Take a useful break with a gap Sport break learn Spansih in the Dominican republic!
Let me tell you about the Dominican Republic
To give you an idea of its size, The Dominican Republic is larger than the Bahamas, Jamaica, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands put together with approximately 1,000 miles of gorgeous beaches. If you don’t want to lay around the beach all day, on the island are no less than four different mountain ranges. We already told you about Pico Duarte which stands 10,700 above sea level.
Our capital city is Santo Domingo, lying on the opposite side of the Island to where you will be based. There are modern coaches that travel to the Capital daily – the journey is around 5 hours. Our population stands around 8 million, and almost half of the population is in the Capital; which leaves a huge country sparsely populated.
Closer to us (1.5 hours) is Santiago, the second largest city. Santiago is the hub of the tobacco and cigar industry.
You can expect year-round hot weather and lovely sea breezes. Average temperature is around 80 degrees Fahrenheit (25 degrees Celsius). Cooler in November to January, the temperature and climate is constant, May/June and September to November do experience higher levels of rainfall than the other months, but these are normally heavy tropical downpours which are short lived. When the sun reappears, temperatures immediately soar.
Up in the mountains, it can get pretty chilly in the Winter evenings; quite refreshing.
Dominican History
First discovered by the Spanish in 1492 under Christopher Columbus, he gave the Island the name Hispaniola. At the time of Spanish arrival, the inhabitants were Arauaco Indians, also known as Taino indians. Taino Indians still live here, but are now the minority of the population.
Santo Domingo was built quickly, finished more or less by 1498! Gaining importance as the representative seat of the Spanish royal court, it had power and influence in the New World. Santo Domingo was the first city in the Americas to be a regional government, have a Catholic cathedral, a University and a Hospital. In recent years, the Dominican Government realized the importance of their history and culture and have completely restored some of these buildings in the ‘Zona Colonial’. Visiting places like the Castle of Colon or Alcazar de Colon will really take you back in time.
The Spanish remained in control of the island for 200 years, when in 1697, the island was divided with the part that we now call Haiti given to France under the Ryswick treaty. Then in1797, the entire island was given to the French in the treaty of Basle.
Not long after, in 1804, Toussaint Louverture, a former slave, began a revolution which gained independence for Haiti. After the revolution, France still kept control of the present day Dominican Republic and kept its hold until 1808, when Juan Sanchez Ramirez won the battle of Palo Hincado and Spain regained control in the year 1809.
This did not last long however and a revolt lead by Jose Nunez de Caceres, finally gained independence from Spain. Unfortunately though, Haiti prevented true independence for another 20 years.
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Conflicts continued however – Haiti continued to threaten the borders and many people within the Dominican Republic thought the country would be better served under Spanish control.
In 1905, the Americans intervened and 1916, sent troops into the country to take control – they remained until 1924. A short time later, the country fell under the control of Rafael L. Trujillo in 1930 and he ruled with an iron fist until he was shot dead in Santo Domingo (with alleged CIA involvement) in 1961. While Trujillo's government was a dictatorship, it had been the first stable government for 30 years.
In 1962, Juan Bosch was democratically elected as the leader of the country, but a civil revolt a short time later brought another intervention by the US military. The country has enjoyed a democratic government since 1966, with nine elections held since that time and remains heavily influenced by the United States with a stable government and currency.
More recently
The Dominican Republic now benefits from a great deal of foreign investment, both in terms of industry and manufacturing from foreign companies, and most recently, a huge investment in tourism with multi-million dollar homes and beautiful marinas being constructed in several areas. Property prices have risen drastically in the last 5 years, but how about this? Much of the country is protected as National Parkland and outside of the major cities, no house or apartment building can be higher than the tallest palm trees!! This has helped to protect the natural beauty and coastline of the country.
