The Dominican Republic is a Caribbean nation sharing the island of Hispaniola with Haiti. It occupies the eastern five-eighths of the island, making it the second-largest country in the Antilles by both area (48,671 sq km) and population (approximately 11.4 million in 2024). Its capital is Santo Domingo, home to 3.6 million people. The Dominican Republic also shares a maritime border with Puerto Rico.
A winter storm and DHS moves caused chaos at South Florida airports. JetBlue and Frontier Airlines cancelled flights, leaving travelers stranded in the Dominican Republic and the U.S. impacting travel plans.
From 1902 onward, short-lived governments were common, with caudillos usurping power.
Horacio Vásquez was former president in 1902-03, before becoming president in 1924.
In 1905, President Theodore Roosevelt obtained the Dominican agreement for U.S. administration of Dominican customs.
In 1906, an agreement was made for the U.S. to administer Dominican customs for 50 years, using part of the proceeds to reduce the country's foreign debt.
From 1896 to 1907 missionaries from the Episcopal, Free Methodist, Seventh-day Adventist and Moravian churches began work in the Dominican Republic.
In 1911, President Ramón Cáceres was assassinated, leading to political instability and civil war.
In 1914, a political deadlock was broken after an ultimatum by Wilson.
On May 7, 1916, Jimenes resigned as president, leading to U.S. occupation.
On May 16, 1916, U.S. Marines landed in the Dominican Republic, seizing the capital and other ports.
During the U.S. occupation of 1916–24, peasants from the countryside, called Gavilleros, would kill U.S. Marines and attack Arab vendors.
In 1916, volleyball was introduced to the Dominican Republic by U.S. Marines, becoming an important sport in the country.
Between 1918 and 1920, over 300 schools were established nationwide in Dominican Republic.
Between 1918 and 1920, over 300 schools were established nationwide in Dominican Republic.
Between 1920 and 1940 the art scene was influenced by styles of realism and impressionism.
In October 1922, the U.S. government's rule ended.
In March 1924, elections were held.
On July 13, 1924, Horacio Vásquez was inaugurated as president.
In September 1930, Hurricane San Zenón devastated Santo Domingo, killing 8,000 people.
In November 1930, General Cipriano Bencosme's uprising was defeated, and he was killed.
In 1930, General Rafael Trujillo seized power.
In 1930, Rafael Trujillo's dictatorship began after he seized power following a military revolt.
In 1932, fashion designer Oscar de la Renta was born in the Dominican Republic.
Starting in 1935, several Dominicans were assassinated in New York City for anti-Trujillo activities.
In 1936, the Distrito Nacional was created in the Dominican Republic, replacing the old Santo Domingo Province.
In October 1937, Dominican troops massacred thousands of Haitian men, women, and children on the Haitian-Dominican border under Trujillo's orders.
From 1937, merengue music began to be promoted internationally by Dominican groups like Billo's Caracas Boys and others.
Between 1920 and 1940 the art scene was influenced by styles of realism and impressionism.
Puerto Rican, and to a lesser extent, Cuban immigrants fled to the Dominican Republic from the mid-1800s until about 1940 due to a poor economy and social unrest in their respective home countries.
In 1941, Trujillo achieved the end of the 50-year customs agreement well before its expiration.
During the Battle of the Caribbean in 1942, German U-boats sank two Dominican-flagged merchant vessels, San Rafael and Presidente Trujillo, along with four other Dominican-manned ships.
In 1947, Trujillo made the country debt-free.
In 1950, the Dominican Republic's population was 2,380,000.
Until 1950, merengue music was promoted internationally by Dominican groups like Billo's Caracas Boys and Chapuseaux and Damiron "Los Reyes del Merengue", and radio and television popularized it.
On September 23, 1956, Ozzie Virgil Sr. made history by becoming the first Dominican-born player in Major League Baseball (MLB).
The 50-year customs agreement, which ended in 1941, would have expired in 1956.
On August 13, 1959, a C-47 transport flying from the Dominican Republic carrying military advisors and supplies landed at Trinidad airport, where Castro seized the aircraft and its ten occupants; an exchange of gunfire left two of the advisors and two Cuban forces dead, and around 4,000 suspects were arrested throughout Cuba.
On August 26, 1960, the United States severed diplomatic relations with the Dominican Republic.
On November 25, 1960, Trujillo's henchmen killed three of the four Mirabal sisters, also known as Las Mariposas, who were conspiring to overthrow him.
In 1960, the U.S. broke with Trujillo after his agents attempted to assassinate Venezuelan president Rómulo Betancourt.
In January 1961, the U.S. suspended the export of trucks, parts, crude oil, gasoline and other petroleum products to the Dominican Republic.
