| The Dominican Republic, the second largest | | | | ruler of Dominican Republic from 1930 to 1961. |
| country in the Caribbean, lies to the east of the | | | | The majority of its people depend on agriculture |
| Caribbean Islands. The country shares its border | | | | for their livelihood. Owing to the development of |
| with Haiti. The republic is bounded by the Atlantic | | | | tourism industry and free trade, the service |
| Ocean in the north and the Caribbean Sea in the | | | | sector has overtaken the agriculture sector. |
| south. The natives sometimes call their country, | | | | Principal exports of the country include clothing, |
| Quisqueya. The total land area of the country is | | | | cigars, coffee, sugar, flowers and vegetables. |
| 48,730 sq km. Santo Domingo (the capital), | | | | Petroleum, industrial raw materials, wood, |
| Puerto Plata and Santiago are the three important | | | | pharmaceuticals and food products are the major |
| metropolitan centers of the country. It has a | | | | import items. |
| population of about 8,833,000, with approximately | | | | Mixed Europeans and Africans were the original |
| two-thirds of the total population living in urban | | | | inhabitants of the Dominican Republic. |
| areas. The main language spoken is Spanish. | | | | Most of the people practice Catholicism. The |
| Before the 20th century, non-representative rule | | | | country has a rich tradition in art and culture. |
| prevailed in this country. The Dominican Republic | | | | Dominicans have always promoted art, music and |
| has become a representative democracy recently. | | | | crafts. The important festivals celebrated in the |
| Democracy was introduced in the country after | | | | country are the jazz festival and the merengue |
| the death of the military dictator Rafael | | | | festival. |
| Leónidas Trujillo Molina in 1961. He was the | | | | |