Rafael Hipólito Mejía Domínguez
President

(pronounced "RAFF-ay-el ee-POH-lee-toh may-HEE-ah dom-ING-ez")

"I'm going to govern from a glass house, with transparency…I am totally conscious of the responsibility of this post and I assume it with humility and with respect for the Dominican people and the international community."

Known by its inhabitants as la Republica Dominicana, the Dominican Republic is located in the West Indies. It occupies the eastern two-thirds of the island of Hispañola, which it shares with Haiti on the west. To the north lies the Atlantic Ocean, with the Mora Passage on the east separating the island from Puerto Rico. To the south lies the Caribbean Sea. Covering an area of 48,730 sq...