DO is the abbreviation for Dominican Republic, the 128th largest country in the world. Officially the Dominican Republic, Dominican Republic is a country located in Caribbean, bordering Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea. Santo Domingo is the capital city of Dominican Republic. Major cities include Santo Domingo (population: 2,201,930), Santiago de los Caballeros (population: 1,200,011), Santo Domingo Oeste (population: 701,258), Santo Domingo Este (population: 700,011), San Pedro de Macorís (population: 217,888), La Romana (population: 208,426), San Cristóbal (population: 154,029), Puerto Plata (population: 146,011), San Francisco de Macorís (population: 124,752), and Salvaleón de Higüey (population: 123,776).
Country Profile
- Capital: Santo Domingo
- Language: Spanish
- Area: 48,671 km2
- Population: 10,735,885
- Currency: Peso (DOP)
- Time zone: UTC – 4
- Calling code: 1-809,1-829,1-849
- ISO 2-Letter Abbreviation: DO
- UN 3-Letter Abbreviation: DOM
- Internet TLD: .do
- State Government Website: http://dominicanrepublic.com
List of Dominican Republic Acronyms
The most commonly used abbreviations about Dominican Republic are DO which stands for Dominican Republic and DOP which means Peso (Dominican Republic currency). In the following table, you can see all acronyms related to Dominican Republic, including abbreviations for airport, city, school, port, government, and etc.
Geography
The Dominican Republic is rich in mountains and forests. The country makes up two thirds of the island of Hispaniola, the last third of which is Haiti. Four mountain ranges cut through the country from east to west, and between the mountains are fertile valleys and plains. The country’s main mountain range, Cordillera Central divides the country in two, and the valleys that lie between Cordillera Central and the country’s northern mountain range are especially known for their fertility. The farther west of the country is a drier and more desert-like landscape.
The climate in the country is tropical, which means it is hot and humid. Problems with disappearing food, deforestation and water supply pose the country’s environmental problems. The country is also in the midst of a hurricane belt and is therefore very prone to hurricanes, especially in the period from June to October.
History
The first people to come to Hispaniola came around 5,000 years BC Hispaniola was divided between France, which got Haiti in the west, and Spain which got the eastern part of the island. In 1821 the Spanish part was invaded by Haiti but in 1844 they detached and became the Dominican Republic.
The United States conquered the Dominican Republic in 1916, and had control of the country until 1924 when General Rafael Trujillo came to power for help from the United States. Trujillo introduced a ruthless dictatorship until he was assassinated in 1961, including that of US support. They did not want the Republic to experience a revolution on par with the one that had taken place in Cuba. In February 1963, the country’s first democratic president was elected, but the left-wing president who came to power was overthrown in September of that year. In 1965 there was again an American invasion, the US troops left the country when Joaquin Belaguer became president in 1966.
Belaguer’s rule was marked by the suppression of human rights, and the president pursued and killed oppositionists. Towards the end of the 1970s, the country took important steps towards a democratic government, and the military’s power diminished. Despite his dictatorial methods, many in Belaguer looked like a national father and called him “the father of Dominican democracy”. Belaguer resigned as president after accusations of electoral fraud in 1994, but had great influence over politics until his death. At the 1996 presidential election, Leonel Fernandez took over Reyna. Reyna ruled until 2000 and again from 2004 until 2012 when Danilo Medina Sanchez became president. Despite cautious economic boom in recent years, the Dominican Republic is still one of the poorest countries in the Caribbean, with large differences between the country’s poor and rich.
Society and politics
Today, the Dominican Republic is a democracy with a strong presidential power and a division of power similar to the American one; with an executive, a legislative and a judicial power. The president has a lot of power and is both head of state and government. He appoints the government, implements laws passed by Congress and is commander-in-chief of the defense. The President and the Vice President are elected simultaneously for a term of four years at a time. There are no limits to how many times a president can sit.
The country is struggling with corruptionand weak confidence in the authorities. The Dominican Republic has become a hub for drug trafficking from South America to the United States, which in turn has brought problems such as human trafficking, violence and organized crime. More than one in three lives in extreme poverty, and water supply and access to electricity are a constant challenge for large sections of the population. Relations with Haiti are tense, and more Haitian immigrants are being subjected to discrimination and abuse in the Dominican Republic. There are between half and a million Haitians born in the Dominican Republic, but who are virtually stateless, this part of the population lives under slave-like conditions in the country’s sugar production. The UN and several human rights organizations have repeatedly criticized the country’s treatment of Haitian citizens in the country.
Economics and Commerce
The Dominican Republic is among the poorest countries in the Caribbean. There is high unemployment and high emigration. Several Dominicans working abroad send money to family in their home country. Previously, most of the population worked in agriculture, but today the service sector has taken over as the largest employer.
The United States is the country’s most important trading partner and major export goods are sugar cane, tobacco, coffee and cocoa. Earlier, there was a large income in these goods, but weakened markets and falling sugar prices have weakened the country’s economy after 1980 and agricultural production has lost much of its importance. The tourism industry is growing rapidly and has today become an important source of income for the country.
UN RPGs
The UN Association is offering a role-playing game for the 2019-20 school year in which students will try to resolve a conflict in the Security Council (Iran and the nuclear issue). The Dominican Republic is a member of the Security Council, and the sections that follow are information related to this game.
Relations with other countries in the Security Council
The Dominican Republic has a particularly close relationship with the United States. After breaking contact with Taiwan in 2018, the country was able to normalize its relations with China.
Tips
Like most other Security Council countries, the Dominican Republic is concerned that the nuclear deal with Iran will be destroyed as a result of the US withdrawal. The Dominican Republic is also afraid of the consequences of a possible armed conflict between the US and Iran, and of the conflict affecting shipping and oil transport through the Persian Gulf.
The Dominican Republic is a member of the nuclear-free zone in Latin America, and is positive that an atomic-free zone will soon be established in the Middle East as well.
In a post on disarmament in the Security Council 02. 04 2019, the Dominican Republic expressed strong support for the Non-Proliferation Treaty and the Nuclear Agreement with Iran. Despite the uncertain fate of the latter agreement, the Iran agreement is a positive example of international cooperation on non-proliferation of nuclear weapons. The agreement with Iran should also inspire nuclear weapons states to increase their efforts to disarm – the part of the Non-Proliferation Agreement that has seen the least progress so far.
In the post to the Security Council, the Dominican Republic stated that they themselves have signed the Prohibition Treaty against nuclear weapons from 2017 in order to make progress in the work for a nuclear-free world. The consequences for nature and human life on earth as a result of the possible use of nuclear weapons are so great that it cannot be justified that any state is in possession of such weapons.
The Dominican Republic also expressed concern that existing nuclear disarmament agreements between the major powers now appear to be weakened or abandoned, pointing to the danger of a new arms race as nuclear weapons states launch more and more programs to renew and modernize their weapons.
As a poor country, the Dominican Republic also sees the clear link that exists between nuclear disarmament and development. The country believes it is immoral to spend large sums of money on new weapons technology, when there is still a screaming lack of money in the world to cover human basic needs.
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