Distrito Nacional

Coordinates: 18°30′0″N 69°59′0″W / 18.5°N 69.983333°W / 18.5; -69.983333

Distrito Nacional
Province
Country	Dominican Republic
Capital	Santo Domingo de Guzmán
- elevation	14 m (46 ft)
- coordinates	18°30′0″N 69°59′0″W / 18.5°N 69.983333°W / 18.5; -69.983333
Area	104.44 km2 (40 sq mi)
Population	1,587,412 (2011 estimate)
Density	15,199 / km2 (39,365 / sq mi)
District since	1932
Subdivisions	1 municipalities 0 municipal districts
Congresspersons	1 Senator 18 Deputies
Timezone	AST (UTC-4)
Area code	1-809 1-829 1-849
ISO 3166-2	DO-01
Postal Code	10100 to 10699
Location of the Distrito Nacional
Website: http://www.adn.gov.do

The Distrito Nacional (Spanish pronunciation: [disˈtɾito naθjoˈnal]) (D.N.) is a subdivision of the Dominican Republic enclosing the capital Santo Domingo. It is not within any of the provinces, but is itself counted as a province. Before October 16, 2001, the Distrito Nacional was much larger, including what is now known as Santo Domingo Province. Published statistics and maps generally show the former, larger, Distrito Nacional. The Distrito Nacional has no rural or undeveloped areas.

Points of interest

Poligono Central

The Poligono Central is the central area of Santo Domingo. Upscale neighborhoods of Naco, Piantini, and Paraiso are located within this central poligon. Most of the financial activity in Santo Domingo is also located in the poligon.

Central Government

The Distrito Nacional houses the central government's executive branch Presidential Office (Palacio Nacional), the national congressional building (Congreso Nacional) and the top judicial court building (Suprema Corte de Justicia). It also houses all the nationwide public office's main buildings, called Ministerios (formerly Secretarías de Estado).

Ciudad Colonial

For the main article, please select Ciudad Colonial.

The Ciudad Colonial (lit. "Colonial City") is the very first settlement made by Christopher Columbus and the Spanish explorers in the New World. It has several historic landmarks and is declared as World Heritage Site by the UNESCO.

Nightlife

There are various nightlife activities available inside the Distrito Nacional. Upscale nightclubs, casinos, hotels, restaurants with international bars are widely available. Discothèque DJs and live performances caters both local sounds (merengue, salsa or bachata) and dance music (house, techno, trance, reggaeton, drum and bass, etc.) Most nightclubs alternate between the two main genres; some other clubs stick almost exclusively to either one. Several chain restaurants are available serving dinner up to midnight. Most restaurants within hotels don't close at all, and the majority of casinos serve complimentary snacks all night. Most restaurants are specialized on the following cuisines: Local, Italian, French, Steakhouse, Mexican, Spanish, Seafood, Chinese and Japanese). There are several movie cinemas that play movies in english (with subtitles) and are on par with worldwide premiers. Jazz music outlets, live theater, live concerts and sports events are available throghtout the whole week.

Parks

Distrito Nacional has several urban parks, the largest one, Parque Mirador Sur, overlooking the Caribbean Sea from a high cliff from the Avenida Mirador Sur (also called Avenida de la Salud - Health Avenue). It has several miles of open road designed for picnic, jogging and cycling. Roller skating and even Kendo are regularly practiced in areas of the park.

Other places worth mentioning are:

• Plaza de la Cultura Juan Pablo Duarte - which houses several national museums and is host of the International Book Fair. It houses the Teatro Nacional. The Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional holds concerts under the direction of Maestro José Antonio Molina.
• Centro Olímpico Juan Pablo Duarte - Olimpic facility in the center of the city. Out of several facilities, is worth mentioning the Estadio Olímpico Félix Sánchez.
• Estadio Quisqueya - baseball stadium, home of two national teams: Tigres del Licey and Leones del Escogido. The former is the winningest team of the Caribbean Series.

Shopping

There are several shopping malls that represent international brands of clothing, electronic goods, gifts and the like. Banks, barber shops, internet cafés, travel agencies, dental offices and supermarkets can all be found under a single roof.

Schools

There are plenty of public (government funded) and private schools that offer teaching in both Spanish and English. Among the public universities is worth mentioning the first university of the Americas, Universidad Autónoma de Santo Domingo, is located near the center-south of the city. The first private university, Pontificia Universidad Católica Madre y Maestra, has a campus nearby.

Transportation

Metro de Santo Domingo

Main article: Metro de Santo Domingo

The Distrito Nacional boasts the first and only underground public transportation system in the country. The first line connects the Distrito Nacional with Santo Domingo Norte.

