cities of Santo Domingo and Santiago de los Caballeros is served by inexpensive shared taxis and public buses. Mostly air-conditioned buses run by regional companies run overland; Routes between large cities, such as B. the route Santiago – Santo Domingo are driven several times a day, sometimes even every hour. On the other hand, in most areas there are also minibuses called “guagua” and shared taxis called “concho”, “carrito” or “público” on the main roads. Both modes of transport are often overloaded and in poor technical condition, but they are inexpensive.

Taxis are usually in good technical condition, but they are expensive. Price example: from Puerto Plata airport to Cabarete , approx. 23 km away , you pay the equivalent of approx. 38 US $. The Dominican Republic is far from the productivity of Europe: many taxi drivers only carry one passenger a day. In addition to normal taxis, there are also motorcycle taxis (“motoconcho”), a very common job for underemployed men to supplement their income.

All major international car rental companies are represented in the tourist centers and in the big cities. There are also local rental companies, but they often have older cars on offer. The prices are very different, renting on site is generally more expensive than making a reservation in advance, e.g. B. on the Internet.

The number of road deaths in the Dominican Republic is significantly higher than in any other country in Latin America and the Caribbean. In 2011 it was 36.4 per 100,000 inhabitants. (For comparison: Cuba 4.7 per 100,000, Puerto Rico 8.8 per 100,000.)

air traffic

Airport name	IATA - Code	ICAO - Code	Passengers 2012	area
International airports
Las Americas (Santo Domingo) *	SDQ	MDSD	3.1 million	Santo Domingo
Punta Cana *	PUJ	MDPC	4.8 million	Punta Cana
Puerto Plata (La Unión / Gregorio Luperón) *	POP	MDPP	0.7 million	Puerto Plata
La Romana (Casa De Campo) *	LRM	MDLR	0.2 million	La Romana
Cibao	STI	MDST	1.1 million	Santiago de los Caballeros
El Catey (Samaná) *	AZS	MDCY	0.1 million	Samana Province
La Isabela (Higuero / Dr. Joaquín Balaguer)	JQB	MDJB		Santo Domingo (replacement for Herrera Airport)
María Montez (Barahona)	BRX	MDBH		Barahona
Arroyo Barril	EPS	MDAB		Samaná
* These airports are also served directly from Germany.
National airports
Constanza	COZ	MDCZ		Constanza
Cabo Rojo	CBJ	MDCR		Pedernales
Sabana de la Mar	SNX	MDSB		Sabana de la Mar
San Juan de la Maguana	SJM	MDSJ		San Juan de la Maguana
San Isidro	ZXD	MDSI		Military Air Base, Santo Domingo

Maritime transport

La Haina / Santo Domingo
La Romana
Puerto Caucedo / Boca Chica
Puerto Plata
San Pedro de Macorís

Rail transport

There is no railroad for passenger transport, only routes for the transport of sugar cane, corn and bananas near La Romana and between Barahona and Neiba . There has been a first metro line in Santo Domingo since 2009, and a second is planned.

Cellular

Network technology: GSM 850 / 1800/1900. Good coverage in the cities, even larger gaps in rural areas, especially in the mountains. The main network operators are Altice (formerly: Orange and Tricom), Claro (formerly: " Verizon ") and Viva. While there are 1 million landline connections in the Dominican Republic, around 2 million people have a mobile phone (as of 2012).

Internet

In the big cities as well as in the tourist centers there is a sufficiently large number of internet cafés , also with broadband connections. Internet providers : “CLARO”, “Tricom”, “Aster”, “Centennial” and “ France Telecom ”. Practically all hotels and restaurants today offer their guests wireless Internet (partly free of charge). In 2018, 75 percent of the Dominican Republic's residents used the internet .

Culture

pictures

The small island of Cayo Levantado on the Samaná peninsula
Palm trees on the south coast
Palm tree with fruits
Vegetable market in Bayaguana

music

The music in the Dominican Republic is shaped by African and Spanish influences. In the Dominican Republic you can find the following styles of music in the field of popular music:

Bachata is a style of music from the Dominican Republic and the associated dance.
Merengue is a style of music from the Dominican Republic in 2/4 time and the associated dance.
Merengue Hip Hop (also: Merengue House or Merenhouse) is a combination of traditional Merengue with hip-hop and house elements and became popular in clubs in the USA and Europe outside the Dominican Republic in the mid-1990s.
Reggaetón (Spanish spelling: Reguetón) with the accompanying dance Perreo has been very popular, especially among the younger Dominicans, since the beginning of the 21st century. The well-known reggaetón producer duo Luny Tunes (Francisco Saldaña and Víctor Cabrera), which produces for most of the Puerto Rican reggaetón artists, comes from the Dominican Republic.

