History UsefulNotes / DominicanRepublic

* Creator/ZoeSaldana is three-quarters Dominican, and grew up in the Republic before her family were forced to emigrate to New York because of a political unrest.

* Music/CardiB (Belcalis Marlenis Almánzar) was born to a Dominican father and a Trinidadian mother in Manhattan, and identifies as an Afro-Latina.

* Creator/RhenzyFeliz, broke through with his role as Alex Wilder in ''Series/{{Runaways|2017}}''.
* Singer Creator/LeslieGrace, starred in the film adaptation of ''Film/InTheHeights''.

* Creator/FrankCapra (''Series/VeronicaMars'', etc.)

The other half (well two-thirds really) of the island of Hispaniola and one of the few countries with ‘Republic’ on its colloquial name.

* Creator/WilsonJermaineHeredia grew up in a Dominican household. He won a Tony Award in 1996 for his role in ''Theatre/{{Rent}}''

* Creator/MerlinSantana, American actor, best for various black sitcoms in Creator/{{CBS}} and Creator/TheWB

* Music/CardiB (1992, Belcalis Marlenis Almánzar) was born to a Dominican father and a Trinidadian mother in Manhattan, and identifies as an Afro-Latina.

* '''Area:''' 48,671 km

If you thought the situation was bad, you can believe things went worse. Rafael Trujillo, generally considered one of the worst tyrants in Latin American history and the inspiration for TheGeneralissimo, assumed power in 1930 after years of plotting against President Vasquez, [[{{Egopolis}} indulging in a cult of personality worthy of Stalin or Saddam Hussein]]. He stole almost all the money from international aid, ordered the killings of all kinds of opponents and the Haitians living on the Dominican side of the frontier (using a TrustPassword to identify them). Trujillo also waged other bizarre, crazy acts, like an assassination attempt on Venezuela's well-respected President Betancourt and the kidnapping and execution of Dominican dissident and US citizen, Jesus Galindez, in UsefulNotes/NewYorkState and in broad daylight. He maintained himself and his loyal puppets in power and ensured the country would be ruled with an iron fist. His detractors started to compare him to a rabid dog until the U.S., initially their supporters, got alienated enough with Trujillo's fascistic rule to order a UsefulNotes/{{CIA}} plot to kill him in 1961. The new president, Juan Bosch, was eventually seen as too left-wing for the US and Dominican conservatives' tastes, and a civil war broke out in 1965, followed by a US invasion against Bosch and a second occupation until 1966.

The Haitian occupation was Initially popular, but by 1844 the Dominicans became disillusioned by Haitian rule and successfully revolted. In a curious turn of events, in 1861 they asked UsefulNotes/{{Spain}} to be taken as a colony ''again''. The move was highly unpopular and resulted in a [[RevolvingDoorRevolution civil war]] which resulted in the Spanish leaving ''again''. A period of chaotic political scene and economic mismanagement followed that war, and ended with an invasion by the UsefulNotes/UnitedStates in 1916. The chaotic American occupation lasted until 1922. The new president, Horacio Vasquez, presided over the only period of stable governance and healthy economic growth in Dominican history until that point.

he Haitian occupation was Initially popular, but by 1844 the Dominicans became disillusioned by Haitian rule and successfully revolted. In a curious turn of events, in 1861 they asked UsefulNotes/{{Spain}} to be taken as a colony ''again''. The move was highly unpopular and resulted in a [[RevolvingDoorRevolution civil war]] which resulted in the Spanish leaving ''again''. A period of chaotic political scene and economic mismanagement followed that war, and ended with an invasion by the UsefulNotes/UnitedStates in 1916. The chaotic American occupation lasted until 1922. The new president, Horacio Vasquez, presided over the only period of stable governance and healthy economic growth in Dominican history until that point.

