It was originally occupied by Tainos, and Arawak-speaking people. The Tainos welcomed Columbus in his first voyage in 1492, but later colonizers were brutal, reducing the Taino population from about 1 million to about 500, in 50 years. To ensure adequate labor for plantations, the Spanish brought African slaves to the island beginning in 1503. In the next century, French settlers occupied the western end of the island, which Spain ceded to France in 1697, and which, in 1804, became the Republic of Haiti. The Haitians conquered the whole island in 1822 and held it until 1844, when forces led by Juan Pablo Duarte, the hero of Dominican independence, drove them out and established the Dominican Republic as an independent state. In 1861, the Dominicans voluntarily returned to the Spanish Empire; in 1865, independence was restored. Economic difficulties, the threat of European intervention, and ongoing internal disorders led to a U.S. Occupation in 1916 and the establishment of a military government in the Dominican Republic. The occupation ended in 1924, with a democratically elected Dominican Government.
The Dominican Republic is located on the island of Hispaniola located in the Caribbean Sea. It takes up about 2/3 of the island in which it shares with Haiti. The Dominican Republic's total area is 48,734 square kilometers. It is surrounded by the boarder of Haiti, the Caribbean Sea, and the North Atlantic Ocean. The capital of the Dominican Republic is Santo Domingo. There are 11,400 Km of roadways in the Dominican Republic and 49% of that amount of roadways are paved. There is a railway in the Dominican Republic but it seldom transports people. The railroad is mainly used for the transportation of sugar.
Agriculture is the most important resource in the Dominican Republic; it has to use its resources wisely, so why not trade. Some of these exported goods are: nickel, sugar, gold, silver, coffee, cocoa, tobacco, and meat.