On May 30, 1961, Trujillo was assassinated by Dominican dissidents during a car chase.
On May 31, 1961, Venezuela arrested several individuals plotting to overthrow the government, who were armed with weapons traced to the Dominican Republic.
On November 18, 1961, U.S. Secretary of State Dean Rusk warned that the US would not "remain idle" if the Trujillos tried to "reassert dictatorial domination" in the Dominican Republic.
In 1961, Rafael Trujillo was assassinated, marking the end of his long dictatorship.
The first of three late-20th century emigration waves began in 1961 after the assassination of dictator Trujillo, due to fear of retaliation by Trujillo's allies and political uncertainty in general.
On January 4, 1962, the Organization of American States (OAS) lifted its sanctions against the Dominican Republic.
In 1962, Juan Bosch was elected president.
In February 1963, a democratically elected government under leftist Juan Bosch took office in the Dominican Republic, but was later overthrown by a military coup in September.
By 1963, Oscar de la Renta had designs bearing his own label, marking a significant step in his fashion career.
In 1963, Juan Bosch was deposed in a military coup.
On April 24, 1965, a second military coup ousted the military-installed president Donald Reid Cabral in the Dominican Republic.
In 1965, the United States began a military occupation of the Dominican Republic to end a civil war and eased travel restrictions, making it easier for Dominicans to obtain U.S. visas.
From 1966 to 1978, the exodus continued, fueled by high unemployment and political repression in the Dominican Republic.
In 1966, Joaquín Balaguer began his authoritarian rule, which lasted until 1978 and later resumed from 1986 to 1996.
In 1966, after U.S. and OAS peacekeeping troops supervised elections, Joaquín Balaguer, Trujillo's last puppet-president, won and remained in power for 12 years.
The conservative Social Christian Reformist Party (PRSC) was in power in the Dominican Republic from 1966 to 1978.
In 1971, Oscar de la Renta became a US citizen after being born in the Dominican Republic.
In 1973, Bosch founded the Dominican Liberation Party (PLD) after leaving the PRD.
From 1966 to 1978, the exodus continued, fueled by high unemployment and political repression in the Dominican Republic.
In 1978, opposition candidate Antonio Guzmán Fernández of the Dominican Revolutionary Party (PRD) succeeded Balaguer as president.
Since 1978, the Dominican Republic has been transitioning towards representative democracy.
The social democratic Dominican Revolutionary Party (PRD) was in power again in the Dominican Republic from 1978 to 1986.
In August 1979, Hurricane David struck the Dominican Republic, causing over $1 billion in damage, leaving upwards of 2,000 people dead and 200,000 homeless.
In 1982, another Dominican Revolutionary Party (PRD) win followed under Salvador Jorge Blanco.
By 1985, the exchange rate of the Dominican peso to the U.S. dollar was liberalized.
In August 1986, the exchange rate for the Dominican peso to the U.S. dollar stood at 2.70 pesos per dollar.
In 1986, Balaguer regained the presidency in the Dominican Republic.
In 1986, Joaquín Balaguer returned to power.
The conservative Social Christian Reformist Party (PRSC) was in power again in the Dominican Republic from 1986 to 1996.
In 1990, Balaguer was re-elected as president of the Dominican Republic.
In the late 1980s and 1990, economic turmoil struck the Dominican Republic, with the GDP falling by up to 5% and consumer price inflation reaching 100%.
From 1992 to 2018, the Dominican Republic experienced an average real GDP growth rate of 5.3%.
In 1992, during a later tenure, the massive Columbus Lighthouse was completed as part of an ambitious infrastructure program.
In 1993, the exchange rate for the Dominican peso to the U.S. dollar was 14.00 pesos.
In 1994, Balaguer won the elections, defeating PRD candidate José Francisco Peña Gómez, but the elections were flawed, leading to international pressure.
In 1996, Joaquín Balaguer's rule ended.
In 1996, Leonel Fernández, with the support of Joaquín Balaguer, achieved the first-ever win for the Dominican Liberation Party (PLD) in the Dominican Republic.
In 1996, due to international pressure from the flawed 1994 elections, Balaguer responded by scheduling another presidential contest in the Dominican Republic.
International observers have found that presidential and congressional elections since 1996 have been generally free and fair in the Dominican Republic.
The Dominican Liberation Party (PLD) was in power in the Dominican Republic from 1996 to 2000.
In 1998, Hurricane Georges was the last major hurricane that struck the Dominican Republic.
In 2000, the PRD's Hipólito Mejía won the election in the Dominican Republic, marking a time of economic troubles.
In 2000, the exchange rate for the Dominican peso to the U.S. dollar was 16.00 pesos.
