Moca is the capital of Espaillat province in the

Cibao The Cibao, usually referred as El Cibao, is a region of the Dominican Republic located in the northern part of the country. As of 2009, the Cibao region has a population of 5,622,378, making it the most populous region in the country. The region ...

region of the

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 ...

, and is the tenth-largest city of the country with a population of 164,022 inhabitants. Moca is located 11 miles/18 kilometers east from the country’s second-largest city,

Santiago Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile (), is the capital and largest city of Chile and one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is located in the country's central valley and is the center of the Santiago Metropolitan Regi ...

. It is divided into eight municipal districts: San Víctor, Las Lagunas, José Contreras, Juan López, El Higuerito, La Ortega, Monte de la Jagua and Canca La Reina. The city is known as "La Villa Heroica" (Village of Heroes) due to the number of men and women from Moca who have played a major role in the Dominican Republic's history in bringing down two dictators,

Ulises Heureaux Ulises Hilarión Heureaux Leibert (; October 21, 1845 – July 26, 1899) nicknamed Lilís, was Presidents of the Dominican Republic, president of the Dominican Republic from September 1, 1882 to September 1, 1884, from January 6, 1887 to Februar ...

and

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 bringing democracy back to the country. Moca is home to the Corazon Sagrado de Jesus ("Sacred Heart of Jesus") Cathedral. All its pane glass windows were originally brought from

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

depicting the apostles and

Jesus Jesus (AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, and many Names and titles of Jesus in the New Testament, other names and titles, was a 1st-century Jewish preacher and religious leader. He is the Jesus in Chris ...

' path to the

crucifixion Crucifixion is a method of capital punishment in which the condemned is tied or nailed to a large wooden cross, beam or stake and left to hang until eventual death. It was used as a punishment by the Achaemenid Empire, Persians, Ancient Carthag ...

. Agriculture forms the primary livelihood of the inhabitants. Plantain and yucca are main crops. Most crops are harvested by hand.

History

At the time of its colonization by the Spanish, what is now Moca was part of the chiefdom of Maguá. Moca was founded in 1780. In 1845, Moca is designated common of the department of La Vega, then in its political division it becomes the head municipality of the Espaillat province.

Economy

Moca has a very important banking sector, the city is home to branches of all commercial banks of the country. A strong business in shops, furniture, supermarkets, warehouses, factories of footwear, food, construction, and hardware. The city has the largest coffee manufacturing industry, Industries Banilejas. The city is also known for its agricultural production, with the plantain, banana and cassava as major crops. Other fruits: bananas, pigeon pea, taro, yams, squash, beans, coffee, oranges, lemons, grapefruit, papaya (papaya), etc. A variety of vegetables such as lettuce, tomatoes, eggplants, peppers, cabbage are cultivated, among others. It also has a great development in poultry products, with a production of 70% in this sector.

Church of Moca

File:Church_of_Moca,_Dominican_Republic.jpg File:Moca,_Dominican_Republic_church.jpg File:Moca_Dominican_Republic_church.jpg File:Protestas dominicanas en Moca 2020.jpg

Geography

Moca has a total area of 339.21

km² The square kilometre (square kilometer in American spelling; symbol: km2) is a multiple of the square metre, the SI unit of area or surface area. In the SI unit of area (m2), 1 km2 is equal to 1M(m2). 1 km2 is equal to: * 1,000,000 squar ...

. The municipality sits on a volcanic coral reef with

hill A hill is a landform that extends above the surrounding terrain. It often has a distinct summit, and is usually applied to peaks which are above elevation compared to the relative landmass, though not as prominent as Mountain, mountains. Hills ...

s to the west and low

mountain A mountain is an elevated portion of the Earth's crust, generally with steep sides that show significant exposed bedrock. Although definitions vary, a mountain may differ from a plateau in having a limited summit area, and is usually higher t ...

s to the north; these mountains are part of the ''Cordillera Septentrional''. The highest mountain in the municipality, and in the province, is ''El Mogote'' at (971 m). Moca is at an

elevation The elevation of a geographic location (geography), ''location'' is its height above or below a fixed reference point, most commonly a reference geoid, a mathematical model of the Earth's sea level as an equipotential gravitational equipotenti ...

of 183 m with an

average In colloquial, ordinary language, an average is a single number or value that best represents a set of data. The type of average taken as most typically representative of a list of numbers is the arithmetic mean the sum of the numbers divided by ...

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 ...

in the city of 27,5 °C in 2023 and an average

rainfall Rain is a form of precipitation where water droplets that have condensed from atmospheric water vapor fall under gravity. Rain is a major component of the water cycle and is responsible for depositing most of the fresh water on the Earth. ...

of 189,1 mm in 2023.

Subdivisions

Climate

Notable Resident

* Trina de Moya (1863–1943) – poet and First Lady of the Dominican Republic (1899, 1902–1903, 1924–1930)

Sports

* Estadio Bragaña Garcia, baseball stadium

References

External links

ayuntamientomoca.gob.do
{{Authority control Municipalities of the Dominican Republic Populated places in Espaillat Province Populated places established in 1780