Dominican Republic

They eat rice and beans, but they also have their own traditional dishes such as

1) Sancocho

2) Mondongo

3) Mangú

4) Asopao

5) Moro de habichuelas

Other traditional food they eat.

6) Casabe

7) Chicharrón

8) Tostones

9) Habichuelas con dulce

Beverages:

1) Morir Soñando

2) Mama Juana

3) Ponche

4) Mabí

Apart from that, they also eat, pasteles en hoja, lechón asado, mofongo, and other latin American dishes.

These food are made up from Spanish, Taíno, and African Influences.

Mobile numbers in the Dominican Republic are not easily distinguishable from landline numbers. They all use the same geographic area codes, +1 809, +1 829, and +1 849. The country code +1 is North America, the same as the USA and Canada, but area codes 809, 829, and 849 are exclusively for the Dominican Republic.

From any GSM mobile phone, just program in the number as +1 8x9 xxx xxxx (including the plus symbol).

(The plus sign means "insert your international access prefix here." From a GSM mobile phone, you can enter the number in full international format, starting with the plus sign. The most common prefix is 00, but North America (USA, Canada, etc.) uses 011, Japan uses 010, Australia uses 0011, and many other countries use different prefixes.)

Junot Diaz

 Fabio Fiallo - A poet and storyteller - born in 1866 in Santo Domingo. His body of poetic work was equally enjoyed by Dominican and international Spanish audiences. Fiallo passed away in 1942 in La Habana, Cuba.

 Pedro Henriquez Urena - More or less a contemporary of Fiallo, Urena was born on 1884 and died in 1946. He was a highly respected literary critic, poet and essayist.

 Pedro Julio Mir Valentín 1913-2000 - Poet laureate of the DR

 Virgilio Diaz Grullon - Born in santiago in 1924 - a multiple inernational prize-winning writer of considerable prominence particularly from the late 1950's - and on throughout to the late 70's. Grullon died in 2001.

 Julia Alvarez - A prolific writer and poet. Her second novel, is perhaps best known, "In the Time of the Butterflies", was based on the murders of the valiant Mirabal sister, who withstood the advances of the dicatoro Trujillo but were ultimately destroyed by him in his spiteful vengeance. Techncally she was born in New York of Dominican parents - but moved to the DR at 3 months and lived there for some years before her family had to flee the Trujillo regime...before the black Volkwagens arrived!!

 Junot Diaz - Said to be "the first Dominican-born man to become a major writer in the United States" - his collection of short stories 'Drown', published in 1997, rocketed him to international literary prominence. The New Yorker magazine numbered him amongst the top 20 writers of the 21st century!

And another notable Dominican:

 Dr. Guillermo Linares - Born in 1951 in Cabera, one of nine children, of an impoverished Dominican family, Linares went to the US as a child with his parents who like so many Dominicans were seeking to better their fortunes. At one-time ataxi driver, later a teacher, Mr.Linares and was appointed as commissioner of immigrant affairs for the Mayo of New Yorks Office in 2004 by Mayor Michael R Bloomberg. He is the first Dominican to hold public office in the US.

Juan Pablo Duarte
Juan Pablo was a liberal leader of the famous La Trinitaria, along with Francisco del Rosario Sanchez and Ramon Matias Mella. These people are considered as national heroes, as they helped the Dominican Republic achieve independence from Haiti in 1844. Juan Pablo is considered as the architect of the Dominican Republic.

Rafael Trujillo
Rafael Leonidas Trujillo Molina was a famous military dictator, who ruled the Dominican Republic from 1942 to 1952. He was also the official president of the country from 1930 to 1938. His totalism known as, 'The Trujillo Era', is referred to as, one of the bloodiest in the 20th century.

Mariasela Alvarez Lebron
Mariasela Lebron was the first Dominican woman to win the Miss World contest in 1982. She became a noted television personality, with the successful run of her award-winning show, Esta Noche Mariasela. A mother of four, Mariasela lives in Spain.

Pedro Mir
Pedro Julio Mir Valentin was a poet and writer. His only novel, When They Loved the Communal Land, was highly appreciated not only in the country, but all over the world. In 1984, the Dominican Congress named him, Poet Laureate of the Dominican Republic. Pedro Mir was also awarded the Dominican National Literature Award for his lifetime achievements in 1993.

Milly Quezada
Milagros Quezada Borbon (better known as Milly Quezada), is considered as the queen of merengue music in the Dominican Republic and USA. She received the Latin Grammy awards for her albums, Pienso asi and MQ.

Santiago Rodriguez
Santiago Luis Polanco Rodriguez was considered as one of the richest Dominican drug kingpins in the United States. He was the first to distribute crack cocaine in mass quantity in the country. Santiago Rodriguez organized Dominican, Jamaican and American street drug dealers into an empire. He has retired from his life of crime, and lives in the Dominican Republic.

Oscar de la Renta
Oscar de la Renta was born in the Dominican Republic but, at present he is an American citizen. A leading fashion designer, Oscar has won many awards which includes CFDA Lifetime Achievement Award in 1990, and CFDA Womenswear Designer of the Year in 2000.

Junot Diaz
He is a famous novelist and a professor at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). His best-known works include, Drawn(1996) and The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao (2007), for which he won the prestigious Pulitzer Prize for fiction. The New Yorker magazine included him in the list of 20 top writers of the 21st century.

Juan Luis Guerra
One of most of the most recognized international faces of the country, Juan Guerra has won 11 Grammy and Latin Grammy awards, and two Latin Billboard Music awards. He has sold over 20 million records and is known for his merengue, bolero, and Latin fusion pop style.

Felix Sanchez
An athlete by profession, he won the first ever gold medal for the Dominican Republic in 400 meters hurdles, during the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens. Born in the United States, Felix has competed for the Dominican Republic since 1999, because his parents were from that country. Felix Sanchez is also known as Super Felix, Invincible and the Dictator.

Amelia Vega
Amelia Victoria Vega Polanco was crowned Miss Universe in 2003, the first Dominican woman to achieve this feat. She also won the National Costume competition, and is the third among Miss Universe winners to do so.

Dania Ramirez
Dania Ramirez is a television star. She has acted in Heroes, and the award winning television series, The Sopranos. She has appeared in many music videos, and won critical appraise for her role as, Callisto in X-Men: The Last Stand.

Alexandra Cheron
Alexandra Cheron is a successful Hollywood actress and model. One of the richest persons of Latin origin, she has acted in movies like, Miami Vice (2006) and the recently released Fast and Furious 4 (2009).

Alex Rodriguez
Nicknamed as A-Rod, he is a professional baseball player. Considered as one of the best baseball players of all time, A-Rod plays for New York Yankees, of Major League Baseball. He holds the record of hitting 500 home runs at the youngest age. In 2007, Rodriguez and Yankees signed a 10 years contract for $275 million, which is the richest contract in baseball history.

dr. Leonel Antonio Fernández Reyna (born 26 December 1953) is a Dominican politician and the current president of the Dominican Republic.

Juan Luis Guerra (born June 7, 1957 in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic) is one of the most internationally recognized Dominican singer/songwriters.

Rafael Leónidas Trujillo Molina (October 24, 1891-May 30, 1961) was a dictator of the Dominican Republic from 1930 until 1961