Dominican Republic with the capital city Santo Domingo is located in North America (Caribbean, eastern two-thirds of the island of Hispaniola). It covers some 48,730 square kilometres (slightly more than twice the size of New Hampshire) with 9,507,000 citizens.

About the flag and history of Dominican Republic

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.

The Taino - indigenous inhabitants of Hispaniola prior to the arrival of the Europeans - divided the island into five chiefdoms and territories. Christopher COLUMBUS explored and claimed the island on his first voyage in 1492; it became a springboard for Spanish conquest of the Caribbean and the American mainland. In 1697, Spain recognized French dominion over the western third of the island, which in 1804 became Haiti. The remainder of the island, by then known as Santo Domingo, sought to gain its own independence in 1821 but was conquered and ruled by the Haitians for 22 years; it finally attained independence as the Dominican Republic in 1844. In 1861, the Dominicans voluntarily returned to the Spanish Empire, but two years later they launched a war that restored independence in 1865. A legacy of unsettled, mostly non-representative rule followed, capped by the dictatorship of Rafael Leonidas TRUJILLO from 1930 to 1961. Juan BOSCH was elected president in 1962 but was deposed in a military coup in 1963. In 1965, the United States led an intervention in the midst of a civil war sparked by an uprising to restore BOSCH. In 1966, Joaquin BALAGUER defeated BOSCH in an election to become president. BALAGUER maintained a tight grip on power for most of the next 30 years when international reaction to flawed elections forced him to curtail his term in 1996. Since then, regular competitive elections have been held in which opposition candidates have won the presidency. Former President Leonel FERNANDEZ Reyna (first term 1996-2000) won election to a new term in 2004 following a constitutional amendment allowing presidents to serve more than one term, and was since reelected to a second consecutive term.

National administrative regions of Dominican Republic

• 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

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