RELIGION

The population is about 95% Christian, mainly Roman Catholic, however, a lot of other religions are practiced and tolerated (Anglican, Baptist, Evangelic, Mormon, Jehova's Witness, Sevenths Day Adventist). There are also Jewish, Muslim and Bahai places of worship.

GOVERNMENT

The country is a representative democracy with three branches: executive, legislative and judicial. The president is elected by popular vote every four years.

BRIEF HISTORY

When Christopher Columbus arrived the island in 1492 he named it Hispaniola. At that time it was inhabited by some 400.000 Taino Indians. Old World diseases, slavery and cruel treatment by the Spaniards erased this population. To replace the manual labor, the first African slaves were brought to the island in 1520. The country gained its first independence from Spain in 1821, but the following year the Haitians invaded inspired by the ideal of one indivisible island set by their liberator Toussaint L'Ouverture. The Dominican Republic remained under Haitian control until 27 of February 1844 when the founding fathers of Dominican independence Juan Pablo Duarte, Ramon Matias Mella and Francisco del Rosario Sanchez led a successful revolt and declared independence.