Santiago Province (Dominican Republic)
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| Location | |
|---|---|
 Santiago in the Dominican Republic |
|
| Information | |
| Country |  Dominican Republic |
| Capital city | Santiago de los Caballeros |
| Establishment date | 1844 |
| Area - Total - % of country - Ranked |
2,836.51 km² 5.8% 3 |
| Population - Total (2002) - Density |
908,250 (3) 320.2 inhab/km² (5) |
| Time zone | UTC-4 |
| ISO 3166-2: | DO-25 |
| Politics and administration | |
| Members in Congress |
1 Senator 18 Deputies |
| Municipalities Municipal Districts |
9 16 |
| Provinces of the Dominican Republic | |
Santiago is a Dominican province located in the north central part of the country. Its capital city is Santiago de los Caballeros, the second largest city in the country, and the province takes its name from that city.
The province occupies the eastern part of the Yaque del Norte Valley and the Yaque del Norte River runs through the province. The Yaque del Norte Valley, also named Línea Noroeste ("Northwestern Line"), is the western section of the Cibao Valley.
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[change] Location
Santiago is bordered to the northwest by the province of Valverde, to the north by Puerto Plata, to the east by the Espaillat and La Vega provinces, to the south by San Juan and to the west by Santiago Rodríguez.
[change] History
The province has been an important administrative territory since colonial times. Because it was an important centre, its capital city was occupied by French and Haitian armies that came from the northwest border.
It was one of the original five provinces created by the first Dominican Constitution in 1844; its territory was the northwest of the country and part of the north coast (Puerto Plata), from Monte Cristi and Dajabón to the west to Moca to the east. Moca was made part of the La Vega province in 1854.[1]
Several provinces were created with part of its original territory: Puerto Plata in 1865, Monte Cristi in 1879, Dajabón in 1938, Santiago Rodríguez in 1950 and, last, Valverde in 1959.[2]
[change] Municipalities
Santiago has a total area of 2,836.51 km².[3] It has 5.8% of the area of the Dominican Republic and it is ranked as the 3rd (out of 31 plus the National District) largest province.
There are 9 municipalities and 16 municipal districts in the province.
The municipalities are:
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| The municipal districts are: | |
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[change] Population
In 2002 (last national census), there were 908,250 people living in the Santiago province, and 602,721 (66.36%) living in towns and cities. The population density was 320 persons/km².[4]
[change] Geography
The province of Santiago is divided in three regions: the Cordillera Septentrional ("Northern mountain range") in the north, the Yaque del Norte Valley in the centre, and the Cordillera Central ("Central mountain range") in the south.
The Cordillera Septentrional mountain range runs across the north of the province; the highest mountain of this range, Pico Diego de Ocampo (1,249 m), is in this province, on the border with the Puerto Plata province. The range is covered with rainforests because it rains a lot there; the trade winds (winds that come from the northeast, from the Atlantic Ocean) bring a lot of water that falls on the mountains.
South of the Cordillera Septentrional is the Yaque del Norte Valley; from the city of Santiago de los Caballeros to the west, this is a very dry valley because the trade winds cannot go over the Cordillera Central and so it does not rain enough over the valley. But people here uses the water of the Yaque del Norte river to grow plants.
The Cordillera Central is in the southern half of the province. The highest mountains of the country, the island and the Caribbean are here, on the border with the San Juan province: Pico Duarte, 3,098 m,[5] and others above 3,000 m. This mountain range is covered with pine forests, except close to rivers where there are rainforests.
The most important river is Yaque del Norte which crosses the province from south to north, first, and then it turns to the northwest. All the other rivers in the province are tributaries of the Yaque del Norte except the Licey river that comes from the Cordillera Septentrional and flows to the east; Licey is a tributary of the River Yuna.
[change] Economy
The economy of the province is based on farming and industry; because there is not a coast, tourism is not so important as in other parts of the country.
It is the second economic centre of the country, after the Greater Santo Domingo (Distrito Nacional and the Santo Domingo Province). It has significant commerce and many industries, especially textiles, food and cement. Most of these industries are located in Santiago de los Caballeros and Tamboril; the tobacco industry is also important in Villa Bisonó.
Farming is very important in the province and poultry and pigs are raised in Licey al Medio; cattle is found in the south central and western parts of the province.
Coffee is grown in the mountains, plantain and cassava in Licey al Medio and rice, fruits and vegetables in the western part of the province. Tobacco is grown in all the lowlands of the province but the best types are grown around the cities of Villa Bisonó and Villa González.
[change] References
- ↑ Tolentino Rojas, Vicente (1944). Historia de la División Territorial Dominicana, 1494-1943 (in Spanish). Ciudad Trujillo, República Dominicana: Colección Trujillo.
- ↑ Féliz, Werner D. (2004). División Político-Territorial Dominicana, 1944-2004 (in Spanish). Santo Domingo: CONAU. ISBN 999349391-0.
- ↑ Listado de Códigos de Provincias, Municipio y Distritos Municipales, Oficina Nacional de Estadistica
- ↑ Censo 2002 de Población y Vivienda, Oficina Nacional de Estadistica
- ↑ Orvis, K.H. (2003). "The Highest Mountain in the Caribbean: Controversy and Resolution via GPS" (PDF). Caribbean Journal of Science 39 (3): 378-380. Retrieved on 20 December 2007.
| Provinces of the Dominican Republic |  |
|---|---|
| Azua • Baoruco • Barahona • Dajabón • Duarte • Elías Piña • El Seibo • Espaillat • Hato Mayor • Hermanas Mirabal • Independencia • La Altagracia • La Romana • La Vega • María Trinidad Sánchez • Monseñor Nouel • Monte Cristi • Monte Plata • Pedernales • Peravia • Puerto Plata • Samaná • Sánchez Ramírez • San Cristóbal • San José de Ocoa • San Juan • San Pedro de Macorís • Santiago • Santiago Rodríguez • Santo Domingo • Valverde • Distrito Nacional | |
