Dominican Republic

Coordinates: 19°00′N 70°40′W / 19.000°N 70.667°W / 19.000; -70.667

The Dominican Republic (ⁱ/dəˌmɪnᵻkən rᵻˈpʌblɪk/; Spanish: República Dominicana [reˈpuβlika ðominiˈkana]) is a country on the island of Hispaniola, in 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 (after Cuba), with 48,445 square kilometres (18,705 sq mi) and nearly 10 million people, one million of whom live in the capital city Santo Domingo.

Music of the Dominican Republic

The music of the Dominican Republic is primarily influenced by West African traditions, with some minor European, and native Taino influences. The Dominican Republic is mainly known for its merengue and bachata music, both of which are the most popular forms of music in the country.

Dominican music

Merengue

Merengue is a musical genre native to the Dominican Republic. It has a moderate to very fast 2/4 rhythm played on güira (metal scraper) and the double-headed tambora. The accordion is also common. Traditional, accordion-based merengue is usually termed merengue típico and is still played by living accordionists like Francisco Ulloa, Fefita la Grande, El Ciego de Nagua, and Rafaelito Román. More modern merengues incorporate electric instruments and influences from salsa, and rock and roll. Choruses are often sung in a call and response form by two or three back-up singers, or more traditionally, by the musicians playing tambora or güira. Beginning in the 1960s, dancing became a part of the singers' work with Johnny Ventura's Combo Show format, and is now a staple of many of the genre's biggest stars. Lyrically, irony and double entendres are common.

Culture of the Dominican Republic

The Dominican people and their customs have origins consisting predominately in a European cultural basis, with both African and Native Taino influences. The Dominican Republic was the site of the first European settlement in the New World, namely Santo Domingo, founded in 1493.

Shortly after the arrival of Europeans, African peoples were imported to the island to serve as slave labor. The fusion of European, African and Taino traditions and customs contributed to the development of present-day Dominican culture.

Language

Spanish is the predominant language in the Dominican Republic. The local dialect is called Dominican Spanish. It closely resembles Canarian Spanish, and also has borrowed vocabularies from the Arawak language. Some common words derived from the Taino natives include: barbecue, canoe, caribbean, hammock, hurricane, iguana, manatee, mangrove, savannah, and tobacco among others.

Schools in the Dominican Republic are based on a Spanish educational model. Both English and French are taught as secondary languages on private and public schools. Haitian Creole is spoken by the population of Haitian origin. There is a community of about 8,000 speakers of Samaná English in the Samaná Peninsula. They are the descendants of formerly enslaved Africans who arrived in the nineteenth century. Tourism, American pop culture, the influence of Dominican Americans, and the country's economic ties with the United States motivate other Dominicans to learn English.