Dominican Culture: An Overview

The Dominican Republic is unique from all other Latin American nations in part because it's heritage relates to Haitian cultural traditions rather than solely Spanish ones, much like the rest of Latin America (Brown & Standish, 1999). In fact, the Dominican Republic received its independence from Haiti not Spain (Brown & Standish, 1999). This is not to say that Spanish colonial influences are not evident in the country; in fact they are widespread, particularly within the realm of architectural structures and art.

The official religion of the Dominican Republic is Roman Catholicism (Brown & Standish, 1999:69). More than 90% of the citizens living in this country are Roman Catholic. There are other religions prevalent in the country however including Protestantism and the traditional religious system of native Taino Indians, who practice cohoba religious ceremonies and also Gaga, which is the Dominican version of voodooism (Brown &...
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