Culture of the Dominican Republic Festival. During four days each December, independent films, shorts, and documentaries are screened. "Notes": Culture of the Dominican Republic The culture of the Dominican Republic is a diverse mixture of different influences from around the world. The Dominican people and their customs have origins consisting predominately in a European cultural basis, with both African and native Taíno influences. The Dominican Republic was the site of the first European settlement in the Western Hemisphere, namely Santo Domingo founded in 1493. As a result of over five centuries of Spanish presence in the island, the core of Dominican culture is derived from
Spanish occupation of the Dominican Republic killed or wounded in action. The 12,000 pro-Spanish southern forces recruited by Santana had also suffered about 10,000 casualties. The fatal losses among the Cibao-based nationalist armies were estimated at 4,000. Spanish occupation of the Dominican Republic In 1861, Dominican general Pedro Santana suggested retaking control of the Dominican Republic to queen Isabella II of Spain, after a period of 17 years of Dominican sovereignty. Newly independent Dominican Republic was economically recovering from the recently ended Dominican War of Independence (1844–1856), when the Republic won its independence against Haiti. Spanish crown and authorities, which scorned and rejected the peace treaties