Dominicans
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Total population | |
---|---|
Dominican people[citation needed] 10,090,000 Total population of Dominican Republic | |
Regions with significant populations | |
Dominican Republic (2009 estimate) | 10,090,000 |
United States (self-identify) | 1,414,703[1] |
Spain (2008 census) | 76,954 |
Puerto Rico | 68,036 |
Languages | |
Spanish | |
Religion | |
Predominantly Roman Catholic; Protestant | |
Related ethnic groups | |
other Latin Americans |
Dominicans (Template:Lang-es) are people inhabiting or originating from Dominican Republic. The majority of Dominicans reside in Dominican Republic, although there is also a large Dominican diaspora, especially in the United States, Puerto Rico and Spain. The population of the Dominican Republic in 2007 was estimated by the United Nations at 9,760,000.[2]
Racial and ethnic groups
The ethnic composition of the Dominican population is 75% multiracial, 16% white, and 11% black. The population is primarily a mixture of European and African with a notable amount of Taíno ancestry (each of varying degrees).Even the white and black population have varying degrees of Spanish, African, and Taino blood. There is also a large Haitian minority. Other groups in the country include the descendants of Southwest Asians—mostly Lebanese, Syrians and Palestinians. A smaller, yet significant presence of East Asians (primarily ethnic Chinese and Japanese) can also be found throughout the population.
Immigration in the twentieth century
In the twentieth century, many Chinese, Arabs (primarily from Lebanon and Syria), Japanese and to a lesser degree Koreans settled in the country, working as agricultural laborers and merchants. Waves of Chinese immigrants, the latter ones fleeing the Chinese Communist People's Liberation Army (PLA), arrived and worked in mines and building railroads. The current Chinese Dominican population totals 15,000.[3] The Arab community is also rising at an increasing rate.
In addition, there are descendants of immigrants who came from other Caribbean islands, including St. Kitts and Nevis, Dominica, Antigua, St. Vincent, Montserrat, Tortola, St. Croix, St. Thomas, Martinique, and Guadeloupe. They worked on sugarcane plantations and docks and settled mainly in the cities of San Pedro de Macoris and Puerto Plata, they have a population of 28,000. There is an increasing number of Puerto Rican immigrants in and around Santo Domingo; they are believed to number at about 10,000. Before and during World War II 800 Jewish refugees moved to the Dominican Republic, and many of their descendants live in the town of Sosúa.[4] Nationwide, there are an estimated 100 Jews left.[5] Immigration from Europe and the United States is at an all time high.[citation needed] 82,000 Americans (in 1999),[6] 40,000 Italians,[7] 1,900 French,[5] 1,400 Britons,[8] and 800 Germans.[5]
Racial issues
As elsewhere in the Spanish Empire, the Spanish colony of Hispaniola employed a social system known as casta, wherein Peninsulares (Spaniards born in Spain) occupied the highest echelon. These were followed, in descending order of status, by: criollos, castizos, mestizos, Indians, mulattoes, zambos, and black slaves.[9][10] The stigma of this stratification persisted, reaching its culmination in the Trujillo regime, as the dictator used racial persecution and nationalistic fervor against Haitians.
According to a study by the CUNY Dominican Studies Institute, about 90% of the contemporary Dominican population has West African ancestry to varying degrees.[11] However, most Dominicans do not self-identify as black, in contrast to people of West African ancestry in other countries. A variety of terms are used to represent a range of skintones, such as morena (brown), canela (red/brown; literally: "cinnamon"), India (Indian), blanca oscura (dark white), and trigueña (literally "wheat colored", which is the English equivalent of olive skin),[12] among others.
