Information
Country: Dominican RepublicContinent: North America
Dominican Republic, North America
Overview
The Dominican Republic sits on the eastern two-thirds of Hispaniola in the Caribbean, a lively nation steeped in history, alive with music in its streets, and blessed with beaches that glow gold in the sun.Although it sits on the Caribbean island of Hispaniola, the region is still considered part of North America.Covering about 48,442 square kilometers-roughly the size of a small U. S. state-the Dominican Republic ranks as the Caribbean’s second-largest country after Cuba.The country’s landscape is astonishingly varied, from the Cordillera Central-where Pico Duarte rises 3,098 meters above the sea-to the fertile Cibao Valley, a patchwork of rice fields, tobacco rows, and banana groves.More than 1,600 kilometers of coastline mix powdery white beaches with jagged cliffs, while Lake Enriquillo shimmers far below sea level, its salty waters home to flamingos and American crocodiles.The Yaque del Norte River-the longest in the region-feeds farms and powers turbines, its water glinting in the sun.Long before Europeans arrived, the Taíno people flourished along its banks.They built intricate societies led by chiefs, or “caciques,” with sacred rituals and farming methods that kept the land productive, growing crops like cassava, corn, and sweet potatoes.In 1496, Santo Domingo became the first European city in the New World-a bustling port that launched Spain’s conquests across the Americas.By 1697, Spain ceded the island’s western third to France, the land we now call Haiti.Spain held the eastern part of the island, but after the Haitian Revolution in 1822, Haiti took control and ruled until the Dominican Republic broke away in 1844.Decades later, Trujillo gripped the nation for thirty years, pushing modernization while silencing dissent with fear and blood.After his assassination, the country shifted toward democracy, though unrest simmered in the streets.Dominican Spanish blends Taíno and African words with island-born slang you won’t hear anywhere else.In Dominican Spanish, chin means “a little bit,” while jevi is slang for “cool” or “great,” the kind of word you might hear shouted over the thump of merengue spilling from a corner café.Though traditional gender roles still linger, more and more women are earning degrees and building careers, while the island’s rare Hispaniolan solenodon-small, shrew-nosed, and active under the moon-shares its home with coral reefs, sea turtles, and manatees; yet deforestation from old farming and charcoal practices has stripped away habitats, and rising seas and hurricanes threaten coasts, even as free schooling through eighth grade, historic universities like the UASD, and uneven healthcare access shape daily life, all within a culture that prizes joy, celebrates holidays with family and roast pork, and lives for baseball, making the Dominican Republic’s spirit as colorful and varied as the land itself.
