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LEARN ABOUT DOMINICAN REPUBLIC

THE ISLAND OF LA HISPANIOLA

Dominican Republic: ( Spanish: República Dominicana) The island of La Hispaniola was founded by Christopher Columbus, who landed on the island in 1492. This was the first permanent European settlement in the Americas, namely Santo Domingo, the country's capital, and Spain's first capital in the New World. It is located in the Caribbean, and shares this island with Haiti, which comprises three-eighths of the land. Haiti is to the west and Dominican Republic is to the East.

Hispaniola is one of two Caribbean islands, along with Saint Martin, that are shared by two countries. Dominican Republic is the second largest Caribbean nation (after Cuba). The size of the Dominican Republic is 48,445 square kilometers (18,705 square miles). It has the highest mountain peak in the Caribbean, named Pico Duarte. It also has the largest lake with the lowest elevation, Lake Enriquillo. The average temperature is 26 °C (78.8 °F). The Capital is Santo Domingo. The population is estimated to be 10 million people, one million of which live in the capital city, Santo Domingo.

PRESIDENT DANILO MEDINA SANCHEZ

The President of the Dominican Republic is Danilo Medina Sánchez, born on November 10, 1951 (age 62) in Bohechío, Dominican Republic. He graduated from the Universidad Autónoma de Santo Domingo. His presidential term started on August 16, 2012. He was married in 1987 to Cándida Montilla and has three daughters, Vanessa Medina, Ana Paula Medina, and Sibeli Medina.

The government of the Dominican Republic is a democracy, and the economy is ninth in Latin America and the second largest in the Caribbean and Central America.

The country exports medical, surgical, dental, and veterinary instruments, bananas and plantains, jewelry, precious metal, and sugar.

It is also home to the first cathedral, castle, monastery, and fortress in all the Americas, located in Santo Domingo's Colonial Zone, an area declared as a World Heritage Site.

The Dominican Republic is the most visited destination in the Caribbean. The year-round golf courses are among the top attractions on the island.

AMBER

Amber occurs from the fossilization of resin, not tree sap, from ancient forests. There is no one tree responsible for the resin that fossilizes into amber, and it comes mostly from conifers, known as pine trees. Resin is naturally produced to protect a tree from disease and injury, such as a broken branch, insects, fungi, and vertical fissures in the bark due to tension produced by rapid growth. Amber resin starts off as a semi-solid amorphous organic substance that is aromatic, and drips and oozes down trees. As it drips, it fills internal fissures, trapping debris such as seeds, leaves, feathers, and insects. The resin then hardens under natural forest conditions, leaving hard clumps that can become fossilized. This eventually turns to amber.

For more information about Domincican Amber vist, www.ambermuseum.com/index2.html

NATIVE LANGUAGE: SPANISH AND ENGLISH

NATIVE DANCE: BACHATA & MERINGUE

POPULAR MUSIC: BACHATA & MERINGUE

POPULAR SPORTS: BASEBALL, BASKETBALL AND SOCCER

For more information about Domincican Republic sports vist,
Baseball (Beisbol), Soccer and Basketball

HISTORICAL SITES: PUERTO PLATA

For more information about the Dominican Republic vist,
www.dominicanrepublic.com