Barahona, Dominican Republic

Last updated
Barahona
Santa Cruz de Barahona
Barahona Dominican Republic Town 3.jpg
Villa Miriam
Escudo de la Provincia Barahona.svg
Dominican Republic relief location map.jpg
Red pog.svg
Barahona
Coordinates: 18°12′N71°06′W / 18.200°N 71.100°W / 18.200; -71.100
CountryFlag of the Dominican Republic.svg  Dominican Republic
Province Barahona
Founded /Founder. =Toussaint L'ouverture1802
Municipality since1858
Area
[1]
  Total163.02 km2 (62.94 sq mi)
Elevation
[2]
10 m (30 ft)
Population
 (2012) [3]
  Total138,159
  Density850/km2 (2,200/sq mi)
  Demonym
Barahonero(a)
Municipal Districts 3
Climate Aw

Barahona, also known as Santa Cruz de Barahona, is the main city of the Barahona Province, in the southwest of the Dominican Republic. It has one of the most active ports in the region, as well as many ecotourism attractions. The city is a centre of sugar production and industry. Barahona is also known for being the only place where the rare Larimar stone can be found.

Contents

History

Before its discovery by Europeans, the area belonged to the Native Taino chiefdom of Jaragua, ruled by Bohechío. The current name of the province and city is derived from the surname of the first Spaniards who came to the area, some of these Spaniards were also from the town of Baraona in Spain and named it in honor of their town of origin. The Spaniards spread throughout the territory and designated places with their names. Francisco de Barahona, Gabriel Barahona, Luis de Barahona and Juan de Barahona arrived on the first and second voyages of Christopher Columbus in the 1490s. [4] [5]

Barahona Dominican Republic municipal building. Barahona Dominican Republic Town.jpg
Barahona Dominican Republic municipal building.

After the nation's independence in 1844, Barahona was a military post of the Azua Province. In 1858, Barahona was elevated to the category of municipality. When the province was created in 1881, Barahona was made its head municipality. In 1907, the territorial denominations of cantons and maritime districts were abolished and replaced by the terms communes and provinces, respectively, while Barahona was promoted to this category the same year.

The revolutionary movement known as "El Salvador" was founded in Barahona by Cuban radicals with the purpose of mobilizing financial resources to support the independence movement in Cuba from Spain. Dominican president Ulises Heureaux provided money and weapons to Cuban patriots and from the shores of Barahona, weapons were brought to Cuba.

Between 1916 and 1924, the American presence in the province influenced the planting of cane and the construction of the hacienda. In 1927, the first aviation company of the Caribbean region was started in Barahona. The service was inaugurated between the cities of Barahona, Santa Cruz, San Juan, Puerto Rico, Santo Domingo and Port-au-Prince Haiti.

Climate

Google Earth image of Barahona. Barahona 71.16445W 18.21020N.jpg
Google Earth image of Barahona.

Under the Köppen climate classification, Barahona has a tropical wet and dry climate. [6] Temperatures tend to remain steady throughout the year, with mean temperatures ranging from a low of 24.8 °C (76.6 °F) in January to a high of 28.0 °C (82.4 °F) in July.

In terms of dry and wet seasons, Barahona has two distinctive wet seasons with a peak in precipitation from May to June followed by drought-like conditions in July and August (due to the Azores High being located in the central Atlantic, inhibiting the formation of clouds and rain) and another peak in precipitation from September to October. This precipitation pattern is due to the movement and the position of the Azores high throughout the year. The dry season mainly runs through December to April. Even in the drier months, precipitation can still occur with February receiving just under 30 mm (1.2 in). Sunshine is abundant throughout the year, averaging over 3200 hours.