Many have claimed that this represents a reluctance to self-identify with West African descent and the culture of the freed slaves. According to Dr. Miguel Anibal Perdomo, professor of Dominican Identity and Literature at Hunter College in New York City, "There was a sense of 'deculturación' among the West Indian slaves of Hispaniola. [There was] an attempt to erase any vestiges of West Indian culture from the Dominican Republic. We were, in some way, brainwashed and we've become westernized."[13]
However, this view is not universal, as many also claim that Dominican culture is simply different and rejects the racial categorizations of other regions. Ramona Hernández, director of the Dominican Studies Institute at City College of New York asserts that the terms were originally a defense against racism: "During the Trujillo regime, people who were dark skinned were rejected, so they created their own mechanism to fight it." She went on to explain, "When you ask, 'What are you?' they don't give you the answer you want ... saying we don't want to deal with our blackness is simply what you want to hear."[14] The Dominican Republic is not unique in this respect, either. In a 1976 census survey conducted in Brazil, respondents described their skin color in 136 distinct terms.[9][14]
Religion
The Dominican Republic is 95.2% Christian, including 88.6% Roman Catholic and 4.2% Protestant. Recent but small scale immigration, as well as proselytizing, has brought other religions, with the following shares of the population: Spiritist: 2.2%,[15] The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints: 1.0%,[16] Buddhist: 0.10%, Bahá'í: 0.1%,[15] Islam: 0.02%, Judaism: 0.01%, Chinese Folk Religion: 0.1%,.[15]
Roman Catholicism was introduced by Columbus and Spanish missionaries. Religion wasn’t really the foundation of their entire society, as it was in other parts of the world at the time, and most of the population didn’t attend church on a regular basis. Nonetheless, most of the education in the country was based upon the Catholic religion, as the Bible was required in the curricula of all public schools. Children would use religious-based dialogue when greeting a relative or parent. For example: a child would say "Bless me, mother", and the mother would reply "May God bless you".[citation needed] The nation has two patroness saints: Nuestra Señora de la Altagracia (Our Lady Of High Grace) is the patroness of the Dominican people, and Nuestra Señora de las Mercedes (Our Lady Of Mercy) is the patroness of the Dominican Republic. The Catholic Church began to lose popularity in the late nineteenth century. This was due to a lack of funding, of priests, and of support programs. During the same time, the Protestant evangelical movement began to gain support. Religious tension between Catholics and Protestants in the country has been rare.
There has always been religious freedom throughout the entire country. Not until the 1950s were restrictions placed upon churches by Trujillo. Letters of protest were sent against the mass arrests of government adversaries. Trujillo began a campaign against the church and planned to arrest priests and bishops who preached against the government. This campaign ended before it was even put into place, with his assassination.
Judaism appeared in the Dominican Republic in the late 1930s. During World War II, a group of Jews escaping Nazi Germany fled to the Dominican Republic and founded the city of Sosúa. It has remained the center of the Jewish population since.[17]
Health statistics
In 2007 the Dominican Republic had a birth rate of 22.91 per 1000, and a death rate of 5.32 per 1000. There is currently a mission based in the United States to combat the AIDS rate in the Dominican Republic.[18] On the 18 December 2008, the William J. Clinton Foundation released a list of all contributors. It included COPRESIDA-Secretariado Tecnico, a Dominican Republic government agency formed to fight AIDS, which gave between US$10–25 million to the Foundation.[19] Dengue is endemic to the island of Hispaniola, and there are cases of malaria.[20] The practice of abortion is illegal in all cases in the Dominican Republic, a ban that includes conceptions following rape, incest, and in situations where the health of the mother is in danger. This ban was reiterated by the Dominican government in a September 2009 provision of a constitutional reform bill.[21]
Illegal Haitian immigration
Haiti is much poorer than the Dominican Republic. In 2003, 80% of all Haitians were poor and 48% were illiterate; in 2002, over two-thirds of the labor force lacked formal jobs. The country's per capita GDP (PPP) was $1,400 in 2008, or less than one-sixth of the Dominican figure. As a result, hundreds of thousands of Haitians have migrated to the Dominican Republic, with some estimates speaking of 800,000 Haitians in the country,[22] while some put the Haitian–born population as high as one million.[23] They usually work at low-paying and unskilled labor jobs, including construction work, household cleaning, and in sugar plantations.[24]
