Доминикан Республикасының Пуэрто-Плата провинциясы

Province of the Dominican Republic
the Dominican province

Puerto Plata (pweɾtoˈplata, Silver Port) is a province in northern Dominican Republic. It is divided into 9 municipalities, 12 municipal districts and its capital is the resort city of the same name. Neighboring provinces clockwise: Monte Cristi to the southwest, Valverde and Santiago to the south and Espailat to the east, along with the Septentrional mountain range to the north (which separates it from Laguna Salada), and has a coastline with the Atlantic Ocean. The area has become an increasingly popular tourist attraction since the late 1990s mainly due to its fine beaches. Created from the Santiago Province in 1867 as a "maritime district", it became a province in 1907, when maritime districts were suppressed by a new Dominican constitution.

In 1493, La Isabela was founded by Christopher Columbus, being the first European town in the Americas. For its part, Puerto Plata was founded by Nicolás de Ovando at the beginning of the Hispanic colonization, around 1502. One of the first inhabitants in the years 1509 of the "Villa de Puerto de Plata" was Gaspar Briceño, a native of Arévalo del Reino from Castilla y León, who arrived on the island as a servant of Juan de Berlanga, treasurer of the Mayor's Office of the city of Santo Domingo, on the island of Hispaniola. He held the position of "field bailiff" of the Villa de Santiago that belonged to the Villa de Concepción de la Vega and this corresponded to the Mayor's Office of the City of Santo Domingo. His name appears in the "Colón Solís" trial, where the encomendero of the Villa de Santiago, Francisco de Solís, murdered two naborías Indians. The field bailiff was in charge of capturing the Indians or blacks who escaped from the parcels. It was one of the cities devastated in 1606 and was not repopulated until after 1736. The advent of republican times favored the development of the city, which over time became the main port of Cibao, especially for exporting the regional tobacco. By Resolution of the National Congress dated July 6, 1847, Puerto Plata was elevated from common to Maritime District. It became a province in the year 1850. In 1879 it was the seat of the government of Gregorio Luperón and served as the internal capital of the Republic.