Provinces of the Dominican Republic

Last updated May 11, 2024

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.

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 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

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 2021 population estimate.^[4]

Province National District	Capital	Region	Department	Area (km²)^[5]	Population 2021^[6]	Density	Establishment year
Azua	Azua	South	Valdesia	2,531.77	222,610	86.59	1844
Baoruco	Neiba	South	Enriquillo	1,282.23	101,306	77.40	1943
Barahona	Santa Cruz de Barahona	South	Enriquillo	1,739.38	189,100	108.49	1881
Dajabón	Dajabón	Cibao	Cibao Noroeste	1,020.73	66,675	63.95	1938
Duarte	San Francisco de Macorís	Cibao	Cibao Nordeste	1,605.35	299,583	183.70	1896
El Seibo	Santa Cruz de El Seibo	East	Yuma	1,786.80	94,049	63.58	1844
Elías Piña	Comendador	South	El Valle	1,426.20	63,303	35.51	1942
Espaillat	Moca	Cibao	Cibao Norte	838.62	240,428	281.97	1885
Hato Mayor	Hato Mayor del Rey	East	Higuamo	1,329.29	85,747	64.37	1984
Hermanas Mirabal	Salcedo	Cibao	Cibao Nordeste	440.43	92,045	209.78	1952
Independencia	Jimaní	South	Enriquillo	2,006.44	58,951	27.73	1948
La Altagracia	Salvaleón de Higüey	East	Yuma	3,010.34	360,874	104.61	1944
La Romana	La Romana	East	Yuma	653.95	274,894	397.59	1944
La Vega	Concepción de La Vega	Cibao	Cibao Sur	2,287.24	412,469	176.64	1844
María Trinidad Sánchez	Nagua	Cibao	Cibao Nordeste	1,271.71	140,954	111.17	1959
Monseñor Nouel	Bonao	Cibao	Cibao Sur	992.39	174,959	171.51	1991
Monte Cristi	San Fernando de Monte Cristi	Cibao	Cibao Noroeste	1,924.35	117,736	59.22	1879
Monte Plata	Monte Plata	East	Higuamo	2,632.14	191,447	71.68	1991
Pedernales	Pedernales	South	Enriquillo	2,074.53	35,280	16.12	1957
Peravia	Baní	South	Valdesia	792.33	198,499	241.62	1944
Puerto Plata	Puerto Plata	Cibao	Cibao Norte	1,852.90	333,940	177.29	1850
Samaná	Santa Bárbara de Samaná	Cibao	Cibao Nordeste	853.74	113,036	125.62	1867
San Cristóbal	San Cristóbal	South	Valdesia	1,265.77	643,595	505.93	1932
San José de Ocoa	San José de Ocoa	South	Valdesia	855.4	53,833	45.11	2000
San Juan	San Juan de la Maguana	South	El Valle	3,569.39	220,264	266.12	1938
San Pedro de Macorís	San Pedro de Macorís	East	Higuamo	1,255.46	306,002	83.66	1907
Sánchez Ramírez	Cotuí	Cibao	Cibao Sur	1,196.13	151,888	121.09	1952
Santiago	Santiago de los Caballeros	Cibao	Cibao Norte	2,836.51	1,052,088	355.30	1844
Santiago Rodríguez	San Ignacio de Sabaneta	Cibao	Cibao Noroeste	1,111.14	57,209	51.71	1948
Santo Domingo	Santo Domingo Este	South	Ozama	1,301.84	2,955,339	2036.08	2001
Valverde	Mao	Cibao	Cibao Noroeste	823.38	177,865	207.06	1959
Distrito Nacional	Santo Domingo	East	Ozama	104.44	1,049,567	9,651.45	1932

Related Research Articles

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">Baoruco Province</span> Province of the Dominican Republic

Baoruco, alternatively spelt Bahoruco, is a province of the Dominican Republic located in the southwest of the country, part of the Enriquillo Region, along with the provinces of Barahona, Independencia and Pedernales. Before 1952 it included what is now Independencia Province.

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.

