In 2015, the population of the Dominican Republic was estimated to be around 10.5 million people. The majority of the population is of mixed European and African descent with a small percentage of immigrants from other countries. The economy of the Dominican Republic is largely reliant on tourism, manufacturing and services such as banking and finance. It also has a large agricultural sector that produces goods such as coffee and cocoa. In terms of foreign relations, the Dominican Republic is a member of several international organizations including the United Nations, Organization of American States (OAS) and Caribbean Community (CARICOM). See ehealthfacts for Dominican Republic in the year of 2005.
In 2015, politics in the Dominican Republic were dominated by President Danilo Medina who had been in office since 2012. He was re-elected in 2016 with an administration that focused on improving public services, increasing foreign investment and developing regional trade links. Opposition to Medina’s government came from both civil society groups who wanted more democratic reforms and opposition parties who wanted less government intervention in economic affairs. In addition, there were tensions between the Dominican Republic and its Caribbean neighbors over fishing rights which led to disputes over access to regional waters.
Yearbook 2015
Dominican Republic. In early September, a historic agreement was made between the country’s two leading parties, the ruling Dominican Liberation Party (PLD) and the largest opposition party, the Dominican Revolutionary Party (PRD). The two have for two decades been each other’s fiercest opponents, but now agreed to create an alliance for the general elections in May 2016. For Miguel Vargas Maldonado, leader of the PRD, the reason was clear enough; the party has tried to regain power repeatedly since the lost election in 2004 and opinion polls pointed to yet another victory for PLD in May 2016. President Danilo Medina of PLD stated as the reason for the deal that the short-term dominance of Dominican politics has harmed the country, which is facing major challenges and needs a strong leadership. A premise about PLD:
Already in June, in a speech to the nation, Medina declared that he would stand for re-election after the Congress, where his party dominates, accepted in record time a change in the constitution to make it possible. According to COUNTRYAAH, Santo Domingo is the capital of Dominican Republic which is located in North America. PRD leader Vargas was also quick to declare his support for both the constitutional amendment and Medina’s re-election.
- Also see AbbreviationFinder.org for Dominican Republic country abbreviations, including geography, history, economy and politics.
On the same day that Medina gave her speech to the nation, the deadline for paperless immigrants, most of them from neighboring Haiti, expired, to register and get a work permit. So far, 275,000 had obeyed the government’s call, which meant that thousands of Haitians risk being considered illegal and deported back to Haiti.