La Vega, Dominican Republic
| La Vega | |
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| Municipality | |
From top to bottom and from left to right: Plaza Duarte, Juan Bosch Building, Inmaculada Concepción school, Padre Fantino Park, Court Of Justice, City Hall
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 La Vega
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| Coordinates: 19°13′12″N 70°31′48″W / 19.22000°N 70.53000°WCoordinates: 19°13′12″N 70°31′48″W / 19.22000°N 70.53000°W | |
| Country |
 Dominican Republic
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| Province | La Vega |
| Founded | 1494 |
| Municipality since | 1844 |
| Area | |
| • Total | 639.85 km2 (247.05 sq mi) |
| Elevation | 100 m (300 ft) |
| Population (2012) | |
| • Total | 235,698 |
| • Density | 370/km2 (950/sq mi) |
| • Demonym | Vegano(a) |
| Distance to – Santo Domingo |
125 km |
| Municipal Districts |
2 |
| Climate | Af |
| Website | http://www.alcaldiavegana.com/ |
La Vega, or Concepción de La Vega is the fourth largest city and municipality of the Dominican Republic. It is located at a province that shares the same name.This city is known as the heart of the Dominican Republic for its geographical position and its large agricultural production methods throughout the province with the same name "Provincia de La Vega".
Christopher Columbus built a small fort near present-day La Vega, in 1494. It was intended to guard the route to the interior gold deposits of the Cibao valley. A Spanish settlement known as Concepción de la Vega gradually grew up around the fort. After 1508, when gold was found in quantity there, Concepción became the first gold boomtown in the continent. By 1510 it was one of the largest and most important European cities in the hemisphere. The town was destroyed and buried by an earthquake on December 2, 1562, and the survivors relocated to the present site