People who are associated with the Dominican Republic
This article is about the Hispanic ethnic group native to the Dominican Republic. For the inhabitants of Dominica, see Demographics of Dominica. For a member of the Catholic Dominican Order, see Dominican Order. For other uses, see Dominican.
Dominicans (Spanish: Dominicanos) also known as Quisqueyans (Spanish: Quisqueyanos) are an ethno-national people, a people of shared ancestry and culture, who have ancestral roots in the Dominican Republic.[18][19]
The Dominican ethnic group was born out of a fusion of European (mainly Spanish), native Taino, and African elements, this is a fusion that goes as far back as the 1500s.[18][20] Due to this fusion, all Dominicans are of mixed-race heritage,[21][22] tracing roots mainly to these three sources, the vast majority being evenly mixed,[23] and smaller numbers being predominantly European or African.[24] The demonym Dominican is derived from Santo Domingo (Spanish equivalent Saint Dominic) and directly inherited from the name of the Captaincy General of Santo Domingo, which was synonymous with the island of Hispaniola as a whole and centered in the city of Santo Domingo, the capital of modern Dominican Republic.[25][26] Recent immigrants and their children, who are legal citizens of the Dominican Republic, can be considered "Dominican" by nationality but not ethnicity due to not having ancestral roots in the country.
The majority of Dominicans reside in the Dominican Republic, while there is also a large Dominican diaspora, mainly in the United States and Spain. The total population of the Dominican Republic in 2016 was estimated by the National Bureau of Statistics of the Dominican Republic at 10.2 million, with 9.3 million of those being natives of the country, and the rest being of foreign origin.[28]
Name
Historically the Dominican Republic was known as Santo Domingo, the name of its present capital and its patron saint, Saint Dominic. Hence the residents were called "Dominicanos" (Dominicans). The revolutionaries named their newly independent country "La República Dominicana". It was often referred to as the "Republic of San Domingo" in English language 19th century publications.[29]
Prior to European colonization, the inhabitants of the island were the Arawakan-speakingTaíno, a seafaring people who moved into Hispaniola from the north-east region of South America, displacing earlier inhabitants,[30] c. AD 650. The native Tainos divided the island into several chiefdoms and engaged in farming, fishing,[31] as well as hunting, and gathering.[30]
The Spaniards arrived in 1492. Columbus and his crew were the first recorded Europeans to encounter the Taíno people. Columbus described the native Taínos as a physically tall and well-proportioned people, with a noble character. After initially amicable relationships, the Taínos fought against the conquest, led by the female Chief Anacaona of Xaragua and her ex-husband Chief Caonabo of Maguana, as well as Chiefs Guacanagaríx, Guamá, Hatuey, and Enriquillo. The latter's successes gained his people an autonomous enclave for a time on the island. Within a few years after the 1492 arrival, the population of Taínos had declined drastically, due to smallpox, measles, and other diseases that arrived with the Europeans. Census records from 1514 reveal that at least 40% of Spanish men in Santo Domingo were married to Taino women,[32] and many present-day Dominicans have significant Taíno ancestry.[33][34]
European colonization
Christopher Columbus arrived on the island in December 5, 1492, during the first of his four voyages to the Americas. He claimed the land for Spain and named it La Española due to its diverse climate and terrain which reminded him of the Spanish landscape. In 1496, Bartholomew Columbus, Christopher's brother, built the city of Santo Domingo, Western Europe's first permanent colonization in the "New World." The colony thus became the springboard for the further Spanish conquest of America and for decades the headquarters of Spanish colonial power in the hemisphere.[35]
In 1501, the colony began to import African slaves. In 1697, after decades of armed struggles with the French, Spain ceded the western coast of the island to France with the Treaty of Ryswick, whilst the Central Plateau remained under Spanish domain.[36]
