Bánica
San Francisco de Bánica, or simply Bánica, is a town and municipality in the northwest region of Dominican Republic in the Elías Piña province. It is located on the border with Haiti near the Artibonite river. The name Bánica comes from the Taíno name of the region, Banique ("land of ebony"). History. The town was founded in 1504 by Diego Velázquez, who later went to conquest the island of Cuba, on the left side of the River Artibonite. It was an important town in those years but later it lost its importance. In the 18th century, the Spanish government  moved the city to its present place, away from the river, and brought families from the Canary Islands to live there. During the slave revolts of the Haitian Revolution, many people left to other places in the island. When the Haitians occupied the eastern part of the island (the present Dominican Republic), they administered the town as part of the Department of Artibonite. After the Independence in 1844, the town was elevated by the Dominican government to the category of municipality of the Azua province. But again the town was abandoned by its inhabitants. After the "Restoration War" (1863–1865), some  families from other towns close to the Haitian border came to live in Bánica. Bánica was the first place where Dominican President Rafael Trujillo implemented his campaign against the Haitians, later known as the Parsley Massacre. Bánica was made a municipality of the San Juan province in 1938 and then, in 1942, of the new province of Elías Piña. Economy. The main economic activity of the municipality is agriculture. Commerce with Haiti is also an important economic activity in the city. According to the last Population and Housing Census, the municipality has a total population of 7,272, of whom 3,802  were men and 3,470 women. The urban population of the municipality was only 20.05%.