Provinces of the Dominican Republic

{{Short description|First-level administrative divisions of the Dominican Republic}}

The Dominican Republic is divided into thirty-one {{lang|es|provincias}} (provinces; singular {{lang|es|provincia}}), while the national capital, Santo Domingo, is contained within its own Distrito Nacional ("National District"; "D.N." on the map below).

The division of the country into provinces is laid down in the constitution (Title I, Section II, Article 5){{cite web |url=http://pdba.georgetown.edu/Constitutions/DomRep/domrep02.html|title=CONSTITUCION DE LA REPUBLICA DOMINICANA|author=Asamblea Nacional|language=es|access-date=2007-03-11}} and enacted by law. The latter is currently Law 5220 on the Territorial Division of the Dominican Republic ({{lang|es|Ley No. 5220 sobre División Territorial de la República Dominicana}}), 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 ({{lang|es|Gobernador Civil}}) for each province but not for the Distrito Nacional (Title IX of the constitution).

The provinces are divided into municipalities ({{lang|es|municipios}}), which are the second–level political and administrative subdivisions of the country.

The Distrito Nacional was created in 1936. Prior to this, the Distrito Nacional 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, which 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 ({{lang|es|ayuntamiento}}) and mayor ({{lang|es|síndico}}) which are in charge of its administration.{{cite web |url=http://www.informejudicial.com/leyes/Division%20Territorial/Ley%20163-01,%20crea%20Provincia%20Santo%20Domingo%20y%20Modifica%20Articulos%201%20y%202%20Ley%205220.htm|title=Ley No. 163-01 que crea la provincia de Santo Domingo, y modifica los Artículos 1 y 2 de la Ley No. 5220, sobre División Territorial de la República Dominicana.|author=EL CONGRESO NACIONAL|language=es|access-date=2007-03-08 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070518042944/http://www.informejudicial.com/leyes/Division+Territorial/Ley+163-01,+crea+Provincia+Santo+Domingo+y+Modifica+Articulos+1+y+2+Ley+5220.htm |archive-date = 2007-05-18}}

The provinces as constituencies

The provinces are also constituencies for the elections to the bicameral National Congress ({{lang|es|Congreso de la República}}). Each province elects one member of the Senate ({{lang|es|Senado}}) and a guaranteed minimum of two members of the Chamber of Deputies ({{lang|es|Cámara de Diputados}}).{{cite web |url=http://pdba.georgetown.edu/Electoral/DomRep/ley97.html|title=Ley Electoral, No. 275-97|author=EL CONGRESO NACIONAL|language=es|access-date=2007-03-11}}

Statistics

The following is a table of the provinces and their capital cities. The population figures are from the 2021 population estimate.{{cite web|url=http://one.gob.do/Estadisticas/8/proyecciones-de-poblacion|format=PDF|title=Estamaciones y Proyecciones de la Población Dominicana por Regiones, Provincias, Municipios y Distritos Municipales, 2021|author=Consejo Nacional de Población y Familia|language=es|access-date=2021-06-04|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170102090940/http://one.gob.do/Estadisticas/8/proyecciones-de-poblacion|archive-date=2017-01-02|url-status=dead}}

class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:right; font-size:95%;"

! Coat Of Arms

! Province
National District

! Capital

! Region

! Department

! Area

(km²){{cite news |title=Provincias Dominicanas - Portal Oficial del Estado Dominicano |url=http://www.gob.do/index.php/e-municipios/e-localidades/2014-12-16-20-41-38 |access-date=1 January 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170101162641/http://www.gob.do/index.php/e-municipios/e-localidades/2014-12-16-20-41-38 |archive-date=1 January 2017 }}

! Population

2021{{cite journal |url=http://one.gob.do/Estadisticas/8/proyecciones-de-poblacion |title=Oficina Nacional de Estadística |journal=Estimaciones y proyecciones de la población total por año calendario, según región y provincia, 2000–2030 |access-date=31 December 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170102090940/http://one.gob.do/Estadisticas/8/proyecciones-de-poblacion |archive-date=2 January 2017}}

! Density

! Map

!Establishment year

align="left"| 70px

| align="left"| Azua

| {{center|Azua}}

| align="left"| South

| align="left"| Valdesia

| 2,531.77

222,610

86.59

Provinces of the Dominican Republic

The provinces as administrative divisions

The provinces as constituencies

Statistics

Map

See also

References

External links