Dominican Republic

History of Jewish immigration

Sephardic Jewish merchants arrived south of the Spanish Island during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, fleeing the results of the Spanish Inquisition.
During the following centuries many Jews and their descendants were assimilated into the general population, although many of the Dominicans Jews still keep various aspects of Sephardic culture of their ancestors.

Sosua, a small town on the northern coast of the island, was founded by Ashkenazi Jews fleeing the Nazi government in the 1930s.

Rafael Trujillo, dictator of the country, opened the doors of the Dominican Republic to Jewish refugees for their skills and also to "improve" what he considered the "inferior race" to compare the dark with the white newcomers Dominicans.

Today Sosua has a synagogue and a museum of Jewish history. There are still descendants of Sephardic and Ashkenazi Jews in other towns in the north of the island.

A little about the country

The Dominican Republic is a Caribbean country located on the island of Santo Domingo Spanish or sharing an island with Haiti, in the archipelago of the Antilles.
It has a land area of �??�??48,730 km and a population of nearly 10 million.
The seat of government and capital is Santo Domingo.

On August 4, 1496 , Bartholomew Columbus, brother of Christopher Columbus, founded the city of Santo Domingo.
The February 27, 1844 , when Dominicans managed to separate from Haiti, named the new nation under the name of Dominican Republic.

The Dominican Republic is a representative democracy and is made up of 31 provinces and the National District, a total of 32. Each of the provinces has its capital or capital municipality .
In addition, the national capital, Santo Domingo, is in his own district: National District.

It has a predominantly tropical climate where rainfall is abundant.

The city of Santo Domingo, founded in 1496, was the first city of the new world, with its colonial area declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO.

The official language is Spanish and in its current they speak Caribbean Spanish.

The currency is the Dominican (DOP ) Weight.