The Ozama River () is a river in the
Dominican Republic
The Dominican Republic ( ; es, República Dominicana, ) is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean region. It occupies the eastern five-eighths of the island, which it shares wit ...
. It rises in the Loma Siete Cabezas mountain in the
Sierra de Yamasá mountain range, close to the town of
Villa Altagracia
Villa Altagracia is a municipality (''municipio'') of the San Cristóbal province in the Dominican Republic. Within the municipality there are three municipal districts (''distritos municipal''): La Cuchilla, Medina and San José del Puerto.
Cl ...
.
History
In 1498,
Bartolome Colon
Bartholomew Columbus ( lij, label= Genoese, Bertomê Corombo; pt, Bartolomeu Colombo; es, Bartolomé Colón; it, Bartolomeo Colombo; – 1515) was an Italian explorer from Genoa and the younger brother of Christopher Columbus.
Biography
Bor ...
had a fort built on the Ozama River delta, which would later become the first permanent European settlement in the
New World
The term ''New World'' is often used to mean the majority of Earth's Western Hemisphere, specifically the Americas."America." ''The Oxford Companion to the English Language'' (). McArthur, Tom, ed., 1992. New York: Oxford University Press, p. 3 ...
(
Santo Domingo
, total_type = Total
, population_density_km2 = auto
, timezone = AST (UTC −4)
, area_code_type = Area codes
, area_code = 809, 829, 849
, postal_code_type = Postal codes
, postal_code = 10100–10699 (Distrito Nacional)
, websi ...
). The
estuary
An estuary is a partially enclosed coastal body of brackish water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea. Estuaries form a transition zone between river environments and maritime environment ...
at that time, "teemed with fish and where the Indians raised cassava and yams," according to Floyd.
Course
The river flows before emptying into the
Caribbean Sea
The Caribbean Sea ( es, Mar Caribe; french: Mer des Caraïbes; ht, Lanmè Karayib; jam, Kiaribiyan Sii; nl, Caraïbische Zee; pap, Laman Karibe) is a sea of the Atlantic Ocean in the tropics of the Western Hemisphere. It is bounded by Mexico ...
. At the end of the journey it bisects the capital,
Santo Domingo
, total_type = Total
, population_density_km2 = auto
, timezone = AST (UTC −4)
, area_code_type = Area codes
, area_code = 809, 829, 849
, postal_code_type = Postal codes
, postal_code = 10100–10699 (Distrito Nacional)
, websi ...
, into eastern and western halves. The three main
tributaries
A tributary, or affluent, is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream or main stem (or parent) river or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean. Tributaries and the main stem river drain the surrounding drainage b ...
of the Ozama are the
Isabela River
The Isabela River is a river of the Dominican Republic.
See also
*List of rivers of the Dominican Republic
This is a list of rivers in the Dominican Republic, arranged in clockwise order around the island starting in the northwest corner, with r ...
, the
Sabita River and the
Yabacao River
The Yabacao River is a river of the Dominican Republic.
See also
*List of rivers of the Dominican Republic
This is a list of rivers in the Dominican Republic, arranged in clockwise order around the island starting in the northwest corner, with r ...
.
The Ozama's basin is the fourth largest in the Dominican Republic. The river has several tributaries, with a combined area of . The river basin has an annual precipitation of to per year.
Pollution
The Ozama River is heavily polluted. It is constantly affected by the slums on its shores and the factories that dump their waste into it. It is one of the main causes of pollution on the coastline of Santo Domingo. In August 2020,
The Ocean Cleanup
The Ocean Cleanup is a nonprofit environmental engineering organization based in the Netherlands, that develops technology to extract plastic pollution from the oceans and intercept it in rivers before it can reach the ocean. After initial test ...
organization deployed an Interceptor Original, one of their solar-powered, automated systems, to help combat the flow of plastics and trash into the Caribbean Sea.
See also
Port of Santo Domingo
The Port of Santo Domingo is located at the mouth of the marine entrance to the city of Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. The port is suited for both turnaround and transit visits. It is located 16 kilometres from the port of Rio Haina.
Overv ...
References
Rivers of the Dominican Republic
Geography of Santo Domingo
Geography of Santo Domingo Province
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