Because of its picturesque , white - sand beach , mountainous landscape painting and temperate tropic climate , the Dominican Republic is a well - know tourist destination . Its popular resorts and activity make tourism a major manufacture for the area . So , when most citizenry think of the Dominican Republic , they retrieve of the perfect vacation . Fewer people are familiar with the country ’s rich chronicle and local tradition , however .

The Dominican Republic defecate up the easterly end of the Caribbean island of Hispaniola . The country neighbour Haiti , which gain up the westerly close of the island . Today the Dominican Republic is home to nearly 10 million people , the absolute majority of whom are mulatto . Most Dominicans are also Spanish - speak and Roman Catholic .

To understand the traditions of the Dominican people , we ’ll have to take a look back at the nation ’s past times for setting . Its history is one riddled with political and civil tensions . When Columbus come with the Spanish in 1492 , he found an island dwell by a mathematical group of indigenous multitude jazz as theTaínos , an Arawak - verbalise culture . These masses live in villages and were hunter and gatherers as well as having a limited noesis of USDA and farming .

Unfortunately , due to disease brought over by the colonists and harsh workings condition that they were forced into , the Taíno population on the island dwindled from approximately a million to a mere 500 in the affair of a just 50 years [ source : U.S. Department of State ] . It did n’t take long for the Spanish colonist to bring in slaves from Africa to replace the Taíno workers on the plantations .

In the 19th and 20th century , control over what is now the Dominican Republic change work force several times . The Haitians conquered the whole island in 1822 before the Dominicans bring in independency in 1844 . In the 1860s , the Dominicans ceded control back to the Spanish for four years before getting independence again . After a U.S. line of work between 1916 and 1924 , the Dominicans established a democratically elected regime . However , this did not cease the political strife that continued on and off throughout the 20th century .

Despite the country ’s fractured yesteryear , however , some traditions have endure .