By the middle of the 18th century, the population was bolstered by European emigration from the Canary Islands, resettling the northern part of the colony and planting tobacco in the Cibao Valley, and importation of slaves was renewed. After 1700, with the arrival of new Spanish colonists, the African holocaust resumed. However, as industry moved from sugar to cattle ranching, racial and caste divisions became less important, eventually leading to a blend of cultures—Spanish, African, and indigenous—which would form the basis of national identity for Dominicans.[37] It is estimated that the population of the colony in 1777 was 400,000, of which 100,000 were European, 70,000 African, 100,000 European/indigenous mestizo, 60,000 African/indigenous mestizo, and 70,000 African/European.[38]
Dominican privateers in the service of the Spanish Crown captured British, Dutch, French and Danish ships in the Caribbean Sea throughout the 18th century.[39]
Santo Domingo attained independence as the Dominican Republic in 1844 from the Haitian government. In 1861, the Dominicans voluntarily returned to the Spanish Empire, but two years later they launched a war that restored independence in 1865.[40] A legacy of unsettled, mostly non-representative rule followed, capped by the dictatorship of Rafael Trujillo from 1930 to 1961. Trujillo's regime carried out killings of thousands of Haitians and committed crimes in the United States, Cuba, Puerto Rico, Venezuela, Guatemala, Costa Rica, and Mexico.[41] Raids on the national treasury enabled Trujillo to amass a net worth of 800 million dollars (5.3 billion dollars today).[42] It has been estimated that Trujillo's tyrannical rule was responsible for the death of more than 50,000 Dominicans. The Dominican Civil War of 1965 was ended by a United States-led intervention, and was followed by the authoritarian rule of Joaquín Balaguer, the leader from 1966 to 1978. Since that time, the Dominican Republic has moved steadily toward representative democracy.
Genetics and ethnicities
Timeline of the Dominican Republic's genetic make-up since 500 years ago showing the impact of migrations. The founder Dominican population was mostly European in origin with some Native Taíno element, but was modified by subsequent African inflows.
European DNA
Native American DNA
Sub-Saharan African DNA
According to recent genealogical DNA studies of the Dominican population, the genetic makeup is predominantly European and Sub-Saharan African, with a lesser degree of Native American ancestry. The average DNA admixture of the founder Dominican population was 73% European, 10% Native, and 17% African, but due to the migration from Haiti and other Afro-Caribbean countries, the current overall admixture is 50%-60% European, 8%-12% Native and 30%-40% African.[18][43][44][45]
A previous survey published in 2021, shows similar results with 74% of Dominicans self-identified as mixed (Indio[b] 45%, mulatto/moreno 25%, mestizo/jabao 2%), 18% as white, 8% black, and 0.5% as "other".[48] Previously, in the 1996 electoral roll, 82.5% of the adult population were Indio, 7.55% white, 4.13% black, and 2.3% mulatto.[49] Other estimates puts the Dominican population at 60% mixed, 35% black, and 5% white.[50]
In recent times, Dominican and Puerto Rican researchers identified in the current Dominican population the presence of genes belonging to the aborigines of the Canary Islands (commonly called Guanches).[56] These types of genes have also been detected in Puerto Rico.[57]
Genetic ancestry of Dominican population
Study
Year
Caucasoid
SSA
Amerindian
Genome-wide patterns of population structure and admixture among Hispanic/Latino populations[58]
2010
51%
42%
7%
Reconstructing the Population Genetic History of the Caribbean[43]
2013
57%
35%
8%
Unravelling the hidden ancestry of American admixed populations[18]
2015
52%
40%
8%
A continuum of admixture in the Western Hemisphere revealed by the African Diaspora genome[59]
2016
52%
38%
9%
Admixture in the Americas: Regional and National Differences[45]
2016
47%
42%
12%
Y Haplogroup Diversity of the DR: Reconstructing the Effect of the European Colonization and the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trades [60]
2020
59%
38%
3%
Admixture mapping of peripheral artery disease in a Dominican population reveals a putative risk locus on 2q35[61]
2023
56%
37%
6%
In Dominican Republic
