The island of Hispaniola (La Isla Española) was the first New World colony settled by Spain. As such, it served as the logistical base for the conquest of most of the Western Hemisphere. Christopher Columbus first sighted the island in 1492 toward the end of his first voyage to "the Indies." Columbus and his crew found the island inhabited by a large population of friendly Taino Indians (Arawaks), who made the explorers welcome. The land was fertile, but of greater importance to the Spaniards was the discovery that gold could be obtained either by barter with the natives, who adorned themselves with golden jewelry, or by extraction from alluvial deposits on the island.

After several attempts to plant colonies along the north coast of Hispaniola, Spain's first permanent settlement in the New World was established on the southern coast at the present site of Santo Domingo. Under Spanish sovereignty, the entire island bore the name Santo Domingo. Indications of the presence of gold--the life's blood of the nascent mercantilist system--and a population of tractable natives who could be used as laborers combined to attract many Spanish newcomers during the early years. Most were adventurers who, at least initially, were more interested in acquiring sudden wealth than they were in settling the land. Their relations with the Taino Indians, whom they ruthlessly maltreated, deteriorated from the beginning. Aroused by continued seizures of their food supplies, other exactions, and abuse of their women, the formerly peaceful Indians rebelled- -only to be crushed decisively in 1495.

Columbus, who ruled the colony as royal governor until 1499, attempted to put an end to the more serious abuses to which the Indians were subjected by prohibiting foraging expeditions against them and by regulating the informal taxation imposed by the settlers. Being limited to this milder form of exploitation engendered active opposition among the settlers. To meet their demands, Columbus devised the repartimiento system of land settlement and native labor under which a settler, without assuming any obligation to the authorities, could be granted in perpetuity a large tract of land together with the services of the Indians living on it.

In 1795, the city of Santo Domingo – the oldest city in the Americas, founded by Columbus’ brother, in 1496 – was ceded to the French, followed by the rest of the island of Hispaniola later the same year. The battle of Palohincado, in 1808, in which Dominican General Ramirez inflicted an important defeat on the French, heralded the collapse of French rule in the eastern part of the island. The colony reverted to Spanish sovereignty in 1809, and in 1821, the colonial treasurer, José Nunez de Caceres, proclaimed Santo Domingo’s independence. This independence was short-lived – in 1822, the Haitians invaded the colony and occupied it for 22 years, until, on 27 February 1844, the territory of Santo Domingo recovered its sovereignty and declared independence once again, this time permanently, as the Dominican Republic.

After many years of civil war, dictatorship and US occupation, the Republic was ruled by the dictatorship of General Rafael Trujillo (1930-61), whose assassination led to a period of civil unrest. Under the control of President Joaquin Balaguer, leader of the Partido Reformista Social Cristiano (PRSC), who served three terms from 1966, the country was reasonably stable. Guzman Fernandez of the main opposition party, the centre-left Partido Revolucionario Dominicano (PRD), won the elections in 1978. However, after a further defeat in 1982, Dr Balaguer was returned to the Presidency in 1986 and again in 1990. Throughout the 1990s, economic problems and IMF-imposed austerity policies were widely unpopular and prompted bouts of civil unrest. In 1994, Balaguer secured a narrow victory, although accusations of institutionalised corruption led to a major overhaul of the electoral process.

Following fresh elections in November 1995, Balaguer was reinstalled for a seventh term. A series of increasingly desperate energy crises, steep inflation and the widespread deterioration of public services provoked a fresh cycle of protests and strikes. Balaguer stood down and the presidential elections of May 1996 – the first under the new electoral system – were overseen by international observers. The Frente Nacional Patriotico, an alliance between the PLD and the PRSC, helped Leonel Fernandez Reyna of the PLD to a narrow victory. In May 2000, now aged 92 and in failing health, Balaguer attempted to secure an eighth presidential term, although this too ended in defeat at the hands of the PRD candidate, Hipolito Mejia. The most recent National Assembly elections, held in May 2002, also gave control of both chambers to the PRD.

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