Children of illegal Haitian immigrants are often stateless and denied services. Their parents are denied Dominican nationality because they are deemed to be transient residents, due to their illegal or undocumented status. Haiti also denies them nationality (Haiti's Constitution states in Title II, Article 11 that "Any person born of a Haitian father or Haitian mother who are themselves native-born Haitians and have never renounced their nationality possesses Haitian nationality at the time of birth.")[25] because of a lack of proper documents or witnesses. Therefore, children of illegal Haitian immigrants in the Dominican Republic are neither Haitian nor Dominican citizens.[24][26][27][28][29]
A large number of Haitian women, often arriving with several health problems, cross the border to Dominican soil during their last weeks of pregnancy to obtain much-needed medical attention for childbirth, since Dominican public hospitals do not refuse medical services based on nationality or legal status. Statistics from a hospital in Santo Domingo report that over 22% of childbirths are by Haitian mothers.[30]
In 2005 Dominican President Leonel Fernández criticized collective expulsions of Haitians as having taken place "in an abusive and inhuman way."[31] After a UN delegation issued a preliminary report stating that it found a profound problem of racism and discrimination against people of Haitian origins, Dominican Foreign Minister Carlos Morales Troncoso issued a formal statement denouncing it and asserting that "Our border with Haiti has its problems, this is our reality and it must be understood. It is important not to confuse national sovereignty with indifference, and not to confuse security with xenophobia..."[32]
Emigration
The Dominican Republic has experienced three distinct waves of emigration in the second half of the twentieth century. The first period began in 1961, when a coalition of high-ranking Dominicans, with assistance from the CIA, assassinated General Rafael Trujillo, the nation's military dictator.[33] In the wake of his death, fear of retaliation by Trujillo's allies, and political uncertainty in general, spurred migration from the island. In 1965, the United States began a military occupation of the Dominican Republic and eased travel restrictions, making it easier for Dominicans to obtain American visas.[34] From 1966 to 1978, the exodus continued, fueled by high unemployment and political repression. Communities established by the first wave of immigrants to the U.S. created a network that assisted subsequent arrivals. In the early 1980s, underemployment, inflation, and the rise in value of the dollar all contributed to a third wave of emigration from the island nation. Today, emigration from the Dominican Republic remains high, facilitated by the social networks of now-established Dominican communities in the United States.[35]
Culture
The culture of the Dominican Republic, like its Caribbean neighbors, is a blend of the cultures of the European colonists, African slaves, and Taíno natives. Spanish, also known as Castellano (Castilian) is the official language. Other languages, among them English, French, German, Italian, and Chinese are also spoken to varying degrees. European, African and Taíno cultural elements are most prominent in food, family structure, religion and music. Many Arawak/Taíno names and words are used in daily conversation and for many foods native to the DR.
Cuisine
Dominican cuisine is predominantly made up of a combination of Spanish and African influences over the last few centuries. The typical cuisine is quite similar to what can be found in other Latin American countries, but many of the names of dishes are different. One breakfast dish consists of eggs and mangú (mashed, boiled plantain). For heartier versions, these are accompanied by deep-fried meat (typically Dominican salami) and/or cheese. Similarly to Spain, lunch is generally the largest and most important meal of the day. Lunch usually consists of rice, some type of meat (chicken, beef, pork, or fish), beans, plantains, and a side portion of salad. "La Bandera" (literally, The Flag), the most popular lunch dish, consists of meat and red beans on white rice. There is a famous soup "Sancocho" a typical national soup made with seven kind of variety of meats.
Dominican cuisine usually accommodates all the food groups, incorporating meat or seafood; rice, potatoes, or plantains; and is accompanied by some other type of vegetable or salad. However, meals usually heavily favor starches and meats over dairy products and vegetables. Many dishes are made with sofrito, which is a mix of local herbs and spices sautéed to bring out all of the dish's flavors. Throughout the south-central coast, bulgur, or whole wheat, is a main ingredient in quipes or tipili (bulgur salad). Other favorite Dominican dishes include chicharrón, yuca, casabe, and pastelitos (empanadas), batata, pasteles en hoja, (ground-roots pockets)[36] chimichurris, plátanos maduros (ripe plantain), and tostones.
