Today, there are over 10 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.