Espaillat is a province in the Dominican Republic. It is in the Cibao region, in the north central part of the country. Its capital is Moca.

The province was created on 1885. It was part of the La Vega province until it was made a province.

Name
The province was named after Ulises Francisco Espaillat who was President of the Dominican Republic for a short period of time (April 1876 - October 1876).

Location
The Espaillat province is bordered to the east by the province of Hermanas Mirabal, to the south by La Vega, to the west by the Santiago and Puerto Plata provinces. The María Trinidad Sánchez province is to the northeast of the Espaillat province and the Atlantic Ocean is to the north.

History
The Espaillat province has had many changes in its area. Before 1885, when the province was made, the southern part of the present province was part of La Vega province and the northern part was of the Puerto Plata province.

When the province was made in 1885, it had the land of the present provinces of Hermanas Mirabal, Duarte and María Trinidad Sánchez provinces and the southern part of the present Espaillat province. But when the Duarte province was made in 1896, the Espaillat province lost most of the land east of the Hermanas Mirabal province; in 1945, the land north of the Cordillera Septentrional was added to the Espaillat province.

In 1952, the Salcedo province (now Hermanas Mirabal province) was made and the Espaillat province kept the land that it has now, with some parts to the south of the Cordillera Septentrional and other parts to the north of it. The province had two municipalities: Moca, its capital, and Gaspar Hernández. Cayetano Germosén became a municipality of the province in 1987 and Jamao al Norte in 2001.

The municipal districts of the province were created in:
 1954 : José Contreras
 1988 : San Víctor
 1993 : Joba Arriba
 1999 : Veragua
 2000 : Juan López
 2001 : Las Lagunas
 2003 : El Higüerito, Monte de la Jagua and La Ortega
 2004 : Canca la Reina
 2006 : Villa Magante

Population 
In  (last national census), there were  people living in the Espaillat province, and 105,187 () living in towns and cities. The population density was  persons/km², one of the highest among the provinces of the country.

Its population represents  of the total population of the country and the province is ranked as the 12th (out of 31 plus the National District) more populated province.

, the total estimated propulation of the province is 237,169 inhabitants.

The largest city of the province is Moca, its head municipality or capital, with an urban population (in 2010) of 65,445 inhabitants.

Geography
The Espaillat province has a total area of . It has  of the area of the Dominican Republic and it is one of the smallest provinces in the country, ranked as the 27th (out of 31 plus the National District) largest province. The altitude of Moca, provincial capital, is .

There are three geographic regions in the province. They are, from north to south: the Atlantic coastal plains close to the Atlantic Ocean, the Cordillera Septentrional and the Cibao Valley.

Three main roads go through this province. One goes along the Atlantic coast; it goes from Puerto Plata to Samaná.

A second road comes from the south, from La Vega province and, when it gets to Moca, turns to the west to Santiago de los Caballeros. This is the old Carretera Duarte (Duarte National Road) but from Concepción de la Vega to Santiago de los Caballeros the "Duarte Highway" is used by most people, without going through Moca.

The third road begins in Moca and goes to the provinces to the east.

Mountains
The Cordillera Septentrional ("Northern mountain chain") is in the north central part of the province but the mountains here are not very high. The highest mountain in the province is the El Mogote () at  above sea level.

Rivers
There are only short rivers in the province. The most important river that flows into the Atlantic Ocean, and the longest of the province, is the Yásica river; it forms the limit with the Puerto Plata province. Other important rivers that flow to the north are the Jamao and Veragua rivers which are tributaries of the Yásica river.

In the southern part of the province, the rivers are very short and most of them are tributaries of the Licey river (a tributary of the Yuna river). Besides the Licey river, other rivers are Moca and Bacuí.

Climate
The climate of the province is a tropical climate, hot most of the year, but it is cooler on the mountains.

Municipalities
There are 4 municipalities and 11 municipal districts (M.D.) in the province. The municipalities and its municipal districts (M.D.) are:

Economy
The main economic activity of the province is agriculture and the main products are plantain, cassava, coffee and cacao.

Tourism is a very important activity on the Atlantic coast, with many hotels in the region.

Related pages
 Provinces of the Dominican Republic

References

Provinces of the Dominican Republic
1885 establishments
1880s establishments in the Dominican Republic