Independence Day is a public holiday in the Dominican Republic, observed on February 27 each year. The holiday commemorates when the Dominican Republic declared independence from Haiti in 1844.
The Indigenous people had been engaging in farming, fishing, and hunting on the island of Hispaniola for centuries before Christopher Columbus arrived on the island in 1492 when he claimed the land under the Spanish crown. Spain ceded the western coast of the island to France in 1697 after the war between France and Spain, and then the whole island in 1795 to get the French to withdraw from Spain.
The Dominican Republic changed hands several times in the following years and returned to Spanish rule again in 1814. In the 1800s, the Spanish-American independence wars were heating up across Latin America, and on November 30, 1821, the Dominican Republic declared independence from the Spanish crown.
However, the newly independent republic was merged with Haiti in 1822, only two months after the independence. In 1838, Juan Pablo Duarte and his followers founded a secret society called La Trinitaria in the struggle for complete independence from the Haitian occupation. On February 27, 1844, the Dominican Republic declared independence from Haiti.
The following is the list of Independence Day in the Dominican Republic from 2022 to 2026.
| Holiday | Date | Weekday |
|---|---|---|
| Independence Day | Feb 27, 2022 | Sunday |
| Independence Day | Feb 27, 2023 | Monday |
| Independence Day | Feb 27, 2024 | Tuesday |
| Independence Day | Feb 27, 2025 | Thursday |
| Independence Day | Feb 27, 2026 | Friday |
Please check more public holidays in Dominican Republic: