About Santo Domingo

Santo Domingo (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈsanto ðoˈmiŋɡo] meaning "Saint Dominic"), once known as Santo Domingo de Guzmán and Ciudad Trujillo, is the capital and largest city of the Dominican Republic and the largest metropolitan area in the Caribbean by population. As of 2022, the city and immediate surrounding area (the Distrito Nacional) had a population of 1,484,789, while the total population is 2,995,211 when including Greater Santo Domingo (the "metropolitan area"). The city is coterminous with the boundaries of the Distrito Nacional ("D.N.", "National District"), itself bordered on three sides by Santo Domingo Province. Founded by the Spanish in 1496, on the east bank of the Ozama River and then moved by Nicolás de Ovando in 1502 to the west bank of the river, the city is the oldest continuously inhabited European settlement in the Americas, and was the first seat of the Spanish colonial rule in the New World, the Captaincy General of Santo Domingo. It is the site of the first university, cathedral, castle, monastery, and fortress in the New World.