Coor din ates: 1 9 °00′N 7 0°4 0′W Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic (Spanish: República Dominican Republic Dominicana [reˈpuβliˌka ðoˌminiˈkana]) is a sovereign state located in the island of Hispaniola, in the Greater Antilles República Dominicana (Spanish) archipelago of the Caribbean region. It occupies the eastern five-eighths of the island, which it shares with the nation of Haiti,[15][16] making Hispaniola one of two Caribbean islands, along with Saint Martin, that are shared by two countries. The Dominican Republic is the second-largest Flag Coat of arms Caribbean nation by area (after Cuba) at 48,445 square kilometers (18,7 05 sq mi), and third by population with Motto: "Dios, Patria, Libertad" (Spanish) approximately 10 million people, of which approximately "God, Homeland, Freedom" three million live in the metropolitan area of Santo Anthem: ¡Quisqueyanos Valientes! Domingo, the capital city.[17][18] ¡Valiant Quisqueyans! 0:00 MENU Christopher Columbus landed on the island on December 5, 1492, which the native Taíno people had inhabited since the 7 th century. The colony of Santo Domingo became the site of the first permanent European settlement in the Americas, the oldest continuously inhabited city, and the first seat of the Spanish colonial rule in the New World. After more than three hundred years of Spanish rule the Dominican people declared independence in November 1821. The leader of the independence movement José Núñez de Cáceres, intended the Dominican nation to unite with the country of Gran Colombia, but no longer under Spain's custody the newly independent Dominicans were forcefully annexed by Haiti in February 1822. Independence came 22 years later after victory in the Dominican War of Independence in 1844. Over the next 7 2 years the Dominican Republic experienced mostly internal conflicts and a brief return to colonial status (but Spain had not come to take away its independence) before permanently ousting Spanish rule during the Dominican War of Restoration of 1863– 1865.[19][20][21] A United States occupation lasted eight years between 1916 and 1924, and a subsequent calm and prosperous six-year period under Horacio Vásquez was followed by the dictatorship of Rafael Leónidas Trujillo until 1961. A civil war in 1965, the country's last, was ended by U.S. military occupation and was followed by the authoritarian rule of Joaquín Balaguer (1966–197 8 & 1986– Capital Santo Domingo 1996), the rules of Antonio Guzmán (197 2–197 8) & and largest city 19°00′N Salvador Jorge Blanco (1982–1986). Since 1996, the 70°40′W Dominican Republic has moved toward representative Official languages Spanish democracy [3] and has been led by Leonel Fernández for Ethnic groups 72.9% Mulatto[1]a most of the time since 1996. Danilo Medina, the Dominican 16.1% White Republic's current president, succeeded Fernandez in 2012, 10.9% Black winning 51% of the electoral vote over his opponent ex- 0.1% Asian president Hipólito Mejía.[22] Demonym Dominican The Dominican Republic has the ninth-largest economy in Quisqueyan (colloquial)[2] Latin America and is the largest economy in the Caribbean and Central American region.[23][24] Over the last two Government Unitary presidential [3] decades, the Dominican Republic has had one of the fastest- republic growing economies in the Americas – with an average real • President Danilo Medina GDP growth rate of 5.4% between 1992 and 2014.[25] GDP • Vice President Margarita Cedeño de Fernández growth in 2014 and 2015 reached 7 .3 and 7 .0%, Legislature Congress respectively, the highest in the Western Hemisphere.[25] In • Upper house Senate the first half of 2016 the Dominican economy grew 7 .4% [26] • Lower house Chamber of continuing its trend of rapid economic growth. Recent Deputies growth has been driven by construction, manufacturing, Independence tourism, and mining. The country is the site of the second • from Spain December 1, largest gold mine in the world, the Pueblo Viejo mine.[27][28] (ephemeral) 1821[4] Private consumption has been strong, as a result of low • from Haiti (official) February 27, 1844b inflation (under 1% on average in 2015), job creation, as • from Spain August 16, 1863[5] well as a high level of remittances. (restoration) • from the United July 12, 1924[6] The Dominican Republic is the most visited destination in States [7] the Caribbean. The year-round golf courses are major • from the United July 1, 1965 [29] States attractions. A geographically diverse nation, the • Current November 28, 1966 Dominican Republic is home to both the Caribbean's tallest constitution mountain peak, Pico Duarte, and the Caribbean's largest Area [30] lake and point of lowest elevation, Lake Enriquillo. The • Total 48,315 km2 island has an average temperature of 26 °C (7 8.8 °F) and (18,655 sq mi) great climatic and biological diversity.