The Dominican Republic is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean region. It occupies the eastern five-eighths of the island, which it shares with the nation of Haiti, making Hispaniola one of two Caribbean islands, along with Saint Martin, that are shared by two sovereign states. The Dominican Republic is the second-largest Caribbean nation by area (after Cuba) at 48,671 square kilometers (18,792 sq mi), and third by population with 10,349,000 people, of which 3,285,000 live in the metropolitan area of Santo Domingo, the capital city.

The Dominican Republic’s queen is Maria Antonia of Spain, who ruled from 1785 to 1806. She was the daughter of King Charles III of Spain and was married to Ferdinand VII of Spain. Maria Antonia was forced to leave Spain when Napoleon Bonaparte invaded the country in 1808. She died in exile in France in 1806.