Santiago Province (Dominican Republic)

Santiago
Province
City skyline view of Santiago de los Caballeros, Dominican Republic.
Flag Seal Coat of arms
Nickname:  Primer Santiago de América
Motto:  Ciudad Corazón
Location of Santiago Province
Coordinates: 19°21′24″N 70°54′32″W / 19.35667°N 70.90889°W / 19.35667; -70.90889
Country	Dominican Republic
Province since	1844
Capital	Santiago de los Caballeros
Government
• Type	Subdivisions
• Body	10 municipalities 20 municipal districts
• Congresspersons	1 Senator 18 Deputies
Area
• Total	2,806.29 km2 (1,083.51 sq mi)
Population  (2014)
• Total	1,503,362
• Density	540/km2 (1,400/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC-4 (AST)
Area code	1-809 1-829 1-849
ISO 3166-2	DO-25
Postal Code	51000
Website	www.provinciasantiago.gov.do/

Santiago (Spanish pronunciation: [sanˈtjaɣo]) is a province which currently comprises one of the 32 provinces of the Dominican Republic. It is divided into 10 municipalities and its capital city is Santiago de los Caballeros. Located in north-central Dominican Republic, in the Cibao region, it is bordered by the provinces of Valverde to the north-west, Puerto Plata to the north, Espaillat and La Vega to the east, San Juan to the south and Santiago Rodríguez to the west.

It is home to an intellectual, educational, and cultural center. It is also a major industrial center with rum, textile, cigarette and cigar industries based there. Shoe manufacturing, leather goods, and furniture making are important parts of the province's economic life. Santiago also has major Free Zone centers with four important industrial free zones; it also has an important cement factory. Santiago is home to one of the largest medical centers in the country, Clínica Unión Médica, which serves all 14 provinces of El Cibao.

Also within striking distance there are a good number of pleasant towns, many of which are quite prosperous. It is surrounded by tall mountains that have for years protected it from hurricanes and allows for dense tropical forests to develop on the slopes of such mountains, which are among the highest in the region.