Distrito Nacional

The **Distrito Nacional** is a subdivision of the Dominican Republic enclosing the capital Santo Domingo, so it is not in any of the provinces. It is a municipality but, in some aspects, it is like a province; for example, it elects one senator to the congress.

Before 16 October 2001, the Distrito Nacional was much larger, including what is now the Santo Domingo Province.

## Location

The Distrito Nacional ("National District") is in the south coast of the country. It has the Santo Domingo province to the north, east and west, and the Caribbean Sea to the south.

## History

The Distrito Nacional was created by the Dominican constitution of 1844 as a province: the _Santo Domingo_ province (different from the modern province of the same name). It had the municipalities of Santo Domingo, Baní, San Cristóbal, San José de Los Llanos, Monte Plata, Bayaguana and Boyá.

In 1932, its name was changed to _Provincia Nacional_ and all municipalities that were to the north of the Isabela and Ozama rivers became part of the San Cristóbal province.

In 1934, the name was changed to _Distrito Nacional_ and, instead of a province, it became like a municipality. The name was changed again to _Distrito de Santo Domingo_ but the 1955 constitution changed it back to _Distrito Nacional_.

## Population

In  (last national census), there were  people living in the Distrito Nacional, second only to the Santo Domingo province. The population density was  persons/km², the highest density in the country.

Its population represents  of the total population of the country and the province is ranked as the 2nd (out of 31 plus the National District) more populated administrative division.

, the total estimated propulation of the province is 1,015,150 inhabitants.

## Geography

The Distrito Nacional is a single municipality, with a total area of . It has  of the area of the Dominican Republic and it is ranked as the 32nd, the smallest administrative division of the country.

## Geography

The two important rivers in the Distrito Nacional are Ozama and Isabela. The river Ozama is the eastern limit of the Distrito Nacional and separates it from Santo Domingo Este, head municipality of the Santo Domingo province. The river Isabela, a tributary of the Ozama, is the northern limit of the Distrito Nacional and separates it from Santo Domingo Norte.

### Climate

The climate of the province is a tropical climate, warm during the whole year.

## Infobox (settlement)

- **name**: Distrito Nacional
- **settlement type**: Provinces of the Dominican Republic, District
- **image skyline**: File:Ciudad de Santo Domingo de Guzmán - Distrito Nacional.png
- **image caption**: Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic capital
- **image shield**: Escudo del Municipio Santo Domingo.svg
- **subdivision type**: Country
- **image map**: Distrito Nacional in Dominican Republic (special marker).svg
- **map caption**: Location of the Distrito Nacional
- **leader title**: Congress of the Dominican Republic, Congresspersons
- **leader name**: 1 Senator
18 Deputies
- **government type**: Subdivisions
- **governing body**: 1 Municipality, municipalities
0 List of municipalities of the Dominican Republic#Administration, municipal districts
- **established title**: District since
- **established date**: 1932
- **area total km2**: 104.44
- **population density km2**: auto
- **timezone1**: Atlantic Standard Time Zone, AST
- **utc offset1**: -4
- **blank name**: Area code
- **blank info**: 1-809 1-829 1-849
- **blank1 name**: ISO 3166-2
- **blank1 info**: DM-01
- **blank2 name**: Postal Code
- **blank2 info**: 10100 to 10699
- **website**: http://www.adn.gov.do