What are facts about Columbus finding the Dominican Republic?

- The first European to set foot on the island of Hispaniola (which includes the Dominican Republic and Haiti) was actually Columbus' rival, Alonso de Ojeda, who arrived in 1493.

- Columbus would arrive on the island later the same year, and he established the first European colony in the Americas in 1496, at La Isabela.

Other facts about the Dominican Republic:

- It is the first and oldest European settlement in the Americas, founded by Columbus in 1496.

- It was also the first European colony to have a university (the University of Santo Domingo, founded in 1538), the first cathedral (the Basilica Cathedral of Santa Maria la Menor, also known as the "Primate Cathedral of America", built between 1514-1540) and the first paved roads in the Americas (built in 1502).

- The Dominican Republic was also the first country in the Americas to gain its independence from European rule (from Haiti in 1844).