The Dominican Republic is a Caribbean Island that occupies 2/3 of the island Hispaniola.
The Nation's Capital is Santo Domingo. The population of the island is around ten million people. Of all ten million people, three million live in Santo Domingo. The leader of the D.R. is Danilo Medina.
Dominican Republic style of government is called"Democratic Republic". Another meaning is "public matter" which means it's not a private property of a ruler or third world rulers. The official language of the country is Spanish. Christopher Columbus was the first to land in the Dominican Republic on his first voyage in 1492. His son Diego was the country's first viceroy (governor).
In Dominican Republic there are both private and public schools. Public school is free for kids up to the age of 14. After that citizenship is required to attend school past the age of 14. The quality of education in public schools has not improved which has caused many kids to drop out after their primary school. Students go to school from either 7:30/2pm or 12/6pm. It may vary between each school. Students in all schools have to wear uniforms.
Baseball is by far the most famous sport in the Dominican Republic. Followed by football (soccer). Many MLB players come from the Dominican such as David Ortiz, Albert Pujols, and Sammy Sosa.
Agriculture, cement, food processing, metal refining, and tobacco are the major industries. Major exports in the country are bauxite, cocoa, and Coffee. Another major industry is the mining industry.
Al Horford is an NBA player from Puerta Plata, Dominican Republic. He was born on June 3, 1986 he's 30 years old. He signed one of the biggest contracts in NBA history this offseason, 4yrs./$113,326,000. His family moved to Lansing, Michigan in 2000 and played high school basketball at Grand Ledge, Michigan. As a senior in high school he was Player of the Year. That same year he earned a scholarship to play at Florida. His team was the first to repeat as National Champions since 1991-92 Duke Blue Devils. On June 2007 he was selected 3rd overall by the Atlanta Hawks.
The food you see above is a "sancocho". It is one of the most eaten foods in the Dominican Republic. It has 7 different meats all from different animals. Then they are mixed with organic vegetables and a plantain. They make a more simplified version which contains just chicken but more veggies.
In 1492 Christopher Columbus visited the island which he named Hispaniola or "Little Spain". Another big event in the Dominican Republic was in 1844 when they gained their independence from Haiti and became their own country. They did this by overthrowing the leader of Haiti.
In the picture above are people called traditional dancers. Some people have this as a job and most do it for fun. Many of the popular music styles are influenced from west African people and with minor European influence. The Dominican are most popular for the music styles merengue and bachata.
Interesting fact: Santo Domingo is the first capital city of both North and South America. It is also home to the first hospital, the first University, and first Cathedral.
The Dominican Republic World Baseball Classic team just gained a few new arms in their starting rotation last week. All-Star pitchers Johnny Cueto and Carlos Martinez just joined them along with Alex Reyes and Edinson Volquez. The team already had the Closer for the New York Yankees Dellin Betances. The Dominican won the World baseball Classic last year also.
Credits:
Created with images by Mihnea Stanciu - "Dominican Republic Flag"