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.

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