Bonao

**Bonao** is a Dominican city and the head municipality of the Monseñor Nouel province, in the center of the country.

_Bonao_ is the Taíno name of the region where the old city was founded. The city is in the Bonao Valley, at about 85 km to the northwest of Santo Domingo, the capital of the Dominican Republic.

## Population

The municipality had, in , a total population of 76,241: 37,349 men and 38,892 women. The urban population was  of the total population.

## History

Christopher Columbus founded in 1494 a small fort in the region known by the Taíno people as Bonao. The fort was built to protect the gold mines around Maimón and other places. But there was not much gold in the region and the fort was soon left without people.

The town was founded again during the early years of the 19th century but at about  to the north of the old place, closer to the River Yuna. The new town had the name _Yuna_ was soon was changed to the old one: _Bonao_. It was also called _El Bonao_ (English: "The Bonao") but the article "El" (English: "The") was left out during the first years of the 20th century and it is never used now.

The new small town was made a _Puesto Cantonal_ (and old category, like a "Military Post") in 1859 and then a municipality of La Vega province in 1865.

In 1936, its name was changed to _Monseñor Meriño_ after the Archbishop Adolfo A. Nouel, past president of the country. In 1960, it got is old name of Bonao.

## Geography

Bonao is in the Bonao Valley in the centre of the Dominican Republic. It has a total area of . It has five municipal districts (a municipal district is a subdivision of a municipality); these are Arroyo Toro-Masipedro, Jayaco, Juma Bejucal, La Salvia-Los Quemados and Sabana del Puerto.

The altitude of the city of Bonao is  above sea level.

The municipality of Bonao has the La Vega province to the north and to the west, the Sánchez Ramírez province to the east, the municipality of Maimón to the southeast, the municipality of Piedra Blanc to the south and the province of San José de Ocoa province to the southwest.

The city is near the River Yuna, one of the most important river of the Hispaniola island; the sources of the river are on the eastern side of the _Cordillera Central_ ("Central mountain range"). It flows through the Bonao Valley and then through the Cibao Valley and into the Samaná Bay.

There are other smaller rivers near Bonao, tributaries of the River Yuna.

### Climate

Bonao has a tropical wet climate (Köppen-Geiger classification: **Af**) with no dry or cold season as it is constantly moist (rainfalls during the whole year).

The average amount of rainfall for the year in the city is . The month with the most precipitation on average is May with  of rainfall, followed by October with .

The driest season is winter. The month with the least rainfall on average is January with an average of  followed by February with an average of .

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## Administrative division

The municipality of Bonao has five municipal districts:

|Code|Municipal district|Population <small>(2010)</small>|
| --- | --- | --- |
|280102|Sabana del Puerto|10,049|
|280103|Juma Bejucal|22,545|
|280104|Arroyo Toro - Masipedro|2,851|
|280105|Jayaco|8,051|
|280106|La Salvia - Los Quemados|5,601|

## Economy

Farming is very important around the city; it is one of main regions of the country where rice is grown.

Mining is also important here; nickel is mined in a mountain close to the city by the Falconbridge, a Canadian company.

## Infobox (settlement)

- **name**: Bonao
- **settlement type**: Municipality
- **image skyline**: Plazabonao.jpg
- **image caption**: Culture Town square, square in Bonao
- **image shield**: Escudo de Bonao.svg
- **pushpin map**: Dominican Republic
- **subdivision type**: Country
- **subdivision type1**: Provinces of the Dominican Republic, Province
- **subdivision name1**: Monseñor Nouel Province, Monseñor Nouel
- **subdivision type2**: Provinces of the Dominican Republic, Municipal Districts
- **subdivision name2**: 5
- **established title**: Founded
- **established date**: 1495
- **established title2**: Municipality since
- **established date2**:
1865
- **area total km2**: 142.8
- **area urban km2**: 13.01
- **elevation m**: 83
- **population total**: 76241
- **total type**: Total
- **population urban**: 68602
- **population density km2**: auto
- **timezone**: Atlantic Standard Time Zone, AST
- **utc offset**: -4
- **timezone dst**: Atlantic Standard Time Zone, AST
- **utc offset dst**: -4
- **blank name**: Distance to
 – Santo Domingo
- **blank info**:

- **blank name sec1**: Distance:
- **blank info sec1**: to Concepción de la Vega, La Vega
 to Santo Domingo