Provinces 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).

Provinces of the Dominican Republic map.

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.

The provinces as administrative divisions

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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 Nacional 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, which 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) which are in charge of its administration.[2]

The provinces as constituencies

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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

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The following is a table of the provinces and their capital cities. The population figures are from the 2021 population estimate.[4]

Coat Of Arms Province
National District
Capital Region Department Area

(km2)[5]

Population

2021[6]

Density Map Establishment year
  Azua South Valdesia 2,531.77 222,610 86.59   1844
  Baoruco South Enriquillo 1,282.23 101,306 77.40   1943
  Barahona South Enriquillo 1,739.38 189,100 108.49   1881
  Dajabón Cibao Cibao Noroeste 1,020.73 66,675 63.95   1938
Duarte Cibao Cibao Nordeste 1,605.35 299,583 183.70   1896
  El Seibo East Yuma 1,786.80 94,049 63.58   1844
  Elías Piña South El Valle 1,426.20 63,303 35.51   1942
  Espaillat Cibao Cibao Norte 838.62 240,428 281.97   1885
  Hato Mayor East Higuamo 1,329.29 85,747 64.37   1984
  Hermanas Mirabal Cibao Cibao Nordeste 440.43 92,045 209.78   1952
  Independencia South Enriquillo 2,006.44 58,951 27.73   1948
  La Altagracia East Yuma 3,010.34 360,874 104.61   1944
  La Romana East Yuma 653.95 274,894 397.59   1944
  La Vega Cibao Cibao Sur 2,287.24 412,469 176.64   1844
  María Trinidad Sánchez Cibao Cibao Nordeste 1,271.71 140,954 111.17   1959
  Monseñor Nouel Cibao Cibao Sur 992.39 174,959 171.51   1991
  Monte Cristi Cibao Cibao Noroeste 1,924.35 117,736 59.22   1879
  Monte Plata East Higuamo 2,632.14 191,447 71.68   1991
  Pedernales South Enriquillo 2,074.53 35,280 16.12   1957
  Peravia South Valdesia 792.33 198,499 241.62   1944
  Puerto Plata Cibao Cibao Norte 1,852.90 333,940 177.29   1850
  Samaná Cibao Cibao Nordeste 853.74 113,036 125.62   1867
  San Cristóbal South Valdesia 1,265.77 643,595 505.93   1932
  San José de Ocoa South Valdesia 855.4 53,833 45.11   2000
  San Juan South El Valle 3,569.39 220,264 266.12   1938
  San Pedro de Macorís East Higuamo 1,255.46 306,002 83.66   1907
  Sánchez Ramírez Cibao Cibao Sur 1,196.13 151,888 121.09   1952
  Santiago Cibao Cibao Norte 2,836.51 1,052,088 355.30   1844
  Santiago Rodríguez Cibao Cibao Noroeste 1,111.14 57,209 51.71   1948
  Santo Domingo South Ozama 1,301.84 2,955,339 2036.08   2001
  Valverde Cibao Cibao Noroeste 823.38 177,865 207.06   1959
  Distrito Nacional East Ozama 104.44 1,049,567 9,651.45   1932

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c d Asamblea Nacional. "CONSTITUCION DE LA REPUBLICA DOMINICANA" (in Spanish). 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. Retrieved 2007-03-08.
  3. ^ EL CONGRESO NACIONAL. "Ley Electoral, No. 275-97" (in Spanish). Retrieved 2007-03-11.
  4. ^ Consejo Nacional de Población y Familia. "Estamaciones y Proyecciones de la Población Dominicana por Regiones, Provincias, Municipios y Distritos Municipales, 2021" (in Spanish). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2017-01-02. Retrieved 2021-06-04.
  5. ^ "Provincias Dominicanas - Portal Oficial del Estado Dominicano". Archived from the original on 1 January 2017. Retrieved 1 January 2017.
  6. ^ "Oficina Nacional de Estadística". Estimaciones y proyecciones de la población total por año calendario, según región y provincia, 2000–2030. Archived from the original on 2 January 2017. Retrieved 31 December 2016.
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