Since then, it has survived everything from pirate attacks to earthquakes. The Dominican flag is the only flag in the world that has an image of a Bible in its coat of arms. Founded in , Santo Domingo is the oldest European settlement in the Americas.
Interesting Facts. Thousands of Dominican boys believe that baseball , the national pastime and great source of pride, is their only path out of poverty. They hope to play in the big leagues in the US. Dominican are proud of their patriotic foods.
Merengue is a style of dance developed in the Dominican Republic. It involves quick dance steps to match the fast-paced music. Dominicans make bananas taste great. They prepare tostones which are small fried plantain patties often eaten as a side dish during meals. The country was called Santo Domingo after Saint Dominic, the patron saint of astronomers.
The Columbus Lighthouse in Santo Domingo is a massive monument to the explorer. Boyer rules French-speaking Haiti, and governs Spanish-speaking Santo Domingo as a conquered province, until he is overthrown in a revolution in The upheaval of that year also gives Santo Domingo the chance to throw off the yoke of Haiti.
The eastern half of the island proclaims its independence, as the Dominican Republic, in Hispaniola , the oldest European colony in the western hemisphere, becomes also the first region to be free. From the start some people in the Dominican Republic maintain that independence is a foolhardy step, largely because they fear invasion by their larger neighbour, Haiti.
From to the nation even returns voluntarily to the status of a Spanish colony. At other times there is talk of seeking annexation by the USA. In the early 20th century there is a danger of European nations intervening forcibly to recover their debts, and for a while US rule is forced on the republic. In a combination of economic chaos and incipient civil war persuades Woodrow Wilson to send in the marines they are already next door in Haiti. American military government lasts for eight years, until A more local solution to the permanent threat of political chaos is dictatorship, under which some degree of economic progress is made at the high price of oppression, torture and corruption.
Luis Abinader, a US-educated scion of a political dynasty, was elected president in on a platform of leading the country out of the economic crisis caused by the Covid pandemic. Of Lebanese extraction, he has business interests in the important tourism sector, and has made its revival his priority. He stood unsuccessfully for the presidency in , and his win ended 16 years of rule by the centre-left Dominican Liberation Party. President Abinader has signalled a toughening of relations with neighbouring Haiti by announcing the constructions of a border fence to curb drug smuggling and migration.
Media ownership is concentrated in a few influential hands. There are scores of terrestrial TV channels and hundreds of radio stations, most of them commercial. Journalists reporting on drug crime and corruption are exposed to possible threats. Some key dates in the history of the Dominican Republic:.
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