San Juan Province (Dominican Republic)
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San Juan () is a
province A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''Roman province, provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire ...
of 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 ...
. Before 1961 it was known as ''Benefactor''. San Juan is the Republic's largest province, bearing a size of 3,569 square kilometers (1,378 miles), and it is landlocked.


Geography

It comprises a total area of 3,569.39 km², being the largest province in the Dominican Republic, and according to the 2002 census it had a population of 241,105 inhabitants. It is crossed by numerous rivers, among which the San Juan River, the
Yaque del Sur The Yaque del Sur River (Spanish, ''Río Yaque del Sur'') is a river in the southwestern Dominican Republic. It is approximately 183 km in length. Etymology ''Yaque'' or ''Yaqui'' was a Taíno word given to two rivers in the Dominican Republ ...
River, the Sabaneta River, the Macasías and the Mijo stand out. It has three hydroelectric dams, Sabaneta, Sabana Yegua and Palomino, the latter inaugurated in 2013. Within the provincial territory there are three parks or protected areas, including the Juan Ulises García Bonelly Park, and the José Armando Bermúdez and José del Carmen Ramírez National Parks. In the area of Las Matas de Farfán there is a sulphurous spring, La Zurza, which is highly visited by regional tourism. The San Juan province is located in the Valle Region along with the Provinces: Elías Piña and Azua. It is an intramontane territory, which does not have a marine coast, it limits to the north with the Provinces of Santiago Rodríguez and Santiago; to the south with Bahoruco; to the east with Azua, La Vega to the Northeast, and to the west with the Province of Elías Piña. Its main heights are
Pico Duarte Pico Duarte is the highest peak in the Dominican Republic, on the island of Hispaniola and in all the Caribbean. At above sea level, it gives the Dominican Republic the 16th-highest maximum elevation of any island in the world. Additionally, it ...
and La Pelona.


History

At the time of the discovery, the San Juan region was one of the five
Taíno The Taíno were a historic Indigenous peoples of the Caribbean, indigenous people of the Caribbean whose culture has been continued today by Taíno descendant communities and Taíno revivalist communities. At the time of European contact in the ...
chiefdoms into which the island of Quisqueya was divided.6 The chiefdom of Maguana or Maguanó, 7 with a center near the current capital, in Juan de Herrera ; it was ruled by the cacique
Caonabo Caonabo (died 1496) was a Taíno ''cacique'' (chieftain) of Hispaniola at the time of Christopher Columbus's arrival to the island. He was known for his fighting skills and his ferocity. He was married to Anacaona, who was the sister of another ' ...
. In 1503
Nicolás de Ovando Frey Nicolás de Ovando y Cáceres (1460 – 29 May 1511 or 1518) was a Spanish soldier from a noble family and a Knight of the Order of Alcántara, a military order of Spain. He was Governor of the Indies ( Hispaniola) from 1502 until 1509, se ...
founded the city of
San Juan de la Maguana San Juan de la Maguana is a city and municipality in the western region of the Dominican Republic and capital of the San Juan province. It was one of the first cities established on the island; founded in 1503, and was given the name of San Juan ...
, in honor of San Juan Bautista, in 1508 the title of town with its coat of arms was granted by royal decree. In 1605, as a result of the population changes and devastations faced by the governor of
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 ...
, Antonio de Osorio, the inhabitants of San Juan happened to occupy Bayaguana, north of Santo Domingo, along with the rest of the Spanish uprooted from the unpopulated areas. In 1606, the people who were still scattered in the San Juan area, were transferred to Azua, leaving that landscape practically depopulated. It was not until the end of the 17th century that the repopulation of San Juan de la Maguana began. The eighteenth century was decisive for the development of this. In 1739 the population of the town barely reached 110 residents, according to a report made by Archbishop Domingo Álvarez. At the end of that century, this population already had about 4,500 inhabitants, according to Antonio Sánchez Valverde. The resurgence of the town of San Juan occurred in 1733, according to Carlos Esteban Deive in his book Las emigraciones Canarias a Santo Domingo. In this sense, this author says that the resurgence of San Juan "allowed the gathering of all the ranchers and farmers who lived scattered throughout the valley, who were joined by some neighbors from Azua." With regard to the population contribution of this last region, it is important to point out that after the earthquake of November 1751, families left to live in the San Juan Valley. At the end of the 18th century, there was a real population boom in the area, as a consequence of the intense business with the French colony of Saint-Domingue. In the entire extension of the San Juan Valley, including areas that currently belong to the Elías Piña and Bánica province, there were about 25 thousand inhabitants, a population similar to that in the city of Santo Domingo and about a thousand inhabitants less than in Santiago, which was by then the most populated area in the country. It was in those times that places like Las Matas de Farfán and Pedro Corto were formed. Political and economic needs were mixed up when promoting the repopulation of the San Juan Valley. On the one hand, it was essential to create towns in the area to stop the advance of the French to the territories of the Spanish colony. In addition, it was no less true that the boom in economic activities in the French part of the island was a powerful magnet that attracted people to take advantage of the immense livestock wealth, cows, goats and horses that grazed without owners, in the immense valley, which always had a reputation for being a healthy place for people. In some reports of the time, written by travelers who visited the San Juan Valley area, such as the Frenchman Daniel Lescallier, it is said that in 1764 the village of San Juan was “quite important due to the large number of herds or cattle farms that they surround and by the multitude of cattle and horses that feed on the grass that grows naturally in their beautiful savannas. " Later on, Lescallier notes that in the valley there was no cultivation of any kind, which makes it clear that cattle ranching was its main economic activity.


