The Dominican Republic's capital and largest city, Santo Domingo is the oldest city in the Americas. It was founded in 1498 and was Spain's first colonial headquarters in the New World.
Today the country’s largest metropolitan area and home to more than 2.9 million people, Santo Domingo is the largest city in the Caribbean and is the country's economic and political hub, as well as one of the Caribbean's top business centers. It has the island's most exciting nightclubs, restaurants and shopping, as well as its largest concentration of historic and cultural sites, including the oldest cathedral in the Americas.
Like other large Latin-American cities, Santo Domingo also has sprawling slums and shantytowns. Even so, it's a magnet for Dominicans as well as foreign visitors.
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