Monday, January 15, 2007The Dominican Republic, (Spanish: Rep¨²blica Dominicana, IPA[re'pu¦Âlika 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, andlies west of Puerto Rico and east of Cuba and Jamaica. A legacy ofunsettled, mostly non-representative rule lasted for much of the 20thcentury; the move towards representative democracy has improvedvastly since the death of military dictator Rafael Le¨®nidas Trujilloin 1961. Dominicans sometimes refer to their country as Quisqueya, aname for Hispaniola used by indigenous Ta¨ªno people meaning "highland", referring to the highest portion of the hisponiola island. TheDominican Republic is not to be confused with Dominica, anotherCaribbean country.The Dominican Republic was the first European settlement in the NewWorld and became the first point of colonisation in the Americas fromexplorers from Europe.The TainosThe earliest inhabitants of the island of Hispaniola, on which theDominican Republic is located, were the Ta¨ªnos. The Ta¨ªnos were aseafaring branch of the South American Arawaks. Ta¨ªno means "thegood" or "noble" in that native language. A system of cacicazgos(chiefdoms) existed. They were called Marien, Maguana, Higuey, Maguaand Xaragua (also written as Jaragua) by the natives. These chiefdomswere then subdivided into subchiefdoms. The cacicazgos were based ona system of tribute, consisting of the food grown by the Ta¨ªno. Amongthe cultural signs that they left were cave paintings around thecountry, which have become touristic and nationalistic symbols of theDominican Republic, and words from their language,including ¡®hurricane¡¯ (hurrakan) and ¡®tobacco¡¯ (tabakko). Thenorthern dialect is more closely influenced by the Ta¨ªno languagethan the southern. Many Dominicans in the region (known as Cibao)pronounce their 'r' as 'i'. "Comer" (Spanish for 'to eat'), ispronounced "comei," by the northerners.Discovery And ColonisationChristopher Columbus explored and claimed Hispaniola for the Spanishcrown during his first voyage to the hemisphere in 1492. On hisreturn the following year, Columbus founded the first Europeansettlement in America at La Isabela. Large numbers of Tainos andother native migrants of island were killed due to diseases likesmallpox and others were enslaved. Hispaniola was to become aspringboard for Spanish conquest of the Caribbean and the Americanmainland. In 1697, Spain recognised French dominion over the westernthird of the island, which in 1804 became independent Haiti after aslave rebellion.IndependenceHaiti controlled the western 2/5 of the island and the remainder ofthe island, by then known as Santo Domingo, sought to gain its ownindependence in 1821, but was conquered and ruled by the Haitians for22 years; it finally attained independence as the Dominican Republicin February 27 of the year 1844. In 1861, the Dominicans voluntarilyreturned to the Spanish Empire, but two years later a war ofindependence was launched, ending with victory in 1865. The UnitedStates ruled Dominican territory with a military government from 1916to 1924. From 1931 to his assassination in 1961 dictator RafaelLeonidas Trujillo ruled the Dominican Republic. During this time, thenation experienced social and economic progress. A continual slowgrowing economy has been seen by the past decades.U.S Military ControlIn 1965, US troops invaded the Dominican Republic to steer theoutcome of a civil war in Operation Powerpack, later to be joined byforces from other countries in an early example of a "coalition ofthe willing". They remained in the country for over a year and leftafter supervising elections, in which they ensured victory by Joaqu¨ªnBalaguer. He retained power for 12 years, which saw moderaterepression presumably to avoid pro Cuba or pro communist to gainpower in the country, in which succeeded, and saw a growing disparitybetween rich and poor, until 1978, There where a small gap andrelieve in democracy, two periods elapsed without direct control orrepresion until Balaguer re-attained power for another two periods of4 years each in 1986, which saw almost complete freedom of speech andexpression. In 1994. Balaguer was pressured out of office in 1994following international outcry over fixed elections but rearrangedellections in 1996 when the Partido Liberal gained elections for thefirsth time.CultureThe Dominican Republic is a Hispanic country, therefore, as with allHispanic countries in the Americas, its culture has many elementswhich originate in Spain, the culture is heavily blended with Africantraditions and few indigenous American cultural elements. The Spanishcultural heritage is most evident in the national language andpredominant religion¡ªRoman Catholicism. African cultural elements aremost prominent in musical expressions and the carnival vibe of life,testimony to the rich African heritage that existed before and afterslavery, but was not allowed to be practiced during it. More recentAntillean and Anglo-American influences also exist. Near the borderbetween Haiti and Dominican Republic, some people practice santaria.Baseball is by far the most popular sport in the Dominican Republicand there are many famous Dominicans who play Major League Baseballin the U.S., including Albert Pujols, Sammy Sosa, Pedro Mart¨ªnez,David Ortiz, Jose Reyes, Rafael Furcal, Vladimir Guerrero, MiguelTejada, and Manny Ramirez. The Dominican Republic also has its ownbaseball league which runs from October to January. Many MLB playersand minor leaguers play in this six-team league during off-season. Assuch, the Dominican winter league serves as an important "trainingground" for the MLB. Eighty-nine percent of Dominicans are baptisedin the Roman Catholic Church. Other substantial religious groups arethe Evangelical Christians and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Around one percent of the nation's inhabitants practicepure spiritism.Every year, tens of thousands of Catholics make the pilgrimage toHiguey to celebrate the Virgin de la Altagracia in late January. Themain historical element in Higuey is the cathedral, home ofthe ¡°virgin de la Altagracia¡± a painting brought by the Spaniards inthe late 15th century.