Country name:
conventional long form: Dominican Republic
conventional short form:
The Dominican
local long form:
Republica Dominicana
local short form:
La Dominicana
Government type:
democratic republic
Capital:
name: Santo Domingo
geographic coordinates:
18 28 N, 69 54 W
time difference:
UTC-4 (1 hour ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time)
Administrative divisions:
31 provinces (provincias, singular - provincia) and 1 district* (distrito); Azua, Baoruco, Barahona, Dajabon, Distrito Nacional*, Duarte, El Seibo, Elias Pina, Espaillat, Hato Mayor, Hermanas Mirabal, Independencia, La Altagracia, La Romana, La Vega, Maria Trinidad Sanchez, Monsenor Nouel, Monte Cristi, Monte Plata, Pedernales, Peravia, Puerto Plata, Samana, San Cristobal, San Jose de Ocoa, San Juan, San Pedro de Macoris, Sanchez Ramirez, Santiago, Santiago Rodriguez, Santo Domingo, Valverde
Independence:
27 February 1844 (from Haiti)
National holiday:
Independence Day, 27 February (1844)
Constitution:
many previous (38 total); latest proclaimed 26 January 2010; note - the Dominican Republic Government has a practice of promulgating a "new" constitution whenever an amendment is ratified (2013)
Legal system:
civil law system based on the French civil code; Criminal Procedures Code modified in 2004 to include important elements of an accusatory system
International law organization participation:
accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction; accepts ICCt jurisdiction
Suffrage:
18 years of age, universal and compulsory; married persons regardless of age can vote; note - members of the armed forces and national police cannot vote by law
[see also: Suffrage country ranks ]
Executive branch:
chief of state: President Danilo MEDINA Sanchez (since 16 August 2012); Vice President Margarita CEDENO DE FERNANDEZ (since 16 August 2012); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government
head of government:
President Danilo MEDINA Sanchez (since 16 August 2012); Vice President Margarita CEDENO DE FERNANDEZ (since 16 August 2012)
cabinet:
Cabinet nominated by the president
elections:
president and vice president elected on the same ticket by popular vote for four-year terms; election last held on 20 May 2012 (next to be held in 2016)
election results:
Danilo MEDINA Sanchez elected president; percent of vote - Danilo MEDINA Sanchez 51.2%, Hipolito MEJIA 47%, other 1.8%; Margarita CEDENO DE FERNANDEZ elected vice president
Legislative branch:
bicameral National Congress or Congreso Nacional consists of the Senate or Senado (32 seats; members elected by popular vote to serve four-year terms) and the House of Representatives or Camara de Diputados (183 seats; members are elected by popular vote to serve four-year terms)
elections:
Senate - last held on 16 May 2010 (next to be held in May 2016); House of Representatives - last held on 16 May 2010 (next to be held in May 2016); in order to synchronize presidential, legislative, and local elections for 2016, those members elected in 2010 will actually serve six-year terms
election results:
Senate - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - PLD 31, PRSC 1; House of Representatives - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - PLD 105, PRD 75, PRSC 3
Judicial branch:
highest court(s): Supreme Court of Justice or Suprema Corte de Justicia (consists of a minimum of 16 magistrates); Constitutional Court or Tribunal Constitucional (consists of 13 judges)
judge selection and term of office: Supreme Court and Constitutional Court judges appointed by the National Council of the Judiciary comprised of the president, the leaders of both chambers of congress, the president of the Supreme Court, and a non-governing party congressional representative; Supreme Court judges appointed for 7- year terms; Constitutional Court judges appointed for 9-year terms
subordinate courts: courts of appeal; courts of first instance; justices of the peace; special courts for juvenile, labor, and land cases; Contentious Administrative Court for cases filed against the government
Political parties and leaders:
Dominican Liberation Party or PLD [Leonel FERNANDEZ Reyna]
Political pressure groups and leaders:
Citizen Participation Group (Participacion Ciudadania)
International organization participation:
ACP, AOSIS, BCIE, Caricom (observer), CD, CELAC, FAO, G-77, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC (national committees), ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO (correspondent), ITSO, ITU, ITUC (NGOs), LAES, LAIA (observer), MIGA, NAM, OAS, OIF (observer), OPANAL, OPCW, PCA, Petrocaribe, SICA (associated member), UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, Union Latina, UNWTO, UPU, WCO, WFTU (NGOs), WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO
Diplomatic representation in the US:
chief of mission: Ambassador Anibal de Jesus de CASTRO Rodriguez (since 5 July 2011)
chancery:
1715 22nd Street NW, Washington, DC 20008
telephone:
[1] (202) 332-6280
FAX:
[1] (202) 265-8057
consulate(s) general:
Boston, Chicago, Glendale (CA), Mayaguez (Puerto Rico), Miami, New Orleans, New York, San Juan (Puerto Rico)
Diplomatic representation from the US:
chief of mission: Ambassador (vacant); Charge d'Affaires Daniel L. FOOTE
embassy:
corner of Calle Cesar Nicolas Penson and Calle Leopoldo Navarro, Santo Domingo
mailing address:
Unit 5500, APO AA 34041-5500
telephone:
[1] (809) 221-2171
FAX:
[1] (809) 686-7437
Flag description:
a centered white cross that extends to the edges divides the flag into four rectangles - the top ones are blue (hoist side) and red, and the bottom ones are red (hoist side) and blue; a small coat of arms featuring a shield supported by a laurel branch (left) and a palm branch (right) is at the center of the cross; above the shield a blue ribbon displays the motto, DIOS, PATRIA, LIBERTAD (God, Fatherland, Liberty), and below the shield, REPUBLICA DOMINICANA appears on a red ribbon; in the shield a bible is opened to a verse that reads "Y la verdad nos hara libre" (And the truth shall set you free); blue stands for liberty, white for salvation, and red for the blood of heroes
National symbol(s):
palmchat (bird)
National anthem:
name: "Himno Nacional" (National Anthem)
lyrics/music: Emilio PRUD"HOMME/Jose REYES
note: adopted 1934; also known as "Quisqueyanos valientes" (Valient Sons of Quisqueye); the anthem never refers to the people as Dominican but rather calls them "Quisqueyanos," a reference to the indigenous name of the island
NOTE: 1) The information regarding Dominican Republic on this page is re-published from the 2014 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Dominican Republic Government 2014 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Dominican Republic Government 2014 should be addressed to the CIA.
2) The rank that you see is the CIA reported rank, which may habe the following issues:
a) They assign increasing rank number, alphabetically for countries with the same value of the ranked item, whereas we assign them the same rank.
b) The CIA sometimes assignes counterintuitive ranks. For example, it assigns unemployment rates in increasing order, whereas we rank them in decreasing order
- Main Index
- 2014 Index
- Country Ranks
- Definitions
- Dominican Republic Index 2014
- Dominican Republic Main Index
- Introduction
- History
- Geography
- Climate
- Maps
- People Religion
- Government Gov. Leaders
- Economy
- Energy
- Communications
- Transportation
- Military
- Transnational Issues
- Photos
- Advertise Here
- Feedback
Flags
Airport Codes
This page was last modified 06-Nov-14