Dominican Republic

The Dominican Republic occupies the eastern five eighths of the island of Hispaniola in the Caribbean Sea, with Santo Domingo as its capital and largest city. The country briefly declared independence from Spain in November 1821, was annexed by Haiti the following February, and achieved lasting independence in 1844 after the Dominican War of Independence, with its First Republic running from 1844 to 1861; the United States occupied the country from 1916 to 1924, and the dictator Rafael Trujillo ruled from 1930 to 1961, before the current democratic period, the Fourth Republic, began in 1966 and continues today. It operates as a unitary presidential republic with a bicameral Congress, and with a 2024 population of about 11.4 million it has the largest economy in the Caribbean, averaging 5.3 percent real GDP growth between 1992 and 2018. The Dominican Republic is the most visited destination in the Caribbean and contains both the region's highest peak, Pico Duarte, and its lowest point, Lake Enriquillo.