IntroductionThe Dominican Republic is a country on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean Sea, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north. It occupies the eastern five-eighths of the island, which it shares with Haiti, making Hispaniola one of only two Caribbean islands, along with Saint Martin, that is shared by two sovereign states. It is the second-largest nation in the Antilles by area (after Cuba) at 48,671 square kilometers (18,792 sq mi), and second-largest by population, with approximately 11.4 million people in 2024, of whom approximately 3.6 million live in the metropolitan area of Santo Domingo, the capital city. The Dominican people declared independence from Spain in November 1821. The colony of Santo Domingo was regionally divided with many rival and competing provincial leaders during the 1800s. Dominicans were often at war fighting against the French, Haitians, Spanish, or amongst themselves, resulting in a society heavily influenced by military strongmen. Santo Domingo attained independence as the Dominican Republic in 1844 when Dominican nationalists led an insurrection against the Haitians. Over the next decades, the Dominican Republic experienced several civil wars, battles against Haiti, and a brief return to Spanish colonial status, before permanently ousting the Spanish during the Dominican War of Restoration of 1863–1865. The U.S. occupied the Dominican Republic (1916–1924) due to threats of defaulting on foreign debts; a subsequent calm and prosperous six-year period under Horacio Vásquez followed. From 1930 the dictatorship of Rafael Leónidas Trujillo ruled until his assassination in 1961. Juan Bosch was elected president in 1962 but was deposed in a military coup in 1963. A civil war in 1965, the country's last, was ended by U.S. military intervention and was followed by the authoritarian rule of Joaquín Balaguer (1966–1978 and 1986–1996). Since 1978, the Dominican Republic has moved toward representative democracy. The Dominican Republic has the largest economy (according to the U.S. State Department and the World Bank) in the Caribbean and Central American region and is the seventh-largest economy in Latin America. Over the last 25 years, the Dominican Republic has had the fastest-growing economy in the Western Hemisphere – with an average real GDP growth rate of 5.3% between 1992 and 2018. GDP growth in 2014 and 2015 reached 7.3 and 7.0%, respectively, the highest in the Western Hemisphere. Recent growth has been driven by construction, manufacturing, tourism, and mining. The country is the site of the third largest (in terms of production) gold mine in the world, the Pueblo Viejo mine. (Full article...) Selected article -Ciudad Colonial (Spanish for "Colonial City") is the historic central neighborhood of the Dominican Republic's capital Santo Domingo. It is the oldest continuously inhabited European-established settlement in the Americas. The area has been declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. It is also known as Zona Colonial (Colonial Zone) or more colloquially as "La Zona" (The Zone). The Ciudad Colonial is located on the west bank of the Ozama River, which bisects the city. It covers 1.06 km2 (0.41 sq mi) bounded by a walled perimeter. It is an important section of the city due to the high number of landmarks, including Alcázar de Colón, Fortaleza Ozama, Catedral de Santa María la Menor, and others. The area is the main tourist attraction of Santo Domingo, even though the main sites of governmental and commercial activity are now in the more modern parts of the city. (Full article...)General images -The following are images from various Dominican Republic-related articles on Wikipedia.
Selected picture -Credit: Lapo Luchini, 2004 Interior of Cathedral Primada in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.
Selected biography -Alfred Joel Horford Reynoso (born June 3, 1986), nicknamed Big Al, is a Dominican professional basketball player for the Boston Celtics of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Horford is a five-time NBA All-Star and is the highest paid Latin American basketball player. Horford played college basketball for the Florida Gators and was the starting center on their back-to-back National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) national championships teams in 2006 and 2007. He was drafted with the third overall pick in the 2007 NBA draft by the Atlanta Hawks, a team that he played nine seasons with before signing with the Celtics as a free agent in the 2016 off-season. After three seasons in Boston, Horford signed with the Philadelphia 76ers in the 2019 offseason and played a season with them before being traded in the 2020 offseason to the Oklahoma City Thunder. Prior to the 2021 season, Horford was traded back to the Celtics, with whom he reached the NBA finals. (Full article...)Related portalsTopicsCategoriesSelect [►] to view subcategories
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