Where are you from? From the Island of la Hispaniola , la isla de Santo Domingo o Saint-Domingue?

Where are you from? Quisqueya, Santo Domingo, Haiti, La Espanola o la Hispaniola?



I was having an argument in South Florida.An old friend of mine was arguing that he was from la Hispaniola, I told him I am from the Island of Santo Domingo, so probably we are from different countries.

Sometimes when people ask me where i am from, saying i am Dominican, I have to clarify that i am dominican from Dominican republic, not from the island of Dominica, so it get more confusing..

To clarify this I have to go back to my own people history...


La Española es una isla situada en el archipiélago de las Antillas Mayores en el Caribe, la cual contiene a los estados soberanos República Dominicana y Haití.

La Española es conocida por ser el lugar del primer asentamiento europeo en el Nuevo Mundo, descubierta por Cristóbal Colón en su primer viaje en 1492.
Es la décima isla más poblada del mundo, y la más poblada de América.
Es la isla número 22 en tamaño en el mundo.

The island bears various names originated by its native people, the Taíno Amerindians. When Columbus took possession of the island in 1492 he named it Hispana in Latin and La Isla Española, meaning "The Spanish Island", in Spanish. Bartolomé de las Casas shortened the name to "Española", and when Pietro Martyr d‘Anghiera detailed his account of the island in Latin, he translated the name as Hispaniola, Because Anghiera’s literary work was translated into English and French in a short period of time, the name "Hispaniola" became the most frequently used term in English-speaking countries for the island in scientific and cartographic works.



Gonzalo Fernández de Oviedo and de las Casas documented that the island was called Haití ("Mountainous Land" by the Taíno. D‘Anghiera added another name, Quizqueia (supposedly "Mother of all Lands", but later research shows that the word does not seem to derive from the original Arawak Taíno language.] Although the Taínos use of Haití is verified and the name was used by all three historians, evidence suggests that it probably was not the Taíno name of the whole island. Haití was the Taíno name of a region (now known as Los Haitises) in the northeastern section of the present-day Dominican Republic. In the oldest documented map of the island, created by Andrés de Morales, that region is named Montes de Haití ("Haiti Mountains".
Las Casas apparently named the whole island Haití on the basis of that particular region;] d‘Anghiera said that the name of one part was given to the whole island

The colonial terms Saint-Domingue and Santo Domingo are sometimes still applied to the whole island, although these names refer, respectively, to the colonies that became Haiti and the Dominican Republic.

The name] Haïti was adopted by Haitian revolutionary Jean-Jacques Dessalines as the official name of independent Saint-Domingue, as a tribute to the Amerindian predecessors. Quisqueya (disambiguation needed] (from Quizqueia) is used to refer to the Dominican Republic.

So, after this small research, I am confused how to answer the question of "where are you from?"



So ,after all this information, in the future..If somebody ask you..where are you from..What will you answer and why?

Edited on 6/12/2013 2:24 PM by ohhhvictor.

Dominican Republic

La Republica Dominicana
 











Dominican Republic ( o republica dominicana) is   a nation on the island of Hispaniola,(or Island of Santo Domingo) part of the Greater Antilles archipelago in the Caribbean region  . The western third of the island is occupied by the nation of Haiti,  . Both by area and population, the Dominican Republic is the second largest Caribbean nation , with 48,445 square kilometres (18,705 sq mi) and an estimated 10 million people, almost three million of which in the capital city, Santo Domingo.

 The Dominican Republic has the ninth largest economy in Latin America and the  largest economy in the Caribbean and Central American region according to the U.S. State Department .Though long known for sugar production, the economy is now dominated by services. The country's economic progress is exemplified by its advanced telecommunication system.

 The Dominican Republic is the most visited destination in the Caribbean. The country's year-round golf courses are among the top attractions on the island In this mountainous land is located the Caribbean's highest mountain, Pico Duarte, as is Lake Enriquillo, the Caribbean's largest lake and lowest elevation. It has an average temperature of 26 °C (78.8 °F) and great biological diversity. Music and sport are of great importance in the Dominican culture, with Merengue and Bachata as the national dance and music, and baseball as the favorite sport.[

 

National name: República Dominicana

Current government officials

Language: Spanish

Ethnicity/race: white 16%, black 11%, mixed 73%

National Holiday: Independence Day, February 27

Religion: Roman Catholic 95%

Geography

The Dominican Republic in the West Indies occupies the eastern two-thirds of the island of Hispaniola, which it shares with Haiti. Its area equals that of Vermont and New Hampshire combined. Duarte Peak, at 10,417 ft (3,175 m), is the highest point in the West Indies.

