Mao, Dominican Republic
The Dominican city of Santa Cruz de Mao, or simply Mao. It is the head municipality of the Valverde province, on the northwest of the country. It is the largest city of the Dominican northwest and the centre of the region.
Mao | |
|---|---|
Municipality | |
| Santa Cruz de Mao | |
 Street in Mao | |
 Coat of arms | |
| Nickname: City of Beautiful Sunsets | |
  Mao | |
| Coordinates: 19°34′N 71°05′W / 19.567°N 71.083°W | |
| Country | Dominican Republic |
| Province | Valverde |
| Founded | 1875 |
| Municipality since | 1882 |
| Municipal Districts | Ámina, Jaibón (Pueblo Nuevo), Guatapanal |
| Area | |
| • Total | 116.3 km2 (44.9 sq mi) |
| • Urban | 11.51 km2 (4.44 sq mi) |
| Elevation | 78 m (256 ft) |
| Population (2010)[1] | |
| • Total | 51,647 |
| • Density | 440/km2 (1,200/sq mi) |
| • Urban | 49,714 |
| Demonym(s) | Maeño (female, maeña) |
| Time zone | UTC-4 (AST) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC-4 (AST) |
| Distance | 60 km (37 mi) to Santiago 210 km (130 mi) to Santo Domingo |
Name
changeIts name is a Taíno word. It comes from the Mao River, near the city. Its nickname is Ciudad de los Bellos Atardeceres ("City of the Beautiful Sunsets") because there are not many mountains to the west of the city. Instead, it is common to see a "red" sky during sunsets. It is a very dry region and there are much dust in the air which gives the red color to the sky.
Population
changeThere were a total of 51,647 people living in the area in in 2014. Out of this, 25,663 are men while there were 25,984 women. The urban population was 9.5% of the total population.[1]
History
changeFor most of its history, the region was called "El Despoblado". It means a region without any population. Since it is a very dry region, agriculture was not possible.
When the governor of the Spanish colony gave the order in 1606 that everybody living on the northern coast had to move inland, some people came to live around the present Mao. They had cows that were raised in hatos; "hato", which means a large farm for raising cattle (a ranch). So "hato" is the name of many places around Mao: Hatico, Hato del Yaque, Hato Nuevo, Hato Viejo, Hato del Medio.[4]
The town of Mao was built close to where the Mao river flows into the Yaque del Norte river. The first Catholic church was build in 1869.
Mao was made a Puesto Cantonal (an old category similar to the present Municipal District under a military government). In 1882, Mao was elevated to the category of municipality and in 1904 its official name was changed to "Valverde" after José Desiderio Valverde, past President of the Dominican Republic.[4] Because the name Mao was known by everybody and Valverde was a new name, people called the city as "Valverde (Mao)", and it is still common to say so.
When the province was created in 1959, Mao was made its head municipality and provincial capital.[4]
Geography
changeMao has a total area of 116.3 km2 (45 sq mi). It is about 14.1% of the total area of the province of Valverde.[1] The city has an elevation of 78 m (256 ft),[3] and at 210 km (130 mi) to the northwest of Santo Domingo.
The municipality of Mao has the Santiago Rodríguez province to the west, the Santiago province to the south and east, the municipality of Laguna Salada to the northwest and the municipality of Esperanza to the northeast.
Climate
changeMao has a tropical wet and dry/savanna climate (Köppen-Geiger classification: Aw) with a noticeable dry season in winter.
The average amount of rainfall for the year in the city is 699.6 mm (27.5 in). The month with the most precipitation on average is May with 119.1 mm (4.7 in) of rainfall, followed by October with 81.9 mm (3.2 in).
The driest season is winter. The month with the least rainfall on average is January with an average of 21.6 mm (0.9 in) and the second is July with 27.3 mm (1.1 in).
Mao is in a hot region. The average temperature for the year is 27 °C (80.6 °F).
| Climate data for San José de Ocoa (1961–1990) | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Average high °C (°F) | 30.2 (86.4) |
30.9 (87.6) |
32.1 (89.8) |
33.0 (91.4) |
33.7 (92.7) |
34.7 (94.5) |
35.1 (95.2) |
35.5 (95.9) |
35.2 (95.4) |
34.1 (93.4) |
31.7 (89.1) |
30.1 (86.2) |
33.0 (91.5) |
| Average low °C (°F) | 18.7 (65.7) |
19.1 (66.4) |
19.9 (67.8) |
20.9 (69.6) |
21.9 (71.4) |
22.7 (72.9) |
23.1 (73.6) |
23.0 (73.4) |
22.5 (72.5) |
21.9 (71.4) |
20.7 (69.3) |
19.2 (66.6) |
21.1 (70.1) |
| Average rainfall mm (inches) | 21.6 (0.85) |
34.4 (1.35) |
38.5 (1.52) |
71.4 (2.81) |
119.1 (4.69) |
72.0 (2.83) |
27.3 (1.07) |
42.9 (1.69) |
75.3 (2.96) |
81.9 (3.22) |
74.9 (2.95) |
40.3 (1.59) |
699.6 (27.53) |
| Source: NOAA[5] | |||||||||||||
| Weather chart for Mao | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| J | F | M | A | M | J | J | A | S | O | N | D | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
22
30
19
|
34
31
19
|
39
32
20
|
71
33
21
|
119
34
22
|
72
35
23
|
27
35
23
|
43
36
23
|
75
35
23
|
82
34
22
|
75
32
21
|
40
30
19
|
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| temperatures in °C precipitation totals in mm source: [5] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Imperial conversion
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Administrative division
changeThe municipality of Mao has three municipal districts:[6]
| Code | Municipal district | Population (2010) |
|---|---|---|
| 270102 | Ámina | 8,270 |
| 270103 | Jaibón (Pueblo Nuevo) | 8,309 |
| 270104 | Guatapanal | 8,637 |
Economy
changeThe main economic activity of the province is agriculture; the main products in the municipality are rice, bananas and plantain.
References
change- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Consejo Nacional de Población y Familia. "Estamaciones y Proyecciones de la Población Dominicana por Regiones, Provincias, Municipios y Distritos Municipales, 2014" (PDF) (in Spanish). Retrieved 2014-02-02.
- ↑ "Expansión Urbana de las ciudades capitales de R.D. 1988-2010. Informe Básico" (PDF) (in Spanish). Oficina Nacional de Estadística. April 2015. p. 48. Retrieved 10 December 2016.[permanent dead link]
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 De la Fuente, Santiago (1976). Geografía Dominicana (in Spanish). Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic: Editora Colegial Quisqueyana.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Brea Tió, Héctor (1997). Mao y su gente (in Spanish). Santo Domingo: Librería La Trinitaria.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 "Mao Climate Normals 1961-1990". National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Retrieved 3 December 2016.
- ↑ "División Territorial 2015" (in Spanish). Oficina Nacional de Estadística (ONE). October 2015. Archived from the original (PDF) on 14 November 2015. Retrieved 3 December 2016.
| Provincial capitals of the Dominican Republic | 
|
|---|---|
| Azua • Baní • Barahona • Bonao • Comendador • Cotuí • Dajabón • El Seibo • Hato Mayor • Higüey • Jimaní • La Romana • La Vega • Mao • Moca • Monte Cristi • Monte Plata • Nagua • Neiba • Pedernales • Puerto Plata • Sabaneta • Salcedo • Samaná • San Cristóbal • San Francisco de Macorís • San José de Ocoa • San Juan de la Maguana • San Pedro de Macorís • Santiago de los Caballeros • Santo Domingo • Santo Domingo Este | |