The Dominican Republic is divided up into thirty- one provinces.
Azua
Azua is a province on the south-west side of the Dominican Republic. It also has coastal territory on its southern part.
Baoruco (Neiba)
Baoruco, alternatively spelt Bahoruco (Spanish pronunciation: [baoˈɾuko]), is a province of the Dominican Republic. Before 1952 it included what is now Independencia Province. Its important features are the Sierra de Neiba mountain range and Lake Enriquillo.
Barahona
Barahona (Spanish pronunciation: [baɾaˈona]) is a south-western province of the Dominican Republic. The Barahona Coast is located on the part of the Dominican Republic that is approximately three hours drive from Santo Domingo the capital of the Dominican Republic.
Dajabón
Dajabón (Spanish pronunciation: [daxaˈβon]) is a province of the Dominican Republic, on the border with Haiti. Its capital city is also called Dajabón. It was split from Monte Cristi province in 1938, and was called Libertador until 1961. It is located in the northwestern part of the country, and is surrounded by the provinces Monte Cristi (north), Santiago Rodríguez (east) and Elías Piña (south).
To the west, Dajabón borders the Republic of Haiti. The province takes its name from the Taíno name of the region, Dahaboon; it was also the name of the main river of the region (the Dajabón River).The Cordillera Central (“Central mountain chain”) is found in the southern part of the province.
The northern part is flat, with many savannas; it is part of the Yaque del Norte Valley (or Línea Noroeste). The only important river in the province is the Dajabón River, also known as Masacre (from French Massacre). This river marks the Dominican-Haitian border from the city of Dajabón to its mouth.
Other rivers are very short and they are tributaries of the Dajabon or the Artibonite rivers. As in all border provinces in the Dominican Republic, there is little economic development. The trade with Haiti is important, mostly in the city of Dajabón.
On the mountains, production of coffee and beans is an important activity. Rice and banana are produced in the northern part of the province, and cattle raising is important in the savannas around the city of Dajabón. Dajabon is the reputed birthplace of famed Latin American singer Angela Carrasco, although she claims to have been born in Santo Domingo.
Duarte
It is named after Juan Pablo Duarte, founder of the Dominican Republic. It was created in 1896 as a district (an old country subdivision) with the name Distrito Pacificador but the Constitution of 1907 changed the category to province. In 1925 its name was changed to Duarte.
The province has a total area of 1,605.35 km². It has 3.3% of the area of the Dominican Republic and it is ranked as the 13th (out of 31 plus the National District) largest province. Duarte borders with provinces María Trinidad Sánchez, Espaillat and Samaná to the north; with Samaná to the east; with Monte Plata and Sánchez Ramírez to the south; and with Hermanas Mirabal and La Vega to the west.
Elías Piña
It is located in the western part of the country, on the border with Haiti. Its capital city is Comendador. It was created on 1942 with the name San Rafael.
In 1965, its name was changed to Estrelleta and, finally, in 1972 it got its current name. It was a municipio of the San Juan province before being elevated to the category of province. The Elías Piña province has the Dajabón and Santiago Rodríguez provinces to the north, the San Juan province to the east, the Independencia province to the south and the Republic of Haiti to the west.
Elías Piña was an officer of the Dominican army when the Dominican-Haitian War. He was born in La Margarita, close to Comendador and died in 1845 when he was attacking a fortified position in Bánica.
El Seibo
El Seibo (Spanish pronunciation: [el ˈseiβo]), alternatively spelt El Seybo, is a province on the north-eastern side of the Dominican Republic. Before 1992 it included what is now Hato Mayor province.
Espaillat
It is named for Ulises Francisco Espaillat (1823-1878), the 19th-century author who was briefly President of the Republic in 1876.
Shady Beaches of the Dominican Republic
Hato Mayor
Hato Mayor (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈato maˈʝor], is the greater cattle-raising district. The province was split from El Seibo in 1984.
Hermanas Mirabel
It was split from Espaillat Province in 1952 and was originally called Salcedo, the name of its capital city; it is still referred to by this name sometimes. The name change came on November 21, 2007. It commemorates the Mirabal sisters, who made the ultimate sacrifice for their country by giving up a privileged life to fight against the powerful Dominican leader, Rafael Trujillo. The Mirabal sisters came from Salcedo and they were buried here after their murder.
Independencia
Independencia (Spanish pronunciation: [indepenˈdenθja]) is a province of the Dominican Republic, located in the west, on the border with Haiti. It was split from Baoruco Province in 1950.
La Altagracia
La Altagracia (Spanish pronunciation: [la altaˈɣɾasja]) is the easternmost province of the Dominican Republic. Punta Cana is located on the eastern shores of this province.
The province was part of the old La Altagracia Province, which split into 2, La Altagracia Province and La Romana Province on February 27, 1961. The name “La Altagracia” commemorates a painting, Our Lady of La Altagracia, which was brought to this area from Spain in the early 16th century. Numerous miracles are attributed to the image.
