Constanza is a town and municipality in
La Vega Province
La Vega () is one of the 32 provinces of the Dominican Republic. It is located in the Cibao Valley, the north-central region of the country, and is divided into 4 municipalities with its capital city being the namesake of La Vega. The province ...
,
Dominican Republic
The Dominican Republic is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles of the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean. It shares a Maritime boundary, maritime border with Puerto Rico to the east and ...
.
Located in the
Cordillera Central Central Cordillera refers to the New Guinea Highlands.
Cordillera Central, meaning ''central range'' in Spanish, may refer to the following mountain ranges:
* Cordillera Central, Andes (disambiguation), several mountain ranges in South America
** ...
region, Constanza is known for having the coldest average temperature for a settlement on the island of
Hispaniola
Hispaniola (, also ) is an island between Geography of Cuba, Cuba and Geography of Puerto Rico, Puerto Rico in the Greater Antilles of the Caribbean. Hispaniola is the most populous island in the West Indies, and the second-largest by List of C ...
, as well as the entire
Caribbean
The Caribbean ( , ; ; ; ) is a region in the middle of the Americas centered around the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, mostly overlapping with the West Indies. Bordered by North America to the north, Central America ...
.
History
The name of Constanza has its origin in the legend the daughter of a local Native
Taíno
The Taíno are the Indigenous peoples of the Caribbean, Indigenous peoples of the Greater Antilles and surrounding islands. At the time of European contact in the late 15th century, they were the principal inhabitants of most of what is now The ...
chief who lived in the valley. Constanza was a sparsely populated area, though several explorers knew the valley in colonial times, and there was a settler named Victoriano Velano who brought
European
European, or Europeans, may refer to:
In general
* ''European'', an adjective referring to something of, from, or related to Europe
** Ethnic groups in Europe
** Demographics of Europe
** European cuisine, the cuisines of Europe and other West ...
agriculture and ranching culture to the area in 1750.
In 1852, the
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany, the country of the Germans and German things
**Germania (Roman era)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...
-
British
British may refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies.
* British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...
explorer and consul Sir
Robert Hermann Schomburgk
Sir Robert Hermann Schomburgk (5 June 1804 – 11 March 1865) was a Holy Roman Empire-born explorer for Great Britain who carried out geographical, ethnological and botanical studies in South America and the West Indies, and also fulfilled diplo ...
mentioned the existence of a farm in the valley of Constanza on his way through the region. The town was formally founded in 1894. It was incorporated into a municipality in La Vega Province on September 9, 1907.
On June 14, 1959, a plane landed on a Constanza airstrip with more than forty rebels with the purpose of killing the dictator of the time
Rafael Trujillo
Rafael Leónidas Trujillo Molina ( ; ; 24 October 1891 – 30 May 1961), nicknamed ''El Jefe'' (; "the boss"), was a Dominican military officer and dictator who ruled the Dominican Republic from August 1930 until Rafael Trujillo#Assassination, ...
and starting a communist revolution in the Dominican Republic. They fought
guerrilla warfare
Guerrilla warfare is a form of unconventional warfare in which small groups of irregular military, such as rebels, partisans, paramilitary personnel or armed civilians, which may include recruited children, use ambushes, sabotage, terrori ...
in the nearby mountains against the
Dominican Army
The Dominican Army (), is one of the three branches of the Armed Forces of the Dominican Republic, together with the Dominican Navy, Navy and the Dominican Air Force, Air Force.
The Dominican army with 28,750 active duty personnel consists of s ...
for two months before the armed forces managed to end the rebellion by killing all the rebels.
Geography

The town of Constanza is located at a height of 1220 meters (4000 ft) above sea level in the middle of the ''
Cordillera Central Central Cordillera refers to the New Guinea Highlands.
Cordillera Central, meaning ''central range'' in Spanish, may refer to the following mountain ranges:
* Cordillera Central, Andes (disambiguation), several mountain ranges in South America
** ...
'' (Central Range), the tallest mountain range in the island of Hispaniola and the entire Caribbean region. The annual average temperatures range from 41 °F (5 °C) to 68 °F (20 °C), depending on altitude and time of year. The valley is 8 km long and 4 km wide.
Climate
Its climate is a temperate oceanic or
subtropical highland climate
An oceanic climate, also known as a marine climate or maritime climate, is the temperate climate sub-type in Köppen classification represented as ''Cfb'', typical of west coasts in higher middle latitudes of continents, generally featuring c ...
(
Köppen Climate Classification
The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...
''Cfb''), with cool temperatures and rainfall throughout the year. The average annual
temperature
Temperature is a physical quantity that quantitatively expresses the attribute of hotness or coldness. Temperature is measurement, measured with a thermometer. It reflects the average kinetic energy of the vibrating and colliding atoms making ...
varies from less than 10 °C in highlands
to 18 °C in town.

