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 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 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 () 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 2021 population estimate. Coat Of Arms ProvinceNational District Capital Region Department Area (km2) Population 2021 Density MapEstablishment year Azua South Valdesia 2,531.77 222,610 86.59 1844 Baoruco South Enriquillo 1,282.23 101,306 77.40 1943 Barahona South Enriquillo 1,739.38 189,100 108.49 1881 Dajabón Cibao Cibao Noroeste 1,020.73 66,675 63.95 1938 Duarte Cibao Cibao Nordeste 1,605.35 299,583 183.70 1896 El Seibo East Yuma 1,786.80 94,049 63.58 1844 Elías Piña South El Valle 1,426.20 63,303 35.51 1942 Espaillat Cibao Cibao Norte 838.62 240,428 281.97 1885 Hato Mayor East Higuamo 1,329.29 85,747 64.37 1984 Hermanas Mirabal Cibao Cibao Nordeste 440.43 92,045 209.78 1952 Independencia South Enriquillo 2,006.44 58,951 27.73 1948 La Altagracia East Yuma 3,010.34 360,874 104.61 1944 La Romana East Yuma 653.95 274,894 397.59 1944 La Vega Cibao Cibao Sur 2,287.24 412,469 176.64 1844 María Trinidad Sánchez Cibao Cibao Nordeste 1,271.71 140,954 111.17 1959 Monseñor Nouel Cibao Cibao Sur 992.39 174,959 171.51 1991 Monte Cristi Cibao Cibao Noroeste 1,924.35 117,736 59.22 1879 Monte Plata East Higuamo 2,632.14 191,447 71.68 1991 Pedernales South Enriquillo 2,074.53 35,280 16.12 1957 Peravia South Valdesia 792.33 198,499 241.62 1944 Puerto Plata Cibao Cibao Norte 1,852.90 333,940 177.29 1850 Samaná Cibao Cibao Nordeste 853.74 113,036 125.62 1867 San Cristóbal South Valdesia 1,265.77 643,595 505.93 1932 San José de Ocoa South Valdesia 855.4 53,833 45.11 2000 San Juan South El Valle 3,569.39 220,264 266.12 1938 San Pedro de Macorís East Higuamo 1,255.46 306,002 83.66 1907 Sánchez Ramírez Cibao Cibao Sur 1,196.13 151,888 121.09 1952 Santiago Cibao Cibao Norte 2,836.51 1,052,088 355.30 1844 Santiago Rodríguez Cibao Cibao Noroeste 1,111.14 57,209 51.71 1948 Santo Domingo South Ozama 1,301.84 2,955,339 2036.08 2001 Valverde Cibao Cibao Noroeste 823.38 177,865 207.06 1959 Distrito Nacional East Ozama 104.44 1,049,567 9,651.45 1932
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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