Samaná Province

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Coordinates: 19°12′0″N 69°19′0″W / 19.20000°N 69.31667°W / 19.20000; -69.31667
Samaná
Province
Flag
Symbol
Country  Dominican Republic
Capital Samaná
 - elevation 5 m (16 ft)
 - coordinates 19°12′0″N 69°19′0″W / 19.20000°N 69.31667°W / 19.20000; -69.31667
Area 853.74 km2 (330 sq mi)
Population 168,265 (2012)
Density 199.3 / km2 (516 / sq mi)
Province since 1867
Subdivisions 3 municipalities
3 municipal districts
Congresspersons 1 Senator
2 Deputies
Timezone AST (UTC-4)
Area code 1-809 1-829 1-849
ISO 3166-2 DO-20
Postal Code 32000
Location of the Samaná Province

Samaná (Spanish pronunciation: [samaˈna]) is a province of the Dominican Republic. Its capital is Santa Bárbara de Samaná, usually known as Samaná.

Samaná is located on the coast of the Atlantic Ocean in the northeastern part of the Dominican Republic. It is known for its mountains of which it is almost entirely formed. Samaná has numerous beaches, and with the 6 November 2006 opening of the new Samaná El Catey International Airport, it is bound to become one of major tourist destinations in the Dominican Republic.[1]

It was discovered on January 12, 1493 by Christopher Columbus who was greeted with a barrage of spears and arrows from native Taíno warriors. It is said that this was the first instance of violent opposition to the Spanish conquistadors in the Americas.[citation needed]

Samaná is considered one of the most beautiful areas of the Dominican Republic, yet remains one of the least known by Dominican natives in general and foreign visitors in particular. Its tourist industry has not yet exploited the full potential of its location: the tropical forests, coconut groves, hundreds of cozy alcove beaches with turquoise crystal clear waters, waterfalls, protected national parks, a protected bay, a peninsula.[citation needed]

Samaná is one of the breeding places of the humpback whale. Thousands of humpback whales come to the coast off Samaná from January to March.

At one time proposed to be the capital of the country, Samaná was to be sold to the United States as a military base during Pedro Santana's presidency, but the deal was never realized, because the United States felt that the cost was too much.[citation needed]

A highway connecting the Samaná peninsula to Santo Domingo is finally opened to the public in 2008. It halved the driving time from 4 hours to 1.5 hours as it is a straight 120 kilometres (75 mi), connecting from just east of Santo Domingo (near the SDQ airport) to just west of Sanchez. There is a significant tourist development evident throughout the Samaná peninsula, particularly that of large all-inclusive resorts, in anticipation of the increased tourism to follow the road's completion.

Contents

Municipalities and municipal districts [edit]

The province as of June 20, 2006 is divided into the following municipalities (municipios) and municipal districts (distrito municipal - D.M.) within them:[2]

Cayo Levantado Samana, an island of the Samaná Province

The following is a sortable table of the municipalities with population figures as of an estimate on the 2012 census. Urban population are those living in the seats (cabeceras literally heads) of municipalities or of municipal districts. Rural population are those living in the districts (Secciones literally sections) and neighborhoods (Parajes literally places) outside of them.[3]

Name Total population Urban population Rural population
Las Terrenas 700439221000000000039,221 70031858000000000001,858 700427363000000000027,363
Santa Bárbara de Samaná 7005108179000000000108,179 700488698000000000088,698 700419481000000000019,481
Sánchez 700420865000000000020,865 700414217000000000014,217 70036648000000000006,648
Samaná province 7005168265000000000168,265 7005104773000000000104,773 700463492000000000063,492

For comparison with the municipalities and municipal districts of other provinces see the list of municipalities and municipal districts of the Dominican Republic.

Transportation [edit]

Samaná has three airports and one harbor.

Airports

Ports

  • Cayo Levantado Port, located in Arroyo Barril, near Arroyo Barril International Airport, Samaná.

See also [edit]

References [edit]

  1. ^ Article about El Catey International Airport, Samaná
  2. ^ Oficina Nacional de Estadistica, Departamento de Cartografia, Division de Limites y Linderos. "Listado de Codigos de Provincias, Municipio y Distritos Municipales, Actualizada a Junio 20 del 2006" (in Spanish). Retrieved 2007-01-24. 
  3. ^ Consejo Nacional de Población y Familia. "Censos y Proyecciones de la Población Dominicana por Regiones, Provincias, Municipios y Distritos Municipales, 2012" (PDF) (in Spanish). Retrieved 2012-01-11. 

Genealogy [edit]

External links [edit]