Information about the Dominican Republic: The Dominican Republic has the ninth largest economy in Latin America and is the largest economy in the Caribbean and Central American region. Christopher Columbus landed on the island on December 5, 1492, which the Taíno people had inhabited since the 7th century. It became the site of the first permanent European settlement in the Americas; namely Santo Domingo, the oldest continuously inhabited city and the first seat of the Spanish colonial rule in the New World. After three centuries of Spanish rule, with French and Haitian interludes, the Dominican Republic became independent in 1821. Read More...