Climate data for María Montez International Airport (1991–2020)
MonthJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecYear
Mean daily maximum °C (°F)30.2
(86.4)
30.3
(86.5)
30.3
(86.5)
30.7
(87.3)
31.0
(87.8)
31.6
(88.9)
32.6
(90.7)
32.8
(91.0)
32.4
(90.3)
31.7
(89.1)
31.3
(88.3)
30.7
(87.3)
31.3
(88.3)
Daily mean °C (°F)25.3
(77.5)
25.5
(77.9)
26.0
(78.8)
26.7
(80.1)
27.3
(81.1)
28.0
(82.4)
28.5
(83.3)
28.6
(83.5)
28.1
(82.6)
27.4
(81.3)
26.7
(80.1)
25.8
(78.4)
27.0
(80.6)
Mean daily minimum °C (°F)20.4
(68.7)
20.7
(69.3)
21.6
(70.9)
22.8
(73.0)
23.6
(74.5)
24.3
(75.7)
24.5
(76.1)
24.4
(75.9)
23.7
(74.7)
23.1
(73.6)
22.2
(72.0)
20.8
(69.4)
22.7
(72.9)
Average precipitation mm (inches)23.3
(0.92)
20.4
(0.80)
51.2
(2.02)
97.8
(3.85)
147.4
(5.80)
75.2
(2.96)
49.2
(1.94)
119.0
(4.69)
119.5
(4.70)
161.3
(6.35)
99.6
(3.92)
36.2
(1.43)
1,000.4
(39.39)
Source: NOAA [7]
Climate data for Barahona (1961-1990)
MonthJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecYear
Record high °C (°F)33.2
(91.8)
34.0
(93.2)
33.8
(92.8)
34.5
(94.1)
34.7
(94.5)
34.2
(93.6)
35.6
(96.1)
37.5
(99.5)
35.8
(96.4)
34.5
(94.1)
34.0
(93.2)
33.0
(91.4)
37.5
(99.5)
Mean daily maximum °C (°F)29.3
(84.7)
29.2
(84.6)
29.5
(85.1)
30.0
(86.0)
30.3
(86.5)
30.7
(87.3)
31.7
(89.1)
31.9
(89.4)
31.5
(88.7)
30.7
(87.3)
30.6
(87.1)
29.8
(85.6)
30.4
(86.7)
Daily mean °C (°F)24.8
(76.6)
25.0
(77.0)
25.6
(78.1)
26.3
(79.3)
26.8
(80.2)
27.4
(81.3)
28.0
(82.4)
27.9
(82.2)
27.4
(81.3)
26.6
(79.9)
26.2
(79.2)
25.3
(77.5)
26.4
(79.5)
Mean daily minimum °C (°F)20.3
(68.5)
20.7
(69.3)
21.6
(70.9)
22.6
(72.7)
23.3
(73.9)
24.1
(75.4)
24.3
(75.7)
24.0
(75.2)
23.3
(73.9)
22.6
(72.7)
21.8
(71.2)
20.7
(69.3)
22.4
(72.3)
Record low °C (°F)15.0
(59.0)
15.0
(59.0)
17.0
(62.6)
18.0
(64.4)
19.2
(66.6)
20.0
(68.0)
19.5
(67.1)
20.0
(68.0)
20.0
(68.0)
19.6
(67.3)
16.6
(61.9)
15.5
(59.9)
15.0
(59.0)
Average rainfall mm (inches)30.4
(1.20)
29.3
(1.15)
45.1
(1.78)
64.1
(2.52)
168.5
(6.63)
129.5
(5.10)
38.1
(1.50)
65.1
(2.56)
143.7
(5.66)
184.9
(7.28)
75.6
(2.98)
44.4
(1.75)
1,018.7
(40.11)
Average rainy days (≥ 0.1 mm)3.73.23.96.110.68.23.85.18.810.64.82.471.2
Average relative humidity (%)73.072.671.571.975.675.872.072.976.378.475.172.874.0
Mean monthly sunshine hours 259.6248.8286.7271.5261.0264.7289.3286.5243.2259.0267.7268.63,206.6
Source 1: World Meteorological Organization [8]
Source 2: NOAA [9]

Economy

Barahona has a diversified economy that combines agriculture, mining and tourism, with an industrial port and a free zone dedicated to textile production. Among the most important companies in the area are: CEMEX Dominicana that exploits gypsum from a mine, Rica with dairy production, the "Consorcio Azucarero Central" with sugar production, EGE Haina with electricity production, Wilbes Dominicana with areas of free trade and "Block Khoury" which produces and exports construction materials.

Agriculture and the production of cane, bananas, coffee, fruits, sorghum, yams, yautia and others. The main product in the municipality is a very good coffee ("Barahona Type Coffee"), grown in the mountains of Eastern Bahoruco. In livestock, the fattening of cattle and goats for meat, sale of leather and the growing milk production predominate, in mining the extraction of larimar, marble, plaster, alabaster, kaolin (for the production of bottles), mineral salt and construction materials, are among the main activities of Barahona.