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">Duarte Province</span> Province of the Dominican Republic

Duarte is a northeastern province which comprises one of the 32 provinces of the Dominican Republic. It is divided into 7 municipalities and its capital city is San Francisco de Macorís. It is bordered by the provinces of María Trinidad Sánchez and Samaná to the east, Monte Plata and Sánchez Ramírez to the south, La Vega and Hermanas Mirabal to the west and Espaillat to the north. It is named after Juan Pablo Duarte, the founder of the Dominican Republic.

La Vega is one of the 32 provinces of the Dominican Republic, located in north central of the country also known as Cibao. It is divided into 4 municipalities and its capital city is the namesake of La Vega. The province borders Espaillat and Hermanas Mirabal to the north, Duarte to the east, Monseñor Nouel to the south and Santiago to the west.

Monseñor Nouel is a province in the central region of the Dominican Republic. It was split from La Vega province in 1982.

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.

Pedernales is the southernmost province of the Dominican Republic, including the offshore island of Isla Beata. It was split from Barahona in 1957. Of its 2,074.53 km², 1,374 km² belongs to the Jaragua National Park. A third of its population is of Haitian origin, the highest ratio within the country.

San Pedro de Macorís 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 national capital of Santo Domingo and also its role in the sugar industry. The province is informally known as San Pedro, SPM or Serie 23 for the first two numbers of their Dominican identification or Cedula.

Santo Domingo is a province of the Dominican Republic. It was split from the Distrito Nacional on October 16, 2001.

The Distrito Nacional is a subdivision of the Dominican Republic enclosing the capital Santo Domingo. It is not in any of the provinces, but in practice, it acts as a province on its own. Before October 16, 2001, the Distrito Nacional was much larger, including what is now known as Santo Domingo Province. Published statistics and maps generally show the former, larger, Distrito Nacional. The Distrito Nacional has no rural or underdeveloped areas.

Santo Domingo Este is a municipality and the provincial capital of the Santo Domingo province in the Dominican Republic. It has one municipal district, San Luis.

Santo Domingo Norte is a municipality of the Santo Domingo Province in the Dominican Republic. There is one municipal district within the municipality: La Victoria.

Santo Domingo Oeste is a municipality of the Santo Domingo province in the Dominican Republic. It is part of the greater Santo Domingo metropolitan area, which is the de facto co-capital of the Dominican Republic as seat of the Constitutional Court and the Central Electoral Commission.

Greater Santo Domingo is a term commonly used referring to the metropolitan area of Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic.

Villa Duarte is a sector in the city of Santo Domingo Este in the province of Santo Domingo of the Dominican Republic. Villa Duarte was originally part of the capital city Santo Domingo, Distrito Nacional. Santo Domingo Este was created as municipality in 2001 by law 163-01, splitting the Santo Domingo province from the Distrito Nacional, with Santo Domingo Este taking the other sectors of Alma Rosa I, Alma Rosa II, El Almirante, Hainamosa, Invivienda, Lucerna, Mendoza, Ozama, Ralma, San Isidro, Sans Sousi, Urbanización Italia, and others.

Los Mina is a sector in the city of Santo Domingo Este in the province of Santo Domingo of the Dominican Republic. Los Mina was part of Santo Domingo, Distrito Nacional. Santo Domingo Este was created as municipality in 2001 by law 163-01, splitting the Santo Domingo province from the Distrito Nacional with Santo Domingo Este taking the other sectors of Alma Rosa I, Alma Rosa II, El Almirante, Hainamosa, Invivienda, Lucerna, Mendoza, Ozama, Ralma, San Isidro, Sans Sousi, and Urbanización Italia.

References

1 2 3 4 Asamblea Nacional. "CONSTITUCION DE LA REPUBLICA DOMINICANA" (in Spanish). Retrieved 2007-03-11.
↑ 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.
↑ EL CONGRESO NACIONAL. "Ley Electoral, No. 275-97" (in Spanish). Retrieved 2007-03-11.
↑ 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.
↑ "Provincias Dominicanas - Portal Oficial del Estado Dominicano". Archived from the original on 1 January 2017. Retrieved 1 January 2017.
↑ "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.

External links

(in Spanish) Oficina Nacional de Estadística (National Statistics Office). Official statistics portal of the Dominican Republic.
(in Spanish) Blog of the Dominican Republic, videos, news, culture and music

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[Constitution-1] 1 2 3 4 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.

[censusvol1-4] 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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