Government

Representative democracy.

 

History

The Dominican Republic was explored by Columbus on his first voyage in 1492. He named it La Española, and his son, Diego, was its first viceroy. The capital, Santo Domingo, founded in 1496, is the oldest European settlement in the Western Hemisphere.
 
Spain ceded the colony to France in 1795, and Haitian blacks under Toussaint L'Ouverture conquered it in 1801. In 1808, the people revolted and captured Santo Domingo the next year, setting up the first republic. Spain regained title to the colony in 1814. In 1821 Spanish rule was overthrown, but in 1822 the colony was reconquered by the Haitians. In 1844, the Haitians were thrown out and the Dominican Republic was established, headed by Pedro Santana. Uprisings and Haitian attacks led Santana to make the country a province of Spain from 1861 to 1865.
President Buenaventura Báez, faced with an economy in shambles, attempted to have the country annexed to the U.S. in 1870, but the U.S. Senate refused to ratify a treaty of annexation. Disorder continued until the dictatorship of Ulíses Heureaux; in 1916, when chaos broke out again, the U.S. sent in a contingent of marines, who remained until 1924.
A sergeant in the Dominican army trained by the marines, Rafaél Leonides Trujillo Molina, overthrew Horacio Vásquez in 1930 and established a dictatorship that lasted until his assassination in 1961, 31 years later. In 1962, Juan Bosch of the leftist Dominican Revolutionary Party, became the first democratically elected president in four decades.

Freely-Elected President Balaguer Witnesses Withdrawal of Foreign Troops

In 1963, a military coup ousted Bosch and installed a civilian triumvirate. Leftists rebelled against the new regime in April 1965, and U.S. president Lyndon Johnson sent in marines and troops. After a cease-fire in May, a compromise installed Hector Garcia-Godoy as provisional president. In 1966, right-wing candidate Joaquin Balaguer won in free elections against Bosch, and U.S. and other foreign troops withdrew.
In 1978, the army suspended the counting of ballots when Balaguer trailed in a fourth-term bid. After a warning from President Jimmy Carter, however, Balaguer accepted the victory of Antonio Guzmán of the Dominican Revolutionary Party. In 1982 elections, Salvador Jorge Blanco of the Dominican Revolutionary Party defeated Balaguer and Bosch. Balaguer was again elected president in May 1986 and remained in office for the next ten years.
In 1996, U.S.-raised Leonel Fernández secured more than 51% of the vote through an alliance with Balaguer. The first item on the president's agenda was the partial sale of some state-owned enterprises. Fernández was praised for ending decades of isolationism and improving ties with other Caribbean countries, but he was criticized for not fighting corruption or alleviating the poverty that affects 60% of the population.

President Fernández Lights Fire Under Dominican Republics Failing Economy

In Aug. 2000, the center-left Hipólito Mejía was elected president amid popular discontent over power outages in the recently privatized electric industry, but in May 2004 presidential elections, he was defeated by former president Leonel Fernández (1996–2000). Fernández instituted austerity measures to rescue the country from its economic crisis, and in the first half of 2006, the economy grew 11.7%.
On May 16, 2008, incumbent president Leonel Fernández was reelected, taking 53% of the vote. He defeated Miguel Vargas of the Dominican Revolutionary Party, who won 41%.

Among the First to Offer Aid to Haiti

After the devastating earthquake on January 12, 2010 in Haiti, the Dominican Republic was one of the first countries to offer aid despite the two countries having a history of conflict. The Dominican Republic sent food, medicine, and teams to assess the damage. The country also eased visa requirements so the injured could seek treatment at Dominican hospitals.
Over a year later, in the spring of 2011, protests started and signs were posted, calling for the refugees to go home. By August 2011, Haitian refugees were turned away at the border and in some cases, deported. The shift in attitude showed impatience with Haiti's slow recovery as well as other concerns, including a high unemployment rate, among the highest in Latin American, and cholera, which had killed more than 90 people in the Dominican Republic, many of them Haitian migrants.
In October 2011, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) received over 450 complaints from people in the Dominican Republic who said their citizenship had been revoked. The complaints came from people who have been recognized as citizens for decades. The IACHR condemned the policy, but on December 1st, the country's Supreme Court rejected a Dominican-born male's request for a birth certificate so he could relocate to the United States. The new policy could affect some 200,000 Dominicans of Haitian origin.