Economic activity

The economy of San Juan is traditionally based on livestock and agricultural activities. It has a significant production of
grains A grain is a small, hard, dry fruit (caryopsis) – with or without an attached hull layer – harvested for human or animal consumption. A grain crop is a grain-producing plant. The two main types of commercial grain crops are cereals and legumes ...
such as rice, corn, peanuts, sorghum, string beans (beans), pigeon peas (Gandules), as well as cassava, sweet potatoes, onions and vegetables. San Juan produces more than 90% of the beans, 84% of the peanuts, 31% of the corn, 35% of the pigeon pea, 20% of the onion, and 36% of the sweet potato consumed by the Dominican population. The growing dairy farming is the other economic activity that the region has developed, its milk is extracted and used to make different varieties of cheese and yogurt. The province has excellent
ecotourism Ecotourism is a form of tourism involving responsible travel (using sustainable transport) to natural areas, conserving the environment, and improving the well-being of the local people. Its purpose may be to educate the traveler, to provide fund ...
potential, as it has the
Pico Duarte Pico Duarte is the highest peak in the Dominican Republic, on the island of Hispaniola and in all the Caribbean. At above sea level, it gives the Dominican Republic the 16th-highest maximum elevation of any island in the world. Additionally, it ...
, the San Juan Valley, the most extensive intramontane valley in the country, the Sabaneta, Sabana Yegua and Palomino Dams, the Indigenous Ceremonial Plaza and for sharing the Central Mountain Range and the Sierra de Neiba. In addition, there is currently a private local company Explomarca S.A., which extracts Travertine in La Trinchera, San Juan province. Another source of income for residents are the various formal and informal businesses such as bakeries, tailors, clinical laboratories, medical offices, pharmacies, a market, hotels, galleries, bars and activities that have to do with transportation services, among others.


Municipalities and municipal districts

The province as of June 20, 2006 is divided into the following
municipalities A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...
(''
municipio ' (, ) and ' () are country subdivisions in Italy and several Hispanophone and Lusophone nations, respectively. They are often translated as "municipality". In the English language, a municipality often is defined as relating to a single city or ...
s'') and municipal districts (''distrito municipal'' - D.M.) within them:Alt URL
/ref> *
Bohechío Bohechío is a town in the San Juan province of the Dominican Republic. It is located northeast of the km 25 of Azua – San Juan road at a distance of 26.5 km and 43 km from San Juan Province, 205 km from Santo Domingo and 92&nb ...
** Arroyo Cano (D.M.) ** Yaque (D.M.) * El Cercado **
Batista Batista is a Spanish or Portuguese surname. Notable persons with the name include: * Batista (footballer, born 1955), Brazilian football player * Dave Bautista, American actor and professional wrestler, also known as Batista * Edina Alves Batis ...
(D.M.) ** Derrumbadero (D.M.) *
Juan de Herrera Juan de Herrera (1530 – 15 January 1597) was a Spanish architect, mathematician and geometrician. One of the most outstanding Spanish architects in the 16th century, Herrera represents the peak of the Renaissance in Spain. His sober style re ...
** Jinova (D.M.) ** La Rubia (D.M) *
San Juan de la Maguana San Juan de la Maguana is a city and municipality in the western region of the Dominican Republic and capital of the San Juan province. It was one of the first cities established on the island; founded in 1503, and was given the name of San Juan ...
** El Rosario (D.M.) ** Guanito (D.M.) ** Hato del Padre (D.M.) ** La Jagua (D.M.) ** Las Maguanas (D.M.) ** Las Charcas de Maria Nova (D.M.) ** Pedro Corto (D.M.) ** Sabana Alta (D.M.) ** Sabaneta (D.M.) *
Las Matas de Farfán Las Matas de Farfán is a town in the San Juan Province, Dominican Republic. It is the birthplace of a number of current and former Major League Baseball players including Jean Segura, Juan Encarnación, Roberto Novoa, Odalis Perez, Ramón Sa ...
** Carrera de Yegua (D.M.) ** Matayaya (D.M.) *
Vallejuelo Vallejuelo is a town in the San Juan province of 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 ...
** Jorjillo (D.M.) The following is a sortable table of the municipalities and municipal districts with population figures as of the 2012 census.
Urban Urban means "related to a city". In that sense, the term may refer to: * Urban area, geographical area distinct from rural areas * Urban culture, the culture of towns and cities Urban may also refer to: General * Urban (name), a list of people ...
population are those living in the seats (''cabeceras'' literally heads) of municipalities or of municipal districts.
Rural In general, a rural area or a countryside is a geographic area that is located outside towns and cities. Typical rural areas have a low population density and small settlements. Agricultural areas and areas with forestry typically are descri ...
population are those living in the
district A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions o ...
s (''Secciones'' literally sections) and neighborhoods (''Parajes'' literally places) outside of them. For comparison with the municipalities and municipal districts of other provinces see the
list of municipalities and municipal districts of the Dominican Republic The municipalities of the Dominican Republic are, after the regions and the provinces, the third level of the political and administrative division of the Dominican Republic. The division of provinces into municipalities (''municipios'') is estab ...
.


References


External links

*
Oficina Nacional de Estadística, Statistics Portal of the Dominican Republic
*
Oficina Nacional de Estadística, Maps with administrative division of the provinces of the Dominican Republic
downloadable in PDF format {{Authority control Provinces of the Dominican Republic States and territories established in 1938