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capital:
santo domingo administrative divisions: 31 provinces (provincias. singular - provincia) and 1 district* (distrito); azua. baoruco. barahona. dajabon. distrito nacional*. duarte. elias pina. el seibo. espaillat. hato mayor. independencia. la altagracia. la romana. la vega. maria trinidad sanchez. monsenor nouel. monte cristi. monte plata. pedernales. peravia. puerto plata. salcedo. samana. sanchez ramirez. san cristobal. san jose de ocoa. san juan. san pedro de macoris. santiago. santiago rodriguez. santo domingo. valverde independence: 27 february 1844 (from haiti) national holiday: independence day. 27 february (1844) constitution: 28 november 1966; amended 25 july 2002 legal system: based on french civil codes; undergoing modification in 2004 towards an accusatory system suffrage: 18 years of age. universal and compulsory; married persons regardless of age note: members of the armed forces and national police cannot vote executive branch: chief of state: president leonel fernandez reyna (since 16 august 2004); vice president rafael alburquerque de castro (since 16 august 2004); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government head of government: president leonel fernandez reyna (since 16 august 2004); vice president rafael alburquerque de castro (since 16 august 2004); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government cabinet: cabinet nominated by the president elections: president and vice president elected on the same ticket by popular vote for four-year terms; election last held 16 may 2004 (next to be held in may 2008) election results: leonel fernandez elected president; percent of vote - leonel fernandez (pld) 57.1%. rafael hipolito mejia dominguez (prd) 33.7%. eduardo estrella (prsc) 8.7% legislative branch: bicameral national congress or congreso nacional consists of the senate or senado (32 seats; members are elected by popular vote to serve four-year terms) and the chamber of deputies or camara de diputados (150 seats; members are elected by popular vote to serve four-year terms) elections: senate - last held 16 may 2002 (next to be held may 2006); chamber of deputies - last held 16 may 2002 (next to be held may 2006) election results: senate - percent of vote by party - na%; seats by party - prd 29. pld 2. prsc 1; chamber of deputies - percent of vote by party - na%; seats by party - prd 73. pld 41. prsc 36 judicial branch: supreme court or corte suprema (judges are appointed by a the national judicial council comprised of the president. the leaders of both chambers of congress. the president of the supreme court. and an opposition or non-governing party member) political parties and leaders: dominican liberation party or pld [leonel fernandez reyna]; dominican revolutionary party or prd [vicente sanchez baret]; social christian reformist party or prsc [enrique atun] political pressure groups and leaders: collective of popular organizations or cop; citizen participation group (participacion ciudadania); foundation for institution-building (finjus) international organization participation: acp. fao. g-77. iadb. iaea. ibrd. icao. icc. icct (signatory). icftu. icrm. ida. ifad. ifc. ifrcs. iho. ilo. imf. imo. interpol. ioc. iom. iso (correspondent). itu. laes. laia (observer). miga. nam. oas. opanal. opcw (signatory). pca. rg. un. unctad. unesco. unido. unoci. upu. wcl. wco. wftu. who. wipo. wmo. wtoo. wto diplomatic representation in the us: chief of mission: ambassador-designate flavio dario espinal jacobo chancery: 1715 22nd street nw. washington. dc 20008 telephone: [1] (202) 332-6280 fax: [1] (202) 265-8057 consulate(s) general: boston. chicago. mayaguez (puerto rico). miami. new orleans. new york. philadelphia. and san juan (puerto rico) diplomatic representation from the us: chief of mission: ambassador hans h. hertell embassy: corner of calle cesar nicolas penson and calle leopoldo navarro. santo domingo mailing address: unit 5500. apo aa 34041-5500 telephone: [1] (809) 221-5511 fax: [1] (809) 686-7437 flag description: a centered white cross that extends to the edges divides the flag into four rectangles - the top ones are blue (hoist side) and red. and the bottom ones are red (hoist side) and blue; a small coat of arms featuring a shield supported by an olive branch (left) and a palm branch (right) is at the center of the cross; above the shield a blue ribbon displays the motto. dios. patria. libertad (god. fatherland. liberty). and below the shield. republica dominicana appears on a red ribbon 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 about 85% of export revenues). but recovered in 2004 and 2005. resumption of a badly needed imf loan. slowed due to government repurchase of electrical power plants. is basic to the restoration of social