1891 Perron map SANTO DOMINGO, DOMINICAN REPUBLIC (#171)

Description

Perron17_171
1891 Perron map SANTO DOMINGO, DOMINICAN REPUBLIC (#171)
Nice small map titled
Santo-Domingo,
from wood engraving  with fine detail and clear impression, nice hand coloring. Overall size approx.  19 x 16 cm, image size approx. 10.5 x 10.5 cm. From
La Nouvelle Géographie universelle, la terre et les hommes
, 19 vol. (1875-94), great work of Elisee Reclus. Cartographer is Charles Perron.
Santo Domingo
capital of the Dominican Republic. It is situated on the  southeast coast of the island of Hispaniola, at the mouth of the Ozama River,  and is the oldest permanent city established by Europeans in the Western  Hemisphere. The city is also the seat of the oldest Roman Catholic archbishopric  in the Americas.
anto Domingo was founded in 1496 by Bartholomew Columbus, brother of Christopher  Columbus, as the capital of the first Spanish colony in the New World. The  original city site was located on the left (east) bank of the Ozama River and  was called Nueva Isabela in honour of Queen Isabella I of Spain. It was  destroyed by a hurricane, however, and was rebuilt in 1502 at its present  location on the right bank of the river. It became the starting point of most of  the Spanish expeditions of exploration and conquest of the other islands of the  West Indies and the adjacent mainland. The colony prospered as the seat of  government of the Spanish possessions in the Americas until the conquest of  Mexico and Peru, after which its importance declined.
In 1586 Sir Francis Drake, the English buccaneer, sacked the city. In 1655 its  inhabitants defeated a British force that had been sent to seize the city. From  1795 to 1809 Santo Domingo was under French domination, and then, after another  brief Spanish period, it was conquered by invaders from Haiti, its neighbour to  the west on Hispaniola. Independence was proclaimed in 1844, and Santo Domingo  became the capital of the new Dominican Republic until the republic's annexation  to Spain in 1861–65. The city has been the Dominican capital since the  restoration of independence in 1865. The city's name, officially changed in 1936  to Ciudad Trujillo in honour of the dictator Rafael Trujillo, was restored after  his assassination in 1961.
Santo Domingo is the industrial, commercial, and financial centre of the  country. Its industrial development has been greatly influenced by the  construction of hydroelectric dams, which furnish its industries with  inexpensive electrical power. The country's most important industries—such as  metallurgy; the manufacture of refrigerators, petrochemicals and plastics,  cement, and textiles; and food processing—are located in Santo Domingo. The  importance of services, including tourism, to the city's economy has grown since  the late 20th century.
Santo Domingo is also the chief seaport of the Dominican Republic. Its harbour  at the mouth of the Ozama River was greatly improved in the 1930s to accommodate  the largest vessels, and the port handles both heavy passenger and freight  traffic. Roads connect the capital with the rest of the republic. There are no  railway lines from the city, except those of the nearby sugar refineries. Two  international airports serve the region, one about 10 miles (16 km)  north-northeast and the other some 15 miles (24 km) east of the central city.
Santo Domingo claims the oldest university in the Western Hemisphere: the  Autonomous University of Santo Domingo (founded 1538). The city's other  educational institutions include the Pedro Henríquez Ureña National University  (1966) and a technological institute (1971). Among the noted cultural  institutions are the National Theatre, the music conservatory and the National  Symphony Orchestra, the Museum of Dominican Man—important for its pre-Columbian  collection—and various public and private libraries, especially the National  Library. The two most prominent colonial monuments in Santo Domingo are the  cathedral and the palace of Diego Columbus. The cathedral, in Spanish  Renaissance style, was built between 1514 and 1542. The Columbus Lighthouse  (Faro a Colón) reputedly contains the remains of Christopher Columbus. The  historic district of the city was designated a UNESCO World Heritage site in  1990. The city has numerous parks and green spaces, including the National  Botanical Garden, established in 1976. Pop. (2002) urban area, 1,887,586; (2010)  urban area, 2,581,827.