The National Council for the Overseas Dominican Communities (Condex) says that “nearly two million Dominicans, which is to say 20% of the population, live overseas.” This article in today’s El Caribe reports that 1,334,000 Dominicans were living in the United States in July 2008. They stress that in the 2010 resume presented by President Fernandez to the National Congress last February, in New York City, Dominicans represented the second largest Latino population and in Puerto Rico they are the largest group of foreigners.
The article says that while in 2006 there were 69,864 Dominicans in Puerto Rico, most observers calculated the number to be closer to 300,000. Moreover, the European Union statistical office, Eurostat, says that 6% of the Latin American population in Europe is from the Dominican Republic, with the largest concentrations in Spain and Italy.
The presence of so many Dominicans in the Major Leagues in the United States, 86 and still growing, as well as the literary presence of Oscar Wao and Julia Alvarez, the silver screen graced by Zoe Saldana, and the music of Johnny Pacheco also identify the Dominican presence in North America.