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Dominican Republic
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Dominican Republic is a country in the Caribbean. The main religion is Christianity. The main language is Spanish. The Dominican Republic seceded from Haiti in 1844. The country is a presidential democratic republic.
Explored and claimed by Columbus on his first voyage in 1492, the island of Hispaniola became a springboard for Spanish conquest of the Caribbean and the American mainland. In 1697, Spain recognized French dominion over the western third of the island, which in 1804 became Haiti. The remainder of the island, by then known as Santo Domingo, sought to gain its own independence in 1821, but was conquered and ruled by the Haitians for 22 years; it finally attained independence as the Dominican Republic in 1844. A legacy of unsettled, mostly non-representative, rule for much of its subsequent history was brought to an end in 1966 when Joaquin BALAGUER became president. He maintained a tight grip on power for most of the next 30 years when international reaction to flawed elections forced him to curtail his term in 1996. Since then, regular competitive elections have been held in which opposition candidates have won the presidency. The Dominican economy has had one of the fastest growth rates in the hemisphere over the past decade.
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| Official Name: |
Dominican Republic |
| Area: |
48,442 sq km, (18,700 Sq miles) |
| Capital: |
Santo Domingo |
| Nationality: |
Dominican |
| Official Language: |
Spanish |
| Population: |
8,076,000 |
| Currency: |
Dominican Republic Peso |
| Exchange Rate: |
U.S. 1$ = DR peso 16.00 |
| Time Zone: |
EST + 1; GMT -4 |
| Phone Code: |
Country code 809 + 7 digit local |
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