The Dominican Republic is a country in the West Indies that occupies the eastern five-eighths of Hispaniola. It has an area of 48,670 km², including offshore islands. The land border shared with Haiti, which occupies the western three-eighths of the island, is 376 km long. The maximum length, east to west, is 390 km from Punta de Agua to Las Lajas, on the border with Haiti. The maximum width, north to south, is 265 km from Cape Isabela to Cape Beata. The capital, Santo Domingo, is located on the south coast.
Transportation in the Dominican Republic is composed of a system of roads, airports, ports, harbours and an urban railway:
Santo Domingo, officially Santo Domingo de Guzmán, is the capital and largest city in the Dominican Republic and the largest metropolitan area in the Caribbean by population. As of 2010, the city had a total population of 2,908,607, when including the metropolitan area. The city is coterminous with the boundaries of the Distrito Nacional, itself bordered on three sides by Santo Domingo Province.
A greenbelt is a policy and land use zone designation used in land use planning to retain areas of largely undeveloped, wild, or agricultural land surrounding or neighboring urban areas. Similar concepts are greenways or green wedges which have a linear character and may run through an urban area instead of around it. In essence, a green belt is an invisible line designating a border around a certain area, preventing development of the area and allowing wildlife to return and be established.
A ciénega is a type of wetland.
The Ozama River in the Dominican Republic rises in the Loma Siete Cabezas in the Sierra de Yamasá, close to Villa Altagracia.
La Vega, is the third largest city and municipality of the Dominican Republic. It is in La Vega Province. The city is known as the heart of the Dominican Republic for its geographical position and its large agricultural production methods throughout its province.
Arroyo Seco is a town in Arroyo Seco Municipality located in the far north of the Mexican state of Querétaro. Its territory is part of the Sierra Gorda Biosphere Reserve of Querétaro. The municipality is centered on the small town of Arroyo Seco, which was established as a military outpost then given town status in 1833 under the name of Villa de Guadalupe before changing to its current name. The town gained municipal status in 1931. The area is very rural with most people living in communities of under 100 people, with significant Pame communities. It has a traditional economy based on agriculture, livestock and forestry but it is also one of the poorest in Mexico, with high rates of emigration, especially sending migrant workers to the United States. It is estimated that one in four households in the municipality receives money from family members in this country. The municipality is also home to one of five Franciscan mission complexes built under the tenure of Junípero Serra, located in the community of Concá.
Bajos de Haina, mostly known simply as Haina, is a town and municipality in the San Cristóbal Province, of the Dominican Republic. It is close to the capital Santo Domingo, and may be regarded as part of the metropolitan area of Greater Santo Domingo.
DR-3 is one of three main dual carriageway highways of the Dominican Republic, connecting Santo Domingo to the eastern cities of the republic. The highway begins at the Plaza de La Bandera, on the western side of Santo Domingo, and travels eastward through downtown Santo Domingo and continues east to Santo Domingo Este. Outside Santo Domingo it runs roughly parallel to the Caribbean Sea toward the eastern cities of the Dominican Republic. DR-3 creates a rapid connection to the Las Américas International Airport, located only 30 kilometers east of Santo Domingo. DR-3 continues eastward to the beach towns of Andrés and Boca Chica. DR-3 then continues east and slightly north to the eastern cities of San Pedro de Macorís, La Romana, and Higüey and has connections to the routes that lead to the resort towns of Bayahibe, Bávaro, and Punta Cana. DR-3 has been part of a long program to improve, expand, and modernize the highways of the Republic. Most of DR-3 has been expanded to two or three lanes of traffic each way.
Santo Domingo Este is a municipality and the provincial capital of the Santo Domingo province in the Dominican Republic. It has one municipal district, San Luis.
Ciudad Colonial is the historic central neighborhood of Santo Domingo and the oldest permanent European settlement of the Americas. It has been declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. It is also known as Zona Colonial or more colloquially as "La Zona". The Ciudad Colonial is located on the west bank of the Ozama River, which bisects the city. It covers 1.06 km2 (0.41 sq mi) bounded by a walled perimeter.
Greater Santo Domingo is a term commonly used referring to the metropolitan area of Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic.
Santo Domingo de los Tsáchilas is a province in the Republic of Ecuador, created in October 2007 from territory previously in the province of Pichincha.
Yamasá is a municipality (municipio) of the Monte Plata province in the Dominican Republic. It includes the municipal district of Los Botados. Yamasa is north of the capital city of Santo Domingo. The Rio Ozama, one of Dominican Republic's longest rivers, passes through Yamasa.
The Dominican Civil War took place between April 24, 1965, and September 3, 1965, in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. It started when civilian and military supporters of former President Juan Bosch overthrew acting President Donald Reid Cabral. The coup prompted General Elías Wessin y Wessin to organize elements of the military loyal to President Reid ("loyalists"), initiating an armed campaign against the so-called constitutionalist rebels. Allegations of foreign support for the rebels led to a United States intervention in the conflict, which later transformed into an Organization of American States occupation of the country. Elections were held in 1966, in the aftermath of which Joaquín Balaguer was elected into the presidential seat. Later in the same year international troops departed from the country.
The Haina Occidental Port is located in the Haina River, Dominican Republic near Santo Domingo. President Trujillo inaugurated Haina Occidental Port on 1953.
The Battle of Santo Domingo (1586) or the Capture of Santo Domingo was a military and naval action fought on 1 January 1586, of the recently declared Anglo-Spanish War that resulted in the assault and capture by English soldiers and sailors of the Spanish city of Santo Domingo governed by Cristóbal de Ovalle on the Spanish island of Hispaniola. The English were led by Francis Drake and was part of his Great Expedition to the raid the Spanish New World in a kind of preemptive strike. The English soldiers then occupied the city for over a month and captured much booty along with a 25,000 ducat ransom before departing on 1 February.