Ruling Party Candidate Wins Presidential Election

In May 20, 2012, Danilo Medina, candidate of the ruling Dominican Liberation Party, won the presidential election. Medina narrowly defeated Hipólito Mejía, receiving 51.24 percent of the vote. Voting fraud allegations followed the election, including claims from other political parties that votes were bought. The Organization of American States confirmed vote-buying, but concluded that it was not enough to determine the outcome of the election so the organization approved the results.
On August 16, 2012, Medina takes over for Leonel Fernández, who has been president for 12 of the last 16 years. Fernández's wife, Margarita Cedeño, will serve as Medina's vice-president. Fernández is eligible and expected to run for another term (his fourth) in 2016.

Tourism

 

Tourism is fueling the Dominican Republic's economic growth. With the construction of projects like Cap Cana, San Souci Port in Santo Domingo, and Moon Palace Resort in Punta Cana, the Dominican Republic expects increased tourism activity in the upcoming year. Ecotourism has been a topic increasingly important in the nation, with towns like Jarabacoa and neighboring Constanza, and locations like the Pico Duarte, Bahia de Las Aguilas and others becoming more significant in efforts to increase direct benefits from tourism. Most residents from other countries are required to get a tourist card, depending on the Country that he or she lives in.

Sports

 Baseball is by far the most popular sport in the Dominican Republic. The country has a baseball league of six teams.

  After the United States, the Dominican Republic has the second-highest number of Major League Baseball (MLB) players. Ozzie Virgil, Sr. became the first Dominican-born player in the MLB on September 23, 1956. Juan Marichal is the only Dominican-born player in the Baseball Hall of Fame. Other notable baseball players born in the Dominican Republic are: Robinson Cano, Julian Javier, Pedro Martínez, Francisco Liriano, Manny Ramírez, Jose Bautista, Hanley Ramírez, David Ortiz, Albert Pujols, Ubaldo Jiménez, José Reyes, Alcides Escobar, Plácido Polanco and Sammy Sosa. Felipe Alou has also enjoyed success as a manager, and Omar Minaya as a general manager. In 2013, the Dominican team went undefeated en route to winning the World Baseball Classic.

 

In boxing, the country has produced scores of world-class fighters and several world champions.Basketball also enjoys a relatively high level of popularity. Al Horford, Felipe Lopez, and Francisco Garcia are among the Dominican-born players currently or formerly in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Olympic gold medalist and world champion hurdler Félix Sánchez hails from the Dominican Republic, as does NFL defensive end Luis Castillo.Other important sports include, Volleyball, which was introduced in 1916 by US Marines, is controlled by the Dominican Volleyball Federation. Other sports include Tae Kwon Do, in which Gabriel Mercedes is an Olympic silver medalist; and Judo.

Music

 

 Musically, the Dominican Republic is known for the creation of the musical style called merengue, a type of lively, fast-paced rhythm and dance music consisting of a tempo of about 120 to 160 beats per minute (though it varies) based on musical elements like drums, brass, chorded instruments, and accordion, as well as some elements unique to the Spanish-speaking Caribbean, such as the tambora and güira.

 Some well-known merengue performers include Johnny Ventura, singer/songwriter Juan Luis Guerra, Fernando Villalona, Eddy Herrera, Sergio Vargas, Toño Rosario, Milly Quezada, and Chichí Peralta. Merengue became popular in the United States, mostly on the East Coast, during the 1980s and 1990s, when many Dominican artists, among them Victor Roque y La Gran Manzana, Henry Hierro, Zacarias Ferreira, Aventura, and Milly Jocelyn Y Los Vecinos, residing in the U.S. (particularly New York) started performing in the Latin club scene and gained radio airplay. The emergence of bachata, along with an increase in the number of Dominicans living among other Latino groups in New York, New Jersey, and Florida have contributed to Dominican music's overall growth in popularity

 

 

 

 

You know you are dominican if

For 50 things…
YOU KNOW YOU’RE DOMINICAN IF . . .


