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 .

Administrative division
The municipality of Higüey has three  municipal districts:

+ Municipal districts of Higüey Code  Municipal district  Population(2010) 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.

 References 

Category:Settlements in the Dominican Republic
Category:1500s establishments in the Spanish Empire