Salvaleón de Higüey

The Dominican city of **Salvaleón de Higüey**, usually known as **Higüey**, is the head municipality of the La Altagracia province, on the eastern part of the country.

The _Basílica de Nuestra Señora de la Altagracia_ ("Our Lady of High Grace Basilica"), a cathedral, is in this city and many Catholic people come here to pray.

## Population

The municipality had, in 2010, a total population of 168,501: 84,562 men and 83,939 women. The urban population was  of the total population, one of the most urban municipality in the country.

## History

The city was founded by Juan de Esquivel in 1503. _Higüey_ was the Taíno name of the eastern part of the island.

## Geography

The municipality of Salvaleón de Higüey has a total area of . It has three municipal districts (a municipal district is a subdivision of a municipality). These are Las Lagunas de Nisibón, La Otra Banda and Verón Punta Cana.

Higüey is at  to the east of Santo Domingo and at  to the north of La Romana. The municipality is in the region known as _Llano Costero del Caribe_ ("Caribbean Coastal Plain"), in the eastern part of the country, a region with many savannas.

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

The municipality of Higüey has the Atlantic Ocean to the north and east, the municipality of San Rafael del Yuma to the south, the La Romana province to the southwest and the El Seibo province to the west.

### Climate

Higüey has a tropical wet climate (Köppen climate classification : **Af**) with no dry or cold season as it is constantly moist.

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 February with an average of  and the second is March with .

Higüey is in a warm region; the average temperature for the year is . The warmest month, on average, is July with an average temperature of . The coolest month on average is January, with an average temperature of .

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## Administrative division

The municipality of Higüey has three  municipal districts:

|Code|Municipal district|Population <small>(2010)</small>|
| --- | --- | --- |
|110102|Las Lagunas de Nisibón|9,831|
|110103|La Otra Banda|28,929|
|110104|Verón Punta Cana|43,982|

## Economy

The most important economic activity in the municipality is tourism, along the eastern coast, mainly in Bávaro and Punta Cana.

But farming is still an important activity in the rest of the municipality, mainly cattle raising. Also sugarcane is a very important crop in this municipality.

## Infobox (settlement)

- **name**: Higüey
- **official name**: Salvaleón de Higüey
- **settlement type**: Municipality
- **image skyline**: Basilika Nuestra de la Altagracia.JPG
- **image caption**: _Nuestra Señora de la Altagracia_ basilica
- **image shield**: Escudo del Municipio Salvaleón de Higüey.svg
- **pushpin map**: Dominican Republic
- **pushpin relief**: 1
- **subdivision type**: Country
- **subdivision name**: Dominican Republic
- **subdivision type1**: Provinces of the Dominican Republic, Province
- **subdivision name1**: La Altagracia Province, La Altagracia
- **subdivision type2**: Provinces of the Dominican Republic, Municipal Districts
- **subdivision name2**: 3
- **established title**: Founded
- **established date**: 1503
- **established title2**: Municipality since
- **established date2**:
1844
- **area total km2**: 907.7
- **area urban km2**: 27.93
- **elevation m**: 106
- **population total**: 168501
- **total type**: Total
- **population urban**: 147978
- **population density km2**: auto
- **population demonym**: Higüeyano
(female, higüeyana)
- **timezone**: Atlantic Standard Time Zone, AST
- **utc offset**: -4
- **timezone dst**: Atlantic Standard Time Zone, AST
- **utc offset dst**: -4
- **blank name sec1**: Distance
- **blank info sec1**: to La Romana, Dominican Republic, La Romana
 to Santo Domingo