世界各国

Dominican Republic

Introduction to Dominican 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.

Government

Capital:

Santo Domingo 

Independence:

27 February 1844 (from Haiti)

National holiday:

Independence Day, 27 February (1844) 

Economy

Economy overview:

The Dominican Republic is a Caribbean representative democracy which enjoyed GDP growth of more than 7% in 1998-2000. Growth subsequently plummeted as part of the global economic slowdown. 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% enjoys nearly 40% of national income. Growth turned negative in 2003 with reduced tourism, a major bank fraud, and limited growth in the US economy, the source of 87% of export revenues. Resumption of a badly needed IMF loan was slowed due to government repurchase of electrical power plants.

GDP:

purchasing power parity - $52.71 billion (2004 est.) 

GDP - composition by sector:

agriculture: 10.7%
industry: 31.5%
services: 57.8% (2003) 

Agriculture products:

sugarcane, coffee, cotton, cocoa, tobacco, rice, beans, potatoes, corn, bananas; cattle, pigs, dairy products, beef, eggs 

Industries:

tourism, sugar processing, ferronickel and gold mining, textiles, cement, tobacco

Transportation

Pipelines:

crude oil 96 km; petroleum products 8 km

Ports and harbors:

Barahona, La Romana, Manzanillo, Puerto Plata, San Pedro de Macoris, Santo Domingo

Merchant marine:

total: 3 ships (1,000 GRT or over) 11,230 GRT/17,011 DWT
by type: cargo 1, petroleum tanker 2
registered in other countries: 1 (2003 est.)
foreign-owned: Pakistan 1, Singapore 1

Airports:

31 (2003 est.)

 

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