If you thought the situation was bad, you can believe things went worse. Rafael Trujillo, generally considered one of the worst tyrants in Latin American history and the inspiration for TheGeneralissimo, assumed power in 1930 after years of plotting against President Vasquez, [[{{Egopolis}} indulging in a cult of personality worthy of Stalin or Saddam Hussein]]. He stole almost all the money from international aid, ordered the killings of all kinds of opponents and the Haitians living on the Dominican side of the frontier (using a TrustPassword to identify them). Trujillo also waged other bizarre, crazy acts, like an assassination attempt on Venezuela's well-respected President Betancourt and the kidnapping and execution of Dominican dissident and US citizen, Jesus Galindez, in UsefulNotes/NewYorkState and in broad daylight. He maintained himself and his loyal puppets in power and ensured the country would be ruled with an iron fist. His detractors started to compare him to a rabid dog until the U.S., initially their supporters, got alienated enough to order a UsefulNotes/{{CIA}} plot to kill him in 1961. The new president, Juan Bosch, was eventually seen as too left-wing for the US and Dominican conservatives' tastes, and a civil war broke out in 1965, followed by a US invasion against Bosch and a second occupation until 1966.

* ''VideoGame/Killer7'' has one of its chapters (namely the fifth, titled Alter Ego) set in Santo Domingo. The Smiths travel to this destination to look for a group of supervillains known as the Handsome Men.

Don't confuse the country with the (arguably) less well-known UsefulNotes/{{Dominica}}, which is also a sovereign country located in the Caribbean, but is a part of the Lesser Antilles instead of the Greater Antilles in which the DR belong (the former encompasses all those small islands scattered to the north of UsefulNotes/{{Venezuela}}, while the latter includes the "larger" countries, such as the DR, UsefulNotes/{{Cuba}}, UsefulNotes/{{Haiti}}, and the US territory of Puerto Rico). It's not helped by the fact that Dominica also has the same cross symbol in its flag, though colored green, or the fact that the demonyms of both countries are "Dominicans" in English.[[note]]They are pronounced differently. For people from the DR, the emphasis is on the first syllable, while the word for people from Dominica is on the third syllable.[[/note]]

Don't confuse the country with the (arguably) less well-known UsefulNotes/{{Dominica}}, which is also a sovereign country located in the Caribbean, but is a part of the Lesser Antilles instead of the Greater Antilles in which the DR belong (the former encompasses all those small islands scattered to the north of UsefulNotes/{{Venezuela}}, while the latter includes the "larger" countries including DR, Cuba, Haiti, and the US territory Puerto Rico). It's not helped by the fact that Dominica also has the same cross symbol in its flag, though colored green, or the fact that the demonyms of both countries are "Dominicans" in English.[[note]]They are pronounced differently. For people from the DR, the emphasis is on the first syllable, while the word for people from Dominica is on the third syllable.[[/note]]

Don't confuse the country with the (arguably) less well-known UsefulNotes/{{Dominica}}, which is also a sovereign country located in the Caribbean, but is a part of the Lesser Antilles instead of the Greater Antilles in which the DR belong (the former encompasses all those small islands scattered to the north of Venezuela, while the latter includes the "larger" countries including DR, Cuba, Haiti, and the US territory Puerto Rico). It's not helped by the fact that Dominica also has the same cross symbol in its flag, though colored green, or the fact that the demonyms of both countries are "Dominicans" in English.[[note]]They are pronounced differently. For people from the DR, the emphasis is on the first syllable, while the word for people from Dominica is on the third syllable.[[/note]]

After the Trujillo era, the country still had its time of military government and strongmen politicians, but now it’s a functioning democracy. However, the constant turmoil of its history has left its marks in the form of corruption, unemployment and problems with the electric distribution network. Also, the relations with Haiti keep being lukewarm at best (the continuing immigration of Haitians doesn’t help either). The country is well-known for its telecommunication system, however. In the most recent years, it has finally--''finally''--found its place, being the fastest-growing economy in UsefulNotes/TheCaribbean (if not the Americas) since about 2000, spurred in part by the success of the government's plan to make the country a center of textile manufacturing for the Western Hemisphere (if you're Americas-based and have underwear, there's a decent chance it was made in the DR), in part by the country's excellent tourism industry, and in part by the entirely fortuitous discovery of literal gold and silver mines in the country in the early 2010s. (Columbus must be rolling in his grave at that last one.)

