People of the Dominican Republic

Dominicans
Dominicanos

Map of the Dominican people around the world
Total population
14 million Diaspora 2.5 million
Regions with significant populations
Dominican Republic	9,341,916 (2017)[1][2]
United States	2,393,718 (2021)[3][4]
Spain	190,190 (2021 census)[5][6]
Puerto Rico	54,025 (2021)[7][8]
Italy	48,000 (2020)(28,812 as 2022)[8]
Canada	23,130[9]
Chile	19,481 (2021)[10]
Venezuela	14,743 (2015)[11]
Switzerland	11,154[12]
Germany	11,091 (2015)[11]
United Kingdom	10,000[13]
Netherlands	8,688 (2015)[11]
Panama	8,095 (2015)[11]
Curaçao	7,000[8]
Aruba	5,000[8]
U.S. Virgin Islands	5,442[14][8]
Sint Maarten	4,000[8]
France	3,843 (2019)[15]
Belgium	3,000[8]
Mexico	2,849 (2020)[16]
Austria	2,942[17]
Turks and Caicos Islands	2,000[8]
British Virgin Islands	2,000[8]
Antigua and Barbuda	2,000[8]
Haiti	2,000[8]
Languages
Dominican Spanish
Religion
Predominantly Roman Catholic;[18] Protestant
Related ethnic groups
Spaniards, other Latin Americans

Dominicans (Spanish: Dominicanos) are an ethno-national people, a people of shared ancestry and culture, who have ancestral roots in the Dominican Republic.^[19][20] The Dominican ethnic group was born out of a fusion of European (mainly Spanish), native Taino, and African elements, which is an ethnic fusion that goes back to the 16th century.^[19][21] Due to this fusion, the majority of Dominicans are of mixed-race heritage,^[22][23] tracing roots mainly to these three sources with the vast majority being of^[24] predominant European ancestry.^[25] The demonym Dominican can be traced as far back as the 1621. The name came from Santo Domingo, which was not only the name of the capital city but also of the entire island at the time, Spain used this term to refer to the inhabitants of Spanish province of Santo Domingo.^[26][27] Recent immigrants and their children, who are legal citizens of the Dominican Republic, can be considered "Dominican" by nationality but not ethnicity due to not having ancestral roots in the country.

"Dominican" was historically the name for the inhabitants of the Captaincy General of Santo Domingo, the site of the first Spanish settlement in the Western Hemisphere. The majority of Dominicans primarily trace their origin to the Captaincy General's European settlers, with native Taino and African influences.^[28]

The majority of Dominicans reside in the Dominican Republic, while there is also a large Dominican diaspora, mainly in the United States and Spain. The total population of the Dominican Republic in 2016 was estimated by the National Bureau of Statistics of the Dominican Republic at 10.2 million, with 9.3 million of those being natives of the country, and the rest being of foreign origin.^[2] The country has a right of blood citizenship law.