Dominican Republic Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic ( ) is a country located in the island of Hispaniola, in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean region. It occupies the eastern five-eighths of the island, which it shares with the nation of Haiti, making Hispaniola one of two Caribbean islands, along with Saint Martin, that are shared by two sovereign states. The Dominican Republic is the second-largest Caribbean nation by area (after Cuba) at , and third by population with approximately 10 million people, of which approximately three million live in the metropolitan area of Santo Domingo, the capital city. Christopher Columbus
Sport in the Dominican Republic "Sugarball," "Nothing typifies the new direction of Dominican baseball as much as the baseball academy, an institution rooted in the increased presence and benevolent paternalism of North American baseball interests in the country." The first baseball academy in the Dominican Republic was built in 1977 by Ralph Avila. In his description of baseball academies in the Dominican Republic, Alan Klein wrote "What the academy does in working with the Dominican players goes beyond teaching baseball skills. They teach career preparation, socialization and how to cope with the cultural changes they will face in the United States." Campo Las Palmas is