Culture

Dominican culture is a mixture of Europeans, Africans and to a lesser extent, Indians.

The country’s official language is Spanish called in its current form Antilles (Caribbean Spanish). Many Africans are employed, due to cultural pressure arising from the United States of America.

Due to the large population of Haitians living in the country, the use of Haitian Creole is common, especially in border regions with Haiti but it is only spoken by Haitians living mostly illegally in the country. Relations with Haiti have, due to wartime history and vast cultural differences, been increasingly recognized.

In Samana, descendants of people who immigrated during the occupation of Haiti, speak English with their own characteristics (English Samana).

In the Dominican Republic there is freedom of worship and its population is predominantly Christian and predominantly Catholic. The first Catholic mass in the New World was held in the Dominican territory on January 6th 1493. The majority of the population is Roman Catholic although there is a growing presence of Protestant denominations in the country.