[29] The country is (128th) • Water (%) 0.7[3] also the site of the first cathedral, castle, monastery, and fortress built in the Americas, located in Santo Domingo's Population [8] Colonial Zone, a World Heritage Site.[31][32] Music and sport • 2018 estimate 10,266,149 (86th) [9] are of great importance in the Dominican culture, with • 2010 census 9,478,612 • Density 224/km2 Merengue and Bachata as the national dance and music, and (580.2/sq mi) (65th) baseball as the favorite sport.[4] GDP (PPP) 2018 estimate • Total $186.983 billion[10] • Per capita $18,164[10] Contents GDP (nominal) 2018 estimate Names and etymology • Total $81.653 billion[10] History • Per capita $7,932[10] Pre-European history Gini (2015) [11] European colonization 44.9 medium 18th century French rule HDI (2015) 0.732[12] Independence from Spain (1821) high · 99th Unification of Hispaniola (1822–44) Currency [4] Independence from Haiti (1844) Peso (DOP) Restoration republic Time zone Standard Time 20th century (1900–30) Caribbean Trujillo Age (1930–61) (UTC – 4:00[3]) Post-Trujillo (1962–1996) 1996–present Drives on the right Geography Calling code +1-809, +1-829, Climate +1-849 Government and politics ISO 3166 code DO Political culture Foreign relations Internet TLD .do[3] Military Administrative divisions a. Race was dropped from the census after Economy 1960. Currency b. Haiti did not recognize the Dominican Tourism Republic until 1874.[13][14] Infrastructure Transportation Sources for area, capital, coat of arms, Bus service coordinates, flag, language, motto and Santo Domingo Metro names: [4] Communications For an alternate area figure of 48,730 km2, Electricity calling code 809 and Internet TLD: [3] Society Demographics Ethnic groups Languages Population centres Religion 20th century immigration Haitian immigration Emigration Health Education Crime Culture Visual arts Architecture Cuisine Music and dance Fashion National symbols Sports See also Notes and references Bibliography Further reading External links Names and etymology The "Dominican" word comes from the Latin Dominicus, meaning Sunday. However, the island has this name by Santo Domingo de Guzmán, founder of the Order of the Dominicans. The Dominicans established a house of high studies in the island of Santo Domingo that today is known as the Universidad Autónoma de Santo Domingo and dedicated themselves to the protection of the native taínos of the island, who were subjected to slavery, and to the education of the inhabitants of the island.[33] For most of its history, up until independence, the country was known as Santo Domingo[34]—the name of its present capital and patron saint, Saint Dominic—and continued to be commonly known as such in English until the early 20th century.[35] The residents were called "Dominicans" (Dominicanos), which is the adjective form of "Domingo", and the revolutionaries named their newly independent country "Dominican Republic" (República Dominicana). In the national anthem of the Dominican Republic (himno nacional de la República Dominicana), the term "Dominicans" does not appear. The author of its lyrics, Emilio Prud'Homme, consistently uses the poetic term "Quisqueyans" (Quisqueyanos). The word "Quisqueya" derives from a native tongue of the Taino Indians and means "Mother of the lands" (Madre de las tierras). It is often used in songs as another name for the country. The name of the country is often shortened to "the D.R." (la R.D.)[36] History Pre-European history The Arawakan-speaking Taíno moved into Hispaniola from the north east region of what is now known as South America, displacing earlier inhabitants,[37] c. AD 650. They engaged in farming and fishing[38] and hunting and gathering.[37] The fierce Caribs drove the Taíno to the northeastern Caribbean during much of the 15th century.[39] The estimates of Hispaniola's population in 1492 vary The five caciquedoms of Hispaniola widely, including one hundred thousand,[40] three hundred thousand,[37] and four hundred thousand to two million.[41] Determining precisely how many people lived on the island in pre-Columbian times is next to impossible, as no accurate records exist.[42] By 1492 the island was divided into five Taíno chiefdoms.[43][44] The Taíno name for the entire island was either Ayiti or Quisqueya.[45] The Spaniards arrived in 1492. After initially friendly relationships, the Taínos resisted the conquest, led by the female Chief Anacaona of Xaragua and her ex-husband Chief Caonabo of Maguana, as well as Chiefs Guacanagaríx, Guamá, Hatuey, and Enriquillo. The latter's successes gained his people an autonomous enclave for a time on the island. Within a few years after 1492 the population of Taínos had declined drastically, due to smallpox,[46] measles, and other diseases that arrived with the Europeans,[47] and from other causes discussed below. The first recorded smallpox outbreak in the Americas occurred on Hispaniola in 1507 .[47] The last record of pure Taínos in the country was from 1864.