Dominican Republic employs the jus sanguinisnationality law principle, unlike majority of other countries in the Americas. Therefore, citizenship is inherited through at least one parent or legal guardian who is a Dominican citizens or alternatively by invoking and proving one's ancestral link to the country.[62][63] This means that being a Dominican citizen and being an ethnic Dominican is not always interchangeable, as the former implies citizenship that one can receive moving from any country in the world to Dominican Republic, while the latter implies a people tied by ancestry and culture. Ethnic Dominicans are people who are not only born in Dominican Republic (and have legal status) or born abroad with ancestral roots in the country, but more importantly have family roots in the country going back several generations and descend from a mix of varying degrees of Spanish, Taino, and African, the three principal foundational roots of Dominican Republic.[21][64] Nearly all Dominicans are mixed race, with 75% being "visibly" and "evenly" mixed, and the remaining 25% being predominantly of African or European blood but still with notable admixture.[24] According to a 2017 estimate from the Dominican government, Dominican Republic had a population of 10,189,895, of which 847,979 were immigrants or descendants of recent immigrants and 9,341,916 were ethnic Dominicans.[1]
Immigration in the 20th and 21st centuries
In the twentieth century, many Chinese, Arabs (primarily from Lebanon and Syria), Japanese and to a lesser degree Koreans settled in the country, working as agricultural laborers and merchants. Waves of Chinese immigrants, the latter ones fleeing the Chinese CommunistPeople's Liberation Army (PLA), arrived and worked in mines and building railroads. The current Chinese Dominican population totals 50,000 (2010 year).[65] The Arab community is also rising at an increasing rate.
Population of foreign origin (excluding Haitians) in the Dominican Republic, by regions.
In the second half of 2017, a second survey of foreign population was conducted in the Dominican Republic. The total population in the Dominican Republic was estimated at 10,189,895, of which 9,341,916 were Dominicans with no foreign background. According to the survey, the majority of the people with foreign background were of Haitian origin (751,080 out of 847,979, or 88.6%), breaking down as follows: 497,825 were Haitians born in Haiti, 171,859 Haitians born in the Dominican Republic and 81,590 Dominicans with a Haitian parent. Other main sources of foreign-born population were Venezuela (25,872), the United States (10,016), Spain (7,592), Italy (3,713), China (3,069), Colombia (2,642), Puerto Rico (2,356), and Cuba (2,024).[28]
The first recorded person of Dominican descent to migrate to what is now known as the United States was sailor-turned-merchant Juan Rodriguez. He arrived on Manhattan in 1613 from his home in Santo Domingo, which makes him the first non-Native American person to spend substantial time in the island. He also became the first Dominican, the first Latino, first Caribbean and the first person with European (specifically Portuguese) and African ancestry to settle in what is present day New York City.[75]
Dominican emigration to the United States continued throughout the centuries. Recent research from the CUNY Dominican Studies Institute has documented some 5,000 Dominican emigrants who were processed through Ellis Island between 1892 and 1924.[76]
During the second half of the twentieth century, there were three significant waves of immigration to the United States. The first period began in 1961, when a coalition of high-ranking Dominicans, with assistance from the CIA, assassinated General Rafael Trujillo, the nation's military dictator.[77] In the wake of his death, fear of retaliation by Trujillo's allies, and political uncertainty in general, spurred migration from the island. In 1965, the United States began a military occupation of the Dominican Republic and eased travel restrictions, making it easier for Dominicans to obtain American visas.[78] From 1966 to 1978, the exodus continued, fueled by high unemployment and political repression. Communities established by the first wave of immigrants to the U.S. created a network that assisted subsequent arrivals. In the early 1980s, unemployment, inflation, and the rise in the value of the dollar all contributed to the third and largest wave of emigration from the island nation, this time mostly from the lower-class. Today, emigration from the Dominican Republic remains high, facilitated by the social networks of now-established Dominican communities in the United States.[79]
Besides the United States, significant numbers of Dominicans have also settled in Spain and in the nearby U.S. territory of Puerto Rico.
