Elías Piña Province
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| Location | |
|---|---|
 Elías Piña in the Dominican Republic |
|
| Information | |
| Country |  Dominican Republic |
| Capital city | Comendador |
| Establishment date | 1942 |
| Area - Total - % of country - Ranked |
1,426.20 km² 2.9% 14 |
| Population - Total (2002) - Density |
63,879 (27) 44.8 inhab/km² (30) |
| Time zone | UTC-4 |
| ISO 3166-2: | DO-07 |
| Politics and administration | |
| Members in Congress |
1 Senator 2 Deputies |
| Municipalities Municipal Districts |
6 7 |
| Provinces of the Dominican Republic | |
Elías Piña is a Dominican province, located in the western part of the country, on the border with Haiti. It was created on 1942 and its capital city is Comendador.
It was created on 1942 with the name Province San Rafael. In 1965, its name was changed to Province Estrelleta and, finally, in 1972 it got its present name. It was a municipality of the San Juan province before being elevated to the category of province.
Contents |
[change] Location
Elías Piña is bordered to the northwest by the province of Dajabón, to the northeast by Santiago Rodríguez, to the east by San Juan and to the south by the Independencia province. To the west Elías Piña borders the Republic of Haiti.
[change] Origin of name
Elías Piña was an officer of the Dominican army when the Dominican-Haitian War. He was born close to Comendador and died in 1845 in a battle close to Bánica.[1]
[change] History
Few people lived in the territory of Elías Piña during colonial times because it was on the border between two colonies: the French Saint-Domingue and the Spanish Santo Domingo. After 1844, the region was part of the border between Haiti and Dominican Republic.
The only town founded during the colony was Bánica, in the eastern end of Oncéano, a region of many savannas that now is part of Haiti. Both Comendador and Hondo Valle were military posts on the border after de Dominican independence. The rest of the present province had very few people until the Restoration War when families from other parts of the country came to live here.
During the Dominican-Haitian War (1844-1856), Haitian soldiers came across this region; because of that, there were many fights here. The most important fight was La Estrelleta Battle, in a savanna close to Comendador.
Since colonial times, the territory was part of the Azua province until it was changed to the Benefactor province (now the San Juan province) when this province was created in 1938. The dictator Rafael Trujillo created the Elías Piña province in 1942.
[change] Municipalities
Elías Piña has a total area of 1,426.20 km².[2] It has 2.9% of the Dominican Republic area and it is ranked as the 14th (out of 31 plus the National District) largest province.
There are six municipalities and seven municipal districts in the province.
The municipalities are:
- Comendador, head municipality of the province
- Bánica
- El Llano
- Hondo Valle
- Juan Santiago
- Pedro Santana
The municipal districts are:
- Guanito
- Guayabo
- Rancho de la Guardia
- Río Limpio
- Sabana Cruz
- Sabana Higüero
- Sabana Larga
[change] Population
In 2002 (last national census), there were 63,879 people living in the Elías Piña province, and just 23,203 (36.32%) living in towns and cities. The population density was 10 persons/km², one of the lowest in the country.[3]
[change] Geography
[change] Mountains
The Cordillera Central ("Central mountain chain") is found in the northern part of the province, and the Sierra de Neiba runs across the southern half. The area between those two mountain ranges is composed of several valleys, formed by the Artibonite River and its tributaries, and low mountains (hills).
The highest mountain in the province is the Loma La Tasajera del Chivito at 2,179 metres above sea level in the Sierra de Neiba. Nalga de Maco (1,990 m)[4] is the second highest mountain, located in the northeast corner of the province, close to the Santiago Rodríguez province. It is the highest mountain in the western Cordillera Central.
[change] Rivers
The main river is the Artibonite that, in some places, marks the Dominican-Haitian border. Other rivers are Macasías, Tocino, Joca and Vallecito, all of them tributaries of the Artibonite. The Caña river is the most important in the southern part of the province, going from south to north; it is a tributary of the Macasías river.
[change] Climate
The climate of the province is a tropical climate, hot most of the year, but it is cooler on the mountains.
[change] Economy
As in all border provinces in the Dominican Republic, there is little economic development. The trade with Haiti is important, above all in Comendador. On the mountains, coffee and beans are important products. Potatos are also produced in the south (Sierra de Neiba).
[change] References
- ↑ Caamaño Castillo, Rafael E. (1996). Comendador: Apuntes para su historia. Santo Domingo, República Dominicana: Editora Corripio, 29.
- ↑ Listado de Códigos de Provincias, Municipio y Distritos Municipales, Oficina Nacional de Estadistica
- ↑ Censo 2002 de Población y Vivienda, Oficina Nacional de Estadistica
- ↑ Departamento de Vida Silvestre (1992). Reconocimiento y Evaluación de los Recursos Naturales en Loma Nalga de Maco (in Spanish). Santo Domingo, República Dominicana: Secretaría de Estado de Agricultura.
| 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 | |
