Cibao Valley
| El Cibao | |
|---|---|
 The main Cibao region in dark blue. |
|
| Country | Dominican Republic |
| Area | |
| • Total | 19,058.62 km2 (7,358.57 sq mi) |
| Population (2010) | |
| • Total | 3,246,032 |
| • Density | 170.32/km2 (441.1/sq mi) |
| Demonym(s) | Cibaenian; Cibaine (Spanish: cibaeño) |
The Cibao, usually referred as "El Cibao", is a region of the Dominican Republic located at the northern part of the country. As of 2009 the Cibao has a population of 5,622,378 making it the most populous region in the country.
The word Cibao, from Taíno Ciba-o, meaning 'rocky land'; from ciba, meaning 'rock" or "stone', and o, meaning 'land" or "place', means "place where rocks abound". Cibao was a native name for the island, although the Spanish used it during the Spanish conquest to refer to the rich and fertile valley between the Central and Septentrional mountain ranges.
Cibao occupies the central and northern part of the Dominican territory. To the north and east of the region lies the Atlantic Ocean; to its west lies the Republic of Haiti and to the south the Central Range, which separates Cibao from the other natural regions.
The Cordilla Central mountain range is located within Cibao, containing the highest peak in all of the Caribbean, Pico Duarte. Two of the largest rivers of the country are also located inside this region: the Yaque del Norte, the largest river of the Dominican Republic, and the Yuna river. Both of these rivers contain several chains of dams used to provide the region with water for irrigation (since agriculture is the main activity of the area) and hydroelectric energy. Rice, coffee and cacao are the most important crops grown in the area.
The central mountain range also has important mining activity. Its main mineral resources include gold, iron and nickel, among others. The internationally known Falconbridge is the company in charge of the extraction of these ores.
The valley is not only a geographical unit, but also a cultural and linguistic unit. The Cibao region is considered to be the cultural heartland of the Dominican Republic. The local dialect of Spanish spoken in the area, has a number of innovative syntactic, semantic, and phonological features [2][2], none of which appear to be the product of language contact with either English or French.
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