Dominican Republic mapcard

The Dominican Republic, Spanish: República Dominicana [reˈpuβlika ðominiˈkana]) is a nation on the island of Hispaniola, part of the Greater Antilles archipelago in the Caribbean region. The western three-eighths of the island is occupied by the nation of Haiti, making Hispaniola one of two Caribbean islands, along with Saint Martin, that are shared by two countries. Both by area and population, the Dominican Republic is the second-largest Caribbean nation (afterCuba), with 48,445 square kilometres (18,705 sq mi) and nearly 10 million people, one million of which live in the capital city,Santo Domingo. Christopher Columbus landed on the island in 1492, which the Taíno people inhabited since the 7th century. It became the site of the first permanent European settlement in the Americas; namely Santo Domingo, the oldest continuously inhabited city and the first seat of the Spanish colonial rule in the New World. After three centuries of Spanish rule, with French and Haitian interludes, the country became independent in 1821.