The Yaque Del Norte River (
Spanish
Spanish might refer to:
* Items from or related to Spain:
**Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain
**Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries
**Spanish cuisine
Other places
* Spanish, Ontario, Can ...
, ''Río Yaque del Norte'') is the longest
river in the
Dominican Republic, as well as the second longest river on
Hispaniola, behind the
Artibonite River
The Artibonite River ( Spanish: '' Río Artibonito''; Haitian Creole: ''Latibonit'') is the longest river in Haiti, and the longest on the island of Hispaniola. It is also the second-longest river in the Caribbean, behind the Cauto River in Cuba. ...
. It is 296
km long and flows northwest into the
Atlantic Ocean
The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the "Old World" of Afr ...
.
Etymology
''Yaque'' or ''Yaqui'' was a
Taíno word given to two rivers in the Dominican Republic. One is called the Yaque del Norte ("Northern Yaque"), and goes to the north of
Hispaniola, emptying in the
Atlantic Ocean
The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the "Old World" of Afr ...
; and the second, the
Yaque del Sur ("Southern Yaque") goes to the south, emptying in 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 ...
.
History
During his first visit to
Hispaniola in 1492,
Christopher Columbus saw the river at its mouth, and he called it ''Río de Oro'' ("Golden River") because he found many small pieces of
gold. During his second visit, he saw the river elsewhere, confusing it for a different one, and called it ''Río de las Cañas'' ("River of Canes") because many tall
sugarcane
Sugarcane or sugar cane is a species of (often hybrid) tall, perennial grass (in the genus '' Saccharum'', tribe Andropogoneae) that is used for sugar production. The plants are 2–6 m (6–20 ft) tall with stout, jointed, fibrous stalks ...
s grew on the borders of the river.
Columbus built three
fort
A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...
s near the river: Esperanza, Magdalena and Santiago.
The first two were abandoned, and Santiago was moved to another place, with the name of
Santiago de los Caballeros. Later, Santiago de los Caballeros was moved again near the river, where the modern city stands today.
Course
The
source
Source may refer to:
Research
* Historical document
* Historical source
* Source (intelligence) or sub source, typically a confidential provider of non open-source intelligence
* Source (journalism), a person, publication, publishing institute ...
of the Yaque del Norte is at an
elevation of 2,580
metres, on the ''Pico del Yaque'' mountain, in the central part of the
Cordillera Central mountain range. There, the river is called ''Los Guanos'' or ''Río de la Derecha'' ("River to the Right"). The name Yaque del Norte is used only when it is joined by another small river, ''Los Tablones'' or ''Río de la Izquierda'' ("River to the Left") in Manabao, to the west of
Jarabacoa
Jarabacoa is a town and the second largest municipality in La Vega Province, Dominican Republic.
History
The indigenous Taino people originally inhabited the valley of Jarabacoa. It is assumed that the town's name was formed out of the words ...
, at an elevation of 900 m.
From Manabao, the river flows to the east, through the northwestern part of
La Vega province. When it gets to
Jarabacoa
Jarabacoa is a town and the second largest municipality in La Vega Province, Dominican Republic.
History
The indigenous Taino people originally inhabited the valley of Jarabacoa. It is assumed that the town's name was formed out of the words ...
, it turns to the north, to the
Santiago. The Jimenoa river joins it at Jarabacoa.
In Santiago de los Caballeros, the river turns to the northwest and flows by the ''Yaque del Norte Valley'', the western part of the
Cibao Valley
The Cibao, usually referred as "El Cibao", is a region of the Dominican Republic located at the northern part of the country. As of 2009 the Cibao has a population of 5,622,378 making it the most populous region in the country.
The region constitu ...
.
Its mouth is on Monte Cristi Bay, just to the south of the city of
Monte Cristi, and empties into the Atlantic Ocean.
Tributaries
Its 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 ...
are the Bao, Ámina, Mao and Guayubín rivers.
Cities
The city of
Santiago de los Caballeros is the most important
Dominican city close to the river. It goes also near the cities of Jarabacoa,
Mao
Mao Zedong pronounced ; also romanised traditionally as Mao Tse-tung. (26 December 1893 – 9 September 1976), also known as Chairman Mao, was a Chinese communist revolutionary who was the founder of the People's Republic of China (PRC ...
