Hato Mayor Province

Hato Mayor is a Dominican province; it is on the eastern part of the country. Its name comes from the name of its capital city, Hato Mayor del Rey (in English: the largest cattle farm of the King).

It is one of the last provinces created in the Dominican Republic; it was made a province on 3 December 1984. The province's territory was part of the El Seibo province.

Location
Hato Mayor is bordered to the northwest by the province of Samaná, to the east by the El Seibo province, to the west by the Monte Plata province and to the south by the San Pedro de Macorís province. The Samaná Bay is to the north of the province.

History
Some native groups lived close to the coast, in caves in Los Haitises region. There were other groups, mainly Taínos, living inland but, in general, the population was low.

When the Spanish people came to this region, they found that there were many savannas with good grasses for food for cattle (cows), horses and sheep. And they made nine hatos. "Hato" is a word from southern Spain that means a large farm for raising cattle (a ranch); it is a common word in the Dominican Republic. One of those "hatos" was Hato Mayor del Rey, made in the name of King Charles I of Spain (Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor) but given as a Mayorazgo (a family property) to Francisco Dávila as the manager and the property was called sometimes "Hato Mayor de Dávila".

Because there were many French people and from other countries trying to live in the Samaná region, the colonial government founded the city of Sabana de la Mar in 1760 and brought people from the Canary Islands to live here.

The area of Hato Mayor was part of the El Seibo province until the new province began in 1984 with three municipalities: Hato Mayor del Rey, its capital, and Sabana de la Mar and El Valle.

The municipal districts of the province were created in:
 1197 : Yerba Buena y Elupina Cordero de las Cañitas
 2000 : Mata Palacio
 2001 : Guayabo Dulce

Population 
In  (last national census), there were  people living in the Hato Mayor province, and 63,012 () living in towns and cities. The population density was  persons/km².

Its population represents  of the total population of the country and the province is ranked as the 26th (out of 31 plus the National District) more populated province.

, the total estimated propulation of the province is 85,610 inhabitants.

The largest city of the province is Hato Mayor del Rey, its head municipality or capital, with an urban population (in 2010) of 37,798 inhabitants.

Geography
The Hato Mayor province has a total area of . It has  of the area of the Dominican Republic and it is ranked as the 15th (out of 31 plus the National District) largest province. The altitude of Hato Mayor del Rey, provincial capital, is .

The territory of the province covers across four geographical regions. From north to south, these regions are:
 Llanos Costeros de Sabana de la Mar y de Miches (English: Coastal Plains of Sabana de la Mar and Miches). These are small plains close to the Samaná Bay coast. The municipalities of Sabana de la Mar and El Valle are in this region.
 Cordillera Oriental (English: Eastern mountain range), a short mountain range with low mountains. Another name for these mountains is Sierra del Seibo (English: El Seibo mountain range). On the southern side of this range, there is a region of low hills where is Hato Mayor del Rey, the capital of the province.
 Llano Costero del Caribe (in English, "Caribbean Coastal Plain"), a large plain in southeastern Dominican Republic. Most of the province is in this region.
 Los Haitises, in the northwest. It is part of a national park. It is a region with many low hills of limestone; the trade winds (winds from the northeast) bring a lot of water that falls in this region.

Rivers with their sources on the northern side of the Cordillera Oriental are short and flow into the Samaná Bay. The longest here is the River Yabón,  long, with its mouth west of the city of Sabana de la Mar.

Those rivers that flow to the south of the Cordillera Oriental and into the Caribbean Sea are longer. The most important rivers are, from east to west:
 Higuamo
 Maguá. It is a tributary of the Higuamo river; the city of Hato Mayor del Rey is near this river.
 Casuí. It is the main tributary of the Higuamo river.

There are two main roads in the province. One is the Carretera Mella ("Mella National Road") that begins in Santo Domingo and goes through Hato Mayor del Seibo, the El Seibo province and ends in Higüey; it is one of the most important road in the country.

The second road begins in Hato Mayor del Rey and ends in Sabana de la Mar.

Climate
The climate of the province is a tropical climate, hot most of the year.

Municipalities
There are 3 municipalities and 4 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 farming; the main products are cacao (in the Cordillera Oriental), flowers and African oil palm around El Valle, and sugar cane south of Hato Mayor.

Because there are many savannas with grasses around Hato Mayor del Rey and to the south of it, cattle raising is a very important activity in the province; the dairy industry is important, with a large amount of cheese produced in the province.

Fishing is important in Sabana de la Mar and other towns around the Samaná Bay.

Related pages
 Provinces of the Dominican Republic

References

Provinces of the Dominican Republic
1984 establishments in North America
1980s establishments in the Dominican Republic