The Dominican Republic is located on right two-thirds of the Carribean Island of Hispanola. The Dominican Republic shares this Island with the nation of Haiti. The Dominican Republic is surrounded by the waters of the North Atlantic Sea and the Carribean Sea. The Dominican Republic is the home of the first permanent European settlement in the Americas.

The Christmas season in the Dominican Republic begins in October and continues through January. These months involve many parties, firework shows, time spent

with family, and lots of

traditional food.

In the Dominican Republic, some very important Christmas traditions include celebration with fireworks. Firecrackers and sparklers are the most popular variety used.

On Christmas Eve, people get together and have huge celebrations. The next day, Christmas Day, businesses close and families share a huge dinner. Some people also attend ¨La Misa de Gallo¨, which is a midnight mass.

One of the Dominican Republic's most famous Christmas traditions is the ¨Charamicos¨ or hand-crafted wooden trees, stars, reindeers, and other animals primarily painted white. The inspiration behind the ¨Charamico¨ trees came from them being a way to have ¨snow" covered trees in an area of the world were it will never snow. These decorations are iconic during the Christmas season.

The Dominican Republic has a variety of Christmas food such as ¨Pollo Asado o al Horno¨ or roasted chicken, ¨Moros de Guandules¨ or a mixture of rice and gungo peas, ¨Ensalada Rusa¨ or Russian Salad consisting of macedoine of potatoes and carrots, with peas, boiled egg and mayonnaise. They also have a variety of sweets or ¨Dulces¨, ¨Galletitas Dulces y Biscochos¨ or pastries filled with figs, Danish Butter Biscuits, and more.