Pedernales Province

Pedernales
Province
Jaragua National Park in Pedernales, Dominican Republic
Coat of arms
Location of the Pedernales Province
Country	Dominican Republic
Province since	1957
Capital	Pedernales
Government
• Type	Subdivisions
• Body	2 municipalities 2 municipal districts
• Congresspersons	1 Senator 2 Deputies
Area
• Total	2,074.53 km2 (800.98 sq mi)
Population  (2022 census)
• Total	34,375[1]
Time zone	UTC-4 (AST)
Area code	1-809 1-829 1-849
ISO 3166-2	DO-16
Postal Code	84000

Pedernales (from Spanish 'flints'; pronounced [peðeɾˈnales]) is the southernmost province of the Dominican Republic, including the offshore island of Isla Beata. It was split from Barahona in 1957. Of its 2,074.53 km², 1,374 km² belongs to the Jaragua National Park. A third of its population is of Haitian origin, the highest ratio within the country.^[2]

The capital of the province, Pedernales, was originally called Juan López, who was a Spanish inhabitant who had settled in the area around the 19th century.^{[citation needed]}

The province was called Pedernales after the river located on the border with Haiti, in which flint is abundant. The indigenous people of the Dominican Republic, the Taíno, used them to make sharp tools, such as axes and arrowheads.^{[citation needed]}