Compare Cayman Islands (2008) - Dominican Republic (2008)

Compare Cayman Islands (2008) z Dominican Republic (2008)

	Cayman Islands (2008)	Dominican Republic (2008)

Administrative divisions	8 districts; Creek, Eastern, Midland, South Town, Spot Bay, Stake Bay, West End, Western	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
Age structure	0-14 years: 20.3% (male 4,746/female 4,730) 15-64 years: 71% (male 16,135/female 16,964) 65 years and over: 8.6% (male 1,892/female 2,133) (2007 est.)	0-14 years: 32.1% (male 1,532,813/female 1,477,033) 15-64 years: 62.2% (male 2,971,620/female 2,851,207) 65 years and over: 5.7% (male 247,738/female 285,407) (2007 est.)
Agriculture - products	vegetables, fruit; livestock; turtle farming	sugarcane, coffee, cotton, cocoa, tobacco, rice, beans, potatoes, corn, bananas; cattle, pigs, dairy products, beef, eggs
Airports	3 (2007)	34 (2007)
Airports - with paved runways	total: 2 1,524 to 2,437 m: 2 (2007)	total: 15 over 3,047 m: 3 2,438 to 3,047 m: 4 1,524 to 2,437 m: 4 914 to 1,523 m: 3 under 914 m: 1 (2007)
Airports - with unpaved runways	total: 1 914 to 1,523 m: 1 (2007)	total: 19 1,524 to 2,437 m: 3 914 to 1,523 m: 5 under 914 m: 11 (2007)
Area	total: 262 sq km land: 262 sq km water: 0 sq km	total: 48,730 sq km land: 48,380 sq km water: 350 sq km
Area - comparative	1.5 times the size of Washington, DC	slightly more than twice the size of New Hampshire
Background	The Cayman Islands were colonized from Jamaica by the British during the 18th and 19th centuries, and were administered by Jamaica after 1863. In 1959, the islands became a territory within the Federation of the West Indies, but when the Federation dissolved in 1962, the Cayman Islands chose to remain a British dependency.	Explored and claimed by Christopher COLUMBUS on his first voyage in 1492, the island of Hispaniola became a springboard for Spanish conquest of the Caribbean and the American mainland. In 1697, Spain recognized French dominion over the western third of the island, which in 1804 became Haiti. The remainder of the island, by then known as Santo Domingo, sought to gain its own independence in 1821, but was conquered and ruled by the Haitians for 22 years; it finally attained independence as the Dominican Republic in 1844. In 1861, the Dominicans voluntarily returned to the Spanish Empire, but two years later they launched a war that restored independence in 1865. A legacy of unsettled, mostly non-representative rule followed, capped by the dictatorship of Rafael Leonidas TRUJILLO from 1930-61. Juan BOSCH was elected president in 1962, but was deposed in a military coup in 1963. In 1965, the United States led an intervention in the midst of a civil war sparked by an uprising to restore BOSCH. In 1966, Joaquin BALAGUER defeated BOSCH in an election to become president. BALAGUER maintained a tight grip on power for most of the next 30 years when international reaction to flawed elections forced him to curtail his term in 1996. Since then, regular competitive elections have been held in which opposition candidates have won the presidency. Former President (1996-2000) Leonel FERNANDEZ Reyna won election to a second term in 2004 following a constitutional amendment allowing presidents to serve more than one term.
Birth rate	12.6 births/1,000 population (2007 est.)	22.91 births/1,000 population (2007 est.)
Budget	revenues: $423.8 million expenditures: $392.6 million (2004)	revenues: $7.014 billion expenditures: $6.985 billion (2007 est.)
