• Literacy rate: 84%
• Numbers in tertiary education: 176,995 students

The education system

State schools are badly underfunded. The state university in Santo Domingo is the oldest university in the Western Hemisphere; the rich send their children to study in the US and Spain.

• Protected land as percentage of total land area: 174% (154% partially protected) including marine areas
• CO2 emissions trend: 3 tonnes per capita

Environmental treaties

• Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) Washington DC, 1973: yes
• Convention on Biological Diversity Earth Summit in Rio, 1992: yes
• 1992 Amendment to protocol on substances that deplete the ozone layer (amendment to Montreal Protocol) Copenhagen, 1992: yes
• Kyoto Convention on reduction of greenhouse gas emissions Earth Summit in Kyoto, 1997: yes
• Basel convention on the dumping of hazardous wastes (Basel) Basel, 1989: yes
• Convention on Wetlands of International Importance (Ramsar) Ramsar, Iran 1971: yes

Forests are threatened by destructive agricultural practices and also by the use of wood as fuel by rural communities. Deforestation has accelerated soil erosion, exacerbating floods in 2004.

• Doctors: 1 per 455 people
• Major causes of death: Heart attacks, infectious and parasitic diseases

Wealthy Dominicans fly to Cuba and the US for treatment. The poor rely on a basic public service, inadequately provided by over 120 state hospitals.