From June to November, hurricanes are frequent and can do much damage in the island.
The Dominican Republic has a total population, estimated for July 2009, of 9,650,054 inhabitants, for a density of 236.30 inhabitants per km².
About 64% of Dominicans live in cities and towns and 87% of people that are 15 years old or more can read and write.
The two largest cities are Santo Domingo (the capital city) with 1,817,754 inhabitants, and Santiago, in the Cibao Valley and with 908,250 inhabitants.
The ethnic composition of Dominicans is around 45% Mulatto, 40% Black, and 15% White
The Dominican Republic is divided into 31 provinces. The national capital Santo Domingo de Guzmán is in the "Distrito National" that is like a province and elects one Senator.
The provinces are:
The Dominican Republic has a mixed economy based mainly on agriculture, services (including tourism and finance), trade and money sent from the many Dominicans that live in other countries (United States, Europe). Agricultural production (mainly sugarcane, with smaller amounts of coffee, cacao, and tobacco) was the main economic activity but now is in third place after tourism and manufacturing in "zonas francas" ("free zones" where the industries do not pay taxes and all the production is sent to other countries).
Mining is also important, mainly ferronickel (nickel with iron) and gold.
The Dominican Republic suffers from poverty, with 83.3% of the population living below the poverty line in 2012. The wealth distribution is uneven: the richest 10% gets nearly 40% of national income.
The culture of the Dominican Republic, like in other Caribbean countries, is a mix of Taíno, African and European (mainly Spanish) cultures.
There are not many Taíno traditions in the modern Dominican culture; many places keep their Taíno names: Dajabón, Bánica, Haina, Yaque, Samaná, etc. Also many objects, plants and animals have a Taíno origin and their names have been included in other languages; for example: "canoa" (canoe, a small boat), "hamaca" (hammock, a simple bed), "maíz" (maize, corn), "yuca" (cassava, that comes from the Taíno word "casabe", a kind of cassava bread eaten in the Caribbean), and "batata" (sweet potato).
That mix of different traditions created a culture that is known as Creole (in Spanish: "Criolla"), common to all countries in the Caribbean, Louisiana and some parts of South America and Central America.
In the Dominican Republic, only Spanish is spoken, however; there are 3 major languages that are also spoken such as Haitian Creole, Samana English, and the West African Yoruba language known as Lucumi spoken by few. There is a local dialect or patois which is spoken by all Dominicans - see Dominican Spanish Creole.
The official religion is Roman Catholicism but there is freedom of religion. Protestant groups are important, representing about 15% of the total population. Each year major festivities called "fiestas patronales" are held. They are Catholic festivities in honor of the Patron saints of the towns and villages; it is a Spanish tradition to associate every town with a Catholic saint. The festivities includes church services, street parades, fire works, dance contests and other activities. Dominican Voodoo or Santeria is also practiced in large numbers as well as Dominican Palo, Dominican Kongo religion, and others.
African culture has the strongest influence in Dominican culture, especially in language, religion, food, and music.
"Notes":
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Navassa Island
Navassa Island, or La Navase in Haitian Creole, is a small island without anyone living on it in the Caribbean Sea. It is located ninety miles south of Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The United States government claims the two-square-mile island as a territory of the United States, and it is under control of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The island is also claimed by Haiti.
Some sailors sailing with Christopher Columbus named Navassa in 1504, because no fresh water could be found there.
A captain named Peter Duncan gave it to the U.S. in the late 1850s, for the purpose of guano mining. After a rebellion in 1889, and the Spanish-American War of 1898, the mining was put to an end.
With the opening of the Panama Canal in 1914, Navassa became important again, because of a lighthouse being built there. After World War II, no one lived on it again.
In 1996, Navassa's light was put out of use, and the island was transferred to the U.S. Department of the Interior. Three years later in 1999, the Fish and Wildlife Service received ownership of the island.
Navassa became a U.S. insular area in October 1857, when a representative of the Baltimore Fertilizer Company took possession of the island in the name of the United States pursuant to the Guano Act of August 18, 1856 (Title 48, U.S. Code, sections 1411-19). In 1889 the island's actual operation passed to the Navassa Phosphate Company. All operations were abandoned in 1898, when the island became effectively uninhabited.
Navassa Island is three square miles in area. Navassa lies about one hundred miles south of Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, about thirty miles west of Cape Tiburon, Haiti, at the southwest entrance to the Windward Passage, east of Kingston, Jamaica. Navassa's climate is marine and tropical.
Its terrain is a raised coral and limestone plateau, flat to undulating, ringed by vertical white cliffs, approximately nine to fifteen yards high. Navassa's environment is mostly exposed rock. However, it has enough grassland to support goat herds. Dense stands of fig-like trees and scattered cactus also exist. Only one tenth of the island's land is meadows or pastures. Navassa has no ports and only off-shore anchorage.
In 1976, the U.S. Coast Guard determined that the lighthouse on Navassa was no longer of any value to the U.S. Government and was ceasing its exercise of any interest in the island. However, the U.S. Coast Guard's ceasing to administer Navassa's use did not have any bearing at all on the United States sovereignty over the island, which remained constant regardless of the administering Federal agency or office. Consequently, under the provisions of Title 43, U.S.Code, section 1458, the Department of the Interior assumed responsibility for the civil administration of the U.S. insular area.
Acting under the authority that the Secretary of the Interior delegated to him in Secretary's Order No. 3205 (January 16, 1997) and Amendment No. 1 (January 14, 1998) to Secretary's Order No. 3205 and in fulfillment of his responsibilities as the civil administrator of the United States insular area of Navassa Island, the Director of the Office of Insular Affairs advises all persons interested in visiting Navassa Island that, having made a preliminary review of the island's ecology, he has decided indefinitely not to allow visits to the island and its surrounding waters until he has received a further assessment of the island's environment and conservation status. As used in this notice, the term "surrounding waters" includes the waters surrounding Navassa Island seaward to a line twelve (12) nautical miles distant from Navassa Island's coastlines. The Director of the Office of Insular Affairs intends that nothing in this notice shall deny or impair the right of innocent passage in the waters surrounding Navassa Island.
On September 2, 1999, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service established the Navassa Island Wildlife Refuge as an overlay. As of December 3, 1999, the Office of Insular Affairs ceased to have any administrative responsibility for Navassa. A Secretary's order of that date transferred full administration of Navassa from the Office of Insular Affairs to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
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