San Pedro de Macorís (city)

San Pedro de Macorís
—  Municipality  —
Central Park in San Pedro de Macorís
Nickname(s): Macorís del mar
San Pedro de Macorís
Coordinates: 18°27′N 69°17′W
Country	Dominican Republic
Province	San Pedro de Macorís
Municipal Districts	1
Founded	1856
Municipality since	1865
Area
• Total	136.04 km2 (52.53 sq mi)
Elevation	4 m (13 ft)
Population (2010)
• Total	195,307
• Density	1,435.7/km2 (3,718/sq mi)
• Urban	185,255
	Including populations of its municipal districts
Demonym	Petromacorisano (female, petromacorisana)
Time zone	AST (UTC-4)
• Summer (DST)	AST (UTC-4)
Distance	35 km (22 mi) to La Romana 70 km (43 mi) to Santo Domingo
Website	Ayuntamiento Serie 23

The Dominican city of San Pedro de Macorís is the head municipality of the San Pedro de Macorís province, on the southeast of the country.

It has the nickname of Macorís del mar ("Macorís by the sea") to differentiate it from San Francisco de Macorís, in the Duarte Province.

Population

The municipality had, in 2010, a total population of 195,307: 94,562 men and 100,745 women. The urban population was 94.85% of the total population. In this numbers is included the population of the municipal district Guayacanes.

History

There were two very small towns on the left side of the mouth of the river Macorís (or Higuamo): Mosquito (because there were too many mosquitos) and Sol (English: "Sun", because there were not trees). Even today, San Pedro de Macorís is called sometimes Mosquitisol after those two old and small towns.

Since 1852, there was a military post in this place: the Military Post of Macorís, part of the Hato Mayor del Rey municipality in the El Seibo Province.

In 1856, the priest Pedro Carrasco built a Catholic church with the name San Pedro Apóstol; the church was between the two towns of Mosquito and Sol. Both towns grew in direction of the church, forming one town called San Pedro de Macorís.

When the country was again a Spanish colony, San Pedro de Macorís was made a "Comandancia de Armas" (an Spanish military category). When the country was free again, in 1865, every town with the category of "Comandancia de Armas" became a municipality. But San Pedro de Macorís was still a very small town of the El Seibo Province.

After 1868, with the sugarcane plantations and the sugar factories, San Pedro de Macorís began to grow and it became one of the most important city in the Dominican Republic. Many people from Cuba and Puerto Rico came to live here during the last years of the 19th century and the first years of the 20th century. Later came people from the Spain and the Middle East (Lebanon, Syria) to work in businesses.

To work in the sugarcane fields and factories, people from Haiti and the British West Indies came to San Pedro de Macorís and other regions of the country.

Economy

The economy of San Pedro de Macorís grew around the sugar production; there were several sugar factories and most of that sugar was sent to other countries through its port and then it became one of the most important port of the country. Rhum is also produced in the city; rhum is made with alcohol from the sugar cane.

There are also some important industries, mainly to produce cement and textiles to send to other countries.