Capital	name: George Town (on Grand Cayman) geographic coordinates: 19 18 N, 81 23 W time difference: UTC-5 (same time as Washington, DC during Standard Time)	name: Santo Domingo geographic coordinates: 18 28 N, 69 54 W time difference: UTC-4 (1 hour ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time)
Climate	tropical marine; warm, rainy summers (May to October) and cool, relatively dry winters (November to April)	tropical maritime; little seasonal temperature variation; seasonal variation in rainfall
Coastline	160 km	1,288 km
Constitution	1959; revised 1962, 1972, and 1994	28 November 1966; amended 25 July 2002
Country name	conventional long form: none conventional short form: Cayman Islands	conventional long form: Dominican Republic conventional short form: The Dominican local long form: Republica Dominicana local short form: La Dominicana
Death rate	4.98 deaths/1,000 population (2007 est.)	5.32 deaths/1,000 population (2007 est.)
Debt - external	$70 million (1996)	$8.842 billion (31 December 2007 est.)
Dependency status	overseas territory of the UK	-
Diplomatic representation from the US	none (overseas territory of the UK)	chief of mission: Ambassador P. Robert FANNIN embassy: corner of Calle Cesar Nicolas Penson and Calle Leopoldo Navarro, Santo Domingo mailing address: Unit 5500, APO AA 34041-5500 telephone: [1] (809) 221-2171 FAX: [1] (809) 686-7437
Diplomatic representation in the US	none (overseas territory of the UK)	chief of mission: Ambassador Flavio Dario ESPINAL Jacobo chancery: 1715 22nd Street NW, Washington, DC 20008 telephone: [1] (202) 332-6280 FAX: [1] (202) 265-8057 consulate(s) general: Anchorage, Boston, Chicago, Mayaguez (Puerto Rico), Miami, New Orleans, New York, San Francisco, San Juan (Puerto Rico)
Disputes - international	none	Haitian migrants cross the porous border into the Dominican Republic to find work; illegal migrants from the Dominican Republic cross the Mona Passage each year to Puerto Rico to find better work
Economic aid - recipient	$390,000 (2004)	$76.99 million (2005)
Economy - overview	With no direct taxation, the islands are a thriving offshore financial center. More than 68,000 companies were registered in the Cayman Islands as of 2003, including almost 500 banks, 800 insurers, and 5,000 mutual funds. A stock exchange was opened in 1997. Tourism is also a mainstay, accounting for about 70% of GDP and 75% of foreign currency earnings. The tourist industry is aimed at the luxury market and caters mainly to visitors from North America. Total tourist arrivals exceeded 2.1 million in 2003, with about half from the US. About 90% of the islands' food and consumer goods must be imported. The Caymanians enjoy one of the highest outputs per capita and one of the highest standards of living in the world.	The Dominican Republic has enjoyed strong GDP growth since 2005, with double digit growth in 2006. In 2007, exports were bolstered by the nearly 50% increase in nickel prices; however, prices are expected to fall in 2008, contributing to a slowdown in GDP growth for the year. Although the country has long been viewed primarily as an exporter of sugar, coffee, and tobacco, in recent years the service sector has overtaken agriculture as the economy's largest employer due to growth in tourism and free trade zones. The economy is highly dependent upon the US, the source of nearly 80% of exports, and remittances represent about a tenth of GDP, equivalent to almost half of exports and three-quarters of tourism receipts. With the help of strict fiscal targets agreed to in the 2004 renegotiation of an IMF standby loan, President FERNANDEZ has stabilized the country's financial situation, lowereing inflation to less than 6%. A fiscal expansion is expected for 2008 prior to the elections in May and for Tropical Storm Noel reconstruction. Although the economy is growing at a respectable rate, high unemployment and underemployment remains an important challenge. The country suffers from marked income inequality; the poorest half of the population receives less than one-fifth of GNP, while the richest 10% enjoys nearly 40% of national income. The Central America-Dominican Republic Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA-DR) came into force in March 2007, which should boost investment and exports and diminishes losses to the Asian garment industry.