Dominicans in New York Dominican Day Parade.Dominicans in Spain dance in culture parade of Valencia.
The culture of the Dominican Republic, like its Caribbean neighbors, is a blend of the cultures of the European settlers, African slaves and settlers, and Taíno natives. Spanish is the official language. Other languages, such as English, French, German, Italian, and Chinese are also spoken to varying degrees. European, African, and Taíno cultural elements are most prominent in food, family structure, religion, and music. Many Arawak/Taíno names and words are used in daily conversation and for many foods native to the Dominican Republic.[81]
National symbols
Dominican flag.
Some of the Dominican Republic's important symbols are the flag, the coat of arms, and the national anthem, titled Himno Nacional. The flag has a large white cross that divides it into four quarters. Two quarters are red and two are blue. Red represents the blood shed by the liberators. Blue expresses God's protection over the nation. The white cross symbolizes the struggle of the liberators to bequeath future generations a free nation. An alternative interpretation is that blue represents the ideals of progress and liberty, whereas white symbolizes peace and unity among Dominicans.[82]
Dominicans in Santiago de los Caballeros.
In the center of the cross is the Dominican coat of arms, in the same colors as the national flag. The coat of arms pictures a red, white, and blue flag-draped shield with a Bible, a gold cross, and arrows; the shield is surrounded by an olive branch (on the left) and a palm branch (on the right). The Bible traditionally represents the truth and the light. The gold cross symbolizes the redemption from slavery, and the arrows symbolize the noble soldiers and their proud military. A blue ribbon above the shield reads, "Dios, Patria, Libertad" (meaning "God, Fatherland, Liberty"). A red ribbon under the shield reads, "República Dominicana" (meaning "Dominican Republic"). Out of all the flags in the world, the depiction of a Bible is unique to the Dominican flag.
Spanish is the predominant language in the Dominican Republic; the local dialect is called Dominican Spanish, it closely resembles Canarian Spanish, Andalusian Spanish, and has influences from Arawak languages.[85] Schools are based on a Spanish educational model, with English and French being taught as secondary languages in both private and public schools. Haitian Creole is spoken by the population of Haitian descent.[86] There is a community of about 8,000 speakers of Samaná English in the Samaná Peninsula. They are the descendants of formerly-enslaved African Americans who arrived in the 19th century. Tourism, American pop culture, the influence of Dominican Americans, and the country's economic ties with the United States motivate other Dominicans to learn English.
Roman Catholicism was introduced by Columbus and Spanish missionaries. Religion was not really the foundation of their entire society, as it was in other parts of the world at the time, and most of the population did not attend church on a regular basis. Nonetheless, most of the education in the country was based upon the Catholic religion, as the Bible was required in the curricula of all public schools. Children would use religious-based dialogue when greeting a relative or parent. For example, a child would say "Bless me, mother", and the mother would reply "May God bless you". The nation has two patroness saints: Nuestra Señora de la Altagracia (Our Lady Of High Grace) is the patroness of the Dominican people, and Nuestra Señora de las Mercedes (Our Lady Of Mercy) is the patroness of the Dominican Republic. The Catholic Church began to lose popularity in the late nineteenth century. This was due to a lack of funding, of priests, and of support programs. During the same time, the Protestant evangelical movement began to gain support. Religious tension between Catholics and Protestants in the country has been rare.
There have always been religious freedom throughout the entire country. Not until the 1950s were restrictions placed upon churches by Trujillo. Letters of protest were sent against the mass arrests of government adversaries. Trujillo began a campaign against the church and planned to arrest priests and bishops who preached against the government. This campaign ended before it was even put into place, with his assassination.
