Samana

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.

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.

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.

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.

Municipalities and municipal districts

Municipalities of the Province.

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

• Sánchez
• Samaná
  • Arroyo Barril (D.M.)
  • El Limón (D.M.)
  • Las Galeras (D.M.)
• Las Terrenas

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 2010 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] For comparison with the municipalities and municipal districts of other provinces see the list of municipalities and municipal districts of the Dominican Republic.

Name	Total population	Urban population	Rural population
Las Terrenas	14,917	8,564	6,353
Santa Bárbara de Samaná	55,394	22,542	32,852
Sánchez	28,509	15,586	12,923
Samaná province	98,820	46,692	52,128

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

Transportation

Samaná has three airports and one harbor.

Airports

• El Portillo Airport, Located in El Portillo, Samaná.
• Arroyo Barril International Airport, Located in Arroyo Barril, Samaná.
• Samana El Catey International Airport, Located in Sanchez, Samaná

Ports

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

Samana

Samana, Dominican Republic

Cayo Levantado

Los Haitises

Los Haitises National Park

Los Haitises National Park is a national park located on the remote northeast coast of the Dominican Republic. It is a protected virgin forest with little road access. The number of tourists allowed is limited, but since 2000 it has been a relatively popular destination for ecotourism. Haitis (singular) means highland or mountain range in the Taíno language, although the elevation of the park's hills ranges from 30–40 m (98–130 ft). There is a multitude of caverns created by water erosion. Native Americans adorned these caverns with pictographs and petroglyphs. The culture or cultures which created these artworks remain unidentified, some of them possibly predating the Taínos.

The park was created by Law 409 enacted June 3, 1976. It was preceded by a Reserva Forestal (Forest Reserve) called Zona Vedada de Los Haitises (Los Haitises Prohibited Zone), created by Law 244. In 1996, it area was expanded from 208 to 826 km² (80 to 319 sq mi) by Decree 233. Its boundary, which has been redrawn on multiple occasions, is presently uncertain. The bulk of the park is located in the municipality of Sabana de la Mar, province of Hato Mayor, while the remainder lies in the provinces of Monte Plata and Samaná. Sabana de la Mar is the site of a visitors' center.

Despite advanced deforestation, the precipitation is still considerable, ranging from 1,900–2,000 mm (75–79 in) annually. The park is near the top rank in both annual total rainfall and annual number of rainy days among sites in the Dominican Republic.

Geology

The area was formed during the Miocene epoch of the Neogene period. Geomorphologically, it is a platform karst^[3] with dense clusters of conical hills of nearly uniform height (200–300 m/660–980 ft) in between which there are many sinkholes. The maximum dimensions of this platform karst block are 82 km (51 mi) east to west (from Sabana de la Mar to Cevicos) by 26 km (16 mi) north to south (from the Samaná Bay to Bayaguana). The hills of the interior have the same origin as the islets of the Samaná Bay. There is a multitude of caverns.

Hydrographically, Los Haitises spans portions of two basins: in its western half, the lower basin of the Yuna River; and in its eastern half, a zone spanning Miches and Sabana de la Mar. The Yuna drains through two mouths: its own and that of the Barracote River. In addition to these two rivers, the park is traversed by the Payabo River, the Los Cocos River, the Naranjo River, and numerous natural channels^[4] including the Cabirma, Estero, and Prieto.

Flora

Los Haitises has two Holdridge life zones: humid subtropical forest (Bh-S) and very humid subtropical forest (Bmh-S). Broadleaf species in the park include "musk wood"^[5][6] (Guarea guidonia, locally cabirma santa), cigar-box cedar (Cedrela odorata), ceiba (Ceiba pentandra), West Indian mahogany (Swietenia mahagoni, Spanish caoba), cupey^[7] (Clusia rosea), and grandleaf seagrape (Coccoloba pubescens). There are many species of orchids. Los Haitises contains the greatest abundance of Caribbean mangrove, in which species like red mangrove (Rhizophora mangle) and white mangrove (Laguncularia racemosa) predominate.

Fauna

La fauna of Los Haitises is of great variety, and due to the park's diversity of physical geographic zones, it boasts the greatest representativity of fauna among the protected natural areas in the country. Two endemic mammal species, the Hispaniolan Hutia (Plagiodontia aedium) and the Hispaniolan Solenodon (Solenodon paradoxus), are threatened with extinction.

Being a coastal and marine park, it contains an unparalleled variety of birds, including most of the species endemic to the country. These include the brown pelican or alcatraz (Pelecanus occidentalis), magnificent frigatbird (Fregata magnificens), Hispaniolan amazon (Amazona ventralis), barn owl (Tyto alba), and Stygian owl (Asio stygius). Some of the bird species found in Los Haitises are not found elsewhere within the Dominican Republic.

Landscapes

Los Haitises National Park contains spectacular landscapes like the San Lorenzo Bay, the islets (keys), and the mangroves. The Cayo de los Pájaros ("bird key"), which is conspicuous for the virtually continuous presence of frigatebirds and pelicans circling low overhead, sits between the Boca del Infierno ("Mouth of Hell") and El Naranjo Arriba. Cupey is the dominant tree species and birds fill its horizontal branches. The wild banyantree (Ficus citrifolia,^[8] also known as shortleaf fig) and tropical almond (Terminalia catappa) are the other park trees.
Most visitors arrive by sea embarking from Sabana de la Mar (east end), Sánchez (north end), or Samaná (across Samaná Bay from Sabana de la Mar); however, it is possible to arrive by land from the south using four wheel drive vehicles. A private highway is being constructed through the mountains and a new airport has been built in the city of Samaná to provide better access. The main economic activities in Monte Plata Province are cattle ranching and sugarcane farming. Tourists will find a large number of roads for sugarcane transport.