DOMINICAN REPUBLIC Official name: Republica Dominicana (Dominican Republic) Location: Caribbean International organisations: The African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States, The Non-Aligned Movement, The Organisation of American States, The United Nations, The World Trade Organisation Borders: Haiti Coastline: North Atlantic Ocean, Caribbean Sea Land area: 48,730 Km2 Population: 8,700,000

Ethnicity: 73% of the population are of mestizo (mixed European and African) descent. 16% are of wholly European (chiefly Spanish) descent, while 11% are of wholly African descent.
Languages: Spanish is the official language and is universally spoken.
Religion: Almost the entire population are at least nominal Catholic Christians.
Form of government: Presidential democratic republic. The Dominican Republic is divided into 29 provinces and one national capital district.
Capital: Santo Domingo
Constitution: The Constitution of the Dominican Republic came into effect on 12 July 1991.
Head of state: The President, elected by direct universal suffrage for a four-year term.
Head of government: The President, who appoints all ministers.
Legislature: The Dominican Republic has a bicameral legislature, the Congress of the Republic (Congreso de la República). The Chamber of Deputies (Cámara de Diputados) has 150 members, elected for four-year terms by proportional representation from the provinces. The Senate (Senado) has 32 members, elected for four-year terms from single-member constituencies.
Electoral authority: The Central Election Council conducts national elections.
Freedom House 2005 rating: Political Rights 2, Civil Liberties 2

Political history

The island of Hispaniola, of which the Dominican Republic now forms the eastern half, was claimed for Spain by Columbus in 1492. The Spanish colony was seized by France in 1794 but returned to Spain in 1809. In 1822 the forces of newly independent Haiti occupied the colony, and retained it until 1844, when the Spanish colonists regained control and founded the Dominican Republic. Through the 19th century the republic was ruled by a series of strongmen, one of whom tried unsuccessfully to sell the country to the United States.

Political instability led to an American occupation between 1916 and 1924. The government was refomed under American rule and free elections were held in 1924. But in 1930 Rafael Trujillo seized power and ruled as a particularly ruthless dictator until his assassination in 1961. With democratic government restored, the voters elected Juan Bosch, a socialist, in 1963. Nine months later the army seized power, beginning a period of chaos when resulted in a renewed American occupation in 1965.

In 1966 Joaquín Balaguer, a conservative, came to power after elections which were generally regarded as rigged. He retained power until his defeat in 1978, and was again elected between 1986 and 1996, when he was aged 90. Since 1996 the country has enjoyed stable government and free elections.

Juan Bosch's party, the Dominican Revolutionary Party, now a party of the moderate left, holds the presidency and is the largest party in the legislature. It is opposed by the centrist Dominican Liberation Party and the conservative Social Christian Reformist Party.