The capital and largest city of the Dominican Republic, in the southeast part of the island of Hispaniola on the Caribbean Sea. Founded in 1496 by Christopher Columbus's brother Bartholomew (c. 1460-1515), it was the first permanent European settlement in the Western Hemisphere. From 1936 to 1961, it was called Ciudad Trujillo. The name Santo Domingo has also been used for a Spanish colony on Hispaniola and for the Dominican Republic.