[11] White Dominicans historically made up a larger percentage in the Captaincy General of Santo Domingo and for a time were the single largest ethnic group prior to the 19th century.

[14][15] Similar to the rest of the Hispanic Caribbean, the majority of Spaniards who settled the Dominican Republic came from southern Spain, Andalusia and the Canary Islands, the latter of whom are of partial North African Guanche descent.

[citation needed] The presence of whites in the Dominican Republic dates back to the founding of La Isabela, one of the first European settlements in the Americas, by Bartholomew Columbus in 1493.

But following the depleting of the gold mines, the island began to depopulate, as most poor Spanish colonists embarked to the newly conquered Mexico or to Venezuela (which was aggravated by the conquest of Peru in 1533).

[36] About one tenth of the colony's population was Portuguese-born; they were concentrated in the Cibao valley, where they had an influence on the Spanish dialect spoken in that area;[37] another 3% was born in Spain or descended exclusively from Spaniards.

The Grand Mayor of Santiago, Antonio Pichardo Vinuesta, refused to obey the decree arguing that most of the Frenchmen had married local women and that their expulsion would damage the economy of the Cibao.

[20] After that peak, the local white population began to migrate (especially towards Puerto Rico, Curaçao and Venezuela), first with the Haitian rule, and later with the constant political and economic instability after Dominican independence.

[citation needed] In 1838 Dominican nationalists Juan Pablo Duarte, Francisco del Rosario Sánchez, Matías Ramón Mella established the Trinitario movement.

[43] In 1844, the members chose El Conde, the prominent “Gate of the Count” in the old city walls, as a rallying point for their insurrection against the Haitian government.

[44] Under the command of Faustin Soulouque Haitian soldiers tried to gain back control of lost territory, but this effort was to no avail as the Dominicans would go on to decisively win every battle henceforth.

In March 1844, a 30,000-strong two-pronged attack by Haitians was successfully repelled by an under-equipped Dominican army under the command of the wealthy rancher Gen. Pedro Santana.

[44] Due to political instability during the España Boba period, some of the whites in Santo Domingo fled the country between 1795 and 1820, mainly to Venezuela, Puerto Rico, and Cuba.

Some Dominican historians and intellectuals, such as Américo Lugo, Joaquín Balaguer and Antonio del Monte y Tejada, deplored that "Santo Domingo lost most of its best families" at that era, specially during the Haitian domination.

During the 19th century Puerto Plata was the most important port in the country (and even became provisional capital) and hosted the European and North American migration to the Dominican Republic.

The most prominent migrants' surnames that went to this city were Arzeno, Balaguer, Batlle, Bonarelli, Brugal, Capriles, Demorizi, Ferrari, Imbert, Lithgow, Lockward, McKinney, Paiewonsky, Prud'homme, Puig, Rainiere, Villanueva, Vinelli and Zeller.

[49][50] The Sierra was peopled in the 18th century mostly by ethnic Canarians and French who established a markedly endogamous society where they didn't miscegenate with mulattos or blacks in order to preserve their whiteness; African slaves were negligible except in San José de las Matas, where today there is a large admixed population.

[51][52] In the modern era, there are sizeable numbers of immigrants settling in the Dominican Republic from North America and Europe, especially countries like Spain, Italy, France, United States, and Canada, among others.

[citation needed] The Dominican Republic is similar to other countries in Latin America that were colonized by Europeans, and shows a clear correlation between race and wealth.

[59] Limpieza de sangre (Spanish: [limˈpjeθa ðe ˈsaŋɡɾe], meaning literally "cleanliness of blood") was very important in Mediæval Spain,[61] and this system was replicated on the New World.

[citation needed] Further immigration from the 17th and 18th centuries made subsequently that newly rich families emerged among them, which are: Alfau,[64] De Marchena, Mirabal, Tavárez (and its variants Tavares and Taveras), Lopez-Penha, Marten-Ellis and Troncoso.And others from the 19th and 20th centuries: Armenteros, Arzeno,[13][65] Báez, Barceló, Beras, Bermúdez, Bonetti, Brugal, Corripio, Dalmau, Esteva, Goico, Haché, Hoffiz, Lama, León, Morel, Munné, Ottenwalder, Pellerano,[66] Paiewonski, Piantini, Rochet, Rizek, Vicini, Vila,[67],Vitienes, Lluberes, Borjas, Gonzalez, Feris, Pimentel, Zeller, Cascella, Ginebra, Cruz, Marrero, Pellicice, Ross, Ramos, Brache, Ravelo, Prazmoski, Ariza, Farach, Batlle, Carbuccia, Betances, Antun, Varona, Fiallo, Peynado, Matos, Pacheco, Viyella, Kallaf, Lamarche, Paniagua, Toribio, Chotin, Herrera, Nader, Aguayo, Beauchamps, Elias, Melo, Tejera, Lomba, Suarez, Elmudesi, Fortuna, Purcell, Lovaton, Leroux, Lehoux, Freixas, Acra, Urgal, Castillo, Yunen, Bonilla, Morales, Marra, Checo, Gutierrez, Marchena, Kury, Kourrie, Mera, Puig, Selman, Seliman, Imbert, Queipo, Caro, Canaan, Rannik, Alba, Evertz, Bogaret, Roig, Sebelen, Schad, Caceres, Aybar, Carias, Hoyo, Martinez Lima, Hazoury, Cabral, Nadal, Bisono, Turull, Ochoa, Paliza, Miyar, Barkhausen, Sanz, Grullon, Marti, Azar, Saviñon, Inchaustegui, Casanova, Gautreau, Grateraeux, De Moya, Dorrejo, Rainieri, Marranzini, Estrella, Cuadra, Pou, Del Rio, Valera, Bonarelli, Mejia, Rivera, and Reid.” PUERTO RICO: 17,572 whites; 5,037 slaves; 22,274 freed coloured people; total- 44,883.