Santo Domingo Este
Santo Domingo Este is a municipality and the provincial capital of the Santo Domingo province in the Dominican Republic. It has one municipal district ("distrito municipal"), San Luis. Santo Domingo Este is across the Ozama River which divides the east and west sections of metropolitan Santo Domingo. This eastern side is more residential and less commercially developed, but it too has experienced growth, though at a slower pace than Santo Domingo itself, with new malls and department stores. History. Santo Domingo Este was created as a separate municipality in 2001 by Law 163-01, which split the  Santo Domingo province from the Distrito Nacional. Plans for local government separate from the National District were first floated in the 1970s. Congress considered a bill in 1984 that would have created the province of Santo Domingo Oriental, which was rejected on grounds that the creation of a new province would be unconstitutional. Culture. Santo Domingo Este has a variety of shopping centers, some of them among the largest in the country, such as Mega Centro and Coral Mall. There are also commercial districts in the Venezuela Avenue and St. Vincent de Paul areas, which feature active nightlife and restaurants . The municipality also includes the Villa Panamericana, a housing complex built for the athletes of the 2003 Pan American Games. Economy. Santo Domingo Este has three duty-free zones. Hainamosa is home to 11 businesses and 3,000 employees; San Isidro houses 26 businesses and 7,470 employees; and Los Mina has just one business and 6,000 employees. The New Isabela Industrial Park is also located in the municipality. Companies with a presence in the area include Barceló, Manufacturera Sociedad Industrial, Lácteos Dominicanos, Parmalat, Telever, Codetel, Tricom, as well as construction, energy, and agricultural businesses. Sectors. When the city was created, these  sectors were also divided: