The Dominican Republic is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean region. It occupies the eastern five-eighths of the island, which it shares with Haiti, making Hispaniola one of only two Caribbean islands, along with Saint Martin, that is shared by two sovereign states. The Dominican Republic also borders the Atlantic Ocean to the north. It is the second-largest nation in the Antilles by area at 48,671 square kilometers (18,792 sq mi), and third-largest by population, with approximately 10.7 million people, down from 10.8 million in 2020, of whom approximately 3.3 million live in the metropolitan area of Santo Domingo, the capital city. The official language of the country is Spanish.
The Armed Forces of the Dominican Republic are the military forces of the Dominican Republic. They consist of approximately 56,000 active duty personnel. The president is the commander in chief of the Armed Forces of the Dominican Republic and the Ministry of Defense is the chief managing body of the armed forces. The primary missions of the Armed Forces of the Dominican Republic are to defend the nation and protect the territorial integrity of the country. The Armed Forces of Dominican Republic are the strongest army in the Caribbean after Cuba.
The Spanish Navy or officially, the Armada, is the maritime branch of the Spanish Armed Forces and one of the oldest active naval forces in the world. The Spanish Navy was responsible for a number of major historic achievements in navigation, the most famous being the discovery of America and the first global circumnavigation by Elcano. For several centuries, it played a crucial logistical role in the expansion and consolidation of the Spanish Empire, and defended a vast trade network across the Atlantic Ocean between the Americas and Europe, and the Manila Galleon across the Pacific Ocean between the Philippines and the Americas.
The Argentine Navy is the navy of Argentina. It is one of the three branches of the Armed Forces of the Argentine Republic, together with the Army and the Air Force.
Santo Domingo is a province of the Dominican Republic. It was split from the Distrito Nacional on October 16, 2001.
The Portuguese Navy is the naval branch of the Portuguese Armed Forces which, in cooperation and integrated with the other branches of the Portuguese military, is charged with the military defense of Portugal.
The Dominican War of Independence began when the Dominican Republic declared independence on February 27, 1844 and ended on January 24, 1856. Before the war, the island of Hispaniola had been united for 22 years when the newly independent nation, previously known as the Captaincy General of Santo Domingo, was unified with the Republic of Haiti in 1822. The criollo class within the country overthrew the Spanish crown in 1821 before unifying with Haiti a year later.
The Marine Infantry is the naval infantry branch of the Spanish Navy responsible for conducting amphibious warfare. Fully integrated into the Spanish Navy's structure, the branch's history dates back to 1537 when Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor formed the Compañías Viejas del Mar de Nápoles, making it the oldest marine unit in existence.
The Colombian Navy, officially the Colombian National Navy, also known as the "Armada Nacional" or just the "Armada" in Spanish, is the naval branch of the military forces of Colombia. The Navy is responsible for security and defence in the Colombian zones of both the Atlantic (Caribbean) and Pacific oceans, the extensive network of rivers inside the country, and a few small land areas under its direct jurisdiction.
Captain is the name most often given in English-speaking navies to the rank corresponding to command of the largest ships. The rank is equal to the army rank of colonel and air force rank of group captain.
Air Dominicana was the flag carrier airline for the Dominican Republic. It planned to begin operations in October 2009 using a Boeing 737-400 aircraft with daily services to New York City and Miami. A second Boeing 737 was due to join the fleet later. Its headquarters were on the fourth floor of the Air Europa building in Santo Domingo.
The Dominican National Police is the national police force of the Dominican Republic. It is the largest police force in the Dominican Republic under the control of the Ministry of Interior and Police.
The Battle of Tortuguero was the first naval battle of the Dominican War of Independence and was fought on 15 April 1844 at Tortuguero, Azua Province. A force of three Dominican schooners led by Commander Juan Bautista Cambiaso defeated a force of three vessels of the Haitian Navy. Though it was a minor naval battle engagement, it determined the naval supremacy of the Dominican Republic over Haiti until the end of the war.
The Dominican Civil War, also known as the April Revolution, took place between April 24, 1965, and September 3, 1965, in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. It started when civilian and military supporters of the overthrown democratically-elected president Juan Bosch ousted the militarily-installed president Donald Reid Cabral from office. The second coup prompted General Elías Wessin y Wessin to organize elements of the military loyal to President Reid ("loyalists"), initiating an armed campaign against the "constitutionalist" rebels. Allegations of communist support for the rebels led to a United States intervention in the conflict, which later transformed into an Organization of American States occupation of the country by the Inter-American Peace Force. Americans and rebel Dominicans skirmished several times but fought only one battle, which occurred on June 15–16, 1965, in the rebel-held Ciudad Nueva area of the city, where the 82nd Airborne Division lost 5 KIA, 31 WIA, and 3 DOW, while inflicting casualties of 67 KIA and 165 WIA on the rebels. Elections were held in 1966, in the aftermath of which Joaquín Balaguer was elected into the presidential seat. Later in the same year, foreign troops departed from the country. The conflict resulted in around 6,000 Dominican casualties and 350 U.S. casualties.
The Battles of La Naval de Manila or Battle of Manila Bay were a series of five naval battles fought in the waters of the Spanish East Indies in the year 1646, in which the forces of the Spanish Empire repelled various attempts by forces of the Dutch Republic to invade Manila, during the Eighty Years' War. The Spanish forces, which included many native volunteers, consisted of two, and later, three Manila galleons, a galley and four brigantines. They neutralized a Dutch fleet of nineteen warships, divided into three separate squadrons. Heavy damage was inflicted upon the Dutch squadrons by the Spanish forces, forcing the Dutch to abandon their invasion of the Philippines.
Juan Bautista Cambiaso (BE-01) is a training ship for the Dominican Navy. Launched in 2009, it is a three-masted barquentine with a hull made of steel and a teak-covered deck. It is named after Genoese-born Dominican Admiral Juan Bautista Cambiaso, who founded the Dominican Navy in 1844.
The Spanish Republican Navy was the naval arm of the Armed Forces of the Second Spanish Republic, the legally established government of Spain between 1931 and 1939.
José Gabriel García was a Dominican army officer, historian, politician, journalist and publisher. He is regarded as a cultural pioneer as well as the "Father of Dominican History". He was the author of "Compendium of History of Santo Domingo", published in four volumes in 1867, 1887, 1900 and 1906 respectively, and made numerous contributions in the fields of culture, literature and education.
The United States intends to build 13 small patrol vessels, based on the Damen Stan 2606 patrol vessel design, for small Caribbean nations, to be known as the Defiant class. The US Navy, which will play an oversight role in the ship's construction, also calls the design Near Coastal Patrol Vessels. The $54 million contract was awarded to Metal Shark Boats of Louisiana.
Richard Vásquez Jiménez was the most senior officer in the Dominican Air Force. On 8 January 2020, he was appointed Chief of the Dominican Joint Chiefs of Staff.