After the Trujillo era, the country still had its time of military government and strongmen politicians, but now it’s a functioning democracy. However, the constant turmoil of its history has left its marks in the form of corruption, unemployment and problems with the electric distribution network. Also, the relations with Haiti keep being lukewarm at best (the continuing immigration of Haitians doesn’t help either). The country is well-known for its telecommunication system, however. In the most recent years, it has finally--''finally''--found its place, being the fastest-growing economy in UsefulNotes/TheCaribbean (if not the Americas) since about 2000, spurred in part by the success of the government's plan to make the country a center of textile manufacturing for the hemisphere (if you're Americas-based and have underwear, there's a decent chance it was made in the DR), in part by the country's excellent tourism industry, and in part by the entirely fortuitous discovery of literal gold and silver mines in the country in the early 2010s. (Columbus must be rolling in his grave at that last one.)

After the Trujillo era, the country still had its time of military government and strongmen politicians, but now it’s a functioning democracy. However, the constant turmoil of its history has left its marks in the form of corruption, unemployment and problems with the electric distribution network. Also, the relations with Haiti keep being lukewarm at best (the continuing immigration of Haitians doesn’t help either). The country is well-known for its telecommunication system, however. In the most recent years, it has finally--''finally''--found its place, being the fastest-growing economy in the Caribbean (if not the Americas) since about 2000, spurred in part by the success of the government's plan to make the country a center of textile manufacturing for the hemisphere (if you're Americas-based and have underwear, there's a decent chance it was made in the DR), in part by the country's excellent tourism industry, and in part by the entirely fortuitous discovery of literal gold and silver mines in the country in the early 2010s. (Columbus must be rolling in his grave at that last one.)

If you thought the situation was bad, you can believe things went worse. Rafael Trujillo, generally considered one of the worst tyrants in Latin American history and the inspiration for TheGeneralissimo, assumed power in 1930 after years of plotting against President Vasquez, [[{{Egopolis}} indulging in a cult of personality worthy of Stalin or Saddam Hussein]]. He stole almost all the money from international aid, ordered the killings of all kinds of opponents and the Haitians living on the Dominican side of the frontier (using a TrustPassword to identify them) and also waged other bizarre, crazy acts, like an assassination attempt on Venezuela's well-respected President Betancourt and the kidnapping and execution of Dominican dissident and US citizen, Jesus Galindez, in New York and in broad daylight. He maintained himself and his loyal puppets in power and ensured the country would be ruled with an iron fist. His detractors started to compare him to a rabid dog until the U.S., initially their supporters, got alienated enough to order a CIA plot to kill him in 1961. The new president, Juan Bosch, was eventually seen as too left-wing for the US and Dominican conservatives' tastes, and a civil war broke out in 1965, followed by a US invasion against Bosch and a second occupation until 1966.

he Haitian occupation was Initially popular, but by 1844 the Dominicans became disillusioned by Haitian rule and successfully revolted. In a curious turn of events, in 1861 they asked UsefulNotes/{{Spain}} to be taken as a colony ''again''. The move was highly unpopular and resulted in a [[RevolvingDoorRevolution civil war]] which resulted in the Spanish leaving ''again''. A chaotic political scene and economic mismanagement after that ended with an invasion of the United States in 1916 with a chaotic occupation that lasted until 1922. The new president, Horacio Vasquez, presided over the only period of stable governance and healthy economic growth in Dominican history until that point.

Since UsefulNotes/ChristopherColumbus arrived on the island in search of gold and Asian trade routes in 1492, the island has been constantly changing hands between all kinds of powers. It started as a Spanish colony until the end of the 18th century, when it became a French colony. After the success of the [[UsefulNotes/{{Haiti}} Haitian Revolution]] in 1804 drove the French out of western Hispaniola, the French managed to hold onto the eastern part of the island, before the Spanish drove the French out altogether in 1808. The Dominicans experienced a period of relative autonomy, due to the decline of the Spanish Empire after UsefulNotes/TheNapoleonicWars, before being invaded by neighboring Haiti in 1822. Initially popular, by 1844 the Dominicans became disillusioned by Haitian rule and successfully revolted, but in a curious turn of events, in 1861 they asked Spain to be taken as a colony ''again''. The move was highly unpopular and resulted in a [[RevolvingDoorRevolution civil war]] which resulted in the Spanish leaving ''again''. A chaotic political scene and economic mismanagement after that ended with an invasion of the United States in 1916 with a chaotic occupation that lasted until 1922. The new president, Horacio Vasquez, presided over the only period of stable governance and healthy economic growth in Dominican history until that point.

