The Distrito Nacional (; D.N.) is a subdivision 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 with ...

enclosing 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) , webs ...

. It is not in any of the

provinces A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman '' provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...

, 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 Santo Domingo () is a province of the Dominican Republic. It was split from the Distrito Nacional on October 16, 2001. Municipalities and municipal districts As of June 20, 2006, the province is divided into the following municipalities (''m ...

. Published statistics and maps generally show the former, larger, Distrito Nacional. The Distrito Nacional has no rural or underdeveloped areas.

Points of interest

Poligono Central

The

Poligono Central Central Santo Domingo or better known as Polígono Central ( en, Central Polygon) is a term used to group several neighborhoods located in central Santo Domingo, Distrito Nacional, Dominican Republic defined as the area delineated by ''John F Kenn ...

is the central area of

. Upscale neighborhoods of Naco, Piantini, and Paraiso are located within this central polygon. Most of the financial activity in Santo Domingo is also located in the ''Poligono''.

Central Government

The Distrito Nacional houses the central government's executive branch Presidential Office (''Palacio Nacional''), the national congressional building (''Congreso Nacional'') and the top judicial court building (''Suprema Corte de Justicia''). It also houses all the nationwide public office's main buildings, called ''Ministerios'' (formerly ''Secretarías de Estado'').

Ciudad Colonial

''For the main article, please select

Ciudad Colonial Ciudad Colonial (Spanish for "Colonial City") is the historic central neighborhood of the Dominican Republic's capital Santo Domingo. It is the oldest continuously inhabited European-established settlement in the Americas. The area has been decla ...

.'' The ''Ciudad Colonial'' (lit. "Colonial City") is the oldest continually occupied European settlement in the Western hemisphere, established by

Bartholomew Columbus 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 ...

and the Spanish explorers 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. ...

. It has several historic landmarks and is declared as

World Heritage Site A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for h ...

by the

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...

Nightlife

There are various nightlife activities available inside the Distrito Nacional. Upscale

nightclubs A nightclub (music club, discothèque, disco club, or simply club) is an entertainment venue during nighttime comprising a dance floor, lightshow, and a stage for live music or a disc jockey (DJ) who plays recorded music. Nightclubs gener ...

casino A casino is a facility for certain types of gambling. Casinos are often built near or combined with hotels, resorts, restaurants, retail shopping, cruise ships, and other tourist attractions. Some casinos are also known for hosting live entertai ...

hotels A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. Facilities provided inside a hotel room may range from a modest-quality mattress in a small room to large suites with bigger, higher-quality beds, a dresser, a ref ...

restaurants A restaurant is a business that prepares and serves food and drinks to customers. Meals are generally served and eaten on the premises, but many restaurants also offer take-out and food delivery services. Restaurants vary greatly in appearan ...

with international bars are widely available. Discothèque DJs and live performances caters both local sounds ( merengue,

salsa Salsa most often refers to: * Salsa (Mexican cuisine), a variety of sauces used as condiments * Salsa music, a popular style of Latin American music * Salsa (dance), a Latin dance associated with Salsa music Salsa or SALSA may also refer to: ...

or bachata) and dance music ( house,

techno Techno is a Music genre, genre of electronic dance music (EDM) which is generally music production, produced for use in a continuous DJ set, with tempo often varying between 120 and 150 beats per minute (bpm). The central Drum beat, rhythm is typ ...

trance Trance is a state of semi-consciousness in which a person is not self-aware and is either altogether unresponsive to external stimuli (but nevertheless capable of pursuing and realizing an aim) or is selectively responsive in following the dir ...

reggaeton Reggaeton (, ), also known as reggaetón and reguetón (), is a music style that originated in Panama during the late 1980s. It was later popularized in Puerto Rico. It has evolved from dancehall and has been influenced by American hip hop, ...

, drum and bass, etc.) Most nightclubs alternate between the two main genres; some other clubs stick almost exclusively to either one. Several chain restaurants are available serving dinner up to midnight. Most restaurants within hotels don't close at all, and the majority of casinos serve complimentary snacks all night. Most restaurants are specialized on the following cuisines: Local, Italian, French, Steakhouse, Mexican, Spanish, Seafood, Chinese and Japanese). There are several movie cinemas that play movies in English (with subtitles) and are on par with worldwide premiers. Jazz music outlets, live theater, live concerts and sports events are available throghtout the whole week.

Parks

Distrito Nacional has several

urban parks An urban park or metropolitan park, also known as a municipal park (North America) or a public park, public open space, or municipal gardens ( UK), is a park in cities and other incorporated places that offer recreation and green space to re ...

, the largest one, ''Parque Mirador Sur'', overlooking the Caribbean Sea from a high cliff from the ''Avenida Mirador Sur'' (also called ''Avenida de la Salud'' - Health Avenue). It has several miles of open road designed for picnic,

jogging Jogging is a form of trotting or running at a slow or leisurely pace. The main intention is to increase physical fitness with less stress on the body than from faster running but more than walking, or to maintain a steady speed for longer periods ...

and

cycling Cycling, also, when on a two-wheeled bicycle, called bicycling or biking, is the use of cycles for transport, recreation, exercise or sport. People engaged in cycling are referred to as "cyclists", "bicyclists", or "bikers". Apart from t ...

Roller skating Roller skating is the act of traveling on surfaces with roller skates. It is a recreational activity, a sport, and a form of transportation. Roller rinks and skate parks are built for roller skating, though it also takes place on streets, sid ...

and even Kendo are regularly practiced in areas of the park. Other places in the area include: *

Plaza de la Cultura Juan Pablo Duarte A town square (or square, plaza, public square, city square, urban square, or ''piazza'') is an open public space, commonly found in the heart of a traditional town but not necessarily a true square, geometric square, used for community gathe ...

