San Pedro de Macorís is a city and

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...

(''

municipio A ' () or ' () is an administrative division in several Hispanophone and Lusophone nations, respectively. It is often translated as "municipality." It comes from ''mūnicipium'' (), meaning a township. In English, a municipality often is define ...

'') 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 ...

. The capital of its eponymous province in the east region of the country, it is among the ten largest cities of the Dominican Republic. The city has approximately 217,000 inhabitants, when including the whole municipality. As a provincial capital, it houses the Universidad Central del Este. San Pedro de Macorís is also well known for producing professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

players at an exceptionally high

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 ...

rate.

Name

The name San Pedro came before that of Macorís. There are three versions regarding the origin of the name: the first attributes it to the fact that there is a San Pedro Beach in the city port; the second sees it as a tribute to General Pedro Santana, who was president at the time; and the third simply said it was in order to distinguish it from San Francisco de Macorís, a city in the

north North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating Direction (geometry), direction or geography. Etymology T ...

. San Pedro de Macorís has been poetically referred to as "Macorís of the Sea" and "the Sultana of the East", and many call it the "Capital of the East".

History

The city was established in 1822 on the western margin of the Higuamo River as a result of the immigration of settlers from the eastern part of

Santo Domingo Santo Domingo, formerly known as Santo Domingo de Guzmán, is the capital and largest city of the Dominican Republic and the List of metropolitan areas in the Caribbean, largest metropolitan area in the Caribbean by population. the Distrito Na ...

. In the year 1846, at the request of the inhabitants of the place called Macorix, the Conservative Council decided to declare the place as a military post. At that time, Macoris belonged to the province of Seybo, being made up of three communes: Seybo as the head municipality, Higüey and Samaná. After 1840, the inhabitants moved from the western margin of the Higuamo to the eastern margin, where the city of San Pedro de Macorís was born, becoming one of the most productive cities of the Dominican Republic. The population was gradually increasing, dedicating itself to the production of provisions, and the quantities that reached the port of the capital in the boats of Macoris in the years 1868 to 1875, which were baptized there to the old fishermen's abode, were so great. the name of Macoris de los Plátanos. In 1852 Macorix is elevated to military port, this time depending on the common Hato Mayor, being Norman Maldonado his first commander in arms. In 1957 the constitutional mayorship was established and its first mayor was Juan María Pinto. On October 1, 1856, the first Catholic church was founded by Father Pedro Carrasco Capeller, a native of San José de los Llanos, who came to officiate Mass from Hato Mayor. The name San Pedro de Macoris was born in 1858 at the suggestion of the presbytery Elías González, who suggested placing Macorís first, "San Pedro" and removing the x so that San Pedro de Macorís would sound, with its patron saint, Pedro Pedro. This is where the patron saint festivities are born, starting on June 22 and ending on the 29th of the same month San Pedro de Macoris experienced a significant wave of migration in the late 19th century from

Cubans Cubans () are the citizens and nationals of Cuba. The Cuban people have varied origins with the most spoken language being Spanish. The larger Cuban diaspora includes individuals that trace ancestry to Cuba and self-identify as Cuban but are n ...

who were fleeing their country's

War of Independence Wars of national liberation, also called wars of independence or wars of liberation, are conflicts fought by nations to gain independence. The term is used in conjunction with wars against foreign powers (or at least those perceived as foreign) ...

. They brought their extensive sugar cane farming knowledge and contributed to making the sugar industry the most important economic activity in the area. San Pedro de Macorís reached its peak during the first quarter of the 20th century, when its sugar production enjoyed high prices on the international market as a result of the First World War. Many

Europeans Europeans are the focus of European ethnology, the field of anthropology related to the various ethnic groups that reside in the states of Europe. Groups may be defined by common ancestry, language, faith, historical continuity, etc. There are ...

also settled in the city, making it a very cosmopolitan urban center. Pan American flew its seaplanes in regularly (Eastern Macorís has the privilege of being the first Dominican city to receive seaplanes, in its Higuamo River), at a time when this port enjoyed more commercial activity than the capital city of

. The next economic boom resulted in the recruitment of a large number of

Afro-Caribbean Afro-Caribbean or African Caribbean people are Caribbean people who trace their full or partial ancestry to Sub-Saharan Africa. The majority of the modern Afro-Caribbean people descend from the Indigenous peoples of Africa, Africans (primarily fr ...

workers from the

Lesser Antilles The Lesser Antilles is a group of islands in the Caribbean Sea, forming part of the West Indies in Caribbean, Caribbean region of the Americas. They are distinguished from the larger islands of the Greater Antilles to the west. They form an arc w ...

. These workers and their descendants would soon comprise the majority of the population in the city and are known as the "

Cocolo ''Cocolo'' is a term used in the Hispanic Caribbean to refer to Afro-Caribbean migrant descendants. The term originated in the Dominican Republic and is historically used to refer to the Anglophone Caribbean immigrants and their descendants and ...

s of San Pedro de Macoris." San Pedro de Macorís pioneered many areas such as the first firefighting corps, the first national baseball championship, the first town to have telephone and telegraph centers, the first racetrack and the first boxing coliseum, among others. The first sugar factory was founded by Juan Amechazurra, milling for the first time on January 9, 1879. By 1894 there were many factories in the province that reached a high level of progress. The rapid industrial development placed the young city among the main ones of the Republic. The intellectual culture surged at the same pace with schools and the press; among the first newspapers were "Las Novedades", "Boletín", "La Locomotora" and "El Cable."