Electricity - consumption	372 million kWh (2005)	8.791 billion kWh (2005)
Electricity - exports	0 kWh (2005)	0 kWh (2005)
Electricity - imports	0 kWh (2005)	0 kWh (2005)
Electricity - production	400 million kWh (2005)	12.22 billion kWh (2005)
Elevation extremes	lowest point: Caribbean Sea 0 m highest point: The Bluff (Cayman Brac) 43 m	lowest point: Lago Enriquillo -46 m highest point: Pico Duarte 3,175 m
Environment - current issues	no natural fresh water resources; drinking water supplies must be met by rainwater catchments	water shortages; soil eroding into the sea damages coral reefs; deforestation
Environment - international agreements	-	party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Marine Dumping, Marine Life Conservation, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands signed, but not ratified: Law of the Sea
Ethnic groups	mixed 40%, white 20%, black 20%, expatriates of various ethnic groups 20%	mixed 73%, white 16%, black 11%
Exchange rates	Caymanian dollars per US dollar - NA (2007), 0.8496 (2006)	Dominican pesos per US dollar - 33.113 (2007), 33.406 (2006), 30.409 (2005), 42.12 (2004), 30.831 (2003)
Executive branch	chief of state: Queen ELIZABETH II (since 6 February 1952); represented by Governor Stuart JACK (since 23 November 2005) head of government: Leader of Government Business Kurt TIBBETTS (since 18 May 2005) cabinet: Executive Council (three members appointed by the governor, four members elected by the Legislative Assembly) elections: none; the monarch is hereditary; the governor is appointed by the monarch; following legislative elections, the leader of the majority party or coalition is appointed by the governor Leader of Government Business	chief of state: President Leonel FERNANDEZ Reyna (since 16 August 2004); Vice President Rafael ALBURQUERQUE de Castro (since 16 August 2004); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government head of government: President Leonel FERNANDEZ Reyna (since 16 August 2004); Vice President Rafael ALBURQUERQUE de Castro (since 16 August 2004) 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); election last held 16 May 2004 (next to be held in May 2008) election results: Leonel FERNANDEZ elected president; percent of vote - Leonel FERNANDEZ 57.1%, Rafael Hipolito MEJIA Dominguez 33.7%, Eduardo ESTRELLA 8.7%
Exports	0 bbl/day (2004)	0 bbl/day (2004)
Exports - commodities	turtle products, manufactured consumer goods	ferronickel, sugar, gold, silver, coffee, cocoa, tobacco, meats, consumer goods
Exports - partners	mostly US (2006)	US 72.7%, UK 3.2%, Belgium 2.4% (2006)
Fiscal year	1 April - 31 March	calendar year
Flag description	blue, with the flag of the UK in the upper hoist-side quadrant and the Caymanian coat of arms centered on the outer half of the flag; the coat of arms includes a pineapple and turtle above a shield with three stars (representing the three islands) and a scroll at the bottom bearing the motto HE HATH FOUNDED IT UPON THE SEAS	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
GDP - composition by sector	agriculture: 1.4% industry: 3.2% services: 95.4% (1994 est.)	agriculture: 11.5% industry: 28.3% services: 60.2% (2007 est.)
GDP - real growth rate	0.9% (2004 est.)	7.2% (2007 est.)
Geographic coordinates	19 30 N, 80 30 W	19 00 N, 70 40 W
Geography - note	important location between Cuba and Central America	shares island of Hispaniola with Haiti
Household income or consumption by percentage share	lowest 10%: NA% highest 10%: NA%	lowest 10%: 1.4% highest 10%: 41.1% (2004)
Illicit drugs	offshore financial center; vulnerable to drug transshipment to the US and Europe	transshipment point for South American drugs destined for the US and Europe; has become a transshipment point for ecstasy from the Netherlands and Belgium destined for US and Canada; substantial money laundering activity; Colombian narcotics traffickers favor the Dominican Republic for illicit financial transactions; significant amphetamine consumption
Imports	2,698 bbl/day (2004)	116,700 bbl/day (2004)
Imports - commodities	foodstuffs, manufactured goods	foodstuffs, petroleum, cotton and fabrics, chemicals and pharmaceuticals
Imports - partners	US, Netherlands Antilles, Japan (2006)	US 46.9%, Venezuela 8.4%, Colombia 6.3%, Mexico 5.7% (2006)
Independence	none (overseas territory of the UK)	27 February 1844 (from Haiti)
Industrial production growth rate	NA%	5.5% (2007 est.)