Since UsefulNotes/ChristopherColumbus arrived on the island in search of gold and Asian trade routes in 1492, the island has been constantly changing hands between all kinds of powers. It started as a Spanish colony until the end of the 18th century, when it became a French colony. After the success of the [[UsefulNotes/{{Haiti}} Haitian Revolution]] in 1804 drove the French out of western Hispaniola, the French managed to hold onto the eastern part of the island, before the Spanish drove the French out altogether in 1808. The Dominicans experienced a period of relative autonomy, due to the decline of the Spanish Empire after the Napoleonic Wars, before being invaded by neighboring Haiti in 1822. Initially popular, by 1844 the Dominicans became disillusioned by Haitian rule and successfully revolted, but in a curious turn of events, in 1861 they asked Spain to be taken as a colony ''again''. The move was highly unpopular and resulted in a [[RevolvingDoorRevolution civil war]] which resulted in the Spanish leaving ''again''. A chaotic political scene and economic mismanagement after that ended with an invasion of the United States in 1916 with a chaotic occupation that lasted until 1922. The new president, Horacio Vasquez, presided over the only period of stable governance and healthy economic growth in Dominican history until that point.

Since UsefulNotes/ChristopherColumbus arrived on the island in search of gold and Asian trade routes in 1492, the island has been constantly changing hands between all kinds of power. It started as a Spanish colony until the end of the 18th century, when it became a French colony. After the success of the [[UsefulNotes/{{Haiti}} Haitian Revolution]] in 1804 drove the French out of western Hispaniola, the French managed to hold onto the eastern part of the island, before the Spanish drove the French out altogether in 1808. The Dominicans experienced a period of relative autonomy, due to the decline of the Spanish Empire after the Napoleonic Wars, before being invaded by neighboring Haiti in 1822. Initially popular, by 1844 the Dominicans became disillusioned by Haitian rule and successfully revolted, but in a curious turn of events, in 1861 they asked Spain to be taken as a colony ''again''. The move was highly unpopular and resulted in a [[RevolvingDoorRevolution civil war]] which resulted in the Spanish leaving ''again''. A chaotic political scene and economic mismanagement after that ended with an invasion of the United States in 1916 with a chaotic occupation that lasted until 1922. The new president, Horacio Vasquez, presided over the only period of stable governance and healthy economic growth in Dominican history until that point.

Since UsefulNotes/ChristopherColumbus arrived on the island in search of gold and Asian trade routes in 1492, the island has been constantly changing hands between all kinds of power. It started as a Spanish colony until the end of the 18th century, when it became a French colony. After the success of the [[UsefulNotes/{{Haiti}} Haitian Revolution]] in 1804 drove the French out of western Hispaniola, the French managed to hold onto the eastern part of the island, before the Spanish drove the French out altogether in 1808. The Dominicans experienced a period of relative autonomy, due to the decline of the Spanish Empire after the Napoleonic Wars, before being invaded by neighboring Haiti in 1822. Initially popular, by 1844 the Dominicans became disillusioned by Haitian rule and successfully revolted, but in a curious turn of events, in 1861 they asked Spain to be taken as a colony ''again''. The move was highly unpopular and resulted in a [[RevolvingDoorRevolution civil war]] which resulted in the Spanish leaving ''again''. A chaotic political scene and economic mismanagement after that ended with an invasion of the United States in 1916 with a chaotic occupation that lasted until 1922. The new president presided over the only period of stable governance and healthy economic growth in Dominican history until that point.