In 2000, there were 1.6 million phone line subscribers in the Dominican Republic.
The social democratic Dominican Revolutionary Party (PRD) was in power once more in the Dominican Republic from 2000 to 2004.
The urban population growth rate for 2000-2005, per the United Nations, was 2.3%.
In 2001, the new Santo Domingo Province was split off from the Distrito Nacional.
Until 2002, the Dominican Republic entered a period of growth and declining inflation, after which the economy entered a recession.
In 2003, 80% of all Haitians were poor (54% living in abject poverty) and 47.1% were illiterate.
In 2003, the Baninter fraud had a devastating effect on the Dominican economy, with GDP dropping by 1% and inflation ballooning by over 27%.
In 2003, under Mejía, the Dominican Republic participated in the US-led coalition during the invasion of Iraq.
In 2004, it was estimated that 8% of all cocaine smuggled into the United States had come through the Dominican Republic.
The Dominican Liberation Party (PLD) was in power again in the Dominican Republic from 2004 to 2020.
According to the 2005 Annual Report of the United Nations Subcommittee on Human Development in the Dominican Republic, the country is ranked No. 71 for resource availability, No. 79 for human development, and No. 14 for resource mismanagement.
In 2005, Dominican President Leonel Fernández criticized collective expulsions of Haitians as having taken place "in an abusive and inhuman way".
The urban population growth rate for 2000-2005, per the United Nations, was 2.3%.
In 2006, Frank Báez won the Santo Domingo Book Fair First Prize, marking a significant achievement in his literary career.
In 2006, the annual population growth rate for the Dominican Republic was 1.5%.
In 2007, the annual population growth rate for the Dominican Republic was 1.5%.
In 2007, the population density in the Dominican Republic was 192 per km (498 per sq mi), with 63% of the population living in urban areas.
In 2008, Fernández was elected for a third term in the Dominican Republic.
In 2008, Gabriel Mercedes won an Olympic silver medal in taekwondo, marking a significant achievement for the Dominican Republic in the sport.
In 2008, Junot Díaz was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction for his novel "The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao", solidifying his position as a leading Dominican writer.
In March 2009, there were 2,439,997 Internet users in the Dominican Republic.
In June 2009, there were more than 8 million phone line subscribers in the Dominican Republic.
In November 2009, the Dominican Republic became the first Latin American country to pledge to include a "gender perspective" in every information and communications technology (ICT) initiative and policy developed by the government.
In April 2010, five teenagers, aged 15 to 17, shot and killed two taxi drivers and killed another five by forcing them to drink drain-cleaning acid.
On September 24, 2010, five teenagers were sentenced to prison terms of three to five years for the murder of seven people, despite protests from the taxi drivers' families.
In 2010, 31.2% of the Dominican Republic's population was under 15 years of age, and 6% was over 65 years of age.
In 2010, the capital city of Santo Domingo had a population of 2,907,100.
In 2010, there was a growing Dominican immigration to Puerto Rico, with nearly 70,000 Dominicans living there.
The 2010 Census registered 311,969 Haitians; 24,457 Americans; 6,691 Spaniards; 5,763 Puerto Ricans; and 5,132 Venezuelans in the Dominican Republic.
In 2012, Danilo Medina of the PLD was elected president in the Dominican Republic.
In 2012, a survey of immigrants in the Dominican Republic found 329,281 Haitian-born; 25,814 U.S.-born (excluding Puerto Rican-born); 7,062 Spanish-born; 6,083 Puerto Rican-born; 5,417 Venezuelan-born; 3,841 Cuban-born; 3,795 Italian-born; 3,606 Colombian-born; 2,043 French-born; 1,661 German-born; 1,484 Chinese-born; among others.
In 2012, before the opening of the second line, 30,856,515 passengers rode the Santo Domingo Metro.
In 2012, the Dominican Republic had a murder rate of 22.1 per 100,000 population, totaling 2,268 murders.
In 2012, there were approximately 1.7 million people of Dominican descent in the U.S., counting both native- and foreign-born.
In April 2013, the second line of the Santo Domingo Metro, designed to relieve congestion along the Duarte-Kennedy-Centenario Corridor, was opened.
As of August 2013, the Santo Domingo Metro had a length of 27.35 kilometers (16.99 mi).
In 2013, remittances in the Dominican Republic were US$3333 million.
In 2013, the Dominican Republic's baseball team achieved an undefeated record en route to winning the World Baseball Classic.
In 2013, the government of the Dominican Republic invested a total of $16 billion pesos in health services offered to foreign patients.
On October 20, 2014, Oscar de la Renta died of complications from cancer, marking the end of a significant era in fashion design.
