Destination Guides & Maps - Dominican Republic

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Capital City: Santo Domingo, on the southern shore

Population: approximately 8½ million, of whom around 3 million live in the capital city, Santo Domingo

Area: 18,712 square miles

Language: The official language of the Dominican Republic is Spanish.

English is widely spoken in hotels in the main tourist areas as are other European languages.

But if you travel beyond the tourist resorts then it is very helpful to be able to speak some Spanish, as English is not common

Currency: the Dominican Peso or RD$, which floats on the international exchange, at around US$1 = RD$18.15 or £1= RD$28.5 (the dollar is the currency of choice, so Sterling gets a lower rate of exchange - if you're taking traveller's cheques, ones in US currency are more likely to be accepted).

The US dollar is not officially an acceptable currency, but it is often used in the tourist areas - hotels quote their rates in Dollars for instance.

However you won't get a very good rate of exchange if you use dollars, so it is probably best to change your money into Dominican Pesos, particularly if you will be travelling around the country.

Visa: No visa is required for British visitors. You will have to buy a 'Tourist Card' on arrival, price US$10, followed by a US$10 departure tax.

Geography: The Dominican Republic shares the second largest island in the Caribbean, Hispaniola, with Haiti, occupying about two thirds of the land mass.

To the north of the island is the Atlantic Ocean, while its southern shore is washed by the Caribbean Sea.

The mountainous island also claims the highest peak in the Caribbean, Pico Duarte, which lies in the heart of the Cordillera Central range and stands at 10,417 feet.

The Dominican Republic has a full variety of tropical terrains, from rainforested hills in the northeast through mangroves and swamplands to fertile plains and in the southwest, near desert-like dryness with cactus and thorny-leaved trees.

Religion: The vast majority of Dominicans are Catholic, but other Christian denominations are also present, including Anglican, Baptist and Evangelical.

In the countryside you may possibly come across santeria, a similar religion to voodoo.

Time: The Dominican Republic is on Atlantic Standard Time all year round.

This is four hours behind GMT and the UK in the winter and five hours behind British Summer Time.

Electricity: 110 volts, on the American system.

Emergencies: Police, fire and ambulance are on 911. There is also a number for the Tourist Police 1 200 3500.

Telephone: the direct dial code for the Dominican Republic is 001 809 which is followed by a seven digit island number.

The main telephone company is Codetel. If you need to make a phonecall if you are travelling through the country, you can do so at their offices, which are in almost every town.

Post: The postal system is pretty unreliable, so don't trust it with anything more important than a postcard.

Business hours: Businesses tend to open from 9 am to 5pm from Monday to Friday. Government offices close at 2pm.

Shops stay open until 7pm during the week and until 2pm on Saturdays.

Tipping: Tipping almost everywhere is 10%. There is a service charge of 10%, as well as a 12% sales tax, in hotels and restaurants.

BBC World Service

Caribbean World Service Frequencies:

Times in GMT

From To Days Frequency

00:00 03:00 Daily 12095

00:00 05:00 Daily 11835, 5975

10:00 14:00 Daily 6195

11:00 17:00 Daily 15190

21:00 24:00 Daily 12095, 5975

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