Table 1.

General characteristics of the Dominican Republic

Capital city	Santo Domingo de Guzman
Nationality	Dominican
Political division	31 provinces
Government	Constitutional Democracy‐Republic
Ethnic groups	Mulattoes or mixed = 73%, White = 16%, Black = 11%
Official language	Spanish – Castilian
Religion	Roman Catholic = 95%, Others = 5%
Climate	Tropical
Population	10, 478, 756 (estimate July 2015)
Population growth rate	1.23% (estimate for 2015)
Area	48,442 km2 or 18,704 miles2
Population density	216.3/km2 or 560.2/mile2
Urban population	79% of total population
GDP (purchasing power parity)	$US 138.5 billion in 2014