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1492 BCE
The first inhabitants of the island are reconized.
The Taino - indigenous inhabitants of Hispaniola prior to the arrival of the Europeans - divided the island into five chiefdoms and territories. -
1492
The first European inhabitants
In 1492 Columbus sailed from Europe and settled on the island and claimed it on his first voyage. -
Spain recognizes french dominion.
In 1697, Spain recognized French dominion over the western third of the island, which in 1804 became Haiti. -
Dominican becomes an independent country.
Gains independence as the Dominican Republic in 1844. -
Gives up and then gains back independence.
In 1861, the Dominicans voluntarily returned to the Spanish Empire, but two years later they launched a war that restored independence in 1865. -
Ruled by an dictator.
A legacy of unsettled, mostly non-representative rule followed, capped by the dictatorship of Rafael Leonidas TRUJILLO from 1930 to 1961. -
Bosch becomes president.
Juan BOSCH was elected president in 1962 but was deposed in a military coup in 1963. In 1965, the US led an intervention in the midst of a civil war sparked by an uprising to restore BOSCH. -
Balaguer becomes president for the next thirty years.
In 1966, Joaquin BALAGUER defeated BOSCH in the presidential election. BALAGUER maintained a tight grip on power for most of the next 30 years when international reaction to flawed elections forced him to curtail his term in 1996. -
A new president is elected.
Former President Leonel FERNANDEZ Reyna (first term 1996-2000) won elected to a new term in 2004. -
Last election.
Danilo MEDINA Sanchez becomes president in 2016.
