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  • Country name: conventional long form: Dominican Republic

  • conventional short form: The Dominican 
    local long form: Republica Dominicana
    local short form: La Dominicana

  • Government type: democratic republic

  • Administrative divisions: 31 provinces (provincias, singular – provincia) and 1 district (distrito); Azua, Bahoruco, Barahona, Dajabon, Distrito Nacional, Duarte, El Seibo, Elias Pina, Espaillat, Hato Mayor, Independencia, La Altagracia, La Romana, La Vega, Maria Trinidad Sanchez, Monsenor Nouel, Monte Cristi, Monte Plata, Pedernales, Peravia, Puerto Plata, Salcedo, Samana, San Cristobal, San Jose de Ocoa, San Juan, San Pedro de Macoris, Sanchez Ramirez, Santiago, Santiago Rodriguez, Santo Domingo, Valverde

  • Independence: 27 February 1844 (from Haiti)

  • National holiday: Independence Day, 27 February (1844)

  • Constitution: 28 November 1966; amended 25 July 2002

  • Legal system: based on French civil codes; Criminal Procedures Code modified in 2004 to include important elements of an accusatory system; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction

  • Suffrage: 18 years of age, universal and compulsory; married persons regardless of age; note – members of the armed          forces and national police cannot vote

  • Executive branch: chief of state: President
    head of government: President
    cabinet: Cabinet nominated by the president
    elections: president and vice president elected on the same ticket by popular vote for four-year terms (eligible for a second consecutive term)

  • Legislative branch: bicameral National Congress or Congreso Nacional consists of the Senate or Senado (32 seats; members are elected by popular vote to serve four-year terms) and the House of Representatives or Camara de Diputados (178 seats; members are elected by popular vote to serve four-year terms)

  • Judicial branch: Supreme Court or Corte Suprema (judges are appointed by the National Judicial Council comprised of the president, the leaders of both chambers of congress, the president of the Supreme Court, and an additional non-governing party congressional representative)

  • Political parties and leaders: Dominican Liberation Party or PLD; Dominican Revolutionary Party or PRD; National Progressive Front; Social Christian Reformist Party or PRSC

  • Political pressure groups and leaders: Citizen Participation Group (Participacion Ciudadania); Collective of Popular Organizations or COP; Foundation for Institution-Building and Justice (FINJUS)

  • Flag description: a centered white cross that extends to the edges divides the flag into four rectangles – the top ones are blue (hoist side) and red, and the bottom ones are red (hoist side) and blue; a small coat of arms featuring a shield supported by an olive branch (left) and a palm branch (right) is at the center of the cross; above the shield a blue ribbon displays the motto, DIOS, PATRIA, LIBERTAD (God, Fatherland, Liberty), and below the shield, REPUBLICA DOMINICANA appears on a red ribbon

Government

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