History of Haiti
Following the arrival of Europeans, La Hispaniola's indigenous population suffered greatly to near extinction, in possibly the worst case of depopulation in the Americas. A commonly accepted hypothesis attributes the high mortality of this colony in part to European diseases to which the natives had no immunity. A small number of Taínos were able to survive and set up villages elsewhere. Spanish interest in Hispaniola began to wane in the 1520s, as more lucrative gold and silver deposits were found in Mexico and South America. Thereafter, the population of Spanish Hispaniola grew at a slow pace.
Dominican Republic–Spain relations
The first Europeans to arrive to what is now present day Dominican Republic was in December 1492 when explorer Christopher Columbus arrived to the island of Hispaniola. In 1493, Columbus built one of the first European settlements in the Americas and called it "La Isabela", named after Spanish Queen Isabella I of Castile. Soon after Columbus's arrival to Hispaniola, most of the native Taíno people of the island were wiped out by either diseases brought over from Europe or from direct slaughter by the Spanish. In 1493, the island of Hispaniola was governed under the Captaincy General of Santo Domingo and in 1521, it came under the greater Viceroyalty of New Spain based in Mexico City.