Moca, Dominican Republic

Coordinates: 19°23′N 70°31′W / 19.383°N 70.517°W / 19.383; -70.517
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Moca
Sagrado Corazón de Jesús Church
Sagrado Corazón de Jesús Church
Official seal of Moca
Moca is located in the Dominican Republic
Moca
Moca
Coordinates: 19°23′N 70°31′W / 19.383°N 70.517°W / 19.383; -70.517
Country Dominican Republic
ProvinceEspaillat
Municipality since1822
Area
 • Total239.36 km2 (92.42 sq mi)
Elevation183 m (600 ft)
Population
 (2012)[3]
 • Total173,442
 • Density720/km2 (1,900/sq mi)
 • Demonym
Mocano(a)
Distance to
 – Santo Domingo

145 km
Municipalities8
ClimateAf
Websitehttp://am.gob.do/

The Dominican city of Moca is the head municipality of the Espaillat province.

It is in the Cibao Valley, south of the Cordillera Septentrional (English: Northern mountain range), in the southern part of the province.

History[change | change source]

People began to live in Moca during the first years of the 18th century, when the eastern part of the Hispaniola was the Spanish colony of "Santo Domingo".

After the Haitian independence, Jean Jacques Dessalines tried to get the eastern part of the island, that had been given by Spain to France. He tried for three weeks but could not take the city of Santo Domingo and so he came back to Haiti.

Those troops that went back to north Haiti, on 3 April 1805, kill all the inhabitants of Moca, except two persons, and burned completely the town.[4]

Population[change | change source]

The municipality had, in 2010, a total population of 94,981: 47,569 men and 47,569 women. The urban population was 68.9% of the total population.[3]

Geography[change | change source]

Moca has a total area of 75 km2 (29 sq mi) and Is at an elevation of 183 m (600 ft). The city is at 145 km (90 mi) to the north of Santo Domingo, on the western end of the Yuna Valley, the eastern part of the larger Cibao valley.

The municipality is on flat land with small hills to the west and low mountains to the north; these mountains are part of the Cordillera Septentrional and its highest mountain in the municipality, and in the province, is Loma El Mogote (19°29′02″N 70°29′20″W / 19.48389°N 70.48889°W / 19.48389; -70.48889 (Loma El Mogote)), 970 m (3,180 ft) high.[5]

The municipality of Moca has the municipality of Jamao al Norte to the north, the Hermanas Mirabal province to the east, the La Vega province to the south, the Santiago province to the west and the Puerto Plata province to the northwest.

Climate[change | change source]

Moca has a tropical wet climate (Köppen climate classification : Af) with no dry or cold season as it is constantly moist.[6]

The average amount of rainfall for the year in the city is 1,231.3 mm (48.5 in). The month with the most precipitation on average is May with 159.9 mm (6.3 in) of rainfall, followed by October with 136.7 mm (5.4 in).

The driest season is winter. The month with the least rainfall on average is March with an average of 60.3 mm (2.4 in) and the second is February with 67.6 mm (2.7 in).

Moca is in a warm region; the average temperature for the year is 24.9 °C (76.8 °F). The warmest month, on average, is June with an average temperature of 26.4 °C (79.5 °F). The coolest month on average is January, with an average temperature of 23 °C (73.4 °F)

Administrative division[change | change source]

The municipality of Moca has eight municipal districts:[3]

Municipal districts of Moca
Code Municipal district Population
(2010)
090102 José Contreras 4,498
090103 San Víctor 21,009
090104 Juan López 14,777
090105 Las Lagunas 15,241
090106 Canca la Reyna 10,998
090107 El Higüerito 9,673
090108 Monte de la Jagua 5,810
090109 La Ortega 2,842

Economy[change | change source]

The main economic activity of the province is agriculture and the main products are plantain, cassava, coffee and cacao.

Poultry raising, for both eggs and meat is also very important. Pigs are also raised in this municipality.

References[change | change source]

  1. Superficies a nivel de municipios, Oficina Nacional de Estadistica Archived 2009-04-17 at the Wayback Machine
  2. De la Fuente, Santiago (1976). Geografía Dominicana (in Spanish). Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic: Editora Colegial Quisqueyana.
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 Censo 2012 de Población y Vivienda, Oficina Nacional de Estadistica Archived 2009-04-01 at the Wayback Machine
  4. Moya Pons, Frank (1977). Manual de Historia Dominicana (in Spanish). Santiago: UCMM.
  5. Núñez Molina, Luis N. (1972). El Territorio Dominicano (in Spanish). Santo Domingo, República Dominicana: Julio D. Postigo C. por A.
  6. "Moca Climate & Temperature". Climatemps.com. Retrieved 19 October 2016.


Provincial capitals of the Dominican Republic Flag of the Dominican Republic
AzuaBaníBarahonaBonaoComendadorCotuíDajabónEl SeiboHato MayorHigüeyJimaníLa RomanaLa VegaMaoMocaMonte CristiMonte PlataNaguaNeibaPedernalesPuerto PlataSabanetaSalcedoSamanáSan CristóbalSan Francisco de MacorísSan José de OcoaSan Juan de la MaguanaSan Pedro de MacorísSantiago de los CaballerosSanto DomingoSanto Domingo Este