,
Guayubín
Guayubín is a town in the Monte Cristi province of the Dominican Republic. It is Monte Cristi's second largest town.
They hold annual festivities from August 1 until about August 10, where they celebrate their saint which is San Lorenzo ( Sa ...
,
Castañuelas
Castañuelas is a town and municipality located in Monte Cristi Province, Dominican Republic. Its total population is 14,878 with the urban population at 4,005.
References
Populated places in Monte Cristi Province
Municipalities of the D ...
and Monte Cristi.
Watershed
With an area of 7,044
km2, its
watershed
Watershed is a hydrological term, which has been adopted in other fields in a more or less figurative sense. It may refer to:
Hydrology
* Drainage divide, the line that separates neighbouring drainage basins
* Drainage basin, called a "watershe ...
is the largest of the Dominican Republic, and the second largest of the island. Its discharge (
volume of
water which passes through a section of the river per
unit of
time) is 97.0
cubic metre
The cubic metre (in Commonwealth English and international spelling as used by the International Bureau of Weights and Measures) or cubic meter (in American English) is the unit of volume in the International System of Units (SI). Its symbol is ...
s per
second at
Palo Verde, to the southeast of Monte Cristi.
Environment
Due to factory dumping, water mismanagement, and damming, the Yaque Del Norte is currently very polluted; it is very diminished in size, and lacks fish throughout much of its course.
American crocodiles
The American crocodile (''Crocodylus acutus'') is a species of crocodilian found in the Neotropics. It is the most widespread of the four extant species of crocodiles from the Americas, with populations present from South Florida and the coasts ...
(''Crocodylus acutus'') once inhabited the Yaque del Norte and other rivers of Hispaniola,
but now they are found only in the large
lakes of the island (
Lago Enriquillo
Lake Enriquillo ( es, Lago Enriquillo) is a hypersaline lake in the Dominican Republic located in the southwestern region of the country. Its waters are shared between the provinces of Bahoruco and Independencia, the latter of which borders Hait ...
and
Etang Saumâtre).
Uses
The water of the river is used for
irrigation, mainly in the valley that goes from Santiago to Monte Cristi, the Yaque del Norte Valley. Crops grown include
rice,
banana
A banana is an elongated, edible fruit – botanically a berry – produced by several kinds of large herbaceous flowering plants in the genus ''Musa''. In some countries, bananas used for cooking may be called "plantains", distinguis ...
s,
plantain
Plantain may refer to:
Plants and fruits
* Cooking banana, banana cultivars in the genus ''Musa'' whose fruits are generally used in cooking
** True plantains, a group of cultivars of the genus ''Musa''
* ''Plantaginaceae'', a family of floweri ...
s,
cassava
''Manihot esculenta'', commonly called cassava (), manioc, or yuca (among numerous regional names), is a woody shrub of the spurge family, Euphorbiaceae, native to South America. Although a perennial plant, cassava is extensively cultivated ...
,
tobacco
Tobacco is the common name of several plants in the genus ''Nicotiana'' of the family Solanaceae, and the general term for any product prepared from the cured leaves of these plants. More than 70 species of tobacco are known, but the chie ...
, and
vegetables.
The Yaque Del Norte is mostly shallow, so navigation is limited to small boats. During the wet season, however, the river swells up considerably, causing floods in some places. In 1972, its waters have been dammed to harness electricity at the
Tavera Dam.
There are several
dam
A dam is a barrier that stops or restricts the flow of surface water or underground streams. Reservoirs created by dams not only suppress floods but also provide water for activities such as irrigation, human consumption, industrial use, a ...
s along the river to generate
electricity
Electricity is the set of physical phenomena associated with the presence and motion of matter that has a property of electric charge. Electricity is related to magnetism, both being part of the phenomenon of electromagnetism, as described ...
, store the water for irrigation, and prevent
flooding. The river is 298 km long, is the
drainage basin for the north-west of the country, and is economically important as a source of irrigation for rice-farming and other agriculture.
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 respective tributaries indented under each larger stream's name.
*Dajabón River (Massacre River)
*Yaque del ...
*
List of rivers of the Americas by coastline
References
{{Authority control
Rivers of the Dominican Republic