carnival

Carnival in the Dominican Republic

"Feather men"

"Whip men"

Dominican girls painted as "Taino girls"

The carnival is celebrated throughout the Cibao region, the main centers being La Vega and Santiago de los Caballeros. Carnival is one of the most important cultural events in the country. The carnival takes place every Sunday in February. The graduation is mostly on the national holiday, February 27th, unless February 28th falls on a Sunday. In Río San Juan on the north coast, a merengue festival called "Carnaverengue" is celebrated during carnival .

public holidays

January 1st: New Years Day (año nuevo)
January 6th: Epiphany (día de los reyes)
January 13: National Literacy Day (día nacional de la alfabetización)
January 21: Catholic holiday (día de Nuestra Señora de la Altagracia)
January 26th: Day of the founding father Juan Pablo Duarte (día del padre de la patria Juan Pablo Duarte)
January 31: Youth Day (día nacional de la juventud)
February 14: Valentine's Day ( día de la amistad / día de San Valentín )
February 25: Day of the founding father, Matías Ramón Mella ("día del patricio Matías Ramón Mella")
March 8: International Women's Day (día internacional de la mujer)
March 9: Day of the founding father Francisco del Rosario Sánchez (día del patricio Francisco del Rosario Sánchez)
March 30: Commemoration of the battle of March 30, 1844 (aniversario de la batalla del 30 de marzo 1844)
September 24: Catholic holiday (día de Nuestra Señora de la Mercedes)
November 6th: Constitution Day (día de la constitución)
December 25th: Christmas (día de navidad)

Moving Holidays:

February: Carnival (carnaval) , on Sundays.
March or April: Easter ( la semana santa - the holy week)
last Sunday in May: Mother's Day (día de la madre)

National Constitutional Holidays:

February 27: National Independence Day in 1844 (día de la independencia nacional) and partly at the same time Carnival (carnaval)
August 16: Restoration Day 1863 (día de la restauración) . Day of the handover of the presidency in election years.

Sports

The national sport is baseball . The country has a professional league in the Dominicana de Béisbol Invernal league.

Trivia

The television series Clinic under palm trees was filmed on the small island of Cayo Levantado near the Samaná peninsula . Parts of the films Jurassic Park , Rambo and Apocalypse Now were shot on the Río Chavón in the southeast of the island .

In the southwest of the Dominican Republic there is a place called Polo Magnético , where cars supposedly roll uphill due to natural magnetic effects. It is an optical illusion. Measurements showed that the vehicles did not roll uphill.

On February 6, 1996, Birgenair Flight 301 crashed shortly after taking off from Puerto Plata Airport. 189 passengers were killed in this crash of a Boeing 757.

On February 6, 1998 , the Austrian singer Falco died in a traffic accident near Montellano , Puerto Plata province . Maybe he was under the influence of drugs.