- which houses several national museums and is host of the International Book Fair. It houses the Teatro Nacional. The Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional holds concerts under the direction of

Maestro Maestro (; from the Italian '' maestro'' , meaning "master" or "teacher") is an honorific title of respect (plural: maestros or maestri). The term is most commonly used in the context of Western classical music and opera, in line with the ubiqu ...

José Antonio Molina. *

Centro Olímpico Juan Pablo Duarte Centro Olímpico Juan Pablo Duarte (translation: Juan Pablo Duarte Olympic Center) is a multi-venued athletic complex in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. It was initially built for the 1974 Central American and Caribbean Games, and also hosted m ...

- Olympic facility in the center of the city. It includes the

Estadio Olímpico Félix Sánchez A stadium ( : stadiums or stadia) is a place or venue for (mostly) outdoor sports, concerts, or other events and consists of a field or stage either partly or completely surrounded by a tiered structure designed to allow spectators to stand o ...

. *

Estadio Quisqueya Quisqueya Stadium Juan Marichal is a baseball stadium in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. It is often used as a multi-use stadium. Football club Atlético Pantoja used the venue for their inaugural Caribbean football championship match. The Qu ...

- baseball stadium, home of two national teams:

Tigres del Licey Tigres del Licey (English: Licey Tigers) is a professional baseball team in the Dominican Professional Baseball League (LIDOM). The team was founded in 1907 and based in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. It is one of two LIDOM franchises based in ...

and

Leones del Escogido Leones del Escogido (English: ''Chosen One Lions'' or ''Lions of Chosen One'' or ''Picked Lions'') is a professional baseball team in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. Established in , Leones are the third most successful team in the Dominican Wi ...

. The former is the winningest team of the

Caribbean Series The Caribbean Series (''Spanish'': ''Serie del Caribe''), also called Caribbean World Series, is the highest tournament for professional baseball teams in Latin America. The tournament location is rotated annually among the countries and is norma ...

Shopping

There are several

shopping malls A shopping mall (or simply mall) is a North American term for a large indoor shopping center, usually anchored by department stores. The term "mall" originally meant a pedestrian promenade with shops along it (that is, the term was used to refe ...

that represent international brands of clothing, electronic goods, gifts and the like. Banks, barber shops, internet cafés, travel agencies, dental offices and supermarkets can all be found under a single roof.

Schools

There are plenty of public (government funded) and private schools that offer teaching in both Spanish and English. Among the public universities is the first university of the Americas,

Universidad Autónoma de Santo Domingo The Universidad Autónoma de Santo Domingo (UASD) (Autonomous University of Santo Domingo) is the public university system in the Dominican Republic with its flagship campus in the Ciudad Universitaria (lit. University City) neighborhood of San ...

, located near the center-south of the city. The first private university,

Pontificia Universidad Católica Madre y Maestra The Pontificia Universidad Católica Madre y Maestra ''(Mother and Teacher Pontifical Catholic University)'', named after Pope John XXIII's encyclical ''Mater et magistra'', which means ''Mother and Teacher'', (PUCMM for its Spanish acronym), i ...

, has a campus nearby.

Transportation

Metro de Santo Domingo

The Distrito Nacional boasts the first and only underground public transportation system in the country. The first line connects the Distrito Nacional with

Santo Domingo Norte Santo Domingo Norte is a municipality of the Santo Domingo Province in the Dominican Republic. There is one municipal district (''distrito municipal'') within the municipality: La Victoria. Overview Santo Domingo Norte was created as a municipal ...

Public transportation

Other means of public transportation include: taxi services, public bus routes, urban transportation by bus, local airports and rent cars. International flights are handled by the near

Las Américas International Airport Las Américas International Airport ( es, Aeropuerto Internacional Las Américas, or AILA) is an international airport located in Punta Caucedo, near Santo Domingo and Boca Chica in the Dominican Republic. The airport is run by Aeropuertos Domi ...

and La Isabela airport. It can be reached from the city center through some 20 miles of recently expanded expressway and new suspension bridge (Puente Presidente Juan Bosch).

Politics

The Distrito Nacional is represented in the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies on the same scale as a Province (a single Senator (''Senador''), plus one Deputy (''Diputado'') per 50,000 inhabitants). Its local government is the same as the provincial ''municipios'', without the equivalent of a provincial tier of government.

Sectores (neighborhoods)

The Distrito Nacional is subdivided in incorporated areas (neighborhoods) called ''sectores'' which could be considered as small urban

town A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world. Origin and use The word "town" shares an ori ...

s. All ''sectores'' are serviced directly by the municipal mayor's office (''Alcalde''). Some sectores prefixes: * '' Ciudad (city)'' - applies to the original older parts of town, some dating back to colonial times of Dominican Republic. * ''

Ensanche means "widening" in Spanish. It is used to name the development areas of Spanish cities around the end of the 19th century, when the demographic explosion and the Industrial Revolution prompted the tearing down of the old city wall and the cons ...

'' (lit. "widening") - usually, but not always, applied to the more "modern" parts of the city. * ''

Villa A villa is a type of house that was originally an ancient Roman upper class country house. Since its origins in the Roman villa, the idea and function of a villa have evolved considerably. After the fall of the Roman Republic, villas became s ...

'' - the urban outskirts of both the old city of Santo Domingo and the current (smaller) Distrito Nacional. Instituto San Juan Bautista de la Salle, Santo Domingo