Samaná (peninsula)

Physical geography

the Peninsula of Samanà , whose surface is about 1000km ² is located in Dominican Republic. It is bordered in north by the Atlantic Ocean and the south by the Baie of Samanà. With the point is the Atlantic Ocean and the bay meet, whereas to the west the peninsula is attached by low grounds to the remainder of the island of Hispaniola. Of in west it is crossed by the Cordillera of Samana, an assembly line whose tops rounded reach in certain case more than 500 meters. At the time of its discovery by Europeans at the 15th century Samanà was an island. Indeed, it was possible to circumvent it by sea route in the west.

Ecosystem

Human geography

The port city of Santa Bárbara de Samaná (known under the name of Samaná or Samaná) is the chief town of the province of Samaná, in the extreme North-East of the Dominican Republic and was founded in 1756. Today the city counts a population of 51.501 inhabitants (10.692 in urban area and 40.809 in rural area)

History

Being given its strategic position, at the north-eastern end of the peninsula, it was very early the object of the covetousness of the Spanish Conquistador S. The history wants besides that it either here that in 1493 took place, the first armed conflict opposing Europeans to the indigenous S of America.

Christophe Colomb called part of bay of Samaná, the Golfe of the arrows ( Los Cacaos ), because its boats were accepted by the inhabitants of this area, the Ciguayos , with a rain of arrows which forced them to set out again.

With the nineteenth Samaná century was captured by the forces of Napoleon, the city was in the middle of a particularly ambitious development and was even to become the capital of the island and to be renamed Port-Napoleon .

Between July and August 1809, the Britanniques occupy Samaná and make the blockade of the port of Santo Domingo.

Towards 1820, it was the witness of important immigrations released slaves, who were established there.

The natural safety of bay made of Samaná a strategic, commercial and maritime center with the the Caribbean until the beginning of the twentieth century.

The town of Samana was completely destroyed by a fire in 1946 and was rebuilt on order of Trujillo. It was refitted according to a plan having largely recourse to Ronds-points and broad avenues, getting a ventilated aspect today to him. One also notices many churches of worship Christians often built out of wood very diversified.

Tourism

Nowadays, put-with-share Cayo Levantado (also known under the name of Bacardi Island ) or Playa Rincón , the principal attraction remains the excursions in high-sea at the beginning of the city of Samanà to observe the whales (January at March, approximately ten thousand of these specimens return to this place of the Atlantic Ocean northern, to reproduce and put there low!).

The principal tourist area is Las Terrenas in north of the peninsula.

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