Geography
Dominican Republic (Dominican Republic) is a state located in the east of the island of Haiti, in the central part of the Greater Antilles. The capital is Santo Domingo. See Dominican Republic abbreviations.
In the northern part of the Dominican Republic is washed by the waves of the Atlantic Ocean, in the south – by the Caribbean Sea. The Mona Strait, located in the east, separates the state from Puerto Rico. In the western part lies the border with the Republic of Haiti.
The relief features are varied. Starting from the northwestern part towards the southeast, the island is crossed by 4 mountain ranges. In the southwest is the Siera de Baoruco plateau. The highest point of the country is Duarte Peak (3175 m), it is located in the northwest of the Dominican Republic.
Most of the territory is occupied by savannas and tropical forests. The coastal line stretches for 1600 km. In the west, near the border with Haiti, there are several salt lakes of Lago Enricio. The main river of the republic: Yaque del Norte (296 km).
Climate
According to 800zipcodes, the Dominican Republic has a tropical temperate climate. It rains mainly in summer, from late May to early September. In July-August, typhoons pass through the island.
The average monthly temperature fluctuations in the lowlands are +25…+27 °C. August is the hottest. The air at this time warms up to +31 ° С, but, thanks to the northeast sea winds, the heat is easily tolerated.
The Dominican Republic is characterized by high humidity (65-80%). During the year, up to 2 thousand mm of precipitation falls.
The coldest month in the republic is January, the temperature these days is kept at +22 °С. In mountainous areas in winter, it often drops to a minus mark.
The tourist season lasts from early December to April.
Popular resorts in the Dominican Republic: Punta Cana, Boca Chica, Puerta Plata, Bayahibe, Juan Dolio
Major city of the island: Santo Domingo
Resort town: La Romana.
Dominican cuisine
Dominican cuisine was directly influenced by Spanish, French and African culinary traditions.
The main feature of the cuisine of the Dominican Republic lies not only in the ingredients of a particular dish, but also in the unusual ways of preparing many dishes.
Preferred products used for the preparation of national dishes of the Dominican Republic: cereals (rice), legumes (beans), meat (pork, chicken), local vegetables, fruits (coconuts, pineapples, bananas, guava, green lemon, mango and others), less seafood is common (fish, crustaceans).
Dominican dishes contain a fairly large amount of spices, but they do not lose their taste because of this, unlike dishes of some other national cuisines.
Traditional dishes of the Dominican Republic:
- Asopao is a thick meat soup with rice and vegetables.
- “Bandera” – a stew made from rice, beans, meat, salad with fried bananas. For frying, a special variety of green bananas is used – sycamore.
- “Puerco en puya” (“Puerco asado”) – fried pork. A pork carcass completely stewed in a pit is considered a unique dish.
- “Pastel en ojas” – meat and vegetables baked in banana leaves.
- “Sancocho” – meat and vegetable stew.
- “Pescado con coco” – fish cooked with a special sauce made from coconut milk.
- “Kangrejo guisado” – crabs in sauce.
Usually in the kitchen of the Dominicans you can always see special cakes “casabe”, which are prepared from a root crop called cassava, and fried slices of bananas – “tostones”.
The side dish for the main course is usually rice, red beans and bananas. Dessert in the Dominican Republic is tropical fruits or pastries stuffed with them.
From non-alcoholic drinks in the country, freshly squeezed juices, fruit cocktails and coffee are popular, especially the Santo Domingo variety.
Rum is considered the national alcoholic drink here. It is made in the Dominican Republic in 15 varieties, of which tourists most often buy Bermudez, Brugal and Barcelo varieties. This drink is used both in its pure form and in cocktails “Pina Colada”, ” Cuba Libre”, “Daiquiri” and others.
The country produces its own beer, known under the brands Quisqueia, Presidente, Seniza and Bohemia. Guests of the country can also try a traditional alcoholic drink called pru, made on the basis of the fermentation of the juice of the pru plant. Of the wines in the republic, Chilean ones are popular.
Tourists in the Dominican Republic are advised to keep their fruits and vegetables clean and drink only bottled water.
