Amazing Earth

Monday, January 15, 2007

Dominican Republic

History

The Dominican Republic, (Spanish: República Dominicana, IPA [re'puβlika domini'kana]) is a country located on the eastern two-thirds of the Caribbean island of Hispaniola, bordering Haiti. Hispaniola is the second-largest of the Greater Antilles islands, and lies west of Puerto Rico and east of Cuba and Jamaica. A legacy of unsettled, mostly non-representative rule lasted for much of the 20th century; the move towards representative democracy has improved vastly since the death of military dictator Rafael Leónidas Trujillo in 1961. Dominicans sometimes refer to their country as Quisqueya, a name for Hispaniola used by indigenous Taíno people meaning "high land", referring to the highest portion of the hisponiola island. The Dominican Republic is not to be confused with Dominica, another Caribbean country.

The Dominican Republic was the first European settlement in the New World and became the first point of colonisation in the Americas from explorers from Europe.

The Tainos

The earliest inhabitants of the island of Hispaniola, on which the Dominican Republic is located, were the Taínos. The Taínos were a seafaring branch of the South American Arawaks. Taíno means "the good" or "noble" in that native language. A system of cacicazgos (chiefdoms) existed. They were called Marien, Maguana, Higuey, Magua and Xaragua (also written as Jaragua) by the natives. These chiefdoms were then subdivided into subchiefdoms. The cacicazgos were based on a system of tribute, consisting of the food grown by the Taíno. Among the cultural signs that they left were cave paintings around the country, which have become touristic and nationalistic symbols of the Dominican Republic, and words from their language, including ‘hurricane’ (hurrakan) and ‘tobacco’ (tabakko). The northern dialect is more closely influenced by the Taíno language than the southern. Many Dominicans in the region (known as Cibao) pronounce their 'r' as 'i'. "Comer" (Spanish for 'to eat'), is pronounced "comei," by the northerners.

Discovery And Colonisation

Christopher Columbus explored and claimed Hispaniola for the Spanish crown during his first voyage to the hemisphere in 1492. On his return the following year, Columbus founded the first European settlement in America at La Isabela. Large numbers of Tainos and other native migrants of island were killed due to diseases like smallpox and others were enslaved. Hispaniola was to become a springboard for Spanish conquest of the Caribbean and the American mainland. In 1697, Spain recognised French dominion over the western third of the island, which in 1804 became independent Haiti after a slave rebellion.

Independence

Haiti controlled the western 2/5 of the island and the remainder of the island, by then known as Santo Domingo, sought to gain its own independence in 1821, but was conquered and ruled by the Haitians for 22 years; it finally attained independence as the Dominican Republic in February 27 of the year 1844. In 1861, the Dominicans voluntarily returned to the Spanish Empire, but two years later a war of independence was launched, ending with victory in 1865. The United States ruled Dominican territory with a military government from 1916 to 1924. From 1931 to his assassination in 1961 dictator Rafael Leonidas Trujillo ruled the Dominican Republic. During this time, the nation experienced social and economic progress. A continual slow growing economy has been seen by the past decades.

U.S Military Control

In 1965, US troops invaded the Dominican Republic to steer the outcome of a civil war in Operation Powerpack, later to be joined by forces from other countries in an early example of a "coalition of the willing". They remained in the country for over a year and left after supervising elections, in which they ensured victory by Joaquín Balaguer. He retained power for 12 years, which saw moderate repression presumably to avoid pro Cuba or pro communist to gain power in the country, in which succeeded, and saw a growing disparity between rich and poor, until 1978, There where a small gap and relieve in democracy, two periods elapsed without direct control or represion until Balaguer re-attained power for another two periods of 4 years each in 1986, which saw almost complete freedom of speech and expression. In 1994. Balaguer was pressured out of office in 1994 following international outcry over fixed elections but rearranged ellections in 1996 when the Partido Liberal gained elections for the firsth time.

Culture

The Dominican Republic is a Hispanic country, therefore, as with all Hispanic countries in the Americas, its culture has many elements which originate in Spain, the culture is heavily blended with African traditions and few indigenous American cultural elements. The Spanish cultural heritage is most evident in the national language and predominant religion—Roman Catholicism. African cultural elements are most prominent in musical expressions and the carnival vibe of life, testimony to the rich African heritage that existed before and after slavery, but was not allowed to be practiced during it. More recent Antillean and Anglo-American influences also exist. Near the border between Haiti and Dominican Republic, some people practice santaria.

Baseball is by far the most popular sport in the Dominican Republic and there are many famous Dominicans who play Major League Baseball in the U.S., including Albert Pujols, Sammy Sosa, Pedro Martínez, David Ortiz, Jose Reyes, Rafael Furcal, Vladimir Guerrero, Miguel Tejada, and Manny Ramirez. The Dominican Republic also has its own baseball league which runs from October to January. Many MLB players and minor leaguers play in this six-team league during off-season. As such, the Dominican winter league serves as an important "training ground" for the MLB. Eighty-nine percent of Dominicans are baptised in the Roman Catholic Church. Other substantial religious groups are the Evangelical Christians and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Around one percent of the nation's inhabitants practice pure spiritism.

Every year, tens of thousands of Catholics make the pilgrimage to Higuey to celebrate the Virgin de la Altagracia in late January. The main historical element in Higuey is the cathedral, home of the “virgin de la Altagracia” a painting brought by the Spaniards in the late 15th century.

Dominican Republic Pictures

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