If Some of your favorite expressions consist of:
“coño”
“Anda la mierda”
“Anda el diablo”
“El diache”
“Que Vaina”
“Dimelo”
“Ta’ To”
“Y Es Facil”
“Que lo Que?”
“A Po Ta Bien”
“Que Tripeo”
“Tu si Jode”
“Ta Cool”
“Ta Jevi”
“La creta”
“Tu ta pasa”
“Cojelo suave”
“Que Bufeo”
“Degrasia”
“Mariconaso”
“Malba”
“Barbarasa”
“Pariguayo”


If you live, or got family livin in Washington Heights (better said Guaachinton Heights) . . . Or NY in general, this also includes Florida…
If people tell you to stop screaming when you’re really talking
If you grew up afraid of something called “El Cuco”
If you clap your hands while laughing
If you have more Primos and Primas, and you talk about at least one that is famous or rich (lots of cousins).
If your able to dance without any music
If you learned how to dance merengue and bachata before you could walk
If you point things out with your nose and mouth
If you’ve ever gotten beat with any of the following:
rubber slippers, extension cord, hanger (plastic or metal), big rice spoon
If you waste ALL your money in the summer time buying “frio-frio” RED FLAVOR
If you’ve ever gone outside in rolos and chancletas
If you consider a siesta a sacret tradition for the family. Specially between noon and 2pm where the family gets together and eats, more platanos, rice & beans of course…

If your parents go to a little room in the back of your local bodega “pa juga lo numero” of DR
If you consider platanos one of the major food groups
If you can smell chuletas cookin in your house from down the block
If while in your country, you hear people on the block yellin “se fue la luz!”; Them you also hear “Llego La Luz”

If your house in DR has an oil lamp in every room
If you told scary stories and funny jokes while there was no electricity
If you grew up listening to Fernandito Villalona, Sergio Vargas, and Los Hermanos Rosario
If your dad or uncle claim to be dead broke, yet rock a cell phone and is laced wit mad gold around his neck and wrists
If you Drop Liquor on the floor and say “eso e pa lo muerto!”
If you like El Concon (which is the hard part of the rice) and Habichuelas con dulce.
If you’ve ever gotten whipped by a diablo cojuelo or lechon
 
If your grandma has a saint picture in her living room
If your sofas are covered in plastic
If you all the juices you have in your house are the type that come in powder, and you just mix with water, like Tang
If you eat Mangu on a daily basis

If you ate rice, beans and some type of meat for dinner yesterday, today and probably will tomorrow. Also for breakfast, lunch and dinner…
If you say words like . . . . . . . . Razor is GILE . . . . . . . . Nailpolish is CUTé . . . . . . . Feminine Pads are KOTE . . . . . . . . Vicks Vapo Rub is Vivaporu . . . . . . . . T-Shirts are POLOCHE . . . . . . . . Watchman is GUACHIMAN . . . . . . . . .Garbage is EL Gabish . . . . . . . .Cereal is CONFLE
(Yea you all know you do it!)
If you believe Vivaporu is the cure for EVERYTHING
If you in a 4-passenger car, u got 7 people in it, and someone yellin “caben ma”
If you’ve ever been in a carro publico ;)
 
If you use an old t-shirt, towel, or anything as a mop, and use your feet to mop
If you’ve ever let some one throw AGUA FLORIDA on you for good luck
If your house on the island has broken pieces of glass to keep away robbers
If you refer to every cat as MISHU
If your childhood games were called: EL ESCONDIDO, POLLITO PLEIBI, APARA Y BATEA, EL GALLO, or that game with a stick and a wheel
IF your parents dressed you up for Halloween as a VAQUERO, CAMPESINA, GITANA, OR HAWALLANA
If your refridgerator has about 85 magnets on it
If all your pots and pans are inside the oven
If your local bodega does lay-a-away/credit plans (fiao)
If you think Bananas or Platanos are a source of Power and call it “Banana Power”.











If you are proud of your roots, and everywhere you go you take DR with you..Because DR will never leave you..