_#_Climate: tropical maritime; little seasonal temperature variation
_#_Terrain: rugged highlands and mountains with fertile valleys
interspersed
_#_Natural resources: nickel, bauxite, gold, silver
_#_Land use: arable land 23%; permanent crops 7%; meadows and pastures
43%; forest and woodland 13%; other 14%; includes irrigated 4%
_#_Environment: subject to occasional hurricanes (July to October);
deforestation
_#_Note: shares island of Hispaniola with Haiti (western one-third is
Haiti, eastern two-thirds is the Dominican Republic)
_*_People
_#_Population: 7,384,837 (July 1991), growth rate 2.0% (1991)
_#_Birth rate: 27 births/1,000 population (1991)
_#_Death rate: 7 deaths/1,000 population (1991)
_#_Net migration rate: - 1 migrant/1,000 population (1991)
_#_Infant mortality rate: 60 deaths/1,000 live births (1991)
_#_Life expectancy at birth: 65 years male, 69 years female (1991)
_#_Total fertility rate: 3.1 children born/woman (1991)
_#_Nationality: noun--Dominican(s); adjective--Dominican
_#_Ethnic divisions: mixed 73%, white 16%, black 11%
_#_Religion: Roman Catholic 95%
_#_Language: Spanish
_#_Literacy: 83% (male 85%, female 82%) age 15 and over can
read and write (1990 est.)
_#_Labor force: 2,300,000-2,600,000; agriculture 49%, services 33%,
industry 18% (1986)
_#_Organized labor: 12% of labor force (1989 est.)
_*_Government
_#_Long-form name: Dominican Republic (no short-form name)
_#_Type: republic
_#_Capital: Santo Domingo
_#_Administrative divisions: 29 provinces (provincias,
singular--provincia) and 1 district* (distrito); Azua, Baoruco, Barahona,
Dajabon, Distrito Nacional*, Duarte, Elias Pina, El Seibo,
Espaillat, Hato Mayor, Independencia, La Altagracia, La Romana, La Vega,
Maria Trinidad Sanchez, Monsenor Nouel, Monte Cristi, Monte Plata,
Pedernales, Peravia, Puerto Plata, Salcedo, Samana, Sanchez
Ramirez, San Cristobal, San Juan, San Pedro De Macoris, Santiago,
Santiago Rodriguez, Valverde
_#_Independence: 27 February 1844 (from Haiti)
_#_Constitution: 28 November 1966
_#_Legal system: based on French civil codes
_#_National holiday: Independence Day, 27 February (1844)
_#_Executive branch: president, vice president, Cabinet
_#_Legislative branch: bicameral National Congress (Congreso Nacional)
consists of an upper chamber or Senate (Senado) and lower chamber or
Chamber of Deputies (Camara de Diputados)
_#_Judicial branch: Supreme Court (Corte Suprema)
_#_Leaders:
Chief of State and Head of Government--President Joaquin BALAGUER
Ricardo (since 16 August 1986, fifth elected term began 16 August 1990);
Vice President Carlos A. MORALES Troncoso (since 16 August 1986)
_#_Political parties and leaders:
Major parties--
Social Christian Reformist Party (PRSC), Joaquin BALAGUER Ricardo;
Dominican Revolutionary Party (PRD), Jose Francisco PENA Gomez;
Dominican Liberation Party (PLD), Juan BOSCH Gavino;
Independent Revolutionary Party (PRI), Jacobo MAJLUTA;
Minor parties--
National Veterans and Civilian Party (PNVC), Juan Rene BEAUCHAMPS Javier;
Liberal Party of the Dominican Republic (PLRD), Andres Van Der HORST;
Democratic Quisqueyan Party (PQD), Elias WESSIN Chavez;
Constitutional Action Party (PAC), Luis ARZENO Rodriguez;
National Progressive Force (FNP), Marino VINICIO Castillo;
Popular Christian Party (PPC), Rogelio DELGADO Bogaert;
Dominican Communist Party (PCD), Narciso ISA Conde;
Anti-Imperialist Patriotic Union (UPA), Ivan RODRIGUEZ;
note--in 1983 several leftist parties, including the PCD, joined to
form the Dominican Leftist Front (FID); however, they still retain
individual party structures
_#_Suffrage: universal and compulsory at age 18 or if married; members
of the armed forces and police cannot vote
_#_Elections:
President--last held 16 May 1990 (next to be held May 1994);
results--Joaquin BALAGUER (PRSC) 35.7%, Juan BOSCH Gavino (PLD)
34.4%;
Senate--last held 16 May 1990 (next to be held May 1994);
results--percent of vote by party NA;
seats--(30 total) PRSC 16, PLD 12, PRD 2;
Chamber of Deputies--last held 16 May 1990 (next to be
held May 1994);
results--percent of vote by party NA;
seats--(120 total) PLD 44, PRSC 41, PRD 33, PRI 2
_#_Communists: an estimated 8,000 to 10,000 members in several legal
and illegal factions; effectiveness limited by ideological differences,
organizational inadequacies, and severe funding shortages
_#_Member of: CARICOM (observer), ECLAC, FAO, G-11, G-77, GATT, IADB,
IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICFTU, IDA, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMF, IMO, INTELSAT,
INTERPOL, IOC, IOM, ITU, LAES, LAIA (observer), LORCS, NAM (guest),
OAS, OPANAL, PCA, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WCL, WFTU, WHO, WMO,
WTO
_#_Diplomatic representation: Ambassador Carlos A. MORALES Troncoso
(serves concurrently as Vice President); Chancery at
1715 22nd Street NW, Washington DC 20008; telephone (202) 332-6280;
there are Dominican Consulates General in Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles,
Mayaguez (Puerto Rico), Miami, New Orleans, New York, Philadelphia, San
Juan (Puerto Rico), and Consulates in Charlotte Amalie (Virgin Islands),
Detroit, Houston, Jacksonville, Minneapolis, Mobile, Ponce (Puerto
Rico), and San Francisco;
US--Ambassador Paul D. TAYLOR; Embassy at the corner of
Calle Cesar Nicolas Penson and Calle Leopoldo Navarro, Santo Domingo
(mailing address is APO Miami 34041-0008); telephone [809] 541-2171
_#_Flag: a centered white cross that extends to the edges, divides the
flag into four rectangles--the top ones are blue (hoist side) and red,
the bottom ones are red (hoist side) and blue; a small coat of arms is at
the center of the cross
_*_Economy
_#_Overview: The economy is largely dependent on trade; imported
components average 60% of the value of goods consumed in the domestic
market. Rapid growth of free trade zones has established a significant
expansion of manufacturing for export, especially wearing apparel.
