Welcome ! - Dominican Republic - Culture

Spanish is the official language. Young people are provided with a decent education. School attendance is compulsory for children aged 7 to 14. In 2002, more than 2.4 million children had registered at school.

The Autonomous University of Santo Domingo, founded in 1538, is the oldest in the western hemisphere. Other universities include Pedro Henríquez Ureña National University (1966) in Santo Domingo, and institutions in Santiago, San Pedro de Macorís, and San Francisco de Macorís. The yearly enrollment in schools of higher education exceeded 80,000 in the late 1980s.

Western traditions have had a strong presence in the Dominican Republic since the island was first permanently colonised by Western Europeans . Some of the old colonial buildings are still standing today, and many fine examples of this can be found in Santa Domingo. Art, music and literature are taught partly according to Western precepts, but equally strong is the African cultural strain. The African heritage is most noticeable in the folk culture, especially the music. Hence, these two traditions blend in the popular national song and dance, the merengue. Most of the country's major cultural institutions are in Santo Domingo.

The merging of the plena (African-derived work songs) and the decima (a 10-line, 17th-century Spanish verse song form) has created a highly original and sophisticated song tradition in the Dominican Republic. The dance form associated with this music is the merengue, which synthesizes European and Afro-Caribbean rhythms. In the Dominican Republic the merengue was originally a couple dance related to European line dances. The dance form has since become popular throughout Latin America.

Religion According to the major official sources, the great majority of the dominican people profess Roman Catholicism. The World Factbook from CIA say 95% of the population ! But the special agent Malko Linge did a big mistake : At least in the North Cost, like Sosua and Cabarete, you will find more "Christan" (or Evangelic and others...), than Catholic. For a few catholic churches you will see everywhere temples and scools of those communities. It's obvious to note their superiority !

Culture - History of merengue and bachata - Listen at the best Bachatas
Miguel Fenton : Tradición Musical Afro-Dominicana