Independence Restoration Day, Dominican Republic

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Each year, on 16th August – or the Monday following the 16th August, the people of the Dominican Republic celebrate "Independence Restoration Day".

After initial independence from Haiti (1844) the country was forever in turmoil with incursions from Haiti itself and internal struggles . Independence Restoration Day holiday commemorates the recovery of the country's independence (after it was lost in 1861 when the Spanish Annexation took place) on 16th August 1863 – which then led to the National War of Restoration. By 14th September a provisional government was established in Santiago which the Spanish recognised on 11th July 1865.

The initial President, Pedro Santana, had been deposed, then had returned and, by 1861, had begun his third term as President, almost immediately handing control of the country back to Spain.

On 16th August 1863, the national War of Restoration started in Santiago, and a provisional government was announced.

The restoration of an Independent Dominican Republic is celebrated each year with typical Caribbean partying, music, dance and laughter, of lesser intensity than the February carnival. Parades of groups dressed in colourful "diablo cojuelo" costumes dance on the streets of Santo Domingo, Santiago, La Vega and San Pedro de Macoris, among other provinces.

The Dominican Republic, is a country located on the eastern two-thirds of the Caribbean island of Hispaniola, which it shares with Haiti. Hispaniola is the second largest of the Greater Antilles islands and lies West of Puerto Rico and East of Cuba and Jamaica. The Dominican Republic is not to be confused with Dominica, another Caribbean island-state.

Dominicans sometimes refer to their country as Quisqueya, a name for Hispaniola used by the indigenous Taíno people. Quisqueya means "high land" and refers to the highest portion of the island of Hispaniola.

For much of the 20th century there was what can only be described as unrepresentative rule, although there have been significant moves towards democracy in more recent times, especially since the assassination of the military dictator Rafael Leónidas Trujillo in 1961, who ruled for over 30 years.

The Dominican Republic was the first European settlement in the New World, and became the first point of colonisation in the Americas by explorers from Europe, with La Isabella being the site of the settlement created by Christopher Columbus. Hispaniola became the springboard for Spanish conquest of the Caribbean and the American mainland.

In 1697, Spain recognised French dominion over the western third of the island, which in 1804 became the independent country of Haiti after a slave rebellion.

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.

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