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Dominican Republic Preface
Like its predecessors, these studies represent an
attempt to
treat in a compact and objective manner the dominant
contemporary
social, political, economic, and military aspects of the
Dominican Republic and Haiti. Sources of information
included
scholarly books, journals, monographs; official reports of
governments and international organizations; numerous
periodicals; the authors' previous research and
observations; and
interviews with individuals who have special competence in
Dominican, Haitian, and Latin American affairs. Chapter
bibliographies appear at the end of the book; brief
comments on
sources recommended for further reading appear at the end
of each
chapter. To the extent possible, place-names conform with
the
system used by the United States Board on Geographic Names
(BGN).
Measurements are given in the metric system; a conversion
table
is provided to assist readers unfamiliar with metric
measurements
(see
table 1, Appendix A). A glossary is also included.
Although there are numerous variations, Spanish
surnames
generally consist of two parts: the patrilineal name
followed by
the matrilineal one. In the instance of Joaquín Balaguer
Ricardo,
for example, Balaguer is his father's surname and Ricardo,
his
mother's maiden name. In nonformal use, the matrilineal
name is
often dropped. Thus, after the first mention, just
Balaguer is
used. A minority of individuals use only the patrilineal
name.
Creole words used in the text may be presented in forms
that
are unfamiliar to readers who have done previous research
on
Haiti. The Creole orthography employed in this volume is
that
developed by the Institut Pédagogique National
(IPN--National
Pedagogic Institute), which has been the standard in Haiti
since
1978.
Data as of December 1989
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