As of 2014, 57% of the Dominican Republic's population (5.7 million) identified as Roman Catholics and 23% (2.3 million) as Protestants.
In 2014, remittances in the Dominican Republic increased to US$4571.30 million from US$3333 million in 2013.
In 2014, the Dominican Republic's GDP growth reached 7.3%, the highest in the Western Hemisphere.
In 2015, the Dominican Republic's GDP growth was 7.0%, the highest in the Western Hemisphere, and the country's gold production was 31 metric tonnes.
The projected population for the Dominican Republic in 2015 was 10,121,000.
According to the 2016 Global Slavery Index, an estimated 104,800 people are enslaved in the modern-day Dominican Republic, or 1% of the population.
Although that number is slowly decreasing and immigration trends have reversed because of Puerto Rico's economic crisis as of 2016.
In 2016, Danilo Medina was re-elected as president of the Dominican Republic.
Starting in 2016, elections are held jointly in the Dominican Republic, after a constitutional reform.
The government of the Dominican Republic invested a total of $16 billion pesos in health services offered to foreign patients in 2013–2016, according to official data, which includes medical expenses in blood transfusion, clinical analysis, surgeries and other care.
According to a 2017 estimate from the Dominican government, the Dominican Republic had a population of 10,189,895, of which 847,979 were immigrants or descendants of recent immigrants and 9,341,916 were ethnic Dominicans.
In 2017, Haiti's per capita GDP (PPP) was $1,800, or just over one-tenth of the Dominican figure.
In the second half of 2017, a survey of foreign population was conducted in the Dominican Republic and the total population was estimated at 10,189,895, of which 9,341,916 were Dominicans with no foreign background. The survey revealed the majority of the people with foreign background were of Haitian origin (751,080 out of 847,979, or 88.6%).
As of September 2018, the exchange rate was 50.08 pesos per dollar.
By 2018, the Dominican Republic had the fastest-growing economy in the Western Hemisphere for the past 25 years, averaging a 5.3% real GDP growth rate since 1992.
In 2018, Santo Domingo was named a Culinary Capital of the Caribbean by the Ibero-American Academy of Gastronomy.
In 2018, the Dominican Republic signed the UN treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.
In 2019, Santo Domingo was again named a Culinary Capital of the Caribbean by the Ibero-American Academy of Gastronomy, marking the second consecutive year.
In 2019, the Dominican Republic was ranked 87th in the Global Innovation Index.
In 2020, Ceylin del Carmen Alvarado, representing the Dominican Republic, won both the World and European Cyclo-cross championships.
In 2020, opposition candidate Luis Abinader won the election in the Dominican Republic, succeeding Danilo Medina.
In 2020, protests erupted against the PLD's rule, and the opposition Modern Revolutionary Party (PRM) presidential candidate, Luis Abinader, won the election.
In 2020, the Dominican Republic had an estimated birth rate of 18.5 per 1000 and a death rate of 6.3 per 1000.
In 2020, there were an estimated 102.3 males for every 100 females in the Dominican Republic.
In 2021, the Dominican Republic's population was 11,117,873.
In a 2022 population survey, 71.7% of the population self-identified as Mixed (Indio 34.2%, Moreno 26.1%, Mestizo 7.7%, Mulatto 3.8%), 18.7% as White, 7.4% as Black, and 0.3% as "Other" in the Dominican Republic.
According to the WHO, the estimated incidence rate of tuberculosis (TB) in the Dominican Republic was 42 cases per 100,000 people in 2023.
In 2023, the Dominican Republic deported over 185,000 Haitian men, women, and children.
In May 2024, President Luis Abinader won a second term in the Dominican Republic elections.
As of 2024, five Dominican-born players which are Adrián Beltré, Vladimir Guerrero, Juan Marichal, Pedro Martínez, and David Ortiz have been elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame.
In 2024, Luis Abinader was re-elected to a second term as president in the Dominican Republic general election.
In 2024, the Dominican Republic deported more than 230,000 Haitian men, women, and children.
In 2024, the Dominican Republic's population is estimated to be approximately 11.4 million, with 3.6 million residing in the metropolitan area of Santo Domingo.
In the 2024 Global Hunger Index (GHI), the Dominican Republic ranks 41st out of 127 countries with sufficient data and has a GHI score of 7.8, indicating a low level of hunger.
According to the 2025 Global Peace Index, the Dominican Republic ties with Tajikistan as the 79th most peaceful country in the world.
In 2025, the Dominican Republic deported a record 370,000 Haitian men, women, and children, many of whom were deported in caged trucks.
The Dominican Republic was ranked 97th in the Global Innovation Index in 2025.
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