Dominican Republic

Brief Description: In 1492, explorer Christopher Columbus set foot on a large island in the Caribbean Sea that he called Hispaniola. Four years later, his brother Bartholomew founded the New World's first permanent European settlement there. Now called Santo Domingo, the busy port serves as the capital city of the Dominican Republic, a beautiful land that is home to more than 10 million people today. The Dominican Republic covers the eastern two-thirds of the island of Hispaniola, which is located about 575 miles (925 kilometers) southeast of Florida. It is one of the Caribbean's most geographically diverse countries, containing the region's highest mountain peak, largest lake, and lowest elevation. Export crops like sugar and coffee are grown in fertile valleys. The beautiful scenery, including white-sand beaches and cascading waterfalls, attracts more than 4 million foreign visitors each year, making it the Caribbean's most popular tourist destination. There's a lot to discover about the Dominican Republic! Each title in this series contains color photos, maps, a chronology of events related to the country, recipes, list of festivals, ideas for projects and reports, and back matter including: an index, further reading lists for books and internet resources, and a series glossary. Mason Crests editorial team has placed Key Icons to Look for throughout the books in this series in an effort to encourage library readers to build knowledge, gain awareness, explore possibilities and expand their viewpoints through our content rich non-fiction books. Key Icons are as follows: Words to Understand are shown at the front of each chapter with definitions. These words are then used in the prose throughout that chapter, and are emboldened, so that the reader is able to reference back

Contributor Bio:  Temple, Bob Bob Temple lives in Rosemount, Minnesota, with his wife and three children. He has written more than thirty books for children. Over the years, he has coached more than twenty kids' soccer, basketball, and baseball teams. He also loves visiting classrooms to talk about his writing.