Judaism appeared in the Dominican Republic in the late 1930s. During World War II, a group of Jews escaping Nazi Germany fled to the Dominican Republic and founded the city of Sosúa. It has remained the center of the Jewish population since.[90]
Dominican cuisine is predominantly made up of a combination of Spanish, Native American, and African influences over the last few centuries. The typical cuisine is quite similar to what can be found in other Latin American countries, but many of the names of dishes are different. One breakfast dish consists of eggs and mangú (mashed, boiled plantain). For heartier versions, these are accompanied by deep-fried meat (typically Dominican salami) and/or cheese. Similarly to Spain, lunch is generally the largest and most important meal of the day. Lunch usually consists of rice, some type of meat (chicken, beef, pork, or fish), beans, plantains, and a side portion of salad. "La Bandera" (literally, The Flag), the most popular lunch dish, consists of meat and red beans on white rice. There is a famous soup "Sancocho" a typical national soup made with seven kinds of variety of meats.[91]
Dominican cuisine usually accommodates all the food groups, incorporating meat or seafood; rice, potatoes, or plantains; and is accompanied by some other type of vegetable or salad. However, meals usually heavily favor starches and meats over dairy products and vegetables. Many dishes are made with sofrito, which is a mix of local herbs and spices sautéed to bring out all of the dish's flavors. Throughout the south-central coast, bulgur, or whole wheat, is a main ingredient in quipes or tipili (bulgur salad). Other favorite Dominican dishes include chicharrón, yuca, casabe, and pastelitos (empanadas), batata, pasteles en hoja, (ground-roots pockets)[92]chimichurris, plátanos maduros (ripe plantain), and tostones.
Some treats Dominicans enjoy are arroz con dulce (or arroz con leche), bizcocho dominicano (lit. Dominican cake), habichuelas con dulce (sweet creamed beans), flan, frío frío (snow cones), dulce de leche, and caña (sugarcane).[93]
The beverages Dominicans enjoy include Morir Soñando, rum, beer, Mama Juana, batida (smoothie), jugos naturales (freshly squeezed fruit juices), mabí, and coffee.[94]
Musically, the Dominican Republic is known for the creation of the musical style called merengue,[95] a type of lively, fast-paced rhythm and dance music consisting of a tempo of about 120 to 160 beats per minute (it varies wildly) based on musical elements like drums, brass, and chorded instruments, as well as some elements unique to the music style of the DR. It includes the use of the tambora (Dominican drum), accordion, and güira. Its syncopated beats use Latin percussion, brass instruments, bass, and piano or keyboard. Between 1937 and 1950 the merengue music was promoted internationally, by some Dominicans groups like, Billo's Caracas Boys, Chapuseaux and Damiron Los Reyes del Merengue, Joseito Mateo and others. Later on it was more popularized via television, radio and international media, well-known merengue singers include singer/songwriter Juan Luis Guerra, Fernando Villalona, Eddy Herrera, Sergio Vargas, Toño Rosario, Johnny Ventura, and Milly Quezada and Chichí Peralta. Merengue became popular in the United States, mostly on the East Coast, during the 1980s and 90s,[96] when many Dominican artists, among them Victor Roque y La Gran Manzana, Henry Hierro, Zacarias Ferraira, Aventura, Milly, and Jocelyn Y Los Vecinos, residing in the U.S. (particularly New York City) started performing in the Latin club scene and gained radio airplay. The emergence of bachata, c along with an increase in the number of Dominicans living among other Latino groups in New York, New Jersey, and Florida have contributed to Dominican music's overall growth in popularity.[97]
Dominican musician Juan Luis Guerra
Bachata, a form of music and dance that originated in the countryside and rural marginal neighborhoods of the Dominican Republic, has become quite popular in recent years. Its subjects are often romantic; especially prevalent are tales of heartbreak and sadness. In fact, the original name for the genre was amargue ("bitterness", or "bitter music", or blues music), until the rather ambiguous (and mood-neutral) term bachata became popular. Bachata grew out of and is still closely related to, the pan-Latin American romantic style called bolero. Over time, it has been influenced by merengue and by a variety of Latin American guitar styles.
Salsa music has had a great deal of popularity in the country. During the late 1960s Dominican musicians like Johnny Pacheco, creator of the Fania All Stars played a significant role in the development and popularization of the genre.[98]
Lluvia en el mercado (English: Rain in the Market), 1942 (Museo de Arte Moderno, Santo Domingo).
