In 1492, explorer Christopher Columbus set foot on a large island in the Caribbean Sea that he called Hispaniola. Four years later, his brother Bartholomew founded the New World's first permanent European settlement there. Now called Santo Domingo, the busy port serves as the capital city of the Dominican Republic, a beautiful land of white-sand beaches, luxuriant vegetation, and cascading waterfalls. Located on the eastern two-thirds of Hispaniola, about 575 miles (925 kilometers) southeast of Florida, the Dominican Republic features fertile valleys and tall mountains that yield the country's major exports of sugar and coffee, as well as nickel and gold. Although much of the population is poor, a rapidly growing tourism industry offers hope for a bright economic future for the Dominican Republic. Book jacket.