Some key dates in the history of the Dominican Republic:
1492- Christopher Columbus visits the island, which he names Hispaniola, or "Little Spain".
1496- Spaniards set up first Spanish colony in Western hemisphere at Santo Domingo, which subsequently serves as capital of all Spanish colonies in America.
Image copyrightAFP/GETTY IMAGESImage captionPunta Cana with its beaches is a leading tourist destination
1697- Treaty of Ryswick gives western part of Hispaniola island (Haiti) to France and eastern part (Santo Domingo - the present Dominican Republic) to Spain.
1795- Spain cedes its portion of Hispaniola island to France.
1808- Spain retakes Santo Domingo following revolt by Spanish Creoles.
1821- Uprising against Spanish rules is followed by brief period of independence.
1822- Haitian President Jean-Pierre Boyer marches his troops into Santo Domingo and annexes it.
1844- Boyer overthrown; Santo Domingo declares its independence and becomes the Dominican Republic.
1861-64- President Pedro Santana returns the Dominican Republic to Spanish rule. Spain withdraws from, and annuls its annexation of, the Dominican Republic following a popular revolt.
1865- The second Dominican Republic proclaimed.
1906- Dominican Republic and US sign 50-year treaty according to which the US takes over the republic's customs department in return for buying its debts.
1916-24- US forces occupy the Dominican Republic following internal disorder.
1924- Constitutional government assumes control; US forces withdraw.
Image copyrightGETTY IMAGESImage captionDominican Republic is a major Caribbean producer of sugarcane
1930-1961- General Rafael Leonidas Trujillo Molina establishes personal dictatorship following the overthrow of President Horacio Vazquez. He rules the country until his assassination in 1961.
1492- Christopher Columbus visits the island, which he names Hispaniola, or "Little Spain".
Image copyrightGETTY IMAGESImage captionThe capital Santo Domingo is home to Catedral Primada de America, the oldest cathedral in the Americas. Construction began in 1514
1496- Spaniards set up first Spanish colony in Western hemisphere at Santo Domingo, which subsequently serves as capital of all Spanish colonies in America.
1697- Treaty of Ryswick gives western part of Hispaniola island (Haiti) to France and eastern part (Santo Domingo - the present Dominican Republic) to Spain.
1795- Spain cedes its portion of Hispaniola island to France.
1808- Spain retakes Santo Domingo following revolt by Spanish Creoles.
1821- Uprising against Spanish rules is followed by brief period of independence.
1822- Haitian President Jean-Pierre Boyer marches his troops into Santo Domingo and annexes it.
Republic is born
1844- Boyer overthrown; Santo Domingo declares its independence and becomes the Dominican Republic.
1861-63- President Pedro Santana returns the Dominican Republic to Spanish rule.
1863-64- Spain withdraws from, and annuls its annexation of, the Dominican Republic following a popular revolt.
1865- The second Dominican Republic proclaimed.
1906- Dominican Republic and US sign 50-year treaty according to which the US takes over the republic's customs department in return for buying its debts.
1916-24- US forces occupy the Dominican Republic following internal disorder.
1924- Constitutional government assumes control; US forces withdraw.
Trujillo dictatorship
1930- General Rafael Leonidas Trujillo Molina establishes personal dictatorship following the overthrow of President Horacio Vazquez.
Image copyrightGETTY IMAGESImage captionThe Columbus Alcazar Museum in Santo Domingo was home to Christopher Columbus's eldest son
1937- Army massacres 19,000-20,000 Haitians living in areas of the Dominican Republic adjacent to Haiti.
1960- Organisation of American States adopts resolution calling for severance of diplomatic ties with the Dominican Republic.
1961- Trujillo assassinated.
US invades
1962- Juan Bosch, founder of the leftist Dominican Revolutionary Party (PRD) elected president in the first democratic elections for nearly four decades.
1963- Bosch deposed in military coup and replaced by a three-man civilian junta.
1965- Some 30,000 US troops invade the Dominican Republic following a pro-Bosch uprising.
Return to democracy
1966- Joaquin Balaguer, a Trujillo protege and former leader of the Reformist Party (later to become the centre-right Christian Social Reform Party (PRSC)), is elected president.
1978- Silvestre Antonio Guzman (PRD) is elected president and proceeds to release some 200 political prisoners, ease media censorship and purge the armed forces of Balaguer supporters.
1979- Two hurricanes leave more than 200,0000 people homeless and cause damage worth 1 billion dollars as the economy continues to deteriorate due to high fuel prices and low sugar prices.
1982- Another PRD candidate, Jorge Blanco, elected president.
Austerity, unrest
1985- IMF-prescribed austerity measures, including price rises for basic foods and petrol, lead to widespread riots.
1986- Balaguer (PRSC) re-elected president.
1988- Jorge Blanco tried in absentia and found guilty of corruption during his presidential tenure.
1990- Balaguer re-elected, defeating Bosch by a small majority.
1994- Balaguer re-elected, but agrees to serve only a two-year term after being accused of fraud.
1996- Leonel Fernandez Reyna of the Dominican Liberation Party (PLD) elected president.
1998- Hurricane George causes widespread devastation.
2000- PRD returned to power with Hipolito Mejia as president.
2001May - Appeals court quashes a conviction against former president, Salvador Jorge Blanco, on charges of corruption.
2001November - US jet bound for Santo Domingo crashes in New York killing all 255 people on board. Three days of national mourning declared.
2002July - Former president Joaquin Balaguer dies aged 95; thousands pay their last respects to a man who dominated politics for more than 50 years.
2003November - Deadly clashes between police and protesters during demonstrations against high prices, power cuts. Two months later, demonstrations about economic policies leave at least five dead.
Fernandez elected
2004May - Former president Leonel Fernandez defeats incumbent Hipolito Mejia.
Image copyrightGETTY IMAGESImage captionColourful carnival parades are a feature of modern day Santo Domingo
Severe floods in the south-west, and in parts of neighbouring Haiti, leave more than 2,000 dead or disappeared.
2005September - Congress approves a proposed free trade agreement with the US and Central American nations. The DR enters the accord in March 2007.
2008May - President Leonel Fernandez is re-elected.
2010May - Congressional elections. Governing Dominican Liberation Party (PLD) retains firm grip on power.
2010October - Dominican Republic tightens border restrictions to prevent cholera spreading from Haiti.
2012May - Governing Dominican Liberation Party candidate Danilo Medina wins close presidential election over former president Hipolito Mejia.
2013September - Dominican Republic's highest court rules that the children of undocumented migrants are not eligible for Dominican nationality. Human rights groups warn that it could leave tens of thousands of people of Haitian descent stateless.
2014May - The Dominican parliament approves a bill to grant citizenship to Dominican-born children of immigrants.
2016May - President Danilo Medina is re-elected with a large majority.
2016November - More than 20,000 people are displaced in flooding. The government declares a state of emergency.
2017October - A report by the campaign group Transparency International lists the Dominican Republic as having the second highest bribery rate in Latin America and the Caribbean after Mexico.
2018May - The Dominican Republic ends its long diplomatic relationship with Taiwan, establishing ties with China instead
Hispaniola Island which is DR and Haiti today was a center of trade and expansion for colonial Europeans during the Age of Exploration. The island was in a good location to sail to any of the other Caribbean Islands as well as South America, Mexico, Central America and Florida. The trip from Europe to the Caribbean Islands during those times took at least a month to arrive and it was an arduous journey on the rough seas of the Atlantic Ocean. Plus, the ships at the time could only have sailed with the trade winds which sent them from Europe to the Caribbean Islands and back.
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