Some treats Dominicans enjoy are arroz con dulce (or arroz con leche), bizcocho dominicano (lit. Dominican cake), habichuelas con dulce (sweet creamed beans), flan, frío frío (snow cones), dulce de leche, and caña (sugarcane).
The beverages Dominicans enjoy include Morir Soñando, rum, beer, Mama Juana, batida (smoothie), jugos naturales (freshly squeezed fruit juices), mabí, and coffee.[37]
Music and dance
Musically, the Dominican Republic is known for the creation of the musical style called merengue,[38] a type of lively, fast-paced rhythm and dance music consisting of a tempo of about 120 to 160 beats per minute (it varies wildly) based on musical elements like drums, brass, and chorded instruments, as well as some elements unique to the music style of the DR. It includes the use of the tambora (Dominican drum), accordion, and güira. Its syncopated beats use Latin percussion, brass instruments, bass, and piano or keyboard. Between 1937 and 1950 the merengue music was promoted internationally, by some Dominicans groups like, Billo’s Caracas Boys, Chapuseaux and Damiron Los Reyes del Merengue, Joseito Mateo and others. Later on it was more popularized via television, radio and international media, well-known merengue singers include singer/songwriter Juan Luis Guerra, Fernando Villalona, Eddy Herrera, Sergio Vargas, Toño Rosario, Johnny Ventura, and Milly Quezada and Chichi Peralta. Merengue became popular in the United States, mostly on the East Coast, during the 1980s and 90s,[39] when many Dominican artists, among them Victor Roque y La Gran Manzana, Henry Hierro, Zacarias Ferraira, Aventura, Milly, and 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, c 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.[40]
Bachata, a form of music and dance that originated in the countryside and rural marginal neighborhoods of the Dominican Republic, has become quite popular in recent years. Its subjects are often romantic; especially prevalent are tales of heartbreak and sadness. In fact, the original name for the genre was amargue ("bitterness," or "bitter music", or blues music), until the rather ambiguous (and mood-neutral) term bachata became popular. Bachata grew out of, and is still closely related to, the pan-Latin American romantic style called bolero. Over time, it has been influenced by merengue and by a variety of Latin American guitar styles.
Particularly among the young, a genre that has been growing in popularity in recent years in the Dominican Republic is Dominican rap. Also known as Rap del Patio ("yard rap") it is rap music created by Dominican crews and solo artists. Originating in the early 2000s with crews such as Charles Family, successful rappers such as Lapiz Conciente, Vakero, Toxic Crow, and R-1 emerged. The youth have embraced the music, sometimes over merengue, merengue típico, bachata, as well as salsa, and, most recently, reggaeton. Dominican rap differs from reggaeton in the fact that Dominican rap does not use the traditional Dem Bow rhythm frequently used in reggaeton, instead using more hip hop-influenced beats. As well, Dominican rap focuses on urban themes such as money, women, and poverty, similarly to American rap.[citation needed]
Sports
Baseball is by far the most popular sport in the Dominican Republic.[41] After the United States, the Dominican Republic has the second-highest number of Major League Baseball (MLB) players. Some of these players have been regarded among the best in the game. Historically, the Dominican Republic has been linked to MLB since Ozzie Virgil, Sr. became the first Dominican to play in the league. Among the outstanding MLB players born in the Dominican are: Manny Ramirez, David Ortiz, Vladimir Guerrero, Pedro Martinez, Albert Pujols, José Reyes, Hanley Ramirez, Miguel Tejada, Juan Marichal, Rafael Furcal and Sammy Sosa.
Olympic gold medalist and world champion over 400 m hurdles Félix Sánchez hails from the Dominican Republic, as does current defensive end for the San Diego Chargers (National Football League [NFL]), Luis Castillo. Castillo was the cover athlete for the Spanish language version of Madden NFL 08.[42]
The National Basketball Association (NBA) also has had players from the Dominican Republic, like Charlie Villanueva, Al Horford and Francisco Garcia. Boxing is one of the more important sports after baseball, and the country has produced scores of world-class fighters and world champions.
