capodominicano said:
Due to the server failure any thread posted on the 18th got erase, I will arise once again my serious question.
I was wondering if you DR1 posters really classified as DR as a 3rd world country. Could the DR be classified as something else? I ask because everything I go to SD or my moms little campo in Puerto Plata, I see alot of technology thats available in the USA, internet, digital TV, cable, etc. Even though I know theres alot of poor, poor education, little public healthcare sysytem, I wonder is the DR really that behind. Personally I believe 3rd world countries are Haiti, some African countries, some Middle Eastern and Asian countries where there are little or no technology or food. The DR is a land blessed with the ability to produce food, great fertile soil, minerals, etc. I really think the DR (in the future) can be a serious contender among Latin America & the Carribean, I think it only needs light 24/7 & less government corruption.
So once again do you believe the DR is a 3rd world country or can it classify something in between 1st world & 3rd world?
Good Day,
Capo
:bandit: :ninja:
PS This is a reposting of my original question, I don't remember the exact phrasing of my first post but it's something like what I stated above. If anybody posted in the first thread can you please provide your thoughts or information in this thread. Thank You.
Most economist would consider the Dominican Republic a lower middle income country because our national GDP falls within that category.
Countries are categorized as low income, lower middle income, upper middle income, and upper income countries.
Low income countries are countries with per capita GDP of less than $3,000, lower middle income countries fall within $3,001 - 9,000, upper middle income countries fall within $9,001 - 18,000 and upper income countries have over $18,000 per capita GDP.
Most countries fall in the lower income group, a small number of countries fall in the middle income group (both upper and lower middle income) and an extremely few countries fall in the upper income group.
Low income countries are technically considered 3rd world, upper income are considered 1st world. Because middle income countries are neither 1st or 3rd, the new term developing country was developed to categorize all non-upper income countries.
Although, its technically incorrect for people to refer to the DR as a 3rd world country, people still refer to it as such because of the perceived high poverty visible to the naked eye.
One little thing most people don't realize is that only 25% of the Dominican population lives in poverty (people who earn less than the minimum needed to buy the basics).
Roughly, another 35% fall in the lower middle class (many earn just above the poverty line thus making them lower middle class, but many are well into this category) and these are the one's constantly assumed as poor when foreigners visit the country, despite these people not being poor per se.
Another 30% fall in the upper middle class (these people live a lifestyle similar to that of upper middle classes in US and Europe, including the habit of living beyond their means thanks to the credit card).
Finally, another 10% of the population fall in the upper class (these people live very opulent lifestyles and are seen driving up and down the country on luxury SUV and luxury vehicles dodging pot holes!
The DR is a country that is often misunderstood.
Other things people don't keep in mind when traveling around the country is that over half the population lives around SDQ and Santiago areas. SDQ is home to 30% and the Cibao Valley is home to 60%, that's 90% of all Dominicans. The rest of the country is only home to the remainding 10% of the population. Many of the expats here live along the North coast where less than 10% of the population lives, most tourist visit the east where less than 10% of the population lives. A small number of tourist (compared to other areas) visit Santo Domingo (where 30% of the population lives, with most being lower middle class and upper middle class) and hardly no tourist visit the Cibao Valley where 60% of Dominicans live. As a result, most foreigners get a wrong impression of the country's development and ethnic composition and general appearance.
Taken by population density, one would clearly notice that the DR is wealthier than commonly perceived because when you drive through many areas of the Cibao, there is alot of affluence on display. Many of the towns are prosperous and plesant, many nice houses both in urban areas and across the countryside and vibrant urban centers with a good economy. Driving through Santo Domingo it's clear that this city is wealthy, though there are some very sharp contrasts, but overall the city is pleasant and that "pleasantness" is mostly due to its prosperity. Only 10% of the city area is covered in Shanty towns, the remaining 90% of the city's area is covered in lower middle class, upper middle class and rich neighborhoods and this is a city of over 400 square kilometers!
Also, Santo Domingo makes up 40% of the entire national economy, the Cibao Valley makes up another 40% of the entire national economy (about half of the Cibao economy is concentrated in Santiago) and only 20% of the economy is found elsewhere in the country, mostly along the Puerto Plata coasts and the East and much of this economy is dominated by tourist resorts and agrarian interests. Contrast that with the predominance of the Cibao economy (mostly agrarian and industrial) and that of Santo Domingo (mostly industrial, trade, and financial).
It's hard to explain this to ordinary people, since many people believe more of what they see. Its hard for them to realize that why you see 50 small impoverished villages and then you see one large metropolis, that most of the people of the country lives in that metropolis and not the villages. Because the villages are scattered across the countryside, that gives the impression of an impoverished place (more so than actuality) and because the metropolis is relatively compact compared to the vast countryside, its easy to assume that such metropolis is only a "bubble" of modernity. Maybe its a bubble, but that bubble is being kept by a good number of the country's population.
That is why the Dominican economy did not collapsed completely during the recent economic blow. A blow of this magnitude that we experienced was to kill the economy completely and put is in Haitian category when it comes to development, and yet, our economy is still relatively strong, its growing again, and its gaining momentum. Why? Because there is more wealth here than its perceived and the reasons I just explained.
Hope this help!
PS. If you want to see what a real 3rd world country looks like, look at our neighbor to our west. As soon that you cross the border into Haiti, life expectancy drops to 53 years, per capita income barely makes $900, 90% of the population are poor (earn less than the minimum needed to buy the basics), there is hardly a middle class to speak of.
In addition to all of this, its very hard to have cell phone conversations in Haiti because they don't have the proper infraestructure, much of Haiti is unconnected when it comes to electricity (exception being Port-au-Prince, though over half the city's population lives in shanty towns and the shanty town Soleil (I think that's the name) is the largest slum in the world).
Many of the main highways in Haiti are nothing more than dirt tracks, many homes in the Haitian countryside are made up of mud and sticks with thatched roof and are not painted (though some nicely painted shacks are present) this is a sharp contrast that the multi colored feast our eyes have when crossing the Dominican Republic, not to mention that main highways and secondary roads are in fabulous conditions compared to Haiti's.
Haiti has the worst indicators in most social and economic statistics in the world, in most of those only a handful of Sub-Saharan African countries have it worst in the entire world.
I truly wished to say more nice things about Haiti, but its hard when so much problems are present. Compared to that, life in the Dominican Republic is a dream... The average Haitian town is world's away from the relatively fashionable Dominican towns.
