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By: Noy Dahan


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Topic 1. Geography and Climate
Dominican republic is part of an Island in Central America. It takes up two-thirds of the land on Island Hispaniola. The other third is a country that you’ve probably heard of, Haiti. Dominican Republic is about 18,792 sq. mile, which is about twice the size of New Hampshire or maybe even slightly larger than Denmark. Don’t forget size of the land isn’t everything, but the natural features in the land are also very important. There are many mountains and rivers in Dominican Republic. There are four mountain ranges and they are: //Cordillera del Norte// (“Northern range”), //Cordillera Central// (Central range), //Cordillera Oriental, or Sierra del Seibo// (“Eastern range” or “Seibo Mountains”). From those mountain ranges there are at least twenty regions ranging from peeks over 10,000 feet (above sea level). The number of rivers is about 108 rivers, scattered all over Dominican Republic. There are so many rivers because in most cases, rivers start in mountains then flow all the way down to the oceans. All of the rivers are important in there own way. There are also some of the most gorgeous beaches in the world. Some of the beaches have white sand shores and some have pebbles as shores. The climate in Dominican Republic is tropical because it is close to the equator. The hot and humid atmosphere is common in Dominican Republic. The weather averages from ninety degrees Fahrenheit (thirty two degrees Celsius). Just like the Desert there is very rainfall. If there is rainfall the temperature averages from about 70 degrees F (21 degrees C) and it happens in December threw March (basically in the winter).

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Dominican republican has a mixed economy. Mixed, meaning they do more than just producing and selling. Dominican republicans trade, manufacture and construct. They also have a public transportation service, which helps the tourism. From all the economic activity they instantly have jobs. For example, sugar refining, cement/mining people and pharmaceuticals. Dominican Republic exports (trade): textiles, electronic products, jewelry, tobacco, pharmaceuticals, shoes, cacao, sugar, tobacco, and coffee. Dominican Republicans mainly grow/produce (manufacture/ sell): rice, poultry, sugar, cacao, tobacco, and coffee.Dominican Republicans import other countries goods (buys), which are: petroleum, derived products, lasting consumer goods (automobiles, etc.), and food. Most of the people who Supply Dominican Republic’s goods are: U.S. (38.6%, including Puerto Rico), Taiwan, Venezuela, Mexico, and Colombia. =====

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Because Dominican Republic is located near a poor country (Haiti), people think that Dominican Republic is also poor, but that is very untrue. In Fact, because of all the beautiful beaches they have built resorts and people pay a ton of money to go to the resorts. Dominican republicans also have modern technology because they have five star resorts there and if they didn’t it would be hard to have such a well-rated place with out all the technology. It’s a good thing to live in such a natural beautiful place because it gives them money and jobs (very important). When people come to tour Dominican Republic, they have people to give tours around the country as a job. And when people pay to go on vacation to a resort they get money. So it’s basically it’s the best for both worlds the tourists get good service and the Dominican Republicans get money and jobs.=====

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Topic 3: Everyday Living
Greeting people and gestures are very important to humans because it is a way of communicating. In Dominican Republic men shake hands firmly. However, if the wife of the man has trust in him he may kiss a woman once on each check to greet the women. The women kiss once on each check to greet each other, they don’t exactly shake hands. When a person puckers their lips in a certain direction it mean that they are pointing that direction. If someone doesn’t understand something they would wrinkle their noes. Instead of representing numbers with words they use their hands to symbolize the amount. And if someone taps on someone’s elbow with a closed fist is to means that the other person is cheap. The way the Dominican Republicans dress shows a lot about them. Dominican Republicans like to wear bright and shiny fabrics. The men wear suites or sometimes a traditional outfit called chacabana. The chacabana outfit is a white shirt worn over dark trousers and well-shined shoes. The children wear uniforms to school, but after they change in to normal cloths, like cloths we wear. The cloths that Dominican Republicans wear are always clean because they feel like the way you represent yourself shows a lot about yourself. They make sure that they are clean, smell good and their clothing is nice. Visiting friends and family is very common. In fact, people keep their doors open to symbolize that everyone is welcomed into there home. Privacy is not important to Dominican Republicans. Even though it is common to visit people, the visitors always notify the person they are visiting. Visitors stand on the doormat and shout to the people inside the house //Buenos días// (good morning) or //Saludos// (Greetings) to let them know that they are there. The people respond back //Entre// (Come in/ Enter) to let them in.

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Topic 4: Religion, Holidays & Festivals
The main religion in Dominican Republic is Roman Catholic. 90% of Dominican Republic’s population is Roman Catholic, even though not all of them go to church. The other 10% is mixed religion. In Dominican Republic there is a Spanish and African heritage but follow French traditions. But no matter what religion Dominican Republicans are, most kids are taught to “ask” for a blessing. For example, the child would say “bendición, tía” which means bless me aunt. The aunt is most likely to reply “Dios te bendig” which means may god bless you. Dominican Republicans believe that asking for prayers is a nice and polite thing to do. It makes the person that you ask for there blessing special. The Holidays and the way Dominican Republicans celebrate them is different then our holidays and the way we celebrate ours. In Example, Dominican Republicans have a holiday named Duarte’s day. Duarte’s day is the day Juan Pablo Duarte was born on January 26. Juan Pablo Duarte was the founder of Dominican Republic and was born in Santo Domingo. Dominican Republican celebrate Duarte’s day with a big celebration. Another Example would be El Carnival. El Carnival is celebrated every Saturday through out all month of February. There is a grand finally on the independence day of Dominican Republic, which is February 27. The finally is a big huge Festival with a big parade. Dominican Republic also celebrates Haiti’s independence because it is also on Island Hispaniola. Dominican Republicans don’t celebrate Haiti’s independence as big as theirs but the still celebrate it with a festival to show they care.

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Material for this presentation came from the following sources:

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 * // Culture And Customs of the Dominican Republic by: Isabel Zakrzewski //
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 * [|http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/35639.htm#econ]
 * Encyclopedia of The World’s Nations and cultures
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