Provinces of the Dominican Republic


The Dominican Republic is divided into thirty–one provincias, while the national capital, Santo Domingo, is contained within its own Distrito Nacional.
The division of the country into provinces is laid down in the constitution and enacted by law. The latter is currently Law 5220 on the Territorial Division of the Dominican Republic, issued 1959 and frequently amended to create new provinces and lower-level administrative units.

The provinces as administrative divisions

The provinces are the first–level administrative subdivisions of the country. The headquarters of the central government's regional offices are normally found in the capital cities of provinces. The president appoints an administrative governor for each province but not for the Distrito Nacional.
The provinces are divided into municipalities, which are the second–level political and administrative subdivisions of the country.
The Distrito Nacional was created in 1936. Prior to this, the Distrito National was the old Santo Domingo Province, in existence since the country's independence in 1844. It is not to be confused with the new Santo Domingo Province split off from it in 2001. While it is similar to a province in many ways, the Distrito Nacional differs in its lack of an administrative governor and consisting only of one municipality, Santo Domingo, the city council and mayor which are in charge of its administration.

The provinces as constituencies

The provinces are also constituencies for the elections to the bicameral National Congress. Each province elects one member of the Senate and a guaranteed minimum of two members of the Chamber of Deputies.

Statistics

The following is a table of the provinces and their capital cities. The population figures are from the 2014 population estimate.
ProvinceCapital
Area
PopulationDensity
AzuaAzua298246118
BaorucoNeiba11126987
BarahonaBarahona232818134
DajabónDajabón8727486
Distrito NacionalSanto Domingo140274913431
DuarteSan Francisco de Macorís338649211
El SeiboEl Seibo11021262
Elías PiñaComendador8463259
EspaillatMoca333401398
Hato MayorHato Mayor10303278
Hermanas MirabalSalcedo121887277
IndependenciaJimaní7458337
La AltagraciaHigüey372289124
La RomanaLa Romana344580527
La VegaConcepción de La Vega447905196
María Trinidad SánchezNagua195886154
Monseñor NouelBonao203183205
Monte CristiMonte Cristi15083378
Monte PlataMonte Plata22264185
PedernalesPedernales5216525
PeraviaBaní217241274
Puerto PlataPuerto Plata498232269
SamanáSamaná139707164
San CristóbalSan Cristóbal640066506
San José de OcoaSan José de Ocoa97640114
San JuanSan Juan de la Maguana31729389
San Pedro de MacorísSan Pedro de Macorís392911313
Sánchez RamírezCotuí248807208
SantiagoSantiago de los Caballeros1543362544
Santiago RodríguezSabaneta9904489
Santo DomingoSanto Domingo Este32630532517
ValverdeMao217026264
Total12935223266

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