Dominican Republic

When Christopher Columbus, the Dominican Republic’s first tourist, stepped ashore on this land over 500 years ago, he marvelled at its beauty. Writing to King Ferdinand and Queen Isabela, he called it “the most beautiful land the eyes of man have ever seen”. To this day, there is no record of any visitor ever contradicting him.

The island, second in size in the Caribbean Basin has an incredibly diverse territory, which varies from desert to subtropical rainforest. Its eight mountain ranges draws large numbers of hikers and eco-tourists each year and sets the stage for Pico Duarte, 3175 m, the highest mountain in the Caribbean basin. The lowest point in the Caribbean, the Lago Enriquillo 46 metres below the sea level harbours the biggest reserve of the American Crocodile.

History

Columbus and the Spanish colonisers, who followed him, used the island as their base for further New World discoveries. The land was fertile, but the greater importance to the Spaniards unfolded a bit later when they discovered that gold could be obtained either by barter with the natives (who adorned themselves with golden jewellery), or by extraction from alluvial deposits on the island.

Geography

The second largest nation in the Caribbean, the Dominican Republic occupies the eastern two-thirds of the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles, with Haiti occupying the western portion. To the west are Jamaica and Cuba. Puerto Rico is east beyond the 112-kilometer Mona Passage and the southern tip of Florida is roughly 1,000 kilometres away.

Locked in the heart of the region between North and South America, the country is bathed by the Caribbean Sea on the south coast and the Atlantic Ocean to the north. With a land area of 48,442 square kilometres, it is larger than the Bahamas, Jamaica, Puerto Rico, all the Virgin Islands and the entire French West Indies put together. The Dominican Republic is slightly larger than the Netherlands, and one and a half bigger than Belgium.

The geology of the Dominican Republic is greatly diverse, ranging from arid semi-desert plains, to lush valleys, tropical rain forests with 27 different climatic zones, all resulting in a wide variety of incredibly beautiful vegetation. The topography of the Dominican Republic is composed of a diverse range of highland and lowland areas, offshore islands, rivers and lakes, all of which contribute in some way or another to the varied beauty of the country and the adventure travel options on offer. Most visitors come for its magnificent gold or white sand beaches and 1633 kilometres of coastline. But the inland has nothing to envy from the coastline and has an amazing array of attractions too. There are five mountain ranges, which run through the country. The Cordillera Central runs through the centre of the country and is the highest mountain range on the island. It includes Pico Duarte, the highest mountain in the Caribbean, at 3087 meters (10,128 feet).

Maps

Climate

Summertime is all year-round in the Dominican Republic. Its location at 17°36' - 19°58' latitude places it on the very border of the tropical zone. Temperature always hovers around a comfortable 25°c, but can dip into single digits at high elevations. Daily rain-showers may occur, but rather than annoyingly cutting short the day’s activities, they usually bring a welcome source of relief from the heat.

Language

The official language of the Dominican Republic is Spanish. Nevertheless, it is extremely difficult to find a tourist resort where English is not spoken, and English-speaking communities of moderate size (in San Pedro de Macorís and Samaná, for example) do exist. French and Dutch are widely spoken in the tourist areas.

Population

The country has approximately 8 000 000 inhabitants, of which 3 000 000 live in the city capital, Santo Domingo.

Religion

Though the country is 90% Roman Catholic, there are many Christian denominations, including Anglican, Baptist, Evangelical, Seventh Day Adventist, and Mormon. English services are held in some churches of the capital city. Santo Domingo’s synagogue holds a weekly service on Friday evenings at sundown.

National Emblems

Emblem	Flag

National Holidays

• 1st January: New Year’s
• 6th January: Epiphany
• 26th January: Juan Pablo Duarte Day
• 21st January: Our Lady of Altagracia
• 27th February: Independence Day
• 1st May: Labour Day
• 16th August: Restoration Day
• 24th September: Our Lady of Mercedes
• 6th November: Constitution Day
• 24th December: Holly Night (half day)
• 25th December: Christmas Day
• 31st December: New Year’s Eve (half day)

Rotating days as per the Roman Catholic Church calendar:

Note that December is for Dominicans, what August is for Europeans. Do not expect to get anything major done in December. Too many parties going on.