DOMINICAN REPUBLIC

CURRENCY: Dominican Peso ($).

EXCHANGE RATE: Peso $14 = US$1.

LANGUAGE: Spanish.

POPULATION: 5,800,000.

CAPITAL: Santo Domingo.

INTERNATIONAL CODE: TELEPHONE 809.

CURRENCY CONTROLS: All foreign exchange transactions within the Dominican Republic are subject to control by the Central bank.The import and export of the Peso is prohibited.

GAMING INFORMATION: Gaming in the Dominican Republic is controlled by a Gaming Commission established in 1968.All four members are cabinet secretaries.Its chairman is the Secretary of Finance.The others are secretaries of the Internal Revenue, Interior and Tourism Department.
All casinos must be in four or five star hotels with the exception of the Maunaloa Nightclub & Casino in Santo Domingo which existed before 1968.All offer a full complement of table games including blackjack, craps and roulette.

CLIMATE: Pleasant temperatures year round.Winter temperatures are in the low 80?'s F (27?c), and summer temperatures in the mid 80?'s F (30?c).Temperatures are lower in the evening thanks to cooling effect of the trade winds.May, June, October and November are the rainiest months.

VISITOR INFORMATION: The Dominican Republic Ministry of Tourism, Cesar Nicolas Penson, #59, PO Box 498, Santo Domingo.

Tel: (809) 688-5537, or Dominican Tourist Information Center, 485 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10022.

Tel: (212) 826-0750.

HOW TO GET THERE: Flights either to Santa Domingo's Las Americas Int'l Airport (SDQ) 18 miles / 29 km east of the city on the south coast or flights to Puerto Plata's Union Int'l Airport (POP) 10 miles / 16 km southeast of the city on the north coast.