History
and
Demographics

The History and the inhabitance of the land now known as The Dominican Republic can be traced back to 5000 BC. This is when the first Taino Arawak tribes lived in what is now the Dominican Republic. Many different tribes had traveled from South and Central America to get there. 1492 is when Christopher Columbus landed in the Hispaniola and set up a colony. Many of the first settlers were killed, though the natives were soon set to slavery. After Christopher Columbus’s brother Bartholomew founded the land as Santo Domingo. By some 50 years later, the once one million person population was drastically decreased due to overworking, starvation, and diseases. Interest was lost after the discovery of Peru and Mexico, so African slaves were imported to establish sugar plantations. In 1697, the French took the Western side of Hispaniola and named it Saint Domingue. The Spanish regained control through a revolution, leading to independence. Shortly after, Haiti (independence as of 1803) invaded and would take control for the next twenty-two years until official independence was gained (1844). The 19th Century was filled with Haitian revolutions, domestic revolutions, corrupt government loans, more Spanish dominance, etc. The United States then claimed the D.R. in American occupation as of 1916 to protect the Panama Canal and help the chaotic Dominican Economy. Resistance and Population set Rafael Trujillo as dictator. He ruled for the next 31 years until he was finally assassinated by some who worked for him. The U.S. occupied the D.R. again until 1966, and presidents have been freely elected since then. The Dominican Republic is home to people of African and European descent, with Evangelicals as the largest religious group, followed by Roman Catholics. The Cibao Valley and Santo Domingo are densely populated, while border regions are less so. Dominican culture thrives with music, dancing, and baseball, reflecting its rich history and Hispanic heritage.