Over the past decade tourism has also increased in importance and is a
major earner of foreign exchange and a source of new jobs. Agriculture
remains a key sector of the economy. The principal commercial crop is
sugarcane, followed by coffee, cotton, cocoa, and tobacco. Domestic
industry is based on the processing of agricultural products, durable
consumer goods, minerals, and chemicals. Unemployment is officially
reported at about 30%, but there is considerable underemployment. An
increasing foreign debt burden and galloping inflation are the economy's
greatest weaknesses.
_#_GDP: $6.68 billion, per capita $940; real growth rate 4.2% (1989)
_#_Inflation rate (consumer prices): 70% (1990 est.)
_#_Unemployment rate: 29% (1990 est.)
_#_Budget: revenues $413 million; expenditures $522 million,
including capital expenditures of $218 million (1988)
_#_Exports: $922 million (f.o.b., 1990 est.);
commodities--sugar, coffee, cocoa, gold, ferronickel;
partners--US 60%, EC 19%, Puerto Rico 8% (1990)
_#_Imports: $1.9 billion (c.i.f., 1990 est.);
commodities--foodstuffs, petroleum, cotton and fabrics, chemicals
and pharmaceuticals;
partners--US 50%
_#_External debt: $4.2 billion (1990 est.)
_#_Industrial production: growth rate 2.3% (1989 est.); accounts
for 18% of GDP
_#_Electricity: 1,445,000 kW capacity; 4,200 million kWh produced,
580 kWh per capita (1990)
_#_Industries: tourism, sugar processing, ferronickel and gold mining,
textiles, cement, tobacco
_#_Agriculture: accounts for 15% of GDP and employs 49% of labor
force; sugarcane most important commercial crop, followed by coffee,
cotton, cocoa, and tobacco; food crops--rice, beans, potatoes, corn,
bananas; animal output--cattle, hogs, dairy products, meat, eggs; not
self-sufficient in food
_#_Economic aid: US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY85-89), $576.5
million; Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments
(1970-88), $569 million
_#_Currency: Dominican peso (plural--pesos); 1 Dominican peso
(RD$) = 100 centavos
_#_Exchange rates: Dominican pesos per US$1--11.850 (January 1991),
8.290 (1990), 6.3400 (1989), 6.1125 (1988), 3.8448 (1987), 2.9043 (1986),
3.1126 (1985)
_#_Fiscal year: calendar year
_*_Communications
_#_Railroads: 1,655 km total in numerous segments; 4 different gauges
from 0.558 m to 1.435 m
_#_Highways: 12,000 km total; 5,800 km paved, 5,600 km gravel and
improved earth, 600 km unimproved
_#_Pipelines: crude oil, 96 km; refined products, 8 km
_#_Ports: Santo Domingo, Haina, San Pedro de Macoris, Puerto Plata
_#_Merchant marine: 4 cargo ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 23,326
GRT/38,661 DWT
_#_Civil air: 14 major transport aircraft
_#_Airports: 44 total, 30 usable; 14 with permanent-surface runways;
none with runways over 3,659 m; 3 with runways 2,440-3,659 m; 9 with
runways 1,220-2,439 m
_#_Telecommunications: relatively efficient domestic system based on
islandwide radio relay network; 190,000 telephones; stations--120 AM, no
FM, 18 TV, 6 shortwave; 1 coaxial submarine cable; 1 Atlantic Ocean
INTELSAT earth station
_*_Defense Forces
_#_Branches: Army, Navy, Air Force, National Police
_#_Manpower availability: males 15-49, 1,963,260; 1,241,370 fit for
military service; 81,083 reach military age (18) annually
_#_Defense expenditures: $70 million, 1% of GDP (1990)
_%_
_@_Ecuador
_*_Geography
_#_Total area: 283,560 km2; land area: 276,840 km2; includes
Galapagos Islands
_#_Comparative area: slightly smaller than Nevada
_#_Land boundaries: 2,010 km total; Colombia 590 km, Peru 1,420 km
_#_Coastline: 2,237 km
_#_Maritime claims:
Continental shelf: claims continental shelf between mainland and
Galapagos Islands;