Holidays
Date | Name | |
---|---|---|
January 1 | New Year's Day | Non-working day. |
January 6 | Catholic day of the Epiphany | Movable. |
January 21 | Dia de la Altagracia | Non-working day. Patroness Day (Catholic). |
January 26 | Duarte's Day | Movable. Founding Father. |
February 27 | Independence Day | Non-working day. National Day. |
(Variable date) | Holy Week | Working days, except Good Friday. A Catholic holiday. |
May 1 | Labour Day | Movable. |
Last Sunday of May | Mother's Day | |
(Variable date) | Catholic Corpus Christi | Non-working day. A Thursday in May or June (60 days after Easter Sunday). |
August 16 | Restoration Day | Non-working day. |
September 24 | Virgen de las Mercedes | Non-working day. A Patroness Day (Catholic) |
November 6 | Constitution Day | Movable. |
December 25 | Christmas Day | Non-working day. Birth of Jesus Christ |
Notes:
- Non-working holidays are not moved to another day.
- If a movable holiday falls on Saturday, Sunday or Monday then it is not moved to another day. If it falls on Tuesday or Wednesday, the holiday is moved to the previous Monday. If it falls on Thursday or Friday, the holiday is moved to the next Monday.
See also
References
- ^ US ancestry 2009 estimates
- ^ "World Population Prospects: The 2006 Revision, Highlights, Working Paper No. ESA/P/WP.202" (PDF). United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division. 2007. Retrieved 2008-01-13.
- ^ "The Chinese Community and Santo Domingo's Barrio Chino". Retrieved 2008-10-20.
- ^ "CCNY Jewish Studies Class to Visit Dominican Village that Provided Refuge to European Jews During World War II". City College of New York. Retrieved 2007-05-22.
- ^ a b c "Joshua Project People-in-Country Profile". Retrieved 2008-10-20.
- ^ "American Citizens Living Abroad by Country" (PDF). Retrieved 2008-10-20.
- ^ "* INFORM *; Giovani italiani nel Centro America e Caraibi". Retrieved 2008-10-20.
- ^ "BBC NEWS". BBC News. 2006-12-06. Retrieved 2008-10-20.
{{cite news}}
: Text "Brits Abroad" ignored (help); Text "Special Reports" ignored (help) - ^ a b Soong, Roland (1999). "Racial Classifications in Latin America". Zona Latina. Retrieved 2007-12-22.
{{cite web}}
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ignored (help) - ^ Guitar, Lynne (2000). "Criollos: The Birth of a Dynamic New Indo - Afro - European People and Culture on Hispaniola". KACIKE: Journal of Caribbean Amerindian History and Anthropology. Retrieved 2007-12-23.
{{cite web}}
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ignored (help) - ^ Torres-Saillant, Silvio (1998). "The Tribulations of Blackness: Stages in Dominican Racial Identity". Latin American Perspectives, Issue 100. CUNY Dominican Studies Institute. Retrieved 2007-06-04.
{{cite web}}
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ignored (help) - ^ Salaam (2000). "There's No Racism Here? - A Black Woman in the Dominican Republic". Eyeball Literary Magazine. ChickenBones: A Journal. Retrieved 2007-06-07.
{{cite web}}
: Text "Kiini Ibura" ignored (help) - ^ Zahka, Jeffrey (2006-02-28). "Anti-Haitian Bias Rooted in Dominican History". Worldpress.org. Retrieved 2007-06-06.
- ^ a b Robles, Frances (2007-06-13). "Black Denial". A Rising Voice: Afro-Latin Americans. The Miami Herald. Retrieved 2007-06-15.
- ^ a b c "Religious Freedom Page". Retrieved 2009-02-27.
- ^ "Country Profiles > Dominican Republic".
