Dominican Republic
From dKosopedia
The Dominican Republic is a island nation in the Caribbean Sea. It shares the island of Hispanola with Haiti.
Contents |
Political Leaders
President: Leonel Fernandez
Major Cities
Population
8,833,634
History
Before modern times the Taino (of the Arawak) were the majority of the population of the island that they called Quisqueya. They had a peaceful agrarian society and an increasingly developing civilization divided into five chiefdoms. They were fighting a defensive war against the Carib indians when Columbus arrived.
- 1492 Columbus landed on the north coast Hispanola
- 1496 Santo Domingo established (first successful European settlement in the Americas)
- ap. 1550 Extinction of the Taino
- 1697 Hispanola divided between Spain and French colony of Haiti
- 1821 Spanish Colony conquered by Haiti
- Feb. 27, 1844 Independence from Haiti declared
- 1916-1924 US Marine Military Occupation (US Marines train Trujillo)
- 1930-1961 Dictatorshiop of Raphael Leonidas Trujillo
- 1963 Left-wing leader Juan Bosch became president
- 1964 Bosch removed from power in a military coup
- 1965 US Marine Military Occupation, to stop Bosch from siezing power
- 1966 Joaqin Balaguer, protege of Trujillo, became president
- Aug 2003 - May 2004 Member of the Coalition of the Willing in the Invasion of Iraq
- 302 troops (0 casualties)
- Served with Honduras under Spanish-led Brigade policing al-Qadisiya and Najaf provinces
Media
Daily English language summaries of news in the Dominican Republic are available at DR1
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