Historically, the painting of this time were centered around images connected to national independence, historical scenes, portraits but also landscapes and images of still life. Styles of painting ranged between neoclassicism and romanticism. Between 1920 and 1940 the art scene was influenced by styles of realism and impressionism. Dominican artists were focused on breaking from previous, academic styles in order to develop more independent and individual styles. The artists of the times were Celeste Woss y Gil (1890–1985), Jaime Colson (1901–1975), Yoryi O. Morel (1906–1979) and Darío Suro (1917–1997).
El Puerto sobre el Río Ozama. Alejandro Bonilla 1868
El amor que llega. Abelardo Rodriguez Urdaneta without date
Abelardo Rodríguez Urdaneta. Urdaneta. Mujer de espalda. date unknown
Abelardo Rodríguez Urdaneta. Marina. date unknown.
El Moro. Arturo Grullón. 1900
Arturo Grullon – Still life with bird, 1898
Arturo Grullon – Water from the fountain
Grullon Retrato de Monsieur
Grullón, Paisaje Urbano
Canastera. Leopoldo Navarro 1900
The Spinners Navarro
Between 1950 and 1970 Dominican art expressed the social and political conditions of the time. A need for a renewal of the image language emerged and, as a result, paintings were created in non-figurative, abstract, geometric and cubistic styles. The most notable artists included Paul Giudicelli (1921–1965), Clara Ledesma (1924–1999), Gilberto Hernandez Ortega (1924–1979), Gaspar Mario Cruz (1925–2006), Luichy M. Richiez (1928–2000), Eligio Pichardo (1929–1984), Domingo Liz (b. 1931), Silvano Lora (1934–2003), Cándido Bidó (1936–2011) and José Ramírez Conde (1940–1987).
Fashion
In only seven years, the Dominican Republic's fashion week has become the most important event of its kind in all of the Caribbean and one of the fastest-growing fashion events in the entire Latin American fashion world. The country boasts one of the ten most important design schools in the region, La Escuela de Diseño de Altos de Chavón, which is making the country a key player in the world of fashion and design.
World-famous fashion designer Oscar de la Renta was born in the Dominican Republic in 1932 and became a US citizen in 1971. He studied under the leading Spaniard designer Cristóbal Balenciaga and then worked with the house of Lanvin in Paris. Then by 1963, de la Renta had designs carrying his own label. After establishing himself in the US, de la Renta opened boutiques across the country. His work blends French and Spaniard fashion with American styles.[99][100] Although he settled in New York, de la Renta also marketed his work in Latin America, where it became very popular, and remained active in his native Dominican Republic, where his charitable activities and personal achievements earned him the Juan Pablo Duarte Order of Merit and the Order of Cristóbal Colón.[100]
Baseball is by far the most popular sport in the Dominican Republic.[101] After the United States, the Dominican Republic has the second-highest number of Major League Baseball (MLB) players. Some of these players have been regarded among the best in the game. Historically, the Dominican Republic has been linked to MLB since Ozzie Virgil Sr. became the first Dominican to play in the league. Juan Marichal is the first Dominican-born player in the Baseball Hall of Fame.[102]
Dominican ambassador Jonny de Jesús Martínez showcasing baseball culture.
Non-working holidays are not moved to another day.
If a movable holiday falls on Saturday, Sunday or Monday then it is not moved to another day. If it falls on Tuesday or Wednesday, the holiday is moved to the previous Monday. If it falls on Thursday or Friday, the holiday is moved to the next Monday.
