The Dominican

city A city is a human settlement of a substantial size. The term "city" has different meanings around the world and in some places the settlement can be very small. Even where the term is limited to larger settlements, there is no universally agree ...

of Pedernales is the capital of the

Pedernales Province Pedernales (; ) is the southernmost province of the Dominican Republic, including the offshore island of Isla Beata. It was split from Barahona in 1957. Of its 2,080.95 km2, 1,374 km2 belongs to the Jaragua National Park. A third of i ...

, in 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 ...

. It is located in the southwest of the country, on the

Dominican Republic–Haiti border The Dominican Republic–Haiti border is an Border, international border between the Dominican Republic and the Haiti, Republic of Haiti on the island of Hispaniola. Extending from the Caribbean Sea in the south to the Atlantic Ocean in the north, ...

, and has a crossing to the

Haiti Haiti, officially the Republic of Haiti, is a country on the island of Hispaniola in the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and south of the Bahamas. It occupies the western three-eighths of the island, which it shares with the Dominican ...

an town of Anse-à-Pitres.

National Parks

* Parque Nacional Jaragua * Parque Nacional Sierra de Bahoruco These two parks, along with

Lake Enriquillo Lake 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 Baoruco Province, Bahoruco and Independencia Province, Independencia, the latter ...

and adjoining zones of the Municipality Pedernales, form the first biosphere reserve in the country.

History

The official foundation of the colony of Pedernales came about in the year 1927 during the Government of Horacio Vásquez, who appointed as Administrator the well-known writer

Sócrates Nolasco Arístides Sócrates Henríquez Nolasco was a writer from the Dominican Republic. Biography He was born in what is now Enriquillo in Barahona Province on 20 March 1884, and died in Santo Domingo on 2 July 1980. (in Spanish). Retrieved 14 Febr ...

The colonists came mostly from

Duvergé Duvergé, also known locally as ''Las Damas'' (Spanish: "the ladies", after the local Las Damas River) is the largest city in the province of Independencia in the Dominican Republic. The first settlers of this community were the gentlemen Christ ...

. The first one was Mr. Genaro Pérez Rocha, a prosperous rancher, who would later bring the first resident families who came from Duvergé. In the year 1937 the highway was built to join this locality and Oviedo, in whose building 500 men participated, divided into brigades of 10 each. Pedernales_Dominican_Republic_people_2

By Resolution of the City Hall of Enriquillo in 1938, Pedernales was raised to Municipal District. The name of Pedernales stems from the mineral

flint Flint, occasionally flintstone, is a sedimentary cryptocrystalline form of the mineral quartz, categorized as the variety of chert that occurs in chalk or marly limestone. Historically, flint was widely used to make stone tools and start ...

(''pedernal'' in

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 countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

), which is a very common variety of quartz of yellowish color "that produces spark with the link". This stone is found in the river of Pedernales, which marks the southernmost part of the frontier between

and the Dominican Republic.

Bahía de las Águilas

Pedernales lies a short way from Bahía de las Águilas, an isolated, unspoilt beach known for its great beauty and biodiversity.

Touristic Places

*Hoyo de Pelempito * Cabo Rojo *Río de Paso Sena *El Mulito *Playa Pedernales *Playa Bahía de las Águilas

Culture

*Grupo de Baile Folklórico *Baton Ballet *Banda de Música *Cockfighting *Palos y Atabales

Climate

Its location over a number of

rain shadow A rain shadow is an area of significantly reduced rainfall behind a mountainous region, on the side facing away from prevailing winds, known as its leeward side. Evaporated moisture from body of water, bodies of water (such as oceans and larg ...

s through the highlands of Hispaniola from the northeasterly

trade wind The trade winds or easterlies are permanent east-to-west prevailing winds that flow in the Earth's equatorial region. The trade winds blow mainly from the northeast in the Northern Hemisphere and from the southeast in the Southern Hemisphere, ...

s gives Pedernales a

semi-arid climate A semi-arid climate, semi-desert climate, or steppe climate is a dry climate sub-type. It is located on regions that receive precipitation below potential evapotranspiration, but not as low as a desert climate. There are different kinds of se ...

(

Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Bernd Köppen (1951–2014), German pianist and composer * Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan * Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author ...

''BSh''). Rainfall is highest in September and October when

tropical cyclone A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system with a low-pressure area, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Depending on its locat ...

s may strike the whole island, and temperatures are generally warmer during the day than in much of the tropics.

References

{{Authority control Municipalities of the Dominican Republic Populated places in Pedernales Province Dominican Republic–Haiti border crossings