News on Dominican Today

Experts praise Dominican Republic’s drug prevention program

Santo Domingo.– The Dominican Republic made the list of countries in the region with better preparation as to drug prevention measures in schools, according to Ecuadorian experts Dr. Franklin Barr...

Dominican Republic and UAE to cooperate in energy projects

Santo Domingo.– The Dominican Republic and the United Arab Emirates will continue forging their ties in the area of renewable energy projects, announced Aristides Fernandez Zucco, president of th...

Cuban pitcher phenomon leaves national team

Miami.– Only hours before his debut in the prestigious tournament in the Netherlands, the Cuban national team suffered a terrible loss when their main pitcher, the left-handed Aroldis Chapman, de...

Mariners may have signed promising young Dominican outfielder

Santo Domingo.– Seattle Mariners have once again reached into the international ranks to sign a promising young Dominican prospect, a story that has been confirmed by some local papers. According to...

Venezuela to buy large share of Dominican oil refinery

Santo Domingo.– Venezuela will pay $130 million for a 49 percent stake in Refineria Dominicana de Petroleo S. A., Diario Libre newspaper reported. According to the report, Dominican President Leone...

About Dominican Republic

The Dominican Republic is a nation located in the Caribbean region and shares the island of Hispaniola with Haiti. Part of the Greater Antilles archipelago, Hispaniola lies west of Puerto Rico and east of Cuba and Jamaica. Its western third is the nation of Haiti, making Hispaniola one of two Caribbean islands that are occupied by two countries, Saint Martin being the other. The demonym or adjective of the country is "Dominican", which is the exact same as that of Dominica. To avoid confusion, many nationals of the Republic often practically use "Dominican Republic" as an adjective. This adjective may be rendered "Dominicarrepubliquense" in Spanish. Thus, "Dominicarrepubliquense" can serve as both demonym and adjective for the Dominican Republic, whereas "Dominiques" or "Dominiquese" can be serve as such for Dominica, avoiding the conflict that both countries claim the demonym/adjective "Dominican".

The Dominican Republic is the site of the first permanent European settlement in the Americas; its capital Santo Domingo was also the first colonial capital in the Americas. It is the site of the first cathedral, university, European-built road, European-built fortress, and more.

For most of its independent history, the nation experienced political turmoil and unrest, suffering through many non-representative and tyrannical governments. Since the death of military dictator Rafael Leonidas Trujillo Molina in 1961, the Dominican Republic has moved toward a liberal economic model which has made it the largest economy in the region and a representative democracy.