Dominican Republic Provinces

The Dominican Republic fills the eastern two thirds of Hispaniola, with Haiti on the other side of a long, straight-looking border and the Atlantic and the Caribbean on its other two. Its first tier is a set of provinces plus the National District around the colonial centre of Santo Domingo, and together they cover the country without a gap. Anyone planning a drive from the capital to the beaches of Punta Cana, or over the mountains to Santiago, crosses most of them.

The quiz: Name to place, on the map
Grouped by: The Cibao, the south coast, the southwest and the east
In the game: 32 provinces

Start

What you are looking at

The provinces and the National District of today, named in Spanish. The National District is the capital's own division and is not part of Santo Domingo province, which wraps around it on three sides, so the two are separate answers and the smaller one is easy to miss. Some older maps use outdated spellings for a few provinces, such as "El Seybo" for El Seibo and "La Estrelleta" for Elías Piña. This game uses the names the provinces carry today.

The groups are not an official classification. The country has ten development regions, which is too many to learn as groups, so these are the four parts it is usually described in: the Cibao valley and north coast, the south coast around the capital, the southwest on the Haitian border, and the east. They are a way to learn the map a piece at a time.

How to place one

Start with the capital. The National District sits on the south coast with Santo Domingo province around it, San Cristóbal to the west and Monte Plata inland.
Follow the south coast west. Peravia, Azua, then Barahona on the bay, and Pedernales at the Haitian border.
Cross the mountains. San Juan and Elías Piña fill the western interior, with La Vega, Santiago and the rest of the Cibao to the north.
Finish in the east. La Altagracia is the eastern tip with the resorts, with La Romana and San Pedro de Macorís along the south coast to the capital.

Every province, by group

Cibao14 provinces: Dajabón, Duarte, Espaillat, Hermanas Mirabal, La Vega, María Trinidad Sánchez, Monseñor Nouel, Monte Cristi, Puerto Plata, Samaná, Sánchez Ramírez, Santiago, Santiago Rodríguez, Valverde
South coast6 provinces: Azua, Distrito Nacional, Peravia, San Cristóbal, San José de Ocoa, Santo Domingo
Southwest6 provinces: Bahoruco, Barahona, Elías Piña, Independencia, Pedernales, San Juan
East6 provinces: El Seibo, Hato Mayor, La Altagracia, La Romana, Monte Plata, San Pedro de Macorís

Worked examples

Distrito Nacional

The smallest

The National District is a small patch on the south coast, enclosed by Santo Domingo province on its other sides.

La Altagracia

The eastern tip

La Altagracia takes in the whole eastern end of the island, including Saona Island off its southeast coast.

Pedernales

The far southwest

Pedernales is the southwestern corner on the Haitian border, with Beata Island off its coast.

Frequently asked questions

How many provinces does the Dominican Republic have?

Thirty-one, plus the National District, which is the capital's own division. The game counts the District as a separate answer, so there are 32 in the first tier.

What is the National District?

The division around the centre of Santo Domingo. It ranks with the provinces but is not part of Santo Domingo province, which surrounds it.

Why no municipalities game?

The country has 158 municipalities, and the boundary files we can use still draw 155 or 156 of them, so the map would be missing places. It will come once a source draws all of them.