General Information
- Population:
- Over 9 million residents
- Capital:
- Santo Domingo
- Main cities:
- Santiago de los Caballeros is the second most important city in the Dominican Republic and the heart of the northern region. San Pedro de Macorís in the southwest and Barahona in the southeast are other important cities.
- Official language:
- Spanish
- Currency:
- Dominican peso (bills of RD$ 2,000 /1,000 / 500 / 100 / 50 / 20 / 10 and coins of 25, 10, 5 and 1 peso)
- Government:
- Representative democracy
The government consists of the president and the bicameral National Congress, which has a Senate and a Chamber of Deputies. It has three branches known as "Poderes del Estado", consisting of an executive branch, a legislative branch, and a judicial branch.
- Current constitutional president:
- Dr. Leonel Fernández Reyna (2004-2008)
- Communications:
- The country has a privileged geographic position because of the telecommunication services that facilitate clear and effective transmission via telephone, mobile, fax, cable, Internet, or other technologies, with high-end quality comparable to developed nations.
- Geography:
- The Dominican Republic is located in the center of the Caribbean. It shares the island of Hispaniola with Haiti to the west, between parallels 18° and 20°. To the north, the country borders the Atlantic Ocean; in the south, the Caribbean Sea; and on the east, the Mona Channel separates it from Puerto Rico.
- Area:
- 48,442 km2
- Time zone:
- GMT/UTC -5
- Climate:
- The subtropical climate is characterized by a climatic variation from semi-arid to semi-humid. The average temperature ranges between 23° C and 32° C.