- Santo Domingo; 1,865,000
- 48,442 square kilometers (18,704 square miles)
- Roman Catholic
- Dominican peso
- Life Expectancy:
- GDP per Capita:
- U.S. $6,300
- Literacy Percent:
Dominican Republic Facts Flag
Occupying the eastern two-thirds of Hispaniola, the Dominican Republic is the second largest country, after Cuba, in the West Indies. This mountainous land includes Pico Duarte—the highest point in the Caribbean. Colonized in 1493 by Spaniards, it offered the first chartered university, hospital, cathedral, and monastery in the Americas. Santo Domingo, founded in 1496, is the oldest European settlement in the Western Hemisphere. The nation became independent in 1844, but endured political instability and repressive governments. Today it is a democracy, economically dependent on agriculture and tourism.
- Industry: Tourism, sugar processing, ferronickel and gold mining, textiles
- Agriculture: Sugarcane, coffee, cotton, cacao; cattle
- Exports: Ferronickel, sugar, gold, silver, coffee
—Text From National Geographic Atlas of the World, Eighth Edition
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