and economic stability. newly elected president fernandez in mid-2004 promised belt-tightening reform. his administration has passed tax reform and arranged a $600 million imf standby arrangement in march 20005 to ease the country's fiscal situation. although the economy continues to grow at a respectable rate. inflation and unemployment remain the two biggest challenges. gdp (purchasing power parity): $58.52 billion (2005 est.) gdp (official exchange rate): $17.68 billion (2005 est.) gdp - real growth rate: 4.1% (2005 est.) gdp - per capita: purchasing power parity - $6.500 (2005 est.) gdp - composition by sector: agriculture: 10.7% industry: 31.5% services: 57.8% (2003) labor force: 2.3 million - 2.6 million (2000 est.) labor force - by occupation: agriculture 17%. industry 24.3%. services and government 58.7% (1998 est.) unemployment rate: 17% (2005 est.) population below poverty line: 25% household income or consumption by percentage share: lowest 10%: 2.1% highest 10%: 37.9% (1998) distribution of family income - gini index: 47.4 (1998) inflation rate (consumer prices): 4.3% (2005 est.) investment (gross fixed): 25.4% of gdp (2005 est.) budget: revenues: $5.322 billion expenditures: $5.485 billion. including capital expenditures of $1.1 billion (2005 est.) public debt: 51.4% of gdp (2005 est.) 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 industrial production growth rate: 2% (2001 est.) electricity - production: 12.6 billion kwh (2003) electricity - production by source: fossil fuel: 92% hydro: 7.6% nuclear: 0% other: 0.4% (2001) electricity - consumption: 11.71 billion kwh (2003) electricity - exports: 0 kwh (2003) electricity - imports: 0 kwh (2003) oil - production: 0 bbl/day (2001 est.) oil - consumption: 128.000 bbl/day (2003 est.) oil - exports: na (2001) oil - imports: 129.900 bbl/day (2003) current account balance: $-383 million (2005 est.) exports: $5.818 billion f.o.b. (2005 est.) exports - partners: us 80%. south korea 2.1%. canada 1.9% (2004) imports: $9.747 billion f.o.b. (2005 est.) imports - partners: us 48.1%. venezuela 13.5%. colombia 4.8%. mexico 4.8% (2004) reserves of foreign exchange and gold: $1.379 billion (2005 est.) debt - external: $7.907 billion (2005 est.) economic aid - recipient: $239.6 million (1995) currency (code): dominican peso (dop) currency code: dop exchange rates: dominican pesos per us dollar - 30.42 (2005). 42.12 (2004). 30.831 (2003). 18.61 (2002). 16.952 (2001) fiscal year: calendar year telephones - main lines in use: 901.800 (2003) telephones - mobile cellular: 2.120.400 (2003) telephone system: general assessment: na domestic: relatively efficient system based on island-wide microwave radio relay network international: country code - 1-809; 1 coaxial submarine cable; satellite earth station - 1 intelsat (atlantic ocean) radio broadcast stations: am 120. fm 56. shortwave 4 (1998) radios: 1.44 million (1997) television broadcast stations: 25 (2003) televisions: 770.000 (1997) internet country code: .do internet hosts: 64.197 (2003) internet service providers (isps): 24 (2000) internet users: 500.000 (2003) airports: 31 (2004 est.) airports - with paved runways: total: 13 over 3.047 m: 3 2.438 to 3.047 m: 3 1.524 to 2.437 m: 3 914 to 1.523 m: 3 under 914 m: 1 (2005 est.) airports - with unpaved runways: total: 19 1.524 to 2.437 m: 4 914 to 1.523 m: 5 under 914 m: 10 (2005 est.) railways: total: 1.743 km standard gauge: 375 km 1.435-m gauge narrow gauge: 142 km 0.762-m gauge note: additional 1.226 km operated by sugar companies in 1.076-m. 0.889-m. and 0.762-m gauges (2004) roadways: total: 12.600 km paved: 6.224 km unpaved: 6.376 km (1999) merchant marine: total: 3 ships (1.000 grt or over) 11.230 grt/17.011 dwt by type: cargo 3 (2005) ports and terminals: boca chica. puerto plata. rio haina. santo domingo military branches: army. navy. air force military service age and obligation: 18 years of age for voluntary military service (2001) manpower available for military service: males age 18-49: 2.108.197 (2005 est.) manpower fit for military service: males age 18-49: 1.420.693 (2005 est.) manpower reaching military service age annually: males: 91.597 (2005 est.) military expenditures - dollar figure: $180 million (1998) military expenditures - percent of gdp: 1.1% (1998) disputes - international: increasing numbers of illegal migrants from the dominican republic cross the mona passage each year to puerto rico to find work illicit drugs: transshipment point for south american drugs destined for the us and europe; has become a transshipment point for ecstasy from the netherlands and belgium destined for us and canada; substantial money-laundering activity; colombian narcotics traffickers favor the dominican republic for illicit financial transactions
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