literature

Junot Díaz: The Brief Miraculous Life of Oscar Wao. Fischer, Frankfurt 2009, ISBN 978-3-10-013920-7 . (A family history of Dominican emigrants in the USA).
Hans-Ulrich Dillmann , Susanne Heim: Vanishing Point Caribbean - Jewish Emigration in the Dominican Republic. Christoph Links Verlag, Berlin 2009, ISBN 978-3-86153-551-5 .
Marion A. Kaplan: Refuge in the Caribbean. The Jewish refugee settlement in the Dominican Republic 1940–1945 . Wallstein, Göttingen 2010, ISBN 978-3-8353-0511-3 .
Mario Vargas Llosa : The Goat Festival. Suhrkamp, Frankfurt, M. 2008. ISBN 978-3-518-46016-0 . ( Suhrkamp-Taschenbuch. 4016) (novel dealing with the power of Trujillo).
Yvonne Schaffler: Vodú? That’s up to the others! Creole Medicine, Spirituality, and Identity in the Southwest Dominican Republic. LIT Verlag, Berlin, Vienna, Münster 2009, ISBN 978-3-643-50064-9 . ( Viennese ethnomedical series. Vol. 7). At the same time: Vienna, University, dissertation 2008.
Bruce J. Calder: The impact of intervention. The Dominican Republic during the US Occupation of 1916-1924. M. Wiener Publishers, Princeton, NJ 2006, ISBN 1-55876-386-4 .
Richard Lee Turits: Foundations of despotism. Peasants, the Trujillo regime, and modernity in Dominican history. Stanford University Press, Stanford, Calif. 2003, ISBN 0-8047-4353-3 .
Eric Thomas Chester: Rag-tags, scum, riff-raff and commies. The US intervention in the Dominican Republic, 1965-1966. Monthly Review Press, New York 2001, ISBN 1-58367-032-7 .
Jonathan Hartlyn: The struggle for democratic politics in the Dominican Republic. University of North Carolina Press, Chapel Hill 1998, ISBN 0-8078-2406-2 .
Frank Moya Pons: The Dominican Republic. A national history. M. Wiener Publishers, Princeton, NJ 1998, ISBN 1-55876-192-6 .
Alan Cambeira: Quisqueya la bella. The Dominican Republic in historical and cultural perspective. ME Sharpe, Armonk, NY, London, England c1997. 1996, ISBN 1-56324-936-7 .
Frauke Gewecke: The will to the nation. Nation building and drafting of national identity in the Dominican Republic. Vervuert, Frankfurt a. M. 1996, ISBN 3-89354-068-7 .
Julia Alvarez : The time of the butterflies. Piper, Munich, Zurich 1994, ISBN 3-492-22860-7 . (Novel about the Mirabal sisters ).
Manuela Erhart: Tropical forest protection through land ownership reform and sustainable management. The Dominican Republic case. Metropolis, Marburg 1995, ISBN 978-3-89518-043-9 . At the same time: Berlin, Free University, dissertation 1994.

Web links

Commons : Dominican Republic - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Wikimedia Atlas: Dominican Republic - geographical and historical maps

Wiktionary: Dominican Republic - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations

Wikivoyage: Dominican Republic - Travel Guide

Database of indexed literature on the social, political and economic situation in the Dominican Republic
Country information from the Federal Foreign Office on the Dominican Republic
General information on climate and weather in the Dominican Republic
Oficinal National de Estadística , statistical office with results of the 2010 census (Spanish)

Individual evidence

↑ population, total. In: World Economic Outlook Database. World Bank , 2020, accessed January 30, 2021 .

↑ Population growth (annual%). In: World Economic Outlook Database. World Bank , 2020, accessed January 30, 2021 .

↑ World Economic Outlook Database October 2020. In: World Economic Outlook Database. International Monetary Fund , 2020, accessed January 30, 2021 .

↑ Table: Human Development Index and its components . In: United Nations Development Program (ed.): Human Development Report 2020 . United Nations Development Program, New York 2020, ISBN 978-92-1126442-5 , pp. 344 (English, undp.org [PDF]).

↑ according to StAGN

^ ^A ^b Oficina Nacional de Estadística: IX Censo Nacional de Población y Vivienda 2010. Volume I: Informe General. Santo Domingo 2012 ( Memento of the original from July 8, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . (PDF; 5.4 MB). @1@ 2

^ Oficina Nacional de Estadística: IX Censo Nacional de Población y Vivienda 2010. Volume I: Informe General. Santo Domingo 2012, pp. 35–45 ( Memento of the original dated July 8, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . (PDF; 5.4 MB). @1@ 2

↑ CB Online Staff: UPR professor: Taíno genes in DR (No longer available online.) Caribbean Business, June 17, 2010, archived from the original on May 10, 2011 ; Retrieved October 18, 2011 .

↑ Listin Diario: OEA estima República Dominicana alberga 40,000 venezolanos. October 8, 2019, accessed May 18, 2020 (Spanish).

↑ population, total. In: World Economic Outlook Database. World Bank , 2020, accessed May 1, 2021 .

↑ World Population Prospects - Population Division - United Nations. Retrieved July 24, 2017 .

↑ http://countrystudies.us/dominican-republic/33.htm

↑ Our Family - Calendar 2005, page 81

↑ Country information from the Federal Foreign Office on the Dominican Republic

↑ UNAIDS: HIV AND AIDS ESTIMATES (2011). UNAIDS, 2012, accessed March 18, 2013 .

↑ UNAIDS: UNAIDS World AIDS Day Report. (PDF; 1.2 MB) UNAIDS, 2012, accessed on March 18, 2013 (English).

↑ World Population Prospects - Population Division - United Nations. Retrieved November 26, 2017 .