Culture

Some of the distinguished poets from San Pedro de Macorís include René del Risco, Pedro Mir, who held the title of National Poet; Esterbina Matos, Ludín Lugo, Juan Brayan and Mateo Robinson, among others. In regards to drinks, Macorís produces the "Guavaberry", a drink based on the araijan fruit, which is consumed during Christmas and has a sweet taste, not unlike a wine. It is frequently consumed in rum as an infusion. Although the species grew in Hispaniola already its use was introduced and spread by immigrants from the Eastern Caribbean where colonists had discovered it as a substitute for myrtleberry-infused schnapps. The people of San Pedro de Macorís also enjoy gathering in the Malecon, an avenue for drinking and enjoying music.

City church of San Pedro de Macoris

File:San_Pedro_de_Macoris_Dominican_Republic_at_night.jpg File:San_Pedro_de_Macoris,_Dominican_Republic_church_cathedral.jpg File:San_Pedro_de_Macoris,_Dominican_Republic_church_park.jpg File:Dominican_Republic_church_San_Pedro_de_Macoris_cathedral.jpg

Climate

San Pedro de Macorís has a

tropical savanna climate Tropical savanna climate or tropical wet and dry climate is a tropical climate sub-type that corresponds to the Köppen climate classification categories ''Aw'' (for a dry "winter") and ''As'' (for a dry "summer"). The driest month has less than ...

(

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 ...

''Aw'') with consistently hot temperatures and a dry season from January to March.

Sports

Baseball

The city is home to the Estrellas Orientales in the Dominican Winter Baseball League, who play at the Estadio Tetelo Vargas. San Pedro de Macorís is well known as the birthplace of a large number of

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in baseball league, leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Moder ...

players. The city has been referred to as "the Cradle of

Shortstop Shortstop, abbreviated SS, is the baseball positions, baseball or softball fielding position between second base, second and third base, which is considered to be among the Defensive spectrum, most demanding defensive positions. Historically, the ...

s." The Dominican capital of

has produced 106 MLB players compared to San Pedro's 99, but Santo Domingo's population is more than ten times that of San Pedro. When immigrants were brought in as contract labor for sugar plantations from the Eastern Caribbean, they brought the sport of

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

. They formed teams and played against each other. The ownership and management of many of the sugar estates were American. The cricket teams were offered money by their players plantation managers to switch sports and they did. Native Dominicans picked up the game watching teams composed of Eastern Caribbeans. Over time, Vic Power established an extremely good youth system in San Pedro de Macorís and was one of the largest influences on making this city into the largest source of baseball talent in the world.James, p. 469 Notable Major League Baseball players from San Pedro de Macorís include: * Manny Acta * Joaquín Andújar * Rafael Batista * George Bell * Daniel Cabrera * Robinson Canó * Héctor Carrasco * Rico Carty * Juan Castillo * Luis Castillo * Jesús Colomé * Johnny Cueto *

Mariano Duncan Mariano Duncan Nalasco (born March 13, 1963) is a Dominican former second baseman and shortstop who played for the Los Angeles Dodgers, Cincinnati Reds, Philadelphia Phillies, New York Yankees, and Toronto Blue Jays of Major League Baseball and ...

* Tony Fernández * Pepe Frías * Damaso Garcia *

Domingo Germán Domingo Germán Polanco (; born August 4, 1992) is a Dominican professional baseball pitcher who is a free agent. He has previously played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the New York Yankees and Pittsburgh Pirates. Germán was signed by the ...

* Pedro González * Pedro Guerrero * José Jiménez * Manny Jiménez *

Manuel Lee Manuel Lora Lee (born June 17, 1965) is a former shortstop and second baseman for Major League Baseball's Toronto Blue Jays (1985–92), Texas Rangers (1993–94) and St. Louis Cardinals (1995). He was originally signed as an amateur free agen ...

* Josías Manzanillo * Guillermo Mota * Jhonkensy Noel * José Offerman * Alexi Ogando * Jorge Polanco * Rafael Ramírez * Ben Rivera * Juan Samuel * Miguel Sanó * Dennis Santana * Julio Santana * Alfonso Soriano * Sammy Sosa * Raimel Tapia * Fernando Tatís * Fernando Tatís Jr. * Salomón Torres *

José Valverde José Rafael Valverde (born March 24, 1978) is a Dominican former professional baseball pitcher who played 12 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Arizona Diamondbacks, Houston Astros, Detroit Tigers, and New York Mets. He is nickname ...

Other notable people

* Bienvenido Fabián, composer * Luis Flores, professional basketball player, 2009 top scorer in the Israel Basketball Premier League * Sonia Silvestre, singer * Algenis Perez Soto, actor * Norberto James Rawlings, poet *Bienvenido Bustamante, composer * Ron Sanchez, head basketball coach,

University of Virginia The University of Virginia (UVA) is a Public university#United States, public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia, United States. It was founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson and contains his The Lawn, Academical Village, a World H ...

Transport

San Pedro de Macoris is served by one airline with commercial flights at Cueva Las Maravillas Airport.

References

External links

Universidad Central del Este website

Fundacion San Pedro de Macoris website
{{DEFAULTSORT:San Pedro De Macoris Populated places in San Pedro de Macorís Province Municipalities of the Dominican Republic