CONVENTIONAL LONG FORM NAME OF COUNTRY
Dominican Republic
CAPITAL CITY
Santo Domingo
TYPE OF GOVERNMENT
Presidential Republic
DATE OF INDEPENDENCE
27 February 1844 (from Haiti)
NATIONAL HOLIDAYS
Independence Day, 27 February (1844)
CHEIF OF STATE
President Danilo MEDINA Sanchez (since 16 August 2012)
HEAD OF GOVERNMENT
President Danilo MEDINA Sanchez (since 16 August 2012)
EXECUTE BRANCH/POWERS
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 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/APPOINTMENTS:
President and vice president directly elected on the same ballot by absolute vote in 2 rounds if needed for a 4- year term (eligible for consecutive terms); election last held on 15 May 2016 (next to be held in 2020)
LEGISLATIVE BRANCH
DESCRIPTION:
Bicameral National Congress or Congreso Nacional consists of the Senate or Senado (32 seats; members directly elected in single-seat constituencies by simple majority vote to serve 4-year terms) and the House of Representatives or Camara de Diputados (190 seats; members directly elected in multi-seat constituencies by proportional representation vote; members serve 4-year terms)
HIGHEST COURTS:
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); note - the Constitutional Court was established in 2010 by constitutional amendment
JUDGE SELECTION AND TERM 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
SUFFRAGE
18 years of age, universal and compulsory; married persons regardless of age can vote; note - members of the armed forces and national police by law cannot vote
AMBASSADOR TO THE US
Ambassador Jose Tomas PEREZ (since 23 February 2015)
EMBASSY IN THE US
1715 22nd Street NW, Washington, DC 20008
CONSULATE IN THE US
consulate(s) general: Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, Mayaguez (Puerto Rico), Miami, New Orleans, New York, San Juan (Puerto Rico)
consulate(s): San Francisco
US AMBASSADOR TO THEM
Ambassador James Walter BREWSTER, Jr. (since 9 December 2013)
US EMBASSY THERE
Av. Republica de Colombia
US CONSULATE THERE
--
REPRESENTATIVE TO UN
Ambassador Francisco A. Cortorreal,
INTERNATIONAL DISPUTES
Haitian migrants cross the porous border into the Dominican Republic to find work; illegal migrants from the Dominican Republic cross the Mona Passage each year to Puerto Rico to find better work
REFUGEES
--
STATELESS PERSONS: 133,770 (2015); note - a September 2013 Constitutional Court ruling revoked the citizenship of those born after 1929 to immigrants without proper documentation, even though the constitution at the time automatically granted citizenship to children born in the Dominican Republic and the 2010 constitution provides that constitutional provisions cannot be applied retroactively; the decision overwhelmingly affected people of Haitian descent whose relatives had come to the Dominican Republic since the 1940s as a cheap source of labor for sugar plantations; a May 2014 law passed by the Dominican Congress will regularize the status of those with birth certificates but will require those without them to prove they were born in the Dominican Republic and to apply for naturalization
INTERNALLY DISPLACED PERSONS
--
HUMAN TRAFFICKING ISSUES
--
ILLICIT DRUG TRAFFICKING
Transshipment point for South American drugs destined for the US and Europe; has become a transshipment point for ecstasy from the Netherlands and Belgium destined for US and Canada; substantial money laundering activity in particular by Colombian narcotics traffickers; significant amphetamine consumption (2008)
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLISM OF FLAG
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 SYMBOLS
Palmchat (bird); national colors: red, white, blue
NATIONAL ANTHEM
"Himno Nacional" (National Anthem)
Dominican Republic
CAPITAL CITY
Santo Domingo
TYPE OF GOVERNMENT
Presidential Republic
DATE OF INDEPENDENCE
27 February 1844 (from Haiti)
NATIONAL HOLIDAYS
Independence Day, 27 February (1844)
CHEIF OF STATE
President Danilo MEDINA Sanchez (since 16 August 2012)
HEAD OF GOVERNMENT
President Danilo MEDINA Sanchez (since 16 August 2012)
EXECUTE BRANCH/POWERS
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 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/APPOINTMENTS:
President and vice president directly elected on the same ballot by absolute vote in 2 rounds if needed for a 4- year term (eligible for consecutive terms); election last held on 15 May 2016 (next to be held in 2020)
LEGISLATIVE BRANCH
DESCRIPTION:
Bicameral National Congress or Congreso Nacional consists of the Senate or Senado (32 seats; members directly elected in single-seat constituencies by simple majority vote to serve 4-year terms) and the House of Representatives or Camara de Diputados (190 seats; members directly elected in multi-seat constituencies by proportional representation vote; members serve 4-year terms)
HIGHEST COURTS:
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); note - the Constitutional Court was established in 2010 by constitutional amendment
JUDGE SELECTION AND TERM 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
SUFFRAGE
18 years of age, universal and compulsory; married persons regardless of age can vote; note - members of the armed forces and national police by law cannot vote
AMBASSADOR TO THE US
Ambassador Jose Tomas PEREZ (since 23 February 2015)
EMBASSY IN THE US
1715 22nd Street NW, Washington, DC 20008
CONSULATE IN THE US
consulate(s) general: Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, Mayaguez (Puerto Rico), Miami, New Orleans, New York, San Juan (Puerto Rico)
consulate(s): San Francisco
US AMBASSADOR TO THEM
Ambassador James Walter BREWSTER, Jr. (since 9 December 2013)
US EMBASSY THERE
Av. Republica de Colombia
US CONSULATE THERE
--
REPRESENTATIVE TO UN
Ambassador Francisco A. Cortorreal,
INTERNATIONAL DISPUTES
Haitian migrants cross the porous border into the Dominican Republic to find work; illegal migrants from the Dominican Republic cross the Mona Passage each year to Puerto Rico to find better work
REFUGEES
--
STATELESS PERSONS: 133,770 (2015); note - a September 2013 Constitutional Court ruling revoked the citizenship of those born after 1929 to immigrants without proper documentation, even though the constitution at the time automatically granted citizenship to children born in the Dominican Republic and the 2010 constitution provides that constitutional provisions cannot be applied retroactively; the decision overwhelmingly affected people of Haitian descent whose relatives had come to the Dominican Republic since the 1940s as a cheap source of labor for sugar plantations; a May 2014 law passed by the Dominican Congress will regularize the status of those with birth certificates but will require those without them to prove they were born in the Dominican Republic and to apply for naturalization
INTERNALLY DISPLACED PERSONS
--
HUMAN TRAFFICKING ISSUES
--
ILLICIT DRUG TRAFFICKING
Transshipment point for South American drugs destined for the US and Europe; has become a transshipment point for ecstasy from the Netherlands and Belgium destined for US and Canada; substantial money laundering activity in particular by Colombian narcotics traffickers; significant amphetamine consumption (2008)
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLISM OF FLAG
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 SYMBOLS
Palmchat (bird); national colors: red, white, blue
NATIONAL ANTHEM
"Himno Nacional" (National Anthem)