The majority of the population stem from a mixture of the Spanish settlers and their African slaves. Enough watershed area is contained in its 48,400 sq. The fertile central Cibao valley is the most important agricultural region and irrigation projects in the Southwest and Northwest have greatly added to the amount of land usable for agricultural purposes. The economy has traditionally been built on agriculture, with sugar holding a preeminent position, followed by coffee, tobacco and cacao. Over the past decade, other products such as citrus, green vegetables, pineapples and flowers have grown in importance.
Mining is also a highly significant activity.
The Pueblo Viejo gold and silver mine in the Cibao valley is the world's largest open-pit gold mine, and the Canadian company Falconbrigde mines nickel ore and operates a large smelting plant. Exploitation of the extensive bauxite deposits near the Haitian border has been halted for several years. Mobil Oil is exploring for petroleum all along the southern coast.