Provinces of the Dominican Republic

Dominican Republic

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See also: Geographic Regions of the Dominican Republic

The Dominican Republic is divided into thirty–one provincias (provinces; singular provincia), while the national capital, Santo Domingo, is contained within its own Distrito Nacional ("National District"; "D.N." on the map below).

The division of the country into provinces is laid down in the constitution (Title I, Section II, Article 5)[1] and enacted by law. The latter is currently Law 5220 on the Territorial Division of the Dominican Republic (Ley No. 5220 sobre División Territorial de la República Dominicana), issued 1959 and frequently amended to create new provinces and lower–level administrative units.

Contents

The provinces as administrative divisions

The provinces are the first–level administrative subdivisions of the country. The headquarters of the central government's regional offices are normally found in the capital cities of provinces. The president appoints an administrative governor (Gobernador Civil) for each province but not for the Distrito Nacional (Title IX of the constitution).[1]

The provinces are divided into municipalities (municipios), which are the second–level political and administrative subdivisions of the country.[1]

The Distrito Nacional was created in 1936. Prior to this, the Distrito National was the old Santo Domingo Province, in existence since the country's independence in 1844. It is not to be confused with the new Santo Domingo Province split off from it in 2001. While it is similar to a province in many ways, the Distrito Nacional differs in its lack of an administrative governor and consisting only of one municipality, Santo Domingo, the city council (ayuntamiento) and mayor (síndico) of which are in charge of its administration.[2]

The provinces as constituencies

The provinces are also constituencies for the elections to the bicameral National Congress (Congreso de la República). Each province elects one member of the Senate (Senado) and a guaranteed minimum of two members of the Chamber of Deputies (Cámara de Diputados).[1][3]

Statistics

The following is a table of the provinces and their capital cities. The population figures are from the 2010 population estimate.[4]

Province Capital
Area (km²)
[5]		 Population[4] Density[5]
Azua Azua &100000000000025317699992,531.77 &10000000000242109000000242,109 &1000000000000009600000096
Baoruco Neiba &100000000000012822300001,282.23 &10000000000114967000000114,967 &1000000000000009000000090
Barahona Barahona &100000000000017393800001,739.38 &10000000000200602000000200,602 &10000000000000115000000115
Dajabón Dajabón &100000000000010207300001,020.73 &1000000000006695400000066,954 &1000000000000006600000066
Distrito Nacional Santo Domingo &10000000000000104439999104.44 &100000000015874120000001,587,412 &1000000000001519900000015,199
Duarte San Francisco de Macorís &100000000000016053499991,605.35 &10000000000299188000000299,188 &10000000000000186000000186
Elías Piña Comendador &100000000000014262000001,426.20 &1000000000007213000000072,130 &1000000000000005100000051
El Seibo El Seibo &100000000000017867999991,786.80 &10000000000105994000000105,994 &1000000000000005900000059
Espaillat Moca &10000000000000838620000838.62 &10000000000237101000000237,101 &10000000000000283000000283
Hato Mayor Hato Mayor &100000000000013292899991,329.29 &1000000000009077300000090,773 &1000000000000006800000068
Hermanas Mirabal Salcedo &10000000000000440430000440.43 &10000000000103259000000103,259 &10000000000000234000000234
Independencia Jimaní &100000000000020064400002,006.44 &1000000000005522300000055,223 &1000000000000002800000028
La Altagracia Higüey &100000000000030103400003,010.34 &10000000000229428000000229,428 &1000000000000007600000076
La Romana La Romana &10000000000000653950000653.95 &10000000000246234000000246,234 &10000000000000377000000377
La Vega La Vega &100000000000022872399992,287.24 &10000000000429563000000429,563 &10000000000000188000000188
María Trinidad Sánchez Nagua &100000000000012717100001,271.71 &10000000000141678000000141,678 &10000000000000111000000111
Monseñor Nouel Bonao &10000000000000992389999992.39 &10000000000194505000000194,505 &10000000000000196000000196
Monte Cristi Monte Cristi &100000000000019243499991,924.35 &10000000000120833000000120,833 &1000000000000006300000063
Monte Plata Monte Plata &100000000000026321399992,632.14 &10000000000210365000000210,365 &1000000000000008000000080
Pedernales Pedernales &100000000000020745300002,074.53 &1000000000002547800000025,478 &1000000000000001200000012
Peravia Baní &10000000000000792330000792.33 &10000000000202250000000202,250 &10000000000000255000000255
Puerto Plata Puerto Plata &100000000000018529000001,852.90 &10000000000432225000000432,225 &10000000000000233000000233
Samaná Samaná &10000000000000853740000853.74 &1000000000009882000000098,820 &10000000000000116000000116
Sánchez Ramírez Cotuí &100000000000011961300001,196.13 &10000000000156238000000156,238 &10000000000000131000000131
San Cristóbal San Cristóbal &100000000000012657699991,265.77 &10000000000660009000000660,009 &10000000000000521000000521
San José de Ocoa San José de Ocoa &10000000000000855399999855.40 &1000000000006920400000069,204 &1000000000000008100000081
San Juan San Juan de la Maguana &100000000000035693899993,569.39 &10000000000245377000000245,377 &1000000000000006900000069
San Pedro de Macorís San Pedro de Macorís &100000000000012554600001,255.46 &10000000000337108000000337,108 &10000000000000269000000269
Santiago Santiago de los Caballeros &100000000000028365100002,836.51 &100000000019591050000001,959,105 &10000000000000690000000690
Santiago Rodríguez Sabaneta &100000000000011111400001,111.14 &1000000000005486500000054,865 &1000000000000004900000049
Santo Domingo Santo Domingo Este &100000000000012963499991,296.35 &100000000026078380000002,607,838 &100000000000020110000002,011
Valverde Mao &10000000000000823379999823.38 &10000000000190253000000190,253 &10000000000000231000000231
Total &1000000000004866683000048,666.83 &1000000001168237400000011,682,374 &10000000000000240000000240

Map

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d Asamblea Nacional. "CONSTITUCION DE LA REPUBLICA DOMINICANA" (in Spanish). http://pdba.georgetown.edu/Constitutions/DomRep/domrep02.html. Retrieved 2007-03-11. 
  2. ^ EL CONGRESO NACIONAL. "Ley No. 163-01 que crea la provincia de Santo Domingo, y modifica los Artículos 1 y 2 de la Ley No. 5220, sobre División Territorial de la República Dominicana." (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 2007-05-18. http://web.archive.org/web/20070518042944/http://www.informejudicial.com/leyes/Division+Territorial/Ley+163-01,+crea+Provincia+Santo+Domingo+y+Modifica+Articulos+1+y+2+Ley+5220.htm. Retrieved 2007-03-08. 
  3. ^ EL CONGRESO NACIONAL. "Ley Electoral, No. 275-97" (in Spanish). http://pdba.georgetown.edu/Electoral/DomRep/ley97.html. Retrieved 2007-03-11. 
  4. ^ a b Consejo Nacional de Población y Familia. "Estimaciones y Proyecciones de la Población Dominicana por Regiones, Provincias, Municipios y Distritos Municipales, 2010" (in Spanish) (PDF). http://www.conapofa.gov.do/estimaciones.asp. Retrieved 2010-10-11. 
  5. ^ a b Oficina Nacional de Estadística. "República Dominicana en Cifras 2006" (in Spanish) (PDF). http://www.one.gob.do/index.php?option=com_docman&task=doc_download&gid=326. Retrieved 2007-03-27. 

External links

Lists of Provinces of the Dominican Republic
Provinces of the Dominican Republic
Articles on first-level administrative divisions of North American countries