Downtown Barahona

Transport

The German cargo Ship MS Vogelsberg loading of sugar - Santa Cruz de Barahona, 1959 Frachtschiff MS Vogelsberg beim Laden von Zucker - Santa Cruz de Barahona, 1959.jpg
The German cargo Ship MS Vogelsberg loading of sugar - Santa Cruz de Barahona, 1959

The city of Barahona has a sea port, which receives many ferries from different points in the Caribbean, and an airport, which has been reactivated with many flights a week to Punta Cana via Santo Domingo. Authorities provided the airport with a fuel station park, allowing facilities to the airliners that could operate in the airport in the future. The airport is the well known María Montez International Airport located about 10 minutes from the city center. The port is located about 5 minutes away from the city center.

Notable natives and residents

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Transport in the Dominican Republic</span>

Transport in the Dominican Republic utilizes a system of roads, airports, ports, harbours, and an urban railway.

Compañía Dominicana de Aviación, usually shortened to Dominicana, was an airline based in the Dominican Republic and served as the flag carrier for the country.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">San Cristóbal Province</span> Province of the Dominican Republic

San Cristóbal is a province in the southern region of Dominican Republic, located west of the capital Santo Domingo. With approximately 642,000 inhabitants, it is the fourth most populated province in the country, only behind Santo Domingo, Santiago and the National District. It borders the provinces Monseñor Nouel (north), Monte Plata (northeast), Santo Domingo (east), Peravia (west) and San José de Ocoa (northwest). The Caribbean Sea borders the province to the south. The provincial capital is the city of San Cristóbal.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Provinces of the Dominican Republic</span> First-level administrative divisions of the Dominican Republic

The Dominican Republic is divided into thirty-one provincias, while the national capital, Santo Domingo, is contained within its own Distrito Nacional.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Barahona Province</span> Province of the Dominican Republic

Barahona is a province of the Dominican Republic. Located in the country's southwestern region, it is dividing into 11 municipalities and its capital bears the city of the same name. Barahona borders the provinces of Pedernales to the southwest, Baoruco and Independencia to the north, and Azua to the east along with coastline to the south with the Caribbean Sea. The province has an approximately three hours drive from Santo Domingo the capital of the Dominican Republic. In 2019, volunteers from Amigos de las Americas visited to facilitate projects within the various municipalities of Barahona.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dajabón Province</span> Province of the Dominican Republic

Dajabón is a northwestern province which currently comprises one of the 32 provinces of the Dominican Republic. It is divided into 5 municipalities and its capital city with the same name. It is bordered by the provinces of Monte Cristi to the north, Santiago Rodríguez to the south, Elías Piña to the south and the Nord-Est department of Haiti to the west.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Monte Cristi Province</span> Province of the Dominican Republic

Monte Cristi is a province in the northwest of the Dominican Republic. The capital city is San Fernando de Monte Cristi. The spelling Montecristi is also seen. The Montecristi province is located in the Cibao frontier region, on the north coast of the country and borders the nation of Haiti. The land area of the Montecristi province is 1,924.35 km2. It is divided into six municipalities and four municipal districts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Samaná Province</span> Province of the Dominican Republic

Samaná is a province of the Dominican Republic in the Samaná Peninsula located in the eastern region. Its capital is Santa Bárbara de Samaná, usually known as Samaná.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jimaní</span> Place in Independencia, Dominican Republic

Jimaní is the capital and the second largest city of the Independencia Province of the Dominican Republic. It serves as one of the two main border crossings to Haiti, with a duty-free open-air marketplace operating on the border with Haiti. The town suffered damages in the flash flood of May 25, 2004, which killed many citizens during the night and washed away hundreds of homes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">La Vega, Dominican Republic</span> Municipality in La Vega, Dominican Republic

La Vega, is the fourth largest city and municipality of the Dominican Republic. It is in La Vega Province. The city is known as the Carnaval epicenter of the Dominican Republic for its tradition and culture, its large agricultural production methods throughout its province.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Neiba</span> Place in Baoruco, Dominican Republic

Neiba is a city in the southwest of the Dominican Republic. It is the capital city of the Baoruco province, and is located 180 kilometres west of the national capital, Santo Domingo, close to the shore of Lake Enriquillo, the largest lake in the West Indies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hato Mayor del Rey</span> City in the Dominican Republic

