thumb|right|260px|Provinces of the Dominican Republic map
The Dominican Republic is divided into 31 provinces (), while the national capital, Santo Domingo, is contained within its own district.
The division of the country into provinces is laid down in the constitution (Title I, Section II, Article 5) 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 (Title IX of the constitution).
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 2021 population estimate.
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:right; font-size:95%;"
! Coat Of Arms
! Province<br />National District
! Capital
! Region
! Department
! Area
(km<sup>2</sup>)
! Population
2021
! Density
! Map
!Establishment year
|-
| align="left"| 70px
| align="left"| Azua
|
| align="left"| South
| align="left"| Valdesia
| 2,531.77 || 222,610 || 86.59
|100px
|1844
|-
| align="left"|
| align="left"| Baoruco
|
| align="left"| South
| align="left"| Enriquillo
| 1,282.23 || 101,306 || 77.40
|100px
|1943
|-
| align="left"|
| align="left"| Barahona
|
| align="left"| South
| align="left"| Enriquillo
| 1,739.38 || 189,100 || 108.49
|100px
|1881
|-
| align="left"|
| align="left"| Dajabón
|
| align="left"| Cibao
| align="left"| Cibao Noroeste
| 1,020.73 || 66,675 || 63.95
|100px
|1938
|-
| align="left"|
| align="left"| Duarte
|
| align="left"| Cibao
| align="left"| Cibao Nordeste
| 1,605.35 || 299,583 || 183.70
|100px
|1896
|-
| align="left"|
| align="left"| El Seibo
|
| align="left"| East
| align="left"| Yuma
| 1,786.80 || 94,049 || 63.58
|100px
|1844
|-
| align="left"|
| align="left"| Elías Piña
|
| align="left"| South
| align="left"| El Valle
| 1,426.20 || 63,303 || 35.51
|100px
|1942
|-
| align="left"|
| align="left"| Espaillat
|
| align="left"| Cibao
| align="left"| Cibao Norte
| 838.62 || 240,428 || 281.97
|100px
|1885
|-
| align="left"|
| align="left"| Hato Mayor
|
| align="left"| East
| align="left"| Higuamo
| 1,329.29 || 85,747 || 64.37
|100px
|1984
|-
| align="left"|
| align="left"| Hermanas Mirabal
|
| align="left"| Cibao
| align="left"| Cibao Nordeste
| 440.43 || 92,045 || 209.78
|100px
|1952
|-
| align="left"|
| align="left"| Independencia
|
| align="left"| South
| align="left"| Enriquillo
| 2,006.44 || 58,951 || 27.73
|100px
|1948
|-
| align="left"|
| align="left"| La Altagracia
|
| align="left"| East
| align="left"| Yuma
| 3,010.34 || 360,874 || 104.61
|100px
|1944
|-
| align="left"|
| align="left"| La Romana
|
| align="left"| East
| align="left"| Yuma
| 653.95 || 274,894 || 397.59
|100px
|1944
|-
| align="left"|
| align="left"| La Vega
|
| align="left"| Cibao
| align="left"| Cibao Sur
| 2,287.24 || 412,469 || 176.64
|100px
|1844
|-
| align="left"|
| align="left"| María Trinidad Sánchez
|
| align="left"| Cibao
| align="left"| Cibao Nordeste
| 1,271.71 || 140,954 || 111.17
|100px
|1959
|-
| align="left"|
| align="left"| Monseñor Nouel
|
| align="left"| Cibao
| align="left"| Cibao Sur
| 992.39 || 174,959 || 171.51
|100px
|1991
|-
| align="left"|
| align="left"| Monte Cristi
|
| align="left"| Cibao
| align="left"| Cibao Noroeste
| 1,924.35 || 117,736 || 59.22
|100px
|1879
|-
| align="left"|
| align="left"|Monte Plata
|
| align="left"| East
| align="left"| Higuamo
| 2,632.14 || 191,447 || 71.68
|100px
|1991
|-
| align="left"|
| align="left"| Pedernales
|
| align="left"| South
| align="left"| Enriquillo
| 2,074.53 || 35,280 || 16.12
|100px
|1957
|-
| align="left"|
| align="left"| Peravia
|
| align="left"| South
| align="left"| Valdesia
| 792.33 || 198,499 || 241.62
|100px
|1944
|-
| align="left"|
| align="left"|Puerto Plata
|
| align="left"| Cibao
| align="left"| Cibao Norte
| 1,852.90 || 333,940 || 177.29
|100px
|1850
|-
| align="left"|
| align="left"| Samaná
|
| align="left"| Cibao
| align="left"| Cibao Nordeste
| 853.74 || 113,036 || 125.62
|100px
|1867
|-
| align="left"|
| align="left"| San Cristóbal
|
| align="left"| South
| align="left"| Valdesia
| 1,265.77 || 643,595 || 505.93
|100px
|1932
|-
| align="left"|
| align="left"| San José de Ocoa
|
| align="left"| South
| align="left"| Valdesia
| 855.4 || 53,833 || 45.11
|100px
|2000
|-
| align="left"|
| align="left"| San Juan
|
| align="left"| South
| align="left"| El Valle
| 3,569.39 || 220,264 || 266.12
|100px
|1938
|-
| align="left"| 75px
| align="left"| San Pedro de Macorís
|
| align="left"| East
| align="left"| Higuamo
| 1,255.46 || 306,002 || 83.66
|100px
|1907
|-
| align="left"|
| align="left"| Sánchez Ramírez
|
| align="left"| Cibao
| align="left"| Cibao Sur
| 1,196.13 || 151,888 || 121.09
|100px
|1952
|-
| align="left"|
| align="left"| Santiago
|
| align="left"| Cibao
| align="left"| Cibao Norte
| 2,836.51|| 1,052,088 || 355.30
|100px
|1844
|-
| align="left"|
| align="left"| Santiago Rodríguez
|
| align="left"| Cibao
| align="left"| Cibao Noroeste
| 1,111.14 || 57,209 || 51.71
|100px
|1948
|-
| align="left"|
| align="left"| Santo Domingo
|
| align="left"| South
| align="left"| Ozama
| 1,301.84 || 2,955,339 || 2036.08
|100px
|2001
|-
| align="left"| 75px
| align="left"| Valverde
|
| align="left"| Cibao
| align="left"| Cibao Noroeste
| 823.38 || 177,865 || 207.06
|100px
|1959
|-
| align="left"| 75px
| align="left"| Distrito Nacional
|
| align="left"| East
| align="left"| Ozama
| 104.44 || 1,049,567 || 9,651.45
|100px
|1932
|}
Map
See also
- Geography of the Dominican Republic
- Demographics of Dominican Republic
- ISO 3166-2:DO
References
External links
- Oficina Nacional de Estadística (National Statistics Office). Official statistics portal of the Dominican Republic.
- Blog of the Dominican Republic, videos, news, culture and music