- ^ Haggerty, Richard (1989). "Dominican Republic - Religion". Dominican Republic: A Country Study. U.S. Library of Congress. Retrieved 2006-05-21.
- ^ "The President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief" (PDF). OFFICE OF THE U.S. GLOBAL AIDS COORDINATOR. April 2005 Newsletter.
{{cite web}}
: Check date values in:|date=
(help) - ^ Contributor Information to the William J. Clinton Foundation
- ^ "Dominican Republic". United States Department of State. Retrieved 2008-10-20.
- ^ "Dominican Republic Reaffirms Commitment Against Legalizing Abortion – Fox News". Fox News. 2011-10-21.
- ^ Pina, Diógenes. "DOMINICAN REPUBLIC: Deport Thy (Darker-Skinned) Neighbour". Inter Press Service (IPS). Retrieved 2008-01-14.
- ^ "Illegal people". Human Rights Watch. Retrieved 2007-05-29.
- ^ a b Ferguson, James. "Migration in the Caribbean: Haiti, the Dominican Republic and Beyond" (PDF). Minority Rights Group International. Retrieved 2008-01-14.
- ^ "Political Database of the Americas. Constitutions: Republic of Haiti". Retrieved 2008-10-20.
- ^ "Dominican Republic, Haiti, and the United States: Protect Rights, Reduce Statelessness". Refugees International.[dead link]
- ^ Grossman, Andrew (2004-10-11). "Birthright citizenship as nationality of convenience". Proceedings of the Third Conference on Nationality. Council of Europe. Retrieved 2007-06-03.
- ^ "Dominican Republic, Haiti, and the United States: Protect rights, reduce statelessness". Reuters. 2007-01-19. Retrieved 2007-05-29. [dead link]
- ^ Garcia, Michelle (2006). "No Papers, No Rights". Amnesty International. Retrieved 2007-05-29.
- ^ Pantaleón, Doris (2008-01-21). "La República - El 22% de los nacimientos son de madres haitianas" (in Spanish). Editora Listín Diario. Retrieved 2008-03-18.
- ^ "Dominican Republic: A Life in Transit". Amnesty International. 2007-03-21. Retrieved 2007-06-03.
- ^ Pina, Diógenes. "DOMINICAN REPUBLIC: Gov't Turns Deaf Ear to UN Experts on Racism". Inter Press Service (IPS). Retrieved 2008-01-14.
- ^ "Justice Department Memo, 1975" (PDF). National Security Archive.
- ^ International Migration in the Dominican Republic; Thomas K. Morrison, Richard Sinkin; International Migration Review, Vol. 16, No. 4, Special Issue: International Migration and Development (Winter, 1982), pp. 819-836; doi:10.2307/2546161
- ^ Migration Trends in Six Latin American Countries
- ^ "Pasteles en hoja (Ground-roots pockets) - Dominican Cooking". Retrieved 2008-10-20.
- ^ "Dominican Republic Cuisine by Hispaniola.com".
- ^ Harvey, Sean (2006). The Rough Guide to The Dominican Republic. Rough Guides. pp. 376–7. ISBN 1-84353-497-5.
{{cite book}}
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ignored (help) - ^ The Rough Guide to The Dominican Republic. Rough Guides. 2006. p. 375. ISBN 1-84353-497-5.
{{cite book}}
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ignored (help) - ^ The Rough Guide to The Dominican Republic [1]. Rough Guides. 2006. p. 378. ISBN 1-84353-497-5.
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: External link in
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|month=
ignored (help) - ^ Harvey, Sean (2006). The Rough Guide to The Dominican Republic. Rough Guides. p. 59. ISBN 1-84353-497-5.
{{cite book}}
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ignored (help) - ^ Shanahan, Tom (2007-03-24). "San Diego Hall of Champions - Sports at Lunch, Luis Castillo and Felix Sanchez". San Diego Hall of Champions. Retrieved 2007-05-29.
External links
- Consejo Nacional de Población y Familia (National Council of Population and Family) – The demographics department of the Dominican government