Hato Mayor del Rey is the capital of Hato Mayor Province, Dominican Republic. It is bordered on the North by the municipalities of El Valle and Sabana de la Mar, on the South by the San Pedro de Macorís Province, on the East by the El Seibo Province and on the West by the municipality of Bayaguana, Monte Plata. It is located 27 kilometers from the San Pedro de Macorís Province and 110 kilometers from the capital city of Santo Domingo. Hato Mayor del Rey has a population of 70,141 inhabitants, and is divided into three municipal districts: Yerba Buena, Guayabo Dulce and Mata Palacio.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bonao</span> City in Monseñor Nouel, Dominican Republic

Bonao is a city in the Cibao region of Dominican Republic. It is the capital of the Monseñor Nouel province. The city is located in the center of the country, to the northwest of the national capital Santo Domingo.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Monte Cristi, Dominican Republic</span> Place in Monte Cristi, Dominican Republic

San Fernando de Monte Cristi, also known as Montecristi, is the capital town of Monte Cristi Province in the Dominican Republic. It is located in the northwest region of the country in a coastal area above the border with Haiti.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Duvergé</span> Place in Independencia, Dominican Republic

Duvergé, also known locally as Las Damas is the largest city in the province of Independencia in the Dominican Republic. The first settlers of this community were the gentlemen Christopher Pérez and María del Pulgar, originating from San Juan de la Maguana.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">San José de las Matas</span> Place in Santiago, Dominican Republic

San José de las Matas, also known as Sajoma, is an important municipality (municipio) of the Santiago province in the Dominican Republic. The mayor of Sajoma is Alfredo Reyes. There have been many positive changes in the last four years including the addition of a 911 system. Within the municipality there are three municipal districts : El Rubio, La Cuesta and Las Placetas.

Aerolíneas Mas was an airline with its corporate headquarters in the Ciudad Universitaria in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. It offered flights to several domestic destinations. Its flight operations were based at La Isabela International Airport in Santo Domingo.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mao, Dominican Republic</span> Place in Valverde, Dominican Republic

The Dominican city of Santa Cruz de Mao, or simply Mao, is the head municipality of the Valverde province, in the northwest of the country.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Moca, Dominican Republic</span> Place in Espaillat, Dominican Republic

Moca is the capital of Espaillat province in the Cibao region of the Dominican Republic, and is the tenth-largest city of the country with a population of 164,022 inhabitants. Moca is located 11 miles/18 kilometers east from the country’s second-largest city, Santiago. It is divided into eight municipal districts: San Víctor, Las Lagunas, José Contreras, Juan López, El Higuerito, La Ortega, Monte de la Jagua and Canca La Reina.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">San Pedro de Macorís</span> City in Dominican Republic

San Pedro de Macorís is a city and municipality (municipio) in the Dominican Republic. The capital of its eponymous province in the east region of the country, it is among the ten largest cities of the Dominican Republic. The city has approximately 217,000 inhabitants, when including the whole municipality. As a provincial capital, it houses the Universidad Central del Este. San Pedro de Macorís is also well known for producing professional baseball players at an exceptionally high per capita rate.

References

  1. Superficies a nivel de municipios, Oficina Nacional de Estadistica Archived April 17, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
  2. De la Fuente, Santiago (1976). Geografía Dominicana (in Spanish). Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic: Editora Colegial Quisqueyana.
  3. Censo 2012 de Población y Vivienda, Oficina Nacional de Estadistica
  4. López Reyes, Oscar (1999). Historia del desarrollo de Barahona: Narración e interpretación (in Spanish). Santo Domingo: Mediabyte.
  5. Nacional, El (2022-09-24). "Conoce el origen de tu pueblo: Barahona". El Nacional (in Spanish). Retrieved 2024-05-02.
  6. Peel, M. C.; Finlayson, B. L. & McMahon, T. A. (2007). "Updated world map of the KöppenGeiger climate classification" (PDF). Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci. 11: 1633–1644. doi: 10.5194/hess-11-1633-2007 . ISSN   1027-5606.
  7. "Barahona Climate Normals for 1991-2020" (CSV). National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Retrieved 2 September 2024.
  8. "World Weather Information Service - Barahona". World Meteorological Organization. Retrieved February 23, 2013.
  9. "Climate Normals for Barahona 1961-1990". National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Retrieved February 23, 2013.