THE PEOPLE
Population.—Distribution.—Race.—Descendants of American negroes.—Language.—Physical traits.—Mental traits.—Amusements. —Dances, theaters, clubs, carnivals.—Gaming.—Morality.—Homes.
The estimates of the early Spanish writers as to the Indian population of Hispaniola at the time of its first settlement in 1493 range all the way from one million to three million inhabitants. While it is probable that the former number was nearer to the truth, it is evident that the island was well inhabited, for Columbus found every valley swarming with natives. The severe labor imposed by the Spaniards made such frightful inroads on the native population that within a decade labor for the plantations and mines began to grow scarce and forty thousand inhabitants of the Bahama Islands were imported to increase the supply. They were lured on board the Spanish transports by the promise that they were to be conveyed to the beautiful home of their departed ancestors and though they did indeed quickly join their deceased relatives, it was not until after a taste of purgatory in the mines of Santo Domingo. In 1507 the entire Indian population was estimated at only 70,000, in 1508 it had fallen to 40,000, and in 1514 to 14,000. Six years later the remnant of the aborigines united in the mountains to resist the Spaniards to the end, but in 1533 a treaty was concluded by which the Indians were assigned certain lands near Boya, thirty miles northeast of Santo Domingo City. According to some authorities 4000 and according to others only 600 natives remained to take advantage of this provision. Thereafter all mention of the Indians disappears from Dominican annals. Types recalling Indian characteristics are sometimes seen, however, and it is probable that some Indian blood is still represented in the country.
Father Las Casas, the friend of the Indians, is credited with the suggestion that in place of the frail natives negroes be imported for labor in the mines and on the plantations. The earliest importations seem to have taken place in the opening years of the sixteenth century, for as early as 1505 King Ferdinand authorized the shipment of more negroes in lots of 100. Later, licenses were issued for the importation of negro slaves by the thousands and many more were probably smuggled in. The Spanish population also grew rapidly until about 1530 when the colony reached the zenith of its wealth and prosperity. Twelve years later, when the decline had become marked, it was estimated that besides a substantial white population there were 30,000 negro slaves on the island. The superior attractions of other newly discovered countries and the fear of piratical invasions had by 1591 decreased the total population of the colony to 15,000. This number remained almost stationary until about 1663 when it began to dwindle further until the low water mark was reached, about 1737, and the entire population of the Spanish portion of the island was estimated at but 6,000. Timely tariff concessions revived trade and encouraged immigration and new importations of slaves the number of inhabitants increased rapidly and in 1785 was reckoned at 150,000, including 30,000 slaves and a considerable proportion of free colored persons. A decade later saw the beginning of the negro insurrection in the French section of Santo Domingo; the horrors attending this war, the invasion of the Spanish colony by the Haitians, the menace of further invasions, the frequent changes of sovereignty, and adverse economic conditions, produced an exodus in the course of which the great majority of the white population abandoned the island, many with all their slaves and dependents. A few returned, but in 1809 it was calculated that the inhabitants of Spanish Santo Domingo numbered 104,000 and in 1819 but 63,000, of whom the greater number were colored. During Haitian rule, from 1822 to 1844, white emigration again took place and white immigration was discouraged, while settlements of negroes from Haiti and the United States were made in different parts of the country. The increase of the population since that time has been subject to little outside influence; there has been practically no emigration, and immigration has been insignificant, the few new settlers being chiefly negroes from the British colonies, Haitians, Porto Ricans, Syrians and European merchants. In 1863 an ecclesiastical census, based on the returns of the various parish priests, placed the population at 207,700. This number may be described as little more than a compilation of guesses and was probably exaggerated. A similar ecclesiastical census taken in 1888 gave a total of 382,312 inhabitants.
These ecclesiastical computations were founded to some extent on parish records of baptisms and burials, but this basis became more and more precarious as the population increased. Probably the records most nearly accurate are the baptismal records of the Church, for almost every Dominican is baptized at some time in his life. The death records are the least complete on account of the obstacles presented during the civil disorders and the distance at which many country people live from the place of registry. A law of civil registry, requiring the inscription of all births, marriages and deaths has been only indifferently carried out and during times of insurrection entirely suspended. A government census was begun in 1908 but not concluded. Any accurate computation is thus out of the question.
Unofficial estimates of the population to-day range all the way from 400,000 to 920,000. In 1908 an official estimate based on birth statistics, placed it at 605,000. An unofficial estimate in 1917, made on the assumption that there are 1000 inhabitants for every 37 births reported, calculated the total population at 795,432, thus distributed among the several provinces:
Santo Domingo … 127,976
Santiago …….. 123,972
La Vega………. 105,000
Pacificador…… 90,569
Seibo………… 68,135
Espaillat…….. 64,108
Azua ………… 59,783
Puerto Plata … 55,864
Monte Cristi … 41,459
Macoris………. 28,000
Barahona …….. 17,891
Samana ………. 12,675
The estimate of 37 births per 1000 inhabitants is probably too large as the birth-rate in Jamaica is but 34.6, in the Leeward Islands 33, and in the birth-registration area of the United States only 24.9. A reduction of ten per cent in the above figures would probably make them more nearly correct. That would give a total population of about 715,000. Accepting the number of inhabitants as 715,000 the population per square mile is about 39.6. A comparison with the surrounding West Indian countries reveals considerable disproportion. The Dominican Republic is not quite one-half the size of Cuba but has only one-fourth the number of inhabitants; it is almost double the size of the Republic of Haiti but has less than one-half the inhabitants; it is five times the size of Porto Rico and has but one-half the population; it is one hundred and seven times as large as Barbados but has only four times the population. If the Dominican Republic were as densely populated as the neighboring Republic of Haiti, it would have 3,000,000 inhabitants; if the population were as dense as that of Porto Rico, it would be 7,000,000; if the Republic were as densely inhabited as Barbados it would have over 21,000,000 people. Though the climatic and topographical conditions of the country would not permit it to become as thickly populated as Barbados, there is no reason why it should not support a population proportional to that of Porto Rico.
As in the other West India Islands the population is principally rural. There are probably not more than a dozen towns in the Republic with more than 1500 inhabitants. A government census of Santo Domingo City, the capital and largest urban center, taken in November, 1908, showed a population of 18,626, and the number is now estimated as 21,000.
A census of Santiago de los Caballeros, taken by the municipal authorities in 1903, showed an urban population of 10,921, the present estimate being 14,000. The estimated population of Puerto Plata is about 7000; La Vega and San Pedro de Macoris are believed to have about 5000 inhabitants each, but in every other case the urban population falls below 3000. The population of the Dominican Republic is not scattered uniformly over the country, but is to be found chiefly in a fringe along the shore all the way from Monte Cristi to Barahona, and in the Cibao Valley. The most densely populated region is that part of the Cibao Valley known as the Royal Plain. In the mountainous interior there are vast stretches almost or entirely uninhabited; and remote valleys which have not been visited since the days of the conquest.