Public transportation

Other means of public transportation include: taxi services, public bus routes, urban transportation by bus, local airports and rent cars. International flights are handled by the near Las Américas International Airport. It can be reach from the city center through some 20 miles of recently-expanded expressway and new suspension bridge (Puente Presidente Juan Bosch).

Car Rental

Tourists can rent a car provided he or she is of legal age (18 years old) and can provide a valid driver's license, for up to three months. International Driving Permit have the same allotted time limitations.

Is important to note that there are restrictions concerning manual transmission (rarely applied) and passenger capacity limits (driving, for example, a minibus with a capacity of over 8 passengers plus luggage requires a license for such type of vehicle).

The nation's driving alcohol limit is zero (any measured level of alcohol above 0.01% while driving a motor vehicle carries a fine and possible vehicle impound a/o arrest). Also, talking on a cell phone (without the aid of a speakerphone a/o hands-free microphone) or driving not wearing the seatbelt (front seat passengers) carries a steep fine. Fines are payable only in cash and exclusively in the Autoridad Metropolitana de Santo Domingo (AMET) building in downtown, business hours only.

Driving is on the right side of the road and the city's speed limit is 100 Km/h (60 MPH). Pleasy try to keep your distance from public buses, specially when driving on the right lane, as they tend to pull over without much warning.

Politics

The Distrito Nacional is represented in the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies on the same scale as a Province (a single Senator (Senador), plus one Deputy (Diputado) per 50,000 inhabitants). Its local government is the same as the provincial municipios, without the equivalent of a provincial tier of government.

Sectors of the District.

Sectores (neighborhoods)

The Distrito Nacional is subdivided in incorporated areas (neighbourhoods) called sectores which could be considered as small urban towns. All sectores are serviced directly by the municipal mayor's office (síndico municipal).

Some sectores prefixes:

• Ciudad (city) - applies to the original older parts of town, some dating back to colonial times;
• Ensanche (lit. "widening") - usually, but not always, applied to the more "modern" parts of the city.
• Villa - the urban outskirts of both the old city of Santo Domingo and the current (smaller) Distrito Nacional.

Sector	Population
24 de Abril	75,674
30 de Mayo	73,546
Altos de Arroyo Hondo	86,424
Arroyo Manzano	120,457
Atala	98,563
Bella Vista	175,683
Buenos Aires (Independencia)	56,846
Cacique	34,987
Centro de Los Heroes	26,780
Centro Olímpico Juan Pablo Duarte	15,786
Cerros de Arroyo Hondo	28,762
Ciudad Colonial	5,788
Ciudad Nueva	18,756
Ciudad Universitaria	345,457
Cristo Rey	14,325
Domingo Sabio	10,146
El Millón	89,887
Ensanche Capotillo	36,789
Ensanche Espaillat	16,872
Ensanche La Fé	13,453
Ensanche Luperón	8,576
Ensanche Naco	17,842
Ensanche Simón Bolívar	18,463
Gazcue	7,963
General Antonio Duvergé	11,243
Gualey	10,747
Honduras del Norte	10,542
Honduras del Oeste	11,242
Jardín Botanico	3,142
Jardín Zoologico	4,253
Jardínes del Sur	9,814
Julieta Morales	7,234
La Agustina	10,457
La Esperilla	12,573
La Hondonada	14,575
La Isabela	6,865
La Julia	12,575
La Zurza	4,896
Los Cacicazgos	15,725
Los Jardínes	97,568
Los Peralejos	35,684
Los Prados	20,457
Los Restauradores	78,945
Los Ríos	27,563
María Auxiliadora	20,456
Mejoramiento Social	19,753
Mirador Norte	20,465
Mirador Sur	20,211
Miraflores	76,862
Miramar	59,876
Nuestra Señora de la Paz	98,961
Nuevo Arroyo Hondo	123,501
Palma Real	101,543
Paraíso	75,862
Paseo de los Indíos	28,951
Piantini	59,753
Puerto Isabela	56,513
Punta Caucedo	17,643
Quisqueya	12,454
Renacimiento	20,145
San Carlos	13,456
San Diego	9,864
San Geronimo	8,634
San Juan Bosco	14,352
Tropical Metaldom	10,421
Viejo Arroyo Hondo	38,964
Villa Consuelo	28,621
Villa Francisca	50,185
Villa Juana	29,765

See also

	Caribbean portal
	Geography portal

References

External links

• (Spanish) Oficina Nacional de Estadística, Statistics Portal of the Dominican Republic
• (Spanish) Oficina Nacional de Estadística, Maps with administrative division of the provinces of the Dominican Republic, downloadable in PDF format
• Plastic Surgery in Dominican Republic