Industries	tourism, banking, insurance and finance, construction, construction materials, furniture	tourism, sugar processing, ferronickel and gold mining, textiles, cement, tobacco
Infant mortality rate	total: 7.8 deaths/1,000 live births male: 8.94 deaths/1,000 live births female: 6.65 deaths/1,000 live births (2007 est.)	total: 27.94 deaths/1,000 live births male: 30.05 deaths/1,000 live births female: 25.75 deaths/1,000 live births (2007 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices)	4.4% (2004)	5.8% (2007 est.)
International organization participation	Caricom (associate), CDB, Interpol (subbureau), IOC, UNESCO (associate), UPU	ACP, Caricom (observer), FAO, G-77, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICCt (signatory), ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO (suspended), ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO (correspondent), ITSO, ITU, ITUC, LAES, LAIA (observer), MIGA, NAM, OAS, OPANAL, OPCW (signatory), PCA, RG, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, Union Latina, UNOCI, UNWTO, UPU, WCL, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO
Irrigated land	NA	2,750 sq km (2003)
Judicial branch	Summary Court; Grand Court; Cayman Islands Court of Appeal	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)
Labor force	23,450 (2004)	3.986 million (2007 est.)
Labor force - by occupation	agriculture: 1.4% industry: 12.6% services: 86% (1995)	agriculture: 17% industry: 24.3% services: 58.7% (1998 est.)
Land boundaries	0 km	total: 360 km border countries: Haiti 360 km
Land use	arable land: 3.85% permanent crops: 0% other: 96.15% (2005)	arable land: 22.49% permanent crops: 10.26% other: 67.25% (2005)
Languages	English	Spanish
Legal system	British common law and local statutes	based on French civil codes; Criminal Procedures Code modified in 2004 to include important elements of an accusatory system; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction
Legislative branch	unicameral Legislative Assembly (18 seats; 3 appointed members from the Executive Council and 15 elected by popular vote; to serve four-year terms) elections: last held 11 May 2005 (next to be held in 2009) election results: percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - PPM 9, UDP 5, independent 1	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) elections: Senate - last held 16 May 2006 (next to be held in May 2008); House of Representatives - last held 16 May 2006 (next to be held in May 2008) election results: Senate - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - PLD 22, PRD 6, PRSC 4; House of Representatives - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - PLD 96, PRD 60, PRSC 22
Life expectancy at birth	total population: 80.2 years male: 77.57 years female: 82.87 years (2007 est.)	total population: 73.07 years male: 71.34 years female: 74.87 years (2007 est.)
Literacy	definition: age 15 and over has ever attended school total population: 98% male: 98% female: 98% (1970 est.)	definition: age 15 and over can read and write total population: 87% male: 86.8% female: 87.2% (2002 census)
Location	Caribbean, three island (Grand Cayman, Cayman Brac, Little Cayman) group in Caribbean Sea, 240 km south of Cuba and 268 km northwest of Jamaica	Caribbean, eastern two-thirds of the island of Hispaniola, between the Caribbean Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean, east of Haiti
Map references	Central America and the Caribbean	Central America and the Caribbean
Maritime claims	territorial sea: 12 nm exclusive fishing zone: 200 nm	measured from claimed archipelagic straight baselines territorial sea: 6 nm contiguous zone: 24 nm exclusive economic zone: 200 nm continental shelf: 200 nm or to the edge of the continental margin
Merchant marine	total: 124 ships (1000 GRT or over) 2,953,923 GRT/4,597,716 DWT by type: bulk carrier 33, cargo 11, chemical tanker 41, liquefied gas 1, passenger 1, petroleum tanker 17, refrigerated cargo 13, roll on/roll off 3, vehicle carrier 4 foreign-owned: 122 (Denmark 3, Germany 17, Greece 23, Italy 10, Japan 6, Norway 2, Singapore 10, Sweden 1, UK 9, US 41) (2007)	total: 1 ship (1000 GRT or over) 1,587 GRT/1,165 DWT by type: cargo 1 registered in other countries: 1 (Panama 1) (2007)
Military - note	defense is the responsibility of the UK	-
Military branches	no regular military forces; Royal Cayman Islands Police Force	Army, Navy, Air Force (Fuerza Aerea Dominicana, FAD) (2007)
Military expenditures - percent of GDP	-	0.8% (2006)
National holiday	Constitution Day, first Monday in July	Independence Day, 27 February (1844)
Nationality	noun: Caymanian(s) adjective: Caymanian	noun: Dominican(s) adjective: Dominican
Natural hazards	hurricanes (July to November)	lies in the middle of the hurricane belt and subject to severe storms from June to October; occasional flooding; periodic droughts
Natural resources	fish, climate and beaches that foster tourism	nickel, bauxite, gold, silver
Net migration rate	17.34 migrant(s)/1,000 population note: major destination for Cubans trying to migrate to the US (2007 est.)	-2.59 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2007 est.)
