Dominican Republic Factbook

The Dominican Republic is traditionally and culturally Roman Catholic. After a slow start, the number of evangelicals has grown steadily since the 1970's, but there is still much work to be done. The lower and middle income classes have shown a particular interest in the gospel.

The Dominican Republic occupies the eastern two-thirds of the island of Hispaniola in the Caribbean. Haiti occupies the western third of the island. The island is covered with rugged mountains and fertile valleys. The climate is warm and tropical. Just under 9 million people live in the Dominican Republic. The people are predominantly Hispanic with a sizable Haitian community as well.

The economy has experienced severe ups and downs. Times were good in the 1970's, but the 1980's brought high inflation and unemployment. Things began to improve in the mid-1990's. However, a powerful hurricane in 1998 brought devastation to the land and economy. The economy is once again on the upswing.

Over the years, the Dominican Republic has gained independence four different times - twice from Spain and once each from Haiti and the U.S. It has remained independent since 1924. Since then, the people have been subjected to dictatorships and civil unrest. Multiparty elections were first held in 1996.

Roman Catholicism is the official state religion, but other groups are granted freedom. Catholics make 90% of the population. Evangelicals didn't see significant growth until the 1960's. They now account for more than 7% of the population. More than half of evangelicals are charismatic.

So far, the poorer people have shown the most growth. The Haitian community in particular has shown much interest in the gospel. Pray for efforts to reach them. Many Haitians workers are exploited by Dominicans. Pray that such practices would end.

Because emigration to the U.S. is fairly easy and desirable to many, significant numbers of Christians leaders have left the island. Missions in the Dominican Republic suffer from a particularly high turnover rate leading to a less mature missionary force. Pray for greater stability in both of these areas.

Copyright 2006 by Brad Garrison

Return