El Factor

**El Factor** is a town in the María Trinidad Sánchez Province of the northeastern Dominican Republic.

## El Factor

### Region

María Trinidad Sánchez Province
Cibao NE

## About

This rural municipality owes its name to a sign on the road in honor of the dictator Rafael Trujillo with the title *"El Benefactor de la Patria."* Over time, the letters on the sign deteriorated and only the word "Factor" was visible.

## History

Lost in the geography of a Caribbean island on the shores of an immense mountain range and just a few kilometers from the sea, the origin of this small town goes back to the years 1905 and 1906. Known for the sweat of its hardworking men, the courage and persistence to face the adversities and rigors of nature is "El Factor" founded by families who came here drawn by the abundance of fertile land and other natural resources.

The first families were the Taveras, Rosario, and de Jesús, among them: Dolores Taveras, Miguel Taveras, Abelardo de Jesús, Eliseo de Jesús, Gregorio Rosario, Amalio Rosario and Juana Duarte (Mother of the Taveras).

Later, other families continued to arrive, such as the Minaya, Paredes, Luciano, Concepción, among which are: Narciso Minaya, husband of Dolores Taveras and José Minaya.

Motivated by various reasons, such as the fertility of the land and its abundance, as well as other resources and climatic topographic conditions, they were born or arrived from other regions to stay here.

In the absence of health facilities, the midwives had in their hands the mission of facilitating the birth of children and preparing pregnant mothers, a task that they carried out with great efficiency and dedication, including Filomena Corniel, Bienvenida García, Jacinta Cortorreal, Ramona Mercado, Ana Félix in the lemons, Enedina Martines in Telanza, among others. As is natural, as the number of population developed and grew, activities were varied, including commerce.

Several of the important ones coincide in pointing out that Francia Sánchez, Bencosme Paredes and Aquilino Capellán were the first merchants of El Factor.

### Social context

When they began to populate these surroundings, there were no communication channels as we can see today. One path communicated with other communities and the horse, mule and donkey served as a medium, others made the crossings on foot. In the 1940s, the first road was built, a highway that linked the towns of Nagua, Villa Riva and San Francisco de Macoris. This road was built with a pick and shovel in an obligatory way, being the first buses, jeeps and roads, called Altagracia, La Mercedita.

Then in 1974 the modern highway was built, which modernized and modified communication, leaving behind the horse and the mule. Today we have highway roads that link the different communities, a highway and neighborhood roads in the agricultural projects through which the various products are transported.

The population and economic growth in the presence of services such as: public offices such as the post office, a police station, a Justice of the Peace, Civil Office, and INAPA, among others.

## Geography

El Factor is located at 19.3176° N, 69.8865° W. According to the ONE, this municipality has a total land area of 146.7 square kilometers (56.64 square miles). It is bordered on the north and east by the city of Nagua, on the south by the Duarte Province towns of Arenoso, Villa Riva, and Castillo, and on the west by the city of San Francisco de Macorís. The municipality of El Factor is 10 km (*6 miles*) south of the city of Nagua, capital of the province, and 153 km (*95 miles*) north of the city of Santo Domingo. It has two municipal districts: **El Factor** and **El Pozo**.

## Infrastructure

### Health aspect

The municipality has a hospital, two rural clinics, and private clinics; Among them is worth mentioning the Dr. Del Villar Clinic, Dr. Carrasco and Los Limones.

In the years 1985-1986 the rural clinic was created where today is the Hospital, where emergency services, general medicine internments among others are offered.

## Culture

### Religion

Religion as part of our daily lives has contributed to the formation of a Christian culture that is noticeable in dealing with people. Familiarity with neighbors and customs have accentuated the belief in God, creating unity in the family and in values.

Regarding religion, Catholic is the predominant one, although others are practiced such as the Evangelical, Jehovah's Witness, Free Methodist among others.

### Tourism

Some rivers are attractive for internal tourism, as is the case of the El Factor River, which has caves called *los indios* or *cangela* and a pool that attracts bathers, and the Nagua river, which at different points serves as a valley resort at the same time as a path. Natural to the mountain and centennial forests called loma del guacononejo that constitutes a forest and scientific reserve of great ecological value and that has been the subject of discussion due to the interest of some companies to devastate it to extract its timber wealth from it.

### Main features

With a favorable climate and a comfortable topography in the municipality, there is an ecology that is not differentiated from that of the rest of the María Trinidad Sánchez province and other neighboring provinces.

There is a varied flora among which is found coconut trees, fruit trees, cocoa, and coffee among others.

With abundant waters of its rivers that originate in the northern mountain range, such as the Nagua River, Helechal, Quebrada Fría, El Factor, Piedra Blanca; some streams whose waters are used for domestic use and agriculture.

## References

Municipalities of the María Trinidad Sánchez Province of the Dominican Republic [1]

El Factor [2]

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