People of the Dominican Republic capital and its patron saint, Saint Dominic. Hence the residents were called "Dominicanos" (Dominicans), which is the adjective form of "Domingo", and the revolutionaries named their newly independent country "La República Dominicana". It was often referred to as the "Republic of San Domingo" in English language 19th Century publications. The first recorded use of the word "Dominican" is found in a letter written by King Phillip IV of Spain in 1625 to the inhabitants of the Captaincy General of Santo Domingo. In this letter, which was written before the arrival of French settlers on the Western side of the island,
Economy of the Dominican Republic China 13.9%, Mexico 4.5%, Brazil 4.3% (2017) Debt - external: $29.69 billion (31 December 2017 est.) Economic aid - recipient: $76.99 million (2005) Currency: Dominican peso Exchange rates: Dominican pesos per US dollar - 33.113 (2007), 33.406 (2006), 30.409 (2005), 42.12 (2004), 30.831 (2003) Fiscal year: calendar year Economy of the Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic has the ninth largest economy in Latin America, and is the largest in the Caribbean and Central region. It is an upper middle-income developing country primarily dependent on mining, agriculture, trade, and services. Although the service sector has recently overtaken agriculture as the leading