The Mulatto Republic: Class, Race, and Dominican National Identity. April J. Mayes. Gainesville: University Press of Florida, 2014. ISBN978-0-8130-4919-9
Notes
↑ The term "indio" in the Dominican Republic is not associated with people of indigenous ancestry but people of mixed ancestry or skin color between light and dark
↑ The term "indio" in the Dominican Republic is not associated with people of indigenous ancestry but people of mixed ancestry or skin color between light and dark
Related Research Articles
The Dominican Republic is a North American country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles of the Caribbean Sea in the North Atlantic Ocean. It shares a maritime border with Puerto Rico to the east and a land border with Haiti to the west, occupying the eastern five-eighths of Hispaniola which, along with Saint Martin, is one of only two islands in the Caribbean shared by two sovereign states. In the Antilles, the country is the second-largest nation by area after Cuba at 48,671 square kilometers (18,792 sq mi) and second-largest by population after Haiti with approximately 11.4 million people in 2024, of whom 3.6 million reside in the metropolitan area of Santo Domingo, the capital city.
This is a demography of the population of the Dominican Republic including population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations and other aspects of the population.
Hispaniola is an island between Cuba and Puerto Rico in the Greater Antilles of the Caribbean. Hispaniola is the most populous island in the West Indies, and the second-largest by land area, after Cuba. The 76,192-square-kilometre (29,418 sq mi) island is divided into two separate sovereign countries: the Spanish-speaking Dominican Republic (48,445 km2 to the east and the French and Haitian Creole–speaking Haiti (27,750 km2 to the west. The only other divided island in the Caribbean is Saint Martin, which is shared between France and the Netherlands.
Santo Domingo, once known as Santo Domingo de Guzmán, known as Ciudad Trujillo between 1936 and 1961, is the capital and largest city of the Dominican Republic and the largest metropolitan area in the Caribbean by population. As of 2022, the city and immediate surrounding area had a population of 1,029,110 while the total population is 3,798,699 when including Greater Santo Domingo. The city is coterminous with the boundaries of the Distrito Nacional, itself bordered on three sides by Santo Domingo Province.
Mulatto is a racial classification that refers to people of mixed African and European ancestry only. When speaking or writing about a singular woman in English, the word is mulatta. The use of this term began in the United States of America shortly after the Atlantic Slave Trade began and its use was widespread, derogatory and disrespectful. After the post Civil Rights Era, the term is now considered to be both outdated and offensive in the United States. In other Anglophone countries such as the British Isles, and English and Dutch-speaking West Indian countries, the word mulatto is still used. The use of this word does not have the same negative associations found among English speakers. Among Latinos in both the US and Latin America, the word is used in every day speech and its meaning is a source of racial and ethnic pride. In four of the Latin-based languages, the default, masculine word ends with the letter "o" and is written as follows: Spanish and Portuguese – mulato; Italian – mulatto. The French equivalent is mulâtre. In English, the masculine plural is written as mulattoes while in Spanish and Portuguese it is mulatos. The masculine plural in Italian is mulatti and in French it is mulâtres. The feminine plurals are: English – mulattas; Spanish and Portuguese – mulatas; Italian – mulatte; French – mulâtresses.
The culture of the Dominican Republic is a diverse mixture of different influences from around the world. The Dominican people and their customs have origins consisting predominantly in a European cultural basis, with native Taíno and African influences.
The Dominican Republic is divided into thirty-one provincias, while the national capital, Santo Domingo, is contained within its own Distrito Nacional.
Samaná is a province of the Dominican Republic in the Samaná Peninsula located in the eastern region. Its capital is Santa Bárbara de Samaná, usually known as Samaná.
The Cibao, usually referred as El Cibao, is a region of the Dominican Republic located in the northern part of the country. As of 2009, the Cibao region has a population of 5,622,378, making it the most populous region in the country.
The Republic of Spanish Haiti, also called the Independent State of Spanish Haiti was the independent state that succeeded the Captaincy General of Santo Domingo after independence was declared on 30 November 1821 by José Núñez de Cáceres. The republic lasted only from 1 December 1821 to 9 February 1822 when it was invaded by the Republic of Haiti.
Afro-Dominicans are Dominicans of predominant or total Sub-Saharan African ancestry. They are a minority in the country representing 7.5% or 642,018 of the population, according to the 2022 census.
