Santo Domingo is capital and largest city in the Dominican Republic. Santo Domingo has an estimated population of over 2.2 million people. Located on the Caribbean Sea at the mouth of the Ozama River, the city is the oldest continuously inhabited European settlement in the Americas. Bartholomew Columbus, the younger brother of Christopher Columbus, founded Santo Domingo in 1496.
Throughout the years, Santo Domingo has been the home of exploration and conquest by the New World. Francis Drake captured the city of Santo Domingo and held it for ransom in 1586. His invasion and pillaging of the country made Santo Domingo the only inhabited city for 50 years. The rest was taken over and controlled by pirates until Drake finally gave up his plans and abandoned Santo Domingo. Over the years, Santo Domingo has been controlled by multiple different nations. France had power in the early 1800′s, but lost control to Spain a few years later. The Dominican Republic would ultimately gain independence, and establish Santo Domingo as the capital again in the mid 20th century.
Santo Domingo features a tropical monsoon climate, which keeps the average temperatures very steady throughout the year. Tropical trade winds constantly move the heat and humidity across the city to maintain the stable temperatures. While this makes for ideal weather, it also makes Santo Domingo very susceptible to hurricanes. The temperatures very rarely get below 70 degrees at any time during the year. Winter will see average temperature in the low 80′s, with the summer seeing temperatures in the mid 90′s. Annual rainfall is usually around 57 inches, with the summer and fall months seeing the majority of the rain. These months will see 7 inches of rain each, but only 2 or 3 inches will fall in the winter and spring.
The weather and beautiful locations make Santo Domingo a very popular Holidays to the Caribbean destination. A vast majority of Santo Domingo is highly developed, but there are a few areas with very poor conditions and slums. Most of the poverty stricken areas are located on the outskirts of the city, with the development occurring in downtown locations. Santo Domingo is the home to 10 separate museums that are dedicated to the history of the Dominican Republic. The city is also home to several beautiful parks, zoos and malls. The Dr. Moscoso National Botanical Garden would have to be the most popular destination, and is home to many plants only found in the Dominican Republic.
