Municipalities of the Dominican Republic

The provinces of the Dominican Republic are divided into two or more municipalities ("municipios" singular "municipio") with the exception of the Distrito Nacional which consist of only one municipality ndash Santo Domingo. They are the second-level political and administrative subdivisions of the country.

The division of the provinces into municipalities is laid down in the constitution (Titulo I Seccion II Art. 5 2002 constitution).cite web |url=http://pdba.georgetown.edu/Constitutions/DomRep/domrep02.html|title=CONSTITUCION POLITICA DE LA REPBULICA DOMINICANA DE 2002|author=Asamblea Nacional|language=Spanish|accessdate=2007-02-24] and enacted by law. Currently by law 5220 about the territorial division of the Dominican Republic ("Ley No. 5220 sobre División Territorial de la República Dominicana") issued 1959 and frequently amended to create new provinces, municipalities and lower level administrative units.

Administration

The municipalities are governed by municipal councils ("ayuntamientos") and a mayor ("Síndico") elected by their inhabitants as determined by the constitution (Titulo VIII Art. 82 2002 constitution)cite web |url=http://pdba.georgetown.edu/Constitutions/DomRep/domrep02.html|title=CONSTITUCION POLITICA DE LA REPBULICA DOMINICANA DE 2002|author=Asamblea Nacional|language=Spanish|accessdate=2007-02-24] and law 3455 about the administration of municipalities ("Ley 3455 de Organización Municipal").cite web |url=http://www.fedomu.org.do/docs/ley_3455.pdf|format = PDF|title=Ley No. 3455, Organización Municipal, del 18 de diciembre del 1952|author=Congreso Nacional|language=Spanish|accessdate=2007-03-02]

When a municipality consists of more than one urban center those beside the municipality's seat can be elevated to the status of a municipal district ("distrito municipal"). A municipal council ("Junta Municipal") for such a municipal district is nominated by the municipal council of the municipality to which it belongs (Ley 3455 Titulo I Capitulo IV).cite web |url=http://www.fedomu.org.do/docs/ley_3455.pdf|format = PDF|title=Ley No. 3455, Organización Municipal, del 18 de diciembre del 1952|author=Congreso Nacional|language=Spanish|accessdate=2007-03-02]

The rural parts of a municipality are divided into districts ("Secciones" literally sections) which are further divided into neighborhoods ("Parajes" literally places). The municipal councils appoint district mayors ("Alcalde pedáneo") which represent the municipal administration at district level (Ley 3455 Titolu I Capitulo V).cite web |url=http://www.fedomu.org.do/docs/ley_3455.pdf|format = PDF|title=Ley No. 3455, Organización Municipal, del 18 de diciembre del 1952|author=Congreso Nacional|language=Spanish|accessdate=2007-03-02]

As the municipalities differ largely by population they or the urban centers of them may be cities ("Ciudades"), the capital of a province or with more than 10,000 inhabitants, towns ("Villas"), the seat of a municipality or with more than 1,000 inhabitants or villages ("Poblados") with less than 1,000 inhabitants.

Municipalities and municipal districts

The following is a list of the 154 municipalities ("municipios") and 202 municipal districts ("distrito municipal" - D.M.) of the Dominican Republic as of June 20 2006. [cite web |url=http://www.one.gob.do/index.php?option=com_docman&task=cat_view&gid=113|title=Listado de Codigos de Provincias, Municipio y Distritos Municipales, Actualizada a Junio 20 del 2006|author=Oficina Nacional de Estadistica, Departamento de Cartografia, Division de Limites y Linderos|language=Spanish|accessdate=2007-01-24]

Map

tatistics

For population figures as of the 2002 census for the urban centers and seats ("cabeceras" literally heads) of municipalities and municipal districts with more than 10,000 inhabitants see the list of cities in the Dominican Republic.

References

External links

* [http://www.fedomu.org.do/index.html Federación Dominicana de Municipios - FEDOMU, Dominican federation of municipalities]
* [http://www.one.gob.do/ Oficina Nacional de Estadística, Statistics Portal of the Dominican Republic]