La Romana
The capital is also named La Romana, and is the third-largest city in the country. La Romana was elevated to the category of province in 1944. La Romana is also home to Casa de Campo, one of the world’s largest resorts and top golfing destinations. The “Teeth of the Dog” golf course is world-renowned, and many international and local artists perform at “Altos de Chavón”, an artistic community and university.
La Vega
Until 1992 it included what is now Monseñor Nouel province.
María Trinidad Sánchez
It was split from Samaná in 1959. The name commemorates a disginguished female soldier in the wars of independence. María Trinidad Sánchez was the first woman incarcerated and executed by Pedro Santana, a Dominican annexionist president.
Monseñor Nouel
It was split from La Vega in 1982.It is named for Monseñor Dr. Adolfo Alejandro Nouel y Bobadilla (1862-1937), Archbishop of Santo Domingo and briefly President of the Republic in 1912-3.
Monte Cristi
Monte Cristi (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈmonte ˈkɾisti]) is a province in the north-west of the Dominican Republic. The capital city is San Fernando de Monte Cristi (usually simply Monte Cristi). The spelling Montecristi is also seen.
Monte Cristi is also known for its Panama Hat. Every Panama hat is unique as the making of the hats is a cottage industry and some of the finest panamas are made in Montecristi. The finest woven hats can take up to 6 months to weave and can command prices of up to £1,000.
The best hats have to be woven in the right conditions and especially humidity. The weavers split the fibre razor thin and plait ring after ring of palm fibre constantly dipping their finger tips into water. The finest panamas have a very silky texture and when held up to the light you can see a spiral of rings together with the weaver’s signature.
These rings are called ‘vueltas’ and the more there are determines the quality of the hat. The cheaper quality hats may only have around ten ‘vueltas’ whereas a Montecristi Superino may have up to forty. Panamas are exported from Ecuador in the form of hoods. These are then blocked by specialist hat factories into the two principal shapes which is the Trilby and the Folding Panama.
Monte Plata
Monte Plata (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈmonte ˈplata]) is a province in the mid-east of the Dominican Republic, and also the name of its capital city. It was split from San Cristóbal in 1992.
Pedernales
Pedernales (Spanish pronunciation: [peðerˈnales] Flints) is the southernmost province of the Dominican Republic, including the offshore island of Isla Beata. It was split from Barahona in 1956. Of its 2,074.53 km², 1374 km² belong to the Jaragua National Park
Peravia
Before January 1, 2002 it was included in what is the new San José de Ocoa province, and published statistics and maps generally relate it to the old, larger, Peravia. It is named after the Peravia Valley. Along the Azua Province, Peravia is characterized by its dry climate and its dunes that surround the coast. One popular attraction is the Salinas beach, which recently has grown to be a popular tourist destination with a developed town that has shops and hotels.
Puerto Plata
Puerto Plata (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈpwerto ˈplata], Silver Port) is one of the northern provinces of the Dominican Republic. The area has become an increasingly popular tourist attraction since the late 1990s mainly due to its fine beaches. It borders the Septentrional mountain range to the north (which separates it from Laguna Salada).
Samaná
Its capital is Santa Bárbara de Samaná, usually known as Samaná. Samaná is located on the coast of the Atlantic Ocean in the northeastern part of the Dominican Republic. It is known for its mountains of which it is almost entirely formed.
Samaná has numerous beaches, and with the 6 November 2006 opening of the new Samaná El Catey International Airport, it is bound to become one of major tourist destinations in the Dominican Republic. It was discovered on January 12, 1493 by Christopher Columbus who was greeted with a barrage of spears and arrows from native Taíno warriors. It is said that this was the first instance of violent opposition to the Spanish conquistadors in the Americas.
Samaná is considered one of the most beautiful areas of the Dominican Republic, yet remains one of the least known by Dominican natives in general and foreign visitors in particular. Its tourist industry has not yet exploited the full potential of its location: the tropical forests, coconut groves, hundreds of cozy alcove beaches with turquoise crystal clear waters, waterfalls, protected national parks, a protected bay, a peninsula.
Samaná is one of the breeding places of the humpback whale. Thousands of humpback whales come to the coast off Samaná from January to March. At one time proposed to be the capital of the country, Samaná was to be sold to the United States as a military base during Pedro Santana’s presidency, but the deal was never realized, because the United States felt that the cost was too much.
A highway connecting the Samaná peninsula to Santo Domingo was finally opened to the public in 2008. It halved the driving time from 4 hours to 1.5 hours as it is a straight 120 kilometres (75 mi), connecting from just east of Santo Domingo (near the SDQ airport) to just west of Sanchez. There is a significant tourist development evident throughout the Samaná peninsula, particularly that of large all-inclusive resorts, in anticipation of the increased tourism to follow the road’s completion.
Dominican Republic Green Hills by the Blue Sea
Sánchez Ramírez
It was split from Duarte in 1952, and is named for Brigadier Juan Sánchez Ramírez, hero of the battle of Palo Hincado (1808) at which Spanish rebels defeated the occupying French forces.
