City of Sun and Sea, Sunny Isles Beach

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

City of Choice, Hallandale Beach

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Republic of Trinidad and Tobago

Trinidad

Trinidad today would reveal a multicultural melting pot stirred by the descendants of settlers from Europe, Africa, Asia, South America and the Middle East. But in 1498, when explorer Christopher Columbus set foot on Trinidad, things were very different.

Arawak and Carib Indians prospered here on the island the Amerindians called Ieri, land of the Humming Bird, until Columbus spotted the island he named for the Holy Trinity. When the Spaniards discovered no precious metals on Trinidad, the Amerindians were enslaved and shipped off to work on other Caribbean settlements.

Nearly a century would pass before Spain established Trinidad's first European community, San Jose de Oruna (St Joseph), which was sacked and burnt by Sir Walter Raleigh in 1595. Sir Walter Raleigh was also said to have discovered the Pitch Lake, from which he used material to caulk his leaking ship.

Trinidad remained a Spanish possession from the 15th Century and the Cedula of Population in 1783, allowed French planters and their slaves to emigrate from the French colonies to the island. The British would capture Trinidad in 1797 and negotiate an amicable treaty of rule with the Spanish.

In the following years, enslaved Africans were brought in to work on sugar plantations and in 1802, the island became a British colony. After slavery was abolished by Britain, landowners imported thousands of indentured laborers from India, China and the Middle East.

In 1889, Britain joined the smaller Tobago to Trinidad as an administrative ward. The islands achieved independence from England in 1962 and became the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago in 1976.

Tobago

Named for the tobacco cultivated by the original Carib population, Tobago existed separately from Trinidad for centuries. While the explorer Christopher Columbus sighted the island in 1498, he did not land and no attempts were made to colonize Tobago.

But long before European powers expressed interest in the island's strategic harbor and fertile soil, it was the center of battles for control between the Carib population and other Amerindian tribes.

Later, in the 17th century, English, French, Dutch and even Courlanders (Latvians) fought to control the strategic island and it changed hands more than 30 times.

During British rule in the late 1600s, sugar, cotton and indigo plantations were established and thousands of Africans were brought to Tobago as slave labor. In 1781 the French invaded, but by 1814 the island was ceded to Britain.

In 1889, during a period of economic decline, Britain annexed the smaller Tobago to Trinidad as an administrative ward. The islands achieved independence from England in 1962 and became the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago in 1976.

The base of Tobago's early economy was agriculture, but this was ravaged by severe hurricanes in 1847 and 1963.

Today the island is serene, yet the many forts and batteries that dot Tobago's landscape hint at a thrilling past.

Fierce slave revolts, bitter battles for control between European powers, attacks on European settlers by the Amerindian Indians who inhabited the island and pirates are all part of Tobago's rich history.

In 1629 an expedition of Dutchmen established a settlement which was annihilated by disease and the Amerindians. More settlers were sent in 1632 but an attack by the Spaniards four years later drove them out.

English Puritans also attempted to settle in Tobago, but many were killed by the Amerindians and the survivors driven out.

Santo Domingo

National Palace




Columbus Lighthouse



Townhall clock tower



Statue of an Indian and Christopher Columbus on Columbus Square



Columbus Alcazar and entrance from the old city wall



Ozama Fortress



Ceiling of Church of the Jesuit Fathers and National Pantheon



Bells of the First cathedral of Americas



Church of Altagracia next to the ruins of the Hospital de San Nicolás de Bari



Sun clock



Canon from the old city wall



Pope-mobile from Pope John Paul II's visit in 1992



Borgella Palace



During the Trujillo dictatorship the City was renamed "City Trujillo"



"Las Damas" street



Cave from Los Tres Ojos



Cave from Los Tres Ojos



Sunset over Malecon

Dominican Republic

History

The Dominican Republic is a nation on the island of Hispaniola, part of the Greater Antilles archipelago in the Caribbean region. The western third of the island is occupied by the nation of Haiti, making Hispaniola one of two Caribbean islands that are shared by two countries. Both by area and population, the Dominican Republic is the second largest Caribbean nation (after Cuba), with 48,442 square kilometres (18,704 sq mi) and an estimated 10 million people. Inhabited by Taínos since the 7th century, the territory of the Dominican Republic was reached by Christopher Columbus in 1492 and became the site of the first permanent European settlement in the Americas, namely Santo Domingo, the country's capital and Spain's first capital in the New World. In Santo Domingo stand, among other firsts in the Americas, the first university, cathedral, and castle, the latter two in the Ciudad Colonial area, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

After three centuries of Spanish rule, with French and Haitian interludes, the country became independent in 1821 but was quickly taken over by Haiti. Victorious in the Dominican War of Independence in 1844, Dominicans experienced mostly internal strife, and also a brief return to Spanish rule, over the next 72 years. The United States occupation of 1916–1924, and a subsequent, calm and prosperous six-year period under Horacio Vásquez Lajara, were followed by the dictatorship of Rafael Leonidas Trujillo Molina until 1961. The civil war of 1965, the country's last, was ended by a U.S.-led intervention, and was followed by the authoritarian rule of Joaquín Balaguer, 1966–1978. Since then, the Dominican Republic has moved toward representative democracy, and has been led by Leonel Fernández for most of the time
after 1996.

Geography

The Dominican Republic is situated on the eastern part of the second-largest island in the Greater Antilles, Hispaniola. It shares the island roughly at a 2:1 ratio with Haiti. The country's area is reported variously as 48,442 km² making it the second largest country in the Antilles, after Cuba. The country's capital and greatest metropolitan area, Santo Domingo, is located on the southern coast. The country lies between latitudes 17° and 20°N, and longitudes 68° and 72°W.

There are many small offshore islands and cays that are part of the Dominican territory. The two largest islands near shore are Saona, in the southeast, and Beata, in the southwest. To the north, at distances of 100–200 kilometres (62–124 mi), are three extensive, largely submerged banks, which geographically are a southeast continuation of the Bahamas: Navidad Bank, Silver Bank, and Mouchoir Bank. Navidad Bank and Silver Bank have been officially claimed by the Dominican Republic.