FACTS & FIGURES

POPULATION 8,581,477 (July 2001 est.)

AREA 18,810 square miles. Slightly more than twice the size of New Hampshire

CURRENCY Dominican peso (DOP)

EXCHANGE 1 US$ = 16.2250 DOP (January 2002 est.)

CAPITAL The Dominican capital is Santo Domingo

GDP $48.3 billion (2000 est.) purchasing power parity

GDP GROWTH 8% (2000 est.)

RESOURCES Natural resources include: nickel, bauxite, gold, silver

INDUSTRIES Tourism, sugar processing, ferronickel and gold mining, textiles, cement, tobacco