If you thought the situation was bad, you can believe things went worse. Rafael Trujillo, generally considered one of the worst tyrants in Latin American history and the inspiration for TheGeneralissimo, assumed power in 1930 after years of plotting against the new president, [[{{Egopolis}} indulging in a cult of personality worthy of Stalin or Saddam Hussein]]. He stole almost all the money from international aid, ordered the killings of all kinds of opponents and the Haitians living on the Dominican side of the frontier (using a TrustPassword to identify them) and also waged other bizarre, crazy acts, like an assassination attempt on the popular Venezuelan president and the kidnapping and execution of a Dominican dissident and US citizen in New York. He maintained himself and his loyal puppets in power and ensured the country would be ruled with an iron fist. His detractors started to compare him to a rabid dog until the U.S., initially their supporters, got alienated enough to order a CIA plot to kill him in 1961. The new president, Juan Bosch, was eventually seen as too left-wing for the US and Dominican conservatives' tastes, and a civil war broke out in 1965, followed by a US invasion against Bosch and a second occupation until 1966.

If you thought the situation was bad, you can believe things went worse. Rafael Trujillo, generally considered one of the worst tyrants in Latin American history and the inspiration for TheGeneralissimo, assumed power in 1930 after years of plotting against the new president, [[{{Egopolis}} indulging in a cult of personality worthy of Stalin or Saddam Hussein]]. He stole almost all the money from international aid, ordered the killings of all kinds of opponents and the Haitians living on the Dominican side of the frontier (using a TrustPassword to identify them) and also waged other bizarre, crazy acts, like an assassination attempt on the popular Venezuelan president and the kidnapping and execution of a Dominican dissident and US citizen in New York. He maintained himself and his loyal puppets in power and ensured the country would be ruled with an iron fist. His detractors started to compare him to a rabid dog until the U.S., initially their supporters, got alienated enough to order a CIA plot to kill him in 1961. This was followed by a US invasion and occupation in from 1965 to 1966.

After the Trujillo era, the country still had its time of military government, but now it’s a democracy. However, the constant turmoil of its history has left its marks in the form of corruption, unemployment and problems with the electric distribution network. Also, the relations with Haiti keep being lukewarm at best (the continuing immigration of Haitians doesn’t help either). The country is well-known for its telecommunication system, however. In the most recent years, it has finally--''finally''--found its place, being the fastest-growing economy in the Caribbean (if not the Americas) since about 2000, spurred in part by the success of the government's plan to make the country a center of textile manufacturing for the hemisphere (if you're Americas-based and have underwear, there's a decent chance it was made in the DR), in part by the country's excellent tourism industry, and in part by the entirely fortuitous discovery of literal gold and silver mines in the country in the early 2010s. (Columbus must be rolling in his grave at that last one.)

If you thought the situation was bad, you can believe things went worse. Rafael Trujillo, generally considered one of the worst tyrants in Latin American history and the inspiration for TheGeneralissimo, assumed power in 1930 after years of plotting against the new president, [[{{Egopolis}} indulging in a cult of personality worthy of Stalin or Saddam Hussein]]. He stole almost all the money from international aid, ordered the killings of all kinds of opponents and the Haitians living on the Dominican side of the frontier (using a TrustPassword to identify them) and also waged other bizarre, crazy acts, like an assassination attempt on the Venezuelan president. He maintained himself and his loyal puppets in power and ensured the country would be ruled with an iron fist. His detractors started to compare him to a rabid dog until the U.S., initially their supporters, got alienated enough to order a CIA plot to kill him in 1961. This was followed by a US invasion and occupation in from 1965 to 1966.

Since UsefulNotes/ChristopherColumbus arrived on the island in search of gold and Asian trade routes in 1492, the island has been constantly changing hands between all kinds of power. It started as a Spanish colony until the end of the 18th century, when it became a French colony. After the success of the [[UsefulNotes/{{Haiti}} Haitian Revolution]] in 1804 drove the French out of western Hispaniola, the French managed to hold onto the eastern part of the island, before the Spanish drove the French out altogether in 1808. The Dominicans experienced a period of relative autonomy, due to the decline of the Spanish Empire after the Napoleonic Wars, before being invaded by neighboring Haiti in 1822. Initially popular, by 1844 the Dominicans became disillusioned by Haitian rule and successfully revolted, but in a curious turn of events, in 1861 they asked Spain to be taken as a colony ''again''. The move was highly unpopular and resulted in a [[RevolvingDoorRevolution civil war]] which resulted in the Spanish leaving ''again''. A series of events after that ended with an invasion of the United States in 1916 that lasted until 1922.