San Francisco de Bánica, or simply Bánica, is a town and municipality in the northwest region of Dominican Republic in the Elías Piña province. It is located on the border with Haiti near the Artibonite river. The name Bánica comes from the Taíno name of the region, Banique.
Anti-Haitian sentiment is prejudice or social discrimination against Haitians in the Dominican Republic.
White Dominicans, also known as Caucasian Dominicans, are Dominican people of total or predominantly European ancestry. The 2022 Dominican Republic census reported that 1,611,752 people or 18.7% of those 12 years old and above identify as white, 731,855 males and 879,897 females. An estimate put it at 17.8% of the Dominican Republic's population, according to a 2021 survey by the United Nations Population Fund.
The Haitian minority of the Dominican Republic is the largest ethnic minority in the Dominican Republic since the early 20th century.
Tourism in the Dominican Republic is an important sector of the country's economy. More than 10 million tourists visited the Dominican Republic in 2023, making it the most popular tourist destination in the Caribbean and putting it in the top 5 overall in the Americas. The industry accounts for 11.6% of the nation's GDP and is a particularly important source of revenue in coastal areas of the country. The nation's tropical climate, white sand beaches, diverse mountainous landscape and colonial history attracts visitors from around the world. In 2022, the nation's tourism was named the best-performing nation since the height of the pandemic with over 5% visitors more in comparison to pre-pandemic levels in 2019.
Dominican Republic–Spain relations are the bilateral relations between the Dominican Republic and Spain. Both nations are members of the Association of Academies of the Spanish Language and the Organization of Ibero-American States.
Dominican art comprises all the visual arts and plastic arts made in Dominican Republic. Since ancient times, various groups have inhabited the island of Ayíti/Quisqueya, or Hispaniola ; the history of its art is generally compartmentalized in the same three periods throughout Dominican history: pre-Hispanic or aboriginal Amerindian, Hispanic or colonial, and the national or Dominican period.
Mixed Dominicans or Moreno Dominicans, also referred to as mulatto, mestizo or historically zambo, are Dominicans who are of mixed ancestry, these stand out for having brown skin. Representing 71.72% of the Dominican Republic's population, they are by far the single largest racial grouping of the country.
The web page which contains link to this file: "International Migrant Stock 2020". United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division. Retrieved 2021-11-23.
↑ Breve Encuesta Nacional de Autopercepción Racial y Étnica en la República Dominicana. Santo Domingo: Oficina Nacional de Estadística de la República Dominicana. 2022.
↑ Martínez, Darlenny (2 May 2013). "Estudio: en RD viven 534,632 extranjeros". El Caribe (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 12 December 2013. Retrieved 29 May 2014. Según la Primera Encuesta Nacional de Inmigrantes de la República Dominicana (ENI-2012), (...) Después de Haití, explica la investigación, las 10 naciones de donde proceden más inmigrantes son Estados Unidos, con 13,524; España, con 6,720, y Puerto Rico, con 4,416. Además Italia, con 4,040; China, con 3,643; Francia, con 3,599; Venezuela, con 3,434; Cuba con 3,145 inmigrantes; Colombia con 2,738 y Alemania con 1,792.
↑ Morrison, Thomas K.; Sinkin, Richard (1982). "International Migration in the Dominican Republic: Implications for Development Planning". International Migration Review. 16 (4): 819–36. doi:10.2307/2546161. JSTOR2546161. PMID12265312.
↑ Pérez, Faustino. "El jardín Botánico Nacional"[The National Botanical Garden]. DiarioDigitalRD.com (in Spanish). Archived from the original on October 23, 2008. Retrieved October 20, 2008.
↑ Henríquez Ureña, Pedro (1940). El Español en Santo Domingo (in Spanish). Buenos Aires: Instituto de Filología de la Universidad de Buenos Aires.
↑ Haggerty, Richard (1989). "Dominican Republic - Religion". Dominican Republic: A Country Study. U.S. Library of Congress. Archived from the original on 2006-09-23. Retrieved 2006-05-21.
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