In Deutschland assoziieren wir mit der Dominikanischen Republik meist ein Trauminselparadies mit Palmen, Sonne, Strand und Meer. Abseits der Touristenrouten zeigt sich das Land aber auch von einer ganz anderen Seite.
Die Mehrheit der Bevölkerung lebt in Armut und in der Politik gab und gibt es immer noch zahlreiche Konfliktpunkte.

Weiter Information: Auswärtiges Amt

Ländername: Dominikanische Republik (República Dominicana)
Klima: tropisch
Lage: Ostteil der Insel Hispaniola
Größe: 48.320 qkm
Hauptstadt: Santo Domingo (2,37 Mio. Einwohner)
Bevölkerung: 10,28 Mio.
Bevölkerungsdichte: 195,5 Einwohner/qkm
Bevölkerungswachstum: 1,24%
Landessprache: Spanisch
Religionen: 68,9 % Katholiken; 18,2% Protestanten ; 10,6% Atheisten und Sonstige 2,3%
Unabhängigkeit: 27. Februar 1844 (von Haiti)

Background: Explored and claimed by Christopher COLUMBUS on his first voyage in 1492, the island of Hispaniola became a springboard for Spanish conquest of the Caribbean and the American mainland. In 1697, Spain recognized French dominion over the western third of the island, which in 1804 became Haiti. The remainder of the island, by then known as Santo Domingo, sought to gain its own independence in 1821 but was conquered and ruled by the Haitians for 22 years; it finally attained independence as the Dominican Republic in 1844. In 1861, the Dominicans voluntarily returned to the Spanish Empire, but two years later they launched a war that restored independence in 1865. A legacy of unsettled, mostly non-representative rule followed, capped by the dictatorship of Rafael Leonidas TRUJILLO from 1930-61. Juan BOSCH was elected president in 1962 but was deposed in a military coup in 1963. In 1965, the United States led an intervention in the midst of a civil war sparked by an uprising to restore BOSCH. In 1966, Joaquin BALAGUER defeated BOSCH in an election to become president. BALAGUER maintained a tight grip on power for most of the next 30 years when international reaction to flawed elections forced him to curtail his term in 1996. Since then, regular competitive elections have been held in which opposition candidates have won the presidency. Former President (1996-2000) Leonel FERNANDEZ Reyna won election to a new term in 2004 following a constitutional amendment allowing presidents to serve more than one term, and was since reelected to a second consecutive term.
Location: Caribbean, eastern two-thirds of the island of Hispaniola, between the Caribbean Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean, east of Haiti
Area land: 48,320 sq km
Area water: 350 sq km
Coastline: 1,288 km
Country name conventional long form: Dominican Republic
Country name conventional short form: The Dominican
Country name former: Dominican Republic
Population: 9,956,648 (July 2011 est.)
Age structure: 0-14 years: 29.5% (male 1,493,251/female 1,441,735); 15-64 years: 64% (male 3,251,419/female 3,120,540); 65 years and over: 6.5% (male 300,245/female 349,458) (2011 est.);
Population growth rate: 1.331% (2011 est.)
Birth rate: 19.67 births/1,000 population (2011 est.)
Death rate: 4.35 deaths/1,000 population (July 2011 est.)
Net migration rate: -2.01 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2011 est.)
Sex ratio: at birth: 1.04 male(s)/female; under 15 years: 1.04 male(s)/female; 15-64 years: 1.04 male(s)/female; 65 years and over: 0.86 male(s)/female; total population: 1.03 male(s)/female (2011 est.);
Infant mortality rate: total: 22.22 deaths/1,000 live births; male: 24.21 deaths/1,000 live births; female: 20.14 deaths/1,000 live births (2011 est.);
Life expectancy at birth: total population: 77.31 years; male: 75.16 years; female: 79.55 years (2011 est.);
Total fertility rate: 2.44 children born/woman (2011 est.);
HIV/AIDS – adult prevalence rate: 0.9% (2009 est.);
HIV/AIDS – people living with HIV/AIDS: 57,000 (2009 est.);
HIV/AIDS – deaths: 2,300 (2009 est.);
Nationality: noun: Dominican(s); adjective: Dominican;
Ethnic groups: mixed 73%, white 16%, black 11%;
Religions: Roman Catholic 95%, other 5%;
Languages: Spanish (official);
Literacy: definition: age 15 and over can read and write; total population: 87%; male: 86.8%; female: 87.2% (2002 census);
GDP (purchasing power parity): $84.94 billion (2010 est.); $81.52 billion (2009 est.); $78.76 billion (2008 est.);

GDP (official exchange rate): $50.87 billion (2010 est.);
GDP – real growth rate: 4.2% (2010 est.); 3.5% (2009 est.); 5.3% (2008 est.);
GDP – per capita (PPP): $8,600 (2010 est.); $8,400 (2009 est.); $8,200 (2008 est.);

GDP – composition by sector: agriculture: 11.5%; industry: 21%; services: 67.5% (2010 est.);
Population below poverty line: 42.2% (2004);
Household income or consumption by percentage share: lowest 10%: 1.5%; highest 10%: 38.7% (2005);
Labor force: 4.498 million (2010 est.);
Labor force – by occupation: agriculture: 14.6%; industry: 22.3%; services: 63.1% (2005);
Unemployment rate: 14.2% (2010 est.); 14.9% (2009 est.);
Budget: revenues: $7.11 billion; expenditures: $8.634 billion (2010 est.);
Industries: tourism, sugar processing, ferronickel and gold mining, textiles, cement, tobacco;
Industrial production growth rate: 1.5% (2010 est.);
Electricity – production: 14.02 billion kWh (2007 est.);
Electricity – consumption: 12.7 billion kWh (2007 est.);
Electricity – exports: 0 kWh (2008 est.);
Electricity – imports: 0 kWh (2008 est.);

Statistics: CIA World Factbook.