In
summer
Summer or summertime is the hottest and brightest of the four temperate seasons, occurring after spring and before autumn. At or centred on the summer solstice, daylight hours are the longest and darkness hours are the shortest, with day ...
, temperatures range between 25 °C to 27 °C during the day, and between 12 °C to 15 °C at night.
Wildfire
A wildfire, forest fire, or a bushfire is an unplanned and uncontrolled fire in an area of Combustibility and flammability, combustible vegetation. Depending on the type of vegetation present, a wildfire may be more specifically identified as a ...
s are relatively common. In
winter
Winter is the coldest and darkest season of the year in temperate and polar climates. It occurs after autumn and before spring. The tilt of Earth's axis causes seasons; winter occurs when a hemisphere is oriented away from the Sun. Dif ...
, the temperatures are between 21 and 24 °C at day, and 8 to 12 °C at night.
Fog
Fog is a visible aerosol consisting of tiny water droplets or ice crystals suspended in the air at or near the Earth's surface. Reprint from Fog can be considered a type of low-lying cloud usually resembling stratus and is heavily influenc ...
is quite common. The last time that Constanza had freezing temperatures was in 1958; while in
Valle Nuevo freezes are usual.
The highest temperature ever recorded in town was 32.5 °C, on October 3, 1957.
The coldest temperature was –1 °C, recorded on February 6, 1958.
Economy

The local economy is based on its robust agricultural industry. It has a high production of vegetables and fruits including
strawberries
The garden strawberry (or simply strawberry; ''Fragaria × ananassa'') is a widely grown hybrid plant cultivated worldwide for its fruit. The genus ''Fragaria'', the strawberries, is in the rose family, Rosaceae. The fruit is appreciated f ...
,
peach
The peach (''Prunus persica'') is a deciduous tree first domesticated and Agriculture, cultivated in China. It bears edible juicy fruits with various characteristics, most called peaches and the glossy-skinned, non-fuzzy varieties called necta ...
es,
apple
An apple is a round, edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus'' spp.). Fruit trees of the orchard or domestic apple (''Malus domestica''), the most widely grown in the genus, are agriculture, cultivated worldwide. The tree originated ...
s,
garlic
Garlic (''Allium sativum'') is a species of bulbous flowering plants in the genus '' Allium''. Its close relatives include the onion, shallot, leek, chives, Welsh onion, and Chinese onion. Garlic is native to central and south Asia, str ...
and
potato
The potato () is a starchy tuberous vegetable native to the Americas that is consumed as a staple food in many parts of the world. Potatoes are underground stem tubers of the plant ''Solanum tuberosum'', a perennial in the nightshade famil ...
and other temperate crops due to its unique climate. Due to this, the town of Constanza alone contributes to 4% of the national GDP, while having less than 1% of the Dominican population making it one of the most prosperous municipalities in the country
per capita
''Per capita'' is a Latin phrase literally meaning "by heads" or "for each head", and idiomatically used to mean "per person".
Social statistics
The term is used in a wide variety of social science, social sciences and statistical research conte ...
.
Tourism
Constanza is known for its remarkable mountain climate despite being located in a tropical island. Local tourism is rampant during the winter time. Throughout the rest of the year it is visited because of its proximity to the
Ebano Verde Scientific Reserve and also to have the nearest route to 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 Hispaniola the 16th-highest maximum elevation of any island in the world. Additionally, it is only no ...
, the tallest mountain in the country, island, and Caribbean.
Ecology
The nearby Ebano Verde Scientific Reserve is the stronghold of the widest variety of flora and fauna of Hispaniola. The mountains surrounding the valley of Constanza are covered in
Hispaniolan pine (''Pinus occidentalis'')
forests
A forest is an ecosystem characterized by a dense community of trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, and ecological functio ...
. Typical
endemic
Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...
fauna seen in the area includes the Hispaniolan
palm crow
The Hispaniolan palm crow (''Corvus palmarum'') is a relatively small corvid endemic to the Caribbean island of Hispaniola (in Haiti and the Dominican Republic) where it was formerly common but is now reduced in population.
Taxonomy
The Hispanio ...
,
Antillean siskin,
rufous-throated solitaire,
Hispaniolan crossbill
The Hispaniolan crossbill (''Loxia megaplaga'') is a crossbill that is endemic to the island of Hispaniola (split between Haiti and the Dominican Republic), and the only representative of the ''Loxia'' genus in the Caribbean.
Taxonomy & evoluti ...
(whose abundance is directly related to pine cone crop), and
Hispaniolan trogon, while at lower elevations the
Hispaniolan parrot,
scaly-naped pigeon and
golden swallow can be seen, many of which are
endangered species
An endangered species is a species that is very likely to become extinct in the near future, either worldwide or in a particular political jurisdiction. Endangered species may be at risk due to factors such as habitat loss, poaching, inv ...
.
Transportation
The town can be reached either by local airlines through the
Constanza Airport or through local bus companies.
Demographics

Constanza has 59,052 inhabitants. A large part of its population descends from Spanish immigrants (from Burgos, Palencia and Vizcaya), Hungarians, and
Japanese
Japanese may refer to:
* Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia
* Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan
* Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture
** Japanese diaspor ...
, as well as a smaller number of Arabs, Jews, and
Chinese
Chinese may refer to:
* Something related to China
* Chinese people, people identified with China, through nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity
**Han Chinese, East Asian ethnic group native to China.
**'' Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic ...
.
The migrants of Constanza usually lived in neighborhoods where they retained the customs of their ancestors. The three most prominent and particular colonies are the Spanish colony, a few meters from the entrance of the city, the Hungarian Colony, to the southeast, and the Japanese Colony, to the south on the road that leads to Valle Nuevo and San José de Ocoa.
References
{{Authority control
Populated places in La Vega Province
Municipalities of the Dominican Republic
1894 establishments in North America