Elías Piña Province

Infobox Province Dominican Republic
Name = Elías Piña


coat-of-arms = COA Of Elías Piña.jpg


demonym = Elíaspiñenses
established_date = 1942
Capital = Comendador
capital_population = 60,410
capital_coor = 19_00_N_71_35_W_ 19° 00′ S 71° 35′ O
largest city = Comendador
largest city population = 60,410
Area = 1,426.20
area_rank = 14
area_percentage = 2.9
Population = 109,214
population_rank = 28
population_date = 2008
population_percentage = 0.7
governor = Miguel Mateo
Density = 44.8
ISO = 07
deputies = 2
municipalities = 6
districts = 2
website =

Elías Piña is one of the 31 provinces of the Dominican Republic. It is located in the western part of the country, on the border with Haiti. Its capital city is Comendador.

It was created on 1942 with the name "San Rafael". In 1965, its name was changed to "Estrelleta" and, finally, in 1972 it got its current name. It was a "municipio" of the San Juan province before being elevated to the category of province.

Location

The Elías Piña province has the Dajabón and Santiago Rodríguez provinces to the north, the San Juan province to the east, the Independencia province to the south and the Republic of Haiti to the west.

Origin of name

"Elías Piña" was an officer of the Dominican army when the Dominican-Haitian War. He was born in La Margarita, close to Comendador and died in 1845 when he was attacking a fortified position in Bánica.

History

Municipalities

There are six municipalities ("municipios") and three municipal districts ("distrito municipal" - D.M.) within them in the province.

The municipalities are:
* Comendador, head municipality of the province
* Bánica
* El Llano
* Hondo Valle
* Juan Santiago
* Pedro Santana

The municipal districts are:
* Río Limpio
* Sabana Cruz
* Sabana Larga

Population

In 2002 (last national census), there were 63,879 people living in the Elías Piña province, and the urban population was just 23,203 (36.32%).cite web |url=http://www.one.gob.do/index.php?option=com_docman&task=doc_download&gid=326
format = PDF|title=República Dominicana en Cifras 2006|author=Oficina Nacional de Estadística|language=Spanish|accessdate=2007-03-27]

The following is a sortable table of the municipalities and municipal districts with population figures as of the 2008 census. In that year, Sabana Cruz was part of Bánica and Sabana Larga of Comendador. [cite web |url=http://one.gob.do/censo/volumen_I_pdf.zip
format = PDF|title=VIII Censo 2002 Poplación y Vivienda|author=Oficina Nacional de Estadística|language=Spanish|accessdate=2007-01-24]

Geography

The Cordillera Central ("Central mountain chain") is found in the northern part of the province, and the Sierra de Neiba runs across the southern half. Between those two mountain ranges, there are several valleys formed by the Artibonite River and its tributaries.

Climate

The climate of the province is a tropical climate, hot most of the year, but it is cooler on the mountains.

Rivers

The main river is the Artibonite that, in some places, marks the Dominican-Haitian border. Other rivers are Macasías, Tocino, Joca and Vallecito, all of them tributaries of the Artibonite.

Economy

As in all border provinces in the Dominican Republic, there is little economic development. The trade with Haiti is important, above all in Comendador. On the mountains, coffee and beans are important products. Potatoes are also produced in the south (Sierra de Neiba).

References