Module 4 - Sovereign Territory

    The Dominican Republic has a long and storied history when it comes to their territory and sovereignty. Flint & Taylor (2018), define territory as “the land belonging to the ruler of a state,” and refer to sovereignty as a legal concept that implies on absolute authority in the realm of politics and government (p. 134). Over time, while the territory of the Dominican Republic has essentially remained unchanged, the sovereignty has changed quite frequently. 



Map of the Island of Hispaniola

(Britannica).

Map of the Dominican Republic's Location in Relation to Other Caribbean Countries

(Britannica).

The first time the Dominican Republic was settled was by the Spaniards, in 1492; in 1496 during a second settlement period by Spain, Santo Domingo was established – during this period, the island was called Hispaniola (Britannica). This was the start of a long period of colonization, occupation, and intervention for the Dominican Republic. In 1795, Spain gave up two-thirds of the island to France, and after a Haitian slave revolt on the island, the Haitians then took their turn of occupying the island (Britannica). After this, the Dominican Republic experienced a series of dictators and military leaders, and this is what ultimately resulted in the U.S. beginning their intervention in the country (Britannica). Ultimately, in 1916, the United States took over full control of the Dominican Republic’s government after their political system failed (Britannica). This was the beginning of a long history of U.S. intervention into their political system. Obviously, the Dominican Republic’s sovereignty has changed multiple times throughout their history, and it will be interesting to see if their sovereignty will continue to change in the future.


The Columbus Alcazar Museum - this is located in Santo Domingo and was once home to Christopher Columbus' oldest son (BBC, 2018).

BBC. (2018, May 16). Dominican Republic profile - Timeline. BBC. Retrieved April 7, 2022, 

    from https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-19343656

Britannica. (n.d.). Dominican Republic. Britannica. Retrieved April 6, 2022, from 

    https://www.britannica.com/place/Dominican-Republic

Flint, C., & Taylor, P.J. (2018). Political geography: World-economy, nation-state and locality 

    (7th ed.). Routledge.


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