People of the Dominican Republic
Dominicans (Spanish: Dominicanos) are an ethno-national people, a people of shared ancestry and culture, who have ancestral roots in the Dominican Republic.[19][20] The Dominican ethnic group was born out of a fusion of European (mainly Spanish), native Taino, and African elements, this is a fusion that goes as far back as the 1500s.[19][21] Due to this fusion, all Dominicans are of mixed-race heritage,[22][23] tracing roots mainly to these three sources, the vast majority being evenly mixed,[24] and smaller numbers being predominantly European or African.[25] The demonym Dominican can be traced as far back as the 1621, the name came from Santo Domingo, which was not only the name of the capital city but also of the entire island at the time, Spain used this term to refer to the inhabitants of Spanish colony of Santo Domingo.[26][27] Recent immigrants and their children, who are legal citizens of the Dominican Republic, can be considered "Dominican" by nationality but not ethnicity due to not having ancestral roots in the country.
For a list of Dominican people, see List of people from the Dominican Republic.Total population
"Dominican" was historically the name for the inhabitants of the Captaincy General of Santo Domingo, the site of the first Spanish settlement in the Western Hemisphere. Majority of Dominicans primarily trace their origin to the Captaincy General's European settlers, with native Taino and African influences.[28]
The majority of Dominicans reside in the Dominican Republic, while there is also a large Dominican diaspora, mainly in the United States and Spain. The total population of the Dominican Republic in 2016 was estimated by the National Bureau of Statistics of the Dominican Republic at 10.2 million, with 9.3 million of those being natives of the country, and the rest being of foreign origin.[2] The country has a right of blood citizenship law.
Name[edit]
Historically the Dominican Republic was known as Santo Domingo, the name of its present capital and its patron saint, Saint Dominic. Hence the residents were called "Dominicanos" (Dominicans). The revolutionaries named their newly independent country "La República Dominicana". It was often referred to as the "Republic of San Domingo" in English language 19th century publications.[29]
The first recorded use of the word "Dominican" is found in a letter written by King Phillip IV of Spain in 1625 to the inhabitants of the Captaincy General of Santo Domingo. In this letter, which was written before the arrival of French settlers on the Western side of the island, the King congratulates the Dominicans for their heroic efforts in defending the territory from an attack by a Dutch fleet. This letter can be found today in the "Archivo General de Indias" in Seville, Spain.
Another name that is commonly used is "Quisqueyans". In the national anthem of the Dominican Republic the author uses the term Quisqueyans instead of Dominicans. The word "Quisqueya" is derived from a native tongue of the Taino Indigenous People which means, "Great thing", "Big thing", or "Mother of all Lands." It is often used in songs as another name for the country.
El Puerto sobre el Río Ozama. Alejandro Bonilla 1868
El amor que llega. Abelardo Rodriguez Urdaneta without date
Abelardo Rodríguez Urdaneta. Urdaneta. Mujer de espalda. date unknown
Abelardo Rodríguez Urdaneta. Marina. date unknown.
El Moro. Arturo Grullón. 1900
Arturo Grullon – Still life with bird, 1898
Arturo Grullon – Water from the fountain
Grullon Retrato de Monsieur
Grullón, Paisaje Urbano
Canastera. Leopoldo Navarro 1900
The Spinners Navarro
