Country Facts - Dominican Republic

The People

Nationality

Dominican(s)

Ethnic Composition

White	16%
Black	11%
Mixed	73%

Religious Composition

Roman Catholic	95%
Other	5%

Languages Spoken

Spanish is the official language of business and government.

Education and Literacy

Literacy for the population aged 15 and over stands at 82.1 percent.

Labor Force

Total: 2.3 million to 2.6 million

By occupation:

Services and Gov't	58.7%
Industry	24.3%
Agriculture	17%

Geography

Land Mass Total

18,814 sq mi (48,730 sq km)

Land

18,679 sq mi (

48,380 sq km)

Water

135 mi (350 sq km)

Land Boundaries

Total: 223 mi (360 km)
Border countries: Haiti 223 mi (360 km)

Coastline

800 mi (1,288 km)

Maritime claim

Contiguous zone: 24 nm
Continental shelf: 200 nm or to the edge of the continental margin
Exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
Territorial sea: 6 nm

Climate/Weather

Tropical maritime; little seasonal temperature variation; seasonal variation in rainfall.

Terrain

Rugged highlands and mountains with interspersed fertile valleys.

Elevation extremes

Lowest: Lago Enriquillo150 ft (46 m)
Highest: Pico Duarte 10,416 ft (3,175 m)

Natural Resources

Nickel, bauxite, gold, silver.

Land use

Arable land	21%
Permanent crops	10%
Other	69%

(1998)

Natural hazards

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

Environment - current issues

Water shortages; soil eroding into the sea damages coral reefs; deforestation; Hurricane Georges damage.

Geography Note

Shares island of Hispaniola with Haiti (eastern two-thirds is the Dominican Republic, western one-third is Haiti).

Demographics

Population

8,721,594 (July 2002)

Age structure

0-14 years:	33.7%	Male: 1,503,344	Female: 1,439,157
15-64 years:	61.3%	Male: 2,720,308	Female: 2,621,539
65 years and over:	5%	Male: 206,556	Female: 230,690

;

Growth Rate

1.61% (2002)

Life Expectancy

73.68 years (2002)
female: 75.91 years
male: 71.57 years

GDP Per Capita

Purchasing power parity
US$5,800 (2001)

Infant Mortality

33.41 deaths/1,000 live births (2002)

Sex ratio

At birth:	1.05 male(s)/female
Under 15 years:	1.04 male(s)/female
15-64 years:	1.04 male(s)/female
65 years and over:	0.9 male(s)/female
Total population:	1.03 male(s)/female

(2002)

Net migration rate

-3.59 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2002)

Economy & Trade

The Dominican economy experienced dramatic growth over the last decade, even though the economy was hit hard by Hurricane Georges in 1998. Although the country has long been viewed primarily as an exporter of sugar, coffee, and tobacco, in recent years the service sector has overtaken agriculture as the economy's largest employer, due to growth in tourism and free trade zones. The country suffers from marked income inequality; the poorest half of the population receives less than one-fifth of GNP, while the richest 10 percent enjoy 40 percent of national income. A US $500 million foreign bond issue in September 2001 contributed to increased public investment spending. On the bright side, the Dominican economy has experienced some of the best GDP growth in all of the Caribbean with close to 8 percent in 2000 and upwards of 4.5 percent in 2002. Barring major climatic disasters, similar growth is seen all the way through 2008.

Unemployment

15% (2001)

Inflation Rate

5% (2001)

Industries

Tourism, sugar processing, ferronickel and gold mining, textiles, cement, tobacco.

Exports

$5.5 billion (f.o.b., 2001)

Imports

US$8.7 billion (f.o.b., 2001)

Total Trade

Purchasing power parity
GDP US$50 billion (2001)

Top Export Partners

US 87.3%, Netherlands 1.1%, Canada 0.7%, France 0.7% (2000)

Top Import Partners

US 60.5%, Japan 10.4%, Mexico 4.7%, Venezuela 3% (2000)

Top Exports

Ferronickel, sugar, gold, silver, coffee, cocoa, tobacco, meats.

Top Imports

Foodstuffs, petroleum, cotton and fabrics, chemicals and pharmaceuticals.

Debt - external

US$5.4 billion (2001)

Economic aid

Recipient: US$239.6 million (1995)

Fiscal Year:

Calendar year.

Business Workweek

	Monday - Friday	Saturday - Sunday
Offices	7:30a.m. to noon and 1:30p.m. to 5p.m.	Closed
Retail	8a.m. to noon and 2p.m. to 6p.m. In rural areas government services and business offices may take extended midday breaks but remain open later in the day.	Saturday 8a.m. to noon.
Banks	8a.m. to 5p.m.	Closed
Government	7:30a.m. to 2:30p.m.	Closed

Holidays

Official Holidays

Holidays	2003	2004	2005
New Year's Day	January 1	January 1	January 1
Three Kings Day (Epiphany)	January 6	January 6	January 6
Our Lady of Altagracia	January 21	January 21	January 21
Duarte's Birthday	January 26	January 26	January 26
Independence Day and Carnival	February 27	February 27	February 27
Easter¹	April 20	April 11	March 27
Labor Day	May 1	May1	May 1
Corpus Christi²	June 19	June 10	May 26
Foundation of Sociedad la Trinitaria	July 16	July 16	July 16
Foundation Day of Santo Domingo	August 4	August 4	August 4
Restoration Day	August 16	August 16	August 16
Our Lady of Mercedes	September 24	September 24	September 24
Columbus Day	October 12	October 12	October 12
United Nations Day	October 24	October 24	October 24
All Saints Day	November 1	November 1	November 1
Constitution Day	November 6	November 6	November 6
Christmas Day³	December 25	December 25	December 25

¹	Easter, a Christian holiday celebrating the resurrection of Jesus Christ, is the first Sunday after the full moon and the vernal equinox (fixed in the Gregorian calendar at March 21), and often observed with Good Friday and Easter Monday. In the West, Easter is predicted using the Gregorian calendar, while Eastern Orthodox Christians use the much older Julian calendar, and celebrate 13 days later.
²	Western Catholic feast commemorating the Eucharist, takes place 60 days after Easter, and is typically the time when believers take their first communion.
³	Christmas celebrates the birth of Jesus Christ. In A.D.320, Pope Julius I fixed the date at December 25 based on the Gregorian calendar. The Orthodox church calculates Christmas using the Julian calendar and celebrates 13 days later on January 7.

Country information used by permission of World Trade Press