Dominican Republic
Capital: Santo Domingo
Size: About 18,790 square miles (48,670 sq km).
Language: Spanish
Currency: Dominican peso
Capital population: Santo Domingo has about 1 million people (over 3 million in the metro area).
Population: About 11 million people.See the biggest cities →National animal: Palmchat (the cigua palmera, the national bird)
National flower: Bayahibe Rose (a small pink cactus flower)
Climate
Warm and tropical all year, cooled by sea breezes, with a rainy season and some storms in late summer. Average highs are about 82F to 90F (28C to 32C).
Main industries
Tourism, sugar, coffee, cacao, and gold mining, plus making clothes and cigars.
Top places for tourists
White sand beaches at Punta Cana, the old colonial streets of Santo Domingo, and green mountains inland.
Places of interest
The first cathedral in the Americas, whale watching in Samana Bay, and the tall peak of Pico Duarte.
A little history
Site of the first lasting European town in the Americas, founded by Spain in 1496, the Dominican Republic won its independence in 1844.
Fun fact
Baseball is loved so much that the Dominican Republic sends more players to the U.S. major leagues than any country outside the United States.