Constanza

**Constanza** (*English: "Constance"*) is a town in the La Vega Province of the Dominican Republic. Within its boundaries are the Constanza, Tireo, and La Sabina municipal districts and also the Valle Nuevo National Park. The population was 59,052 at the 2010 census.

## Constanza

### Region

Cibao S
La Vega Province

## Etymology

The name of Constanza has its origin in the Christian name Taíno chief's daughter who lived in the 16th century. The original race before the European discovery of the island populated the territory that today occupies the municipality of Constanza.

## History

Until the mid-twentieth century, Constanza was a valley of small population. The lack of roads made access difficult, but its isolation did not prevent some people from becoming interested in inhabiting the area.

• Several explorers knew the valley in colonial times, and there was even a settler named Victoriano Velano who took the first cows and mares in **1750**, which spread considerably, as noted in **1783**. Something must have happened to these animals in their process of adaptation to the new environment, because in its geography of the island of Santo Domingo, published in 1915, Cayetano Armado Rodríguez reported that a dwarf breed of cattle and horses was raised in the Constanza valley, almost the size of a goat.

• In **1852**, the British explorer and consul Sir Robert Hermann Schomburgk mentions the existence of only one farm inhabited in the Constanza Valley. Twenty years later, in **1871**, the American geologist William Gabb found 12 bohíos. In **1887**, the Baron de Eggers visited the Central Mountain Range and found 100 neighbors inhabiting 30 scattered huts in the Constanza Valley. The town of Constanza was officially founded in **1894**, and on **September 9, 1907** it was incorporated as a municipality within the province of La Vega.

• On **June 14, 1959**, a plane landed with a group of expeditionaries, formed by rebels who were against the Trujillo dictatorship, with the purpose of overthrowing Trujillo. The guerrillas fought in the surrounding mountains and in two months they were totally crushed by the Army, thus ending their rebellion.

## Geography

Constanza is located at 18.9115° N, 70.7377° W. According to the ONE, the town has a total land area of 841.78 square kilometers (325.01 square miles). The territory includes three municipal districts; **Constanza** (center), **Tireo**, and **La Sabina**. Constanza is bordered by the town of Jarabacoa on the north, the town of Bonao, MN on the east, the town of Rancho Arriba, JO, on the southeast, the municipalities of Sabana Larga and San José de Ocoa, JO on the south, and the Azua Province towns of Guayabal and Padre Las Casas on the west.

Constanza is located in the Central Mountain Range of the Dominican Republic at approximately 1,250 meters (*4,100 ft*) above sea level and is known as the *"Switzerland of the Caribbean"*. It is the highest municipality of the country, although the Pico Duarte, in the central mountain range is the highest point of the Greater Antilles.

The Constanza Valley, along with the other valleys of the island, was born in the Cenozoic era in the Pliocene period (about 3 million years ago).

### Demography

A large part of the population is descended from Spanish, Hungarians, and Japanese immigrants, as well as a smaller number of Arabs, Jews, Pakistanis, Koreans, Peruvians, Ecuadorians, Chinese and Brazilians. The Constanceños of ethnic minorities usually live in colonies where they live according to the customs of their ancestors. The three most prominent and particular colonies are the Spanish Colony, a few meters from the entrance of the city, the Hungarian Colony, to the southeast, and the Japanese Colony, to the south on the road that leads to Valle Nuevo and San José de Ocoa.

## Climate

Constanza is known for being the coldest city in the Dominican Republic and throughout the Caribbean. Its climate is temperate oceanic or Atlantic climate (Köppen Cfb climate classification), with cool temperatures and rains throughout the year.

The main factors that affect this are the altitude and geographical location. The town of Constanza is located at a height that varies between 1150 and 1250 meters (*4,100 feet*) above sea level, in an intramontane valley located between two massifs within the Central Mountain Range, while throughout the municipality the height varies between 1000 meters (*3,300 ft*) and almost 2900 meters (*9,000 ft*) of the **Pico Alto de Bandera**

The average annual temperature of the town is 18.4°C (*65°F*), with a thermal oscillation of just 3.5°C (38°F)between the coldest month and the warmest month: the January average is 16.3°C (*61°F*) and the August average is 19.8°C (*68°F*).

During most of the year the temperatures remain warm during the afternoon, and very cool during the early morning; they fluctuate between 12°C (*54°F*) and 27°C (*81°F*). Rains occur mostly between July and October with an average of 60 mm (*2 in.*) per month.

During winter, temperatures are cold at night and pleasant during the day, with temperatures between 8°C (*46°F*) and 24°C (*75°F*). Rains tend to be scarcer during winter, which would continue to change its type of climate to a Chinese one. Outside the valley of Constanza, it is normal for winter temperatures to fall below 0°C during winter, which favor frost. However, snowfall is very unusual.

In higher areas, the afternoon temperatures are cool in winter and pleasant in summer, while those in the early morning and morning are very cold with occasional frosts in winter and cold in summer.

The maximum temperature record is 32.5°C (90.5°F), while the minimum temperature record is −1°C (30°F), while inside of the municipality, the lowest officially registered has been −11.5°C (25.7°F) in Valle Nuevo, although unofficially it has been registered up to -12 and -13°C (up to 15.8°F).