San Cristóbal
San Cristóbal (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈsaŋ kɾisˈtoβal]) is a province in the southern Dominican Republic, west of the capital Santo Domingo. It was originally named Trujillo after its founder, dictator Rafael Leónidas Trujillo, taking its present name after his assassination in 1961. It included what is now Monte Plata Province until 1992.
The provincial capital is San Cristóbal. In 2007, a documentary was filmed near Hato Damas, about a group of coffee and cacao producers who work together, called Convite.
San José de Ocoa
San José de Ocoa (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈsaŋ xoˈse ðe oˈko.a]) is a province of the Dominican Republic, and also the name of the province’s capital city. It was split from Peravia on January 1, 2000. Published statistics and maps generally include this province in the old, larger, Peravia.
San Juan
San Juan (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈsaŋ ˈxwan]) is a province on the western side of the Dominican Republic, but it does not share a boarder with Haiti. Before 1961 it was known as Benefactor.
San Pedro de Macorís
San Pedro de Macorís (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈsam ˈpeðɾo ðe makoˈɾis]) is a province of the Dominican Republic, also the name of its capital city. The city is fairly active due to its proximity to the Capital of Santo Domingo and also its role in the sugar industry. The province is infomally known as San Pedro, SPM or Serie 23 for the first 2 numbers of their Dominican identification or Cedula.
Citizens from San Pedro De Macorís are called petromacorisanos. The culture of the province shares many similarities with those of the other eastern provinces. For example, during carnival season, the diablos (devils) tend to wield fuetes (whips), which relates to the traditional cattle farming of the whole region.
Serie 23 is a mecca for all Dominican culture and was the home to the DR’s most famous writer Pedro Mir. In the past years the beautiful architecture of Serie 23 has been used as a backdrop for several Hollywood Feature Films such as “Miami Vice”, “The Good Shepherd” and “Sugar”. It is often portrayed as Havana, Cuba.
Santiago
Santiago (Spanish pronunciation: [sanˈtjaɣo]) is a province of the Dominican Republic, in the north of the country. Santiago is an intellectual, educational, and cultural center. It is also a major industrial center with rum, textile, cigarette and cigar industries based there. Shoe manufacturing, leather goods, and furniture making are important parts of the province’s economic life.
Santiago also has major Free Zone centers with four important industrial free zones; it also has an important cement factory. Santiago is home to one of the largest medical centers in the country, Clínica Unión Médica, which serves all 13 provinces of El Cibao. Also within striking distance there are a good number of pleasant towns, many of which are quite prosperous.
Santiago is in the center of the Cibao Valley, the wealthiest region in the Republic, per capita. It is surrounded by tall mountains which have for years protected it from hurricanes and allows for dense tropical forests to develop on the slopes of such mountains, which are among the highest in the region.
Santiago Rodríguez
Santiago Rodríguez (Spanish pronunciation: [sanˈtjaɣo ɾoˈðɾiɣeθ]) is a province in the north- west of the Dominican Republic. It was split from Monte Cristi in 1948. The Santiago Rodríguez province has the Monte Cristi and Valverde provinces to the north, the Santiago province to the east, the San Juan and Elías Piña provinces to the south and the Dajabón province to the west.
Santiago Rodríguez was an officer of the Dominican army in the Dominican War of Independence. He was one of the founders of the city of Sabaneta and an important military leader during the initial stages of the Restoration War (1863–1865). The Cordillera Central (“Central mountain chain”) is found in the southern part of the province, and the Sierra Samba (a chain of low hills) runs across the northern half.The main rivers are Guayubín and Mao, both tributaries of the Yaque del Norte river.
The only economic activity of importance is agriculture, although there are some tourist attractions located in the area as well. Santiago Rodriguez is a province of the Dominican Republic that has interesting tourist attractions,located mainly in the mountains. San Ignacio de Sabaneta,the main town is a beautiful and clean city ,one of the nicest places of the Dominican Republic.The town has several parks,boulevards and a quiet atmosphere.
Just a few miles away,the visitor is going to find hills,mountains and one of the wildest places of the caribbean nature,that is Armando Bermudez National Park.This national park has rivers,mountain streams,and great variety of plants,birds and wildlife.One the biggest attractions are the interminable pine trees ,the largest stronghold of primary forest in the country.Next to this park is Moncion Damn or Presa de Moncion,an artificial lake surrounded by hills and mountains.Its deep blue waters are rich in fish.
One of the most exciting places is La Peonía, a coffee community located a few miles to the south of Villa Los Almacigos. La peonia,is the camping to those to want to explore Nalga de Maco National Park,a 6,000 mountain peak with a foggy summit that has the only Elfin Forest in the island.This misty place is draped with bromeliads, mosses and orchids.
Santo Domingo
Santo Domingo (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈsanto ðoˈmiŋɡo]) is a province on the south-east side of the Dominican Republic. It was split from the Distrito Nacional on October 16, 2001.
Valverde
Valverde (Spanish pronunciation: [balˈβerðe]) is a province on the north-west side of the Dominican Republic. It was split from Santiago Province in 1958.