Political parties and leaders	United Democratic Party or UDP [McKeeva BUSH]; People's Progressive Movement or PPM [Kurt TIBBETTS]; note - no national teams (loose groupings of political organizations) were formed for the 2000 elections	Dominican Liberation Party or PLD [Leonel FERNANDEZ Reyna]; Dominican Revolutionary Party or PRD [Ramon ALBURQUERQUE]; National Progressive Front [Vincent CASTILLO, Pelegrin CASTILLO]; Social Christian Reformist Party or PRSC [Enrique ANTUN]
Political pressure groups and leaders	NA	Citizen Participation Group (Participacion Ciudadania); Collective of Popular Organizations or COP; Foundation for Institution-Building and Justice (FINJUS)
Population	46,600 note: most of the population lives on Grand Cayman (July 2007 est.)	9,365,818 (July 2007 est.)
Population below poverty line	NA%	42.2% (2004)
Population growth rate	2.496% (2007 est.)	1.5% (2007 est.)
Radio broadcast stations	AM 1, FM 4, shortwave 0 (2004)	AM 120, FM 56, shortwave 4 (1998)
Railways	-	total: 517 km standard gauge: 375 km 1.435-m gauge narrow gauge: 142 km 0.762-m gauge note: additional 1,226 km operated by sugar companies in 1.076 m, 0.889 m, and 0.762-m gauges (2006)
Religions	United Church (Presbyterian and Congregational), Anglican, Baptist, Church of God, other Protestant, Roman Catholic	Roman Catholic 95%, other 5%
Sex ratio	at birth: 1.02 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.003 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.951 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.887 male(s)/female total population: 0.956 male(s)/female (2007 est.)	at birth: 1.04 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.038 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.042 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.868 male(s)/female total population: 1.03 male(s)/female (2007 est.)
Suffrage	18 years of age; universal	18 years of age, universal and compulsory; married persons regardless of age; note - members of the armed forces and national police cannot vote
Telephone system	general assessment: reasonably good system domestic: liberalization of telecom market in 2003; introduction of competition in the mobile-cellular market in 2004 international: country code - 1-345; landing point for the MAYA-1 submarine telephone cable network that provides links to the US and parts of Central and South America; submarine cable provides connectivity to Jamaica; satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean) (2007)	general assessment: relatively efficient system based on island-wide microwave radio relay network domestic: fixed telephone line density is about 10 per 100 persons; multiple providers of mobile cellular service with a subscribership of roughly 50 per 100 persons international: country code - 1-809; landing point for the Americas Region Caribbean Ring System (ARCOS-1) fiber-optic telecommunications submarine cable that provides links to South and Central America, parts of the Caribbean, and US; satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean)
Telephones - main lines in use	38,000 (2002)	897,000 (2006)
Telephones - mobile cellular	17,000 (2002)	4.606 million (2006)
Television broadcast stations	4 with cable system (2004)	25 (2003)
Terrain	low-lying limestone base surrounded by coral reefs	rugged highlands and mountains with fertile valleys interspersed
Total fertility rate	1.89 children born/woman (2007 est.)	2.81 children born/woman (2007 est.)
Unemployment rate	4.4% (2004)	15.5% (2007 est.)

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