If you thought the situation was bad, you can believe things went worse. Rafael Trujillo, generally considered one of the worst tyrants in Latin American history and the inspiration for TheGeneralissimo, assumed power in 1930, [[{{Egopolis}} indulging in a cult of personality worthy of Stalin or Saddam Hussein]]. He stole almost all the money from international aid, ordered the killings of all kinds of opponents and the Haitians living on the Dominican side of the frontier (using a TrustPassword to identify them) and also waged other bizarre, crazy acts, like an assassination attempt on the Venezuelan president. He maintained himself and his loyal puppets in power and ensured the country would be ruled with an iron fist. His detractors started to compare him to a rabid dog until the U.S., initially their supporters, got alienated enough to order a CIA plot to kill him in 1961. This was followed by a US invasion and occupation in from 1965 to 1966.

If you thought the situation was bad, you can believe things went worse. Rafael Trujillo, generally considered as one of the worst tyrants in Latin American history and the inspiration for TheGeneralissimo, assumed power in 1930, [[{{Egopolis}} indulging in a cult of personality worthy of Stalin or Saddam Hussein]]. He stole almost all the money from international aid, ordered the killings of all kinds of opponents and the Haitians living on the Dominican side of the frontier (using a TrustPassword to identify them) and also waged other bizarre, crazy acts, like an assassination attempt on the Venezuelan president. He maintained himself and his loyal puppets in power and ensured the country would be ruled with an iron fist. His detractors started to compare him with a rabid dog until the U.S., initially their supporters, got alienated enough to order a CIA plot to kill him in 1961. This was followed by a US invasion and occupation in from 1965 to 1966.

If you thought the situation was bad, you can believe things went worse. [[AxCrazy Rafael Trujillo]], generally considered as one of the worst dictators of Latin America, assumed power in 1930, [[{{Egopolis}} indulging in a cult of personality worthy of Stalin or Saddam Hussein]]. He stole almost all the money from international aid, ordered the killings of all kinds of opponents and the Haitians living on the Dominican side of the frontier (using a TrustPassword to identify them) and also waged other bizarre, crazy acts, like an assassination attempt on the Venezuelan president. He maintained himself and his loyal puppets in power and ensured the country would be ruled with an iron fist. His detractors started to compare him with a rabid dog until the U.S., initially their supporters, got alienated enough to order a CIA plot to kill him in 1961. This was followed by a US invasion and occupation in from 1965 to 1966.

After the Trujillo era, the country still had its time of military government, but now it’s a democracy. However, the constant turmoil of its history has left its marks in the form of corruption, unemployment and problems with the electric distribution network. Also, the relations with Haiti keep being lukewarm at best (the continuing immigration of Haitians doesn’t help either). The country is well-known for its telecommunication system, however. In the most recent years, it has finally--''finally''--found its place, being the fastest-growing economy in the Caribbean (if not the Americas) since about 2000, spurred in part by the success of the government's plan to make the country a center of textile manufacturing for the hemisphere (if you're Americas-based and have underwear, there's a decent chance it was made in the DR), in part by the country's excellent tourism industry, and in part by the entirely fortuitous discovery of literal gold and silver mines in the country in the early 2010s. (Columbus must be rolling in his grave.)

The other half of the island of Hispaniola and one of the few countries with ‘Republic’ on its colloquial name.

Since UsefulNotes/ChristopherColumbus arrived on the island on 1492, the island has been constantly changing hands between all kinds of power. It started as a Spanish colony until the end of the 18th century, when it became a French colony. After the success of the [[UsefulNotes/{{Haiti}} Haitian Revolution]] in 1804 drove the French out of western Hispaniola, the French managed to hold onto the eastern part of the island, before the Spanish drove the French out altogether in 1808. The Dominicans experienced a period of relative autonomy, due to the decline of the Spanish Empire after the Napoleonic Wars, before being invaded by neighboring Haiti in 1822. Initially popular, by 1844 the Dominicans became disillusioned by Haitian rule and successfully revolted, but in a curious turn of events, in 1861 they asked Spain to be taken as a colony ''again''. The move was highly unpopular and resulted in a [[RevolvingDoorRevolution civil war]] which resulted in the Spanish leaving ''again''. A series of events after that ended with an invasion of the United States in 1916 that lasted until 1922.