The Dominican Republic

The Dominican Republic (DR) occupies the eastern 2/3 of the island of Hispaniola, the second largest island in the Caribbean, which lies between Cuba and Puerto Rico The DR shares the island with Haiti, although the cultures of the two countries are very different. The DR has a Spanish heritage and Spanish is the language throughout the country.

Population of the country is about 8 million. The capital, Santo Domingo, dates from the days of Columbus and has almost 3 million people. Other large cities include Santiago and San Jose. San Pedro de Macoris is a port city of about 100,000 a few miles east of Santo Domingo on the Caribbean coast. Colegio Kids currently works primarily in the area of San Pedro.

The Dominican people are very open and friendly. Average income is about $150 US per month, so material possessions are not an important part of the culture.  

The major industry in the country is tourism. The country has hundreds of miles of beaches and many excellent resorts. Tourism has mainly catered to Europeans, but is becoming popular with Americans as well. Industry in free trade zones is a close second, while agriculture is close behind. Sugar cane, coffee, cacao, cotton, tobacco, rice, potatoes, corn, bananas and milk are  the major products. Green vegetables, pineapples and flowers are becoming of importance. Other industries include sugar production, mining and tobacco processing.

This is truly an emerging country. With the efforts of a better-educated younger generation, they will make real progress in the immediate future.

Click the photos below to enlarge. 

The Nebraska / DR Overlay is to scale. DR has 5 times the population of Nebraska