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The Independent Travelers portal to an affordable Caribbean Vacation in the Dominican Republic. |
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Vacation In The Dominican
Republic |
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Dominican Republic Hotels
Boca Chica
Hotels Dominican Republic Travel
Island of Hispaniola |
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Island of Hispaniola |
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The
Dominican Republic is located on the eastern side of the Island of
Hispaniola with its neighbor Haiti on the western side of the island
in the Caribbean. Today, there are over 8 million people who
inhabit the island, ethnically mixed from Europe and Africa.
Residents enjoy baseball, music, dancing, family outings on
Sunday (Domingo) and "El Presidente", the local
beer of choice. Christopher Columbus discovered the
Dominican Republic during his first visit to the new world on
December 5th, 1492. During that time the Island of Hispaniola
was called "Quesqueya" and was occupied by the Taino Indians.
The Taino (which means "Good") were a peaceful and hospitable
people. Columbus was very fond of the Island, with its tall
forested mountains and deep river valleys, he referred to the Island
of Hispaniola as a "beautiful island paradise". Columbus was
also very interested in the gold deposits found in the river beds
and soon after in 1493 European settlements established themselves
on the island. The Spaniards enslaved the Taino
Indians to mine gold and imported Africans to tend to the
fields. It only took about 25 years for the Taino Indian
population to disappear. Columbus's brother was appointed
governor of Hispaniola in 1496 and made the capital city in Santo
Domingo. In about twenty years, the gold reserves on the
island nation were depleted and most Spanish settlers left the
island for Mexico's silver. The entire Island of Hispaniola
remained under Spanish Control until 1697 when the western third of
the Island came under French occupation. In 1804 the western
part of the island became the Republic of Haiti. |
The French called their western third of the island "Saint Dominque" and became the richest colony in the world due to the large sugar exports. The slaves who worked the sugar plantations started a revolt in 1791, for fear of losing the colony to the slaves the French abolished slavery in 1794. Soon after, the French were able to seize control of Santo Domingo and the eastern side of the island and remained in power until 1809 when the Spanish resumed power of Santo Domingo and the eastern side of the Island. In 1821 the Haitians invaded Santo Domingo and took over the entire country for 22 years. During this time the Spanish ruling class developed an underground network and resistance group led by Juan Pablo Duarte. After several attacks on the Haitian forces the Haitians retreated in 1844. The next century for the Dominican people was plagued by political unrest, power struggles within the country, dictatorship rule, economic troubles and military conflicts with Haiti. Today, The Dominican Republic is a Island Country on the rise with a stable government in place. The Democratically elected president Leonel Fernandez (2nd term) will remain in office until 2008 and under his leadership the Dominican People have enjoyed steady growth in the Tourism and the Manufacturing Industries. | ||
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