Pedernales Province
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Pedernales (; ) is the southernmost
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 ...
, including the offshore island of Isla Beata. It was split from Barahona in 1957. Of its 2,074.53 km2, 1374 km2 belong to the
Jaragua National Park Jaragua National Park ( es, Parque Nacional Jaragua) is a national park of the Dominican Republic. Jaragua National Park is located in the Pedernales Province in the extreme southwest of the Dominican Republic. Jaragua National Park has a total ar ...
. A third of its population is of Haitian origin, the highest ratio within the country. The capital of the province, Pedernales, was originally called Juan López, who was a Spanish inhabitant who had settled in the area around the 19th century. The province was called Pedernales after the
river A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of wate ...
located on the border with
Haiti Haiti (; ht, Ayiti ; French: ), officially the Republic of Haiti (); ) and formerly known as Hayti, is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and ...
, in which flint is abundant. The indigenous people of the Dominican Republic, the
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 ...
, used them to make sharp tools, such as axes and arrowheads.


Geography

The province of Pedernales is located in the southwest of the Dominican Republic, sharing its borders with the neighboring Haiti. It is located 330 km (kilometers) from
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 Dominican capital. It is part of the region called Enriquillo, and it is the seventh largest province in the country, with 2,042.40 km2 (square kilometers). It borders the province of Independencia to the north, and the province of Barahona to the east. Pedernales is located in a geomorphological region known as Procurrente de Barahona. The area of Pedernales has some of the most arid lands in the country. It is formed by successive marine terraces. The lowest part of these is on the edge of the coast, less than 100 m s. n. m. (meters above sea level). As one moves away from the sea, the elevations grow to 400 m. Upon entering the north, the ground continues to rise up to the Sierra de Bahoruco. Mount Vincent, with an elevation of about 2046 m, is the highest point of the province. The territory of Pedernales has several adjacent lands, such as Isla Beata, Isla Los Frailes,
Alto Velo Island Alto Velo Island ( es, Isla Alto Velo; also called Alta Vela Island) is a small uninhabited island south of the island of Hispaniola in the Caribbean Sea. Its maximum height is about above sea level. It lies on an underwater mountain range which c ...
, and Cayo Piedra Negra making it a strategic place for fishermen. Historically it was considered important, as it served as an orientation for
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, Cana ...
and French ships during the colonial era that wanted to reach the Western expanse of the island. In addition, its natural conditions allow the nesting of seabirds and other endemic species.


History

The Taíno arrived in Hispaniola around the 8th century A.D.. They lived from agriculture, fishing, hunting, and gathering fruits. At that time, the island was divided into 5 chiefdoms or regions. The Province of Pedernales occupies the territory of what was previously the chiefdom of Jaragua. When the Spanish arrived, Cacique Bohechío was the head of this chiefdom. The inhabitants of this land were characterized by their rebellion, since they were against the oppression that the Spanish subjected them. During the sixteenth century, this land was a refuge for the chief Enriquillo, a Taíno prince, as he was rebelling. In 1493, Christopher Columbus discovered
Beata Island Beata Island ( es, Isla Beata) is a small island on the Caribbean Sea, located southwest from Cape Beata. Some southwest of it lies the smaller Alto Velo Island. It is politically part of the Dominican Republic, and is roughly triangle-shaped a ...
, and considered it a strategic point for ships, due to its geographical location. This attracted several people who later settled on the shores of the island. The Spanish also kept cattle on the island for the new maritime expeditions. When Hispaniola was divided into a French and a Spanish colony, the Pedernales River was set as a border limit. From 1844, until the signing of the territorial division treaty (1929-1936), there were several incidents and border conflicts in the Enriquillo and Pedernales region. In 1867, the island of Alto Velo was granted to a North American company. Salt extraction was also started in the Beata lagoons. The settlement of Pedernales began in 1927, during the government of
Horacio Vásquez Felipe Horacio Vásquez Lajara (October 22, 1860 – March 25, 1936) was a Dominican general and political figure. He served as the president of the Provisional Government Junta of the Dominican Republic in 1899, and again between 1902 and 1903. ...
. It was included in the border colonization plan, which aimed to integrate the area with the rest of the country. Its first administrator was Socrates Nolasco, appointed on April 13, 1927, by Rafael Espaillat, Minister of Agriculture and Immigration (a descendant of
Ulises Francisco Espaillat Ulises Francisco Espaillat Quiñones (February 9, 1823 – April 25, 1878) was a Dominican author and politician. He served as president of the Dominican Republic from April 29, 1876 to October 5, 1876. Espaillat Province is named after him. ...
). He was in charge of coordinating the construction of the first town of Pedernales. Pedernales was created on December 16, 1957.


Economy and population

The main activity in the province is currently agriculture, producing coffee and beef cattle. Fishing is also an important activity, being one of the provinces with the highest catch of fish and lobsters. Limestone mining in Cabo Rojo is also important. The number of farms in the province amounts to a total of 1,128, which represents only 0.004% of the total number of farms in the country, though relatively arid Pedernales has some areas where the land can be very fertile, mainly based on
irrigation canals Irrigation (also referred to as watering) is the practice of applying controlled amounts of water to land to help grow crops, landscape plants, and lawns. Irrigation has been a key aspect of agriculture for over 5,000 years and has been devel ...
. This has allowed the cultivation of products such as cotton, beans, peanuts, bananas, cassava, coffee, bananas, corn, tobacco, coconut, among others. According to statistical data, Pedernales is the least densely populated province in the Dominican Republic. For 2010, the total population reached 31,587 people: 16,895 men and 14,692 women, with a density of 15.7 inhabitants / km2 (inhabitants per square kilometer). The predominant ethnic groups are 78% mulatto or mestizo, 13% black and 9% white. Until 1927, before the
Rafael Trujillo Rafael Leónidas Trujillo Molina ( , ; 24 October 189130 May 1961), nicknamed ''El Jefe'' (, "The Chief" or "The Boss"), was a Dominican dictator who ruled the Dominican Republic from February 1930 until his assassination in May 1961. He ser ...
regime, the area was inhabited almost entirely by
Haitians Haitians ( French: , ht, Ayisyen) are the citizens of Haiti and the descendants in the diaspora through direct parentage. An ethnonational group, Haitians generally comprise the modern descendants of self-liberated Africans in the Caribbean te ...
. Together with the founding of the province, the government imposed measures to raise the Dominican population, stop the Haitian migration, and integrate the province more into the rest of the country.


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 t ...
s'') and municipal districts (''distrito municipal'' - M.D.) within them: * Pedernales, head municipality of the province **
José Francisco Peña Gómez José Francisco Peña Gómez (6 March 1937 – 10 May 1998) was a politician from the Dominican Republic. He was the leader of the Dominican Revolutionary Party (PRD), a three-time candidate for president of the Dominican Republic and former May ...
(M.D.) *
Oviedo Oviedo (; ast, Uviéu ) is the capital city of the Principality of Asturias in northern Spain and the administrative and commercial centre of the region. It is also the name of the municipality that contains the city. Oviedo is located ap ...
** Juancho (M.D.) 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 describ ...
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
neighborhood A neighbourhood (British English, Irish English, Australian English and Canadian English) or neighborhood (American English; see spelling differences) is a geographically localised community within a larger city, town, suburb or rural area, ...
s (''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

*
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
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format {{Authority control Provinces of the Dominican Republic States and territories established in 1957 1957 establishments in the Dominican Republic