↑ PISA 2015 Results (Volume I): Excellence and Equal Opportunities in Education. (PDF) OECD (2016), W. Bertelsmann Verlag, Germany, December 6, 2016, accessed January 20, 2017 .

↑ IFPRI, Concern Worldwide and Welthungerhilfe: Welthunger-Index 2011. October 2011, accessed on March 19, 2013 .

↑ Visa: Visa Case Study: Government Efficiency. (PDF; 1.8 MB) 2010, accessed on April 11, 2013 (English).

↑ Administradora De Subsidios Sociales: Revista Clic Institucional. (PDF; 1.6 MB) June 2011, accessed on April 11, 2013 (Spanish).

^ Oficina Nacional de Estadística: Desempleo por actividad económica, según año 2003-2011. July 23, 2012, accessed March 31, 2013 .

^ RD tiene la tasa de desempleo más alta en America Latina. (No longer available online.) Hoy Digital, Jan 7, 2011, archived from the original on April 30, 2013 ; accessed on March 31, 2013 .

^ Jad Adams: Women and the Vote. A world history. Oxford University Press, Oxford 2014, ISBN 978-0-19-870684-7 , page 438

^ Mart Martin: The Almanac of Women and Minorities in World Politics. Westview Press Boulder, Colorado, 2000, p. 113.

^ Fragile States Index: Global Data. Fund for Peace , 2020, accessed January 30, 2021 .

^ The Economist Intelligence Unit's Democracy Index. The Economist Intelligence Unit, accessed February 6, 2021 .

^ Countries and Territories. Freedom House , 2020, accessed January 30, 2021 .

↑ 2021 World Press Freedom Index. Reporters Without Borders , 2021, accessed May 1, 2021 .

^ Transparency International (Ed.): Corruption Perceptions Index . Transparency International, Berlin 2021, ISBN 978-3-96076-157-0 (English, transparencycdn.org [PDF]).

^ Dominican Republic - The World Factbook. Accessed February 5, 2021 .

↑ Home | SIPRI. Retrieved July 10, 2017 .

↑ www.optic.gob.do OPTIC call center

↑ Foreign Office. Retrieved July 24, 2017 .

↑ https://countryeconomy.com/national-debt/dominican-republic

↑ http://www.indexmundi.com/dominican_republic/debt_external.html

↑ Dominican Republic: The Caribbean's star of growth . ( handelsblatt.com [accessed July 8, 2017]).

^ The World Factbook - Central Intelligence Agency. Retrieved August 6, 2018 .

↑ [1]

↑ [2]

^ Report for Selected Countries and Subjects. Retrieved August 28, 2018 (American English).

↑ Economy. Retrieved July 8, 2017 .

↑ Economy. Retrieved July 24, 2017 .

↑ ^a ^b ^c The World Factbook

^ Report for Selected Countries and Subjects. Retrieved July 24, 2017 (American English).

↑ The Fischer World Almanac 2010: Figures Data Facts, Fischer, Frankfurt, September 8, 2009, ISBN 978-3-596-72910-4

↑ Llegada Mensual de Pasajeros según Residencia y Aeropuerto Utilizado, Vía Aérea, 2012. ( MS Excel ; 36 kB) Central Bank of the Dominican Republic, accessed on March 8, 2013 (Spanish).

↑ Salida Mensual de Pasajeros según Residencia y Aeropuerto Utilizado, Vía Aérea, 2012. ( MS Excel , 36 kB) Central Bank of the Dominican Republic, accessed on March 8, 2013 (Spanish).

↑ AIP-Part III Aerodrome. IDAC, accessed March 5, 2010 .

↑ Airports in Dominican Republic. World Aero Data, accessed March 5, 2010 .

^ Individuals using the Internet (% of population). World Bank , accessed May 1, 2021 .

18.958333333333 -70.345555555556Coordinates: 19 ° N , 70 ° W

[1] population, total. In: World Economic Outlook Database. World Bank , 2020, accessed January 30, 2021 .

[2] Population growth (annual%). In: World Economic Outlook Database. World Bank , 2020, accessed January 30, 2021 .

[3] World Economic Outlook Database October 2020. In: World Economic Outlook Database. International Monetary Fund , 2020, accessed January 30, 2021 .

[4] Table: Human Development Index and its components . In: United Nations Development Program (ed.): Human Development Report 2020 . United Nations Development Program, New York 2020, ISBN 978-92-1126442-5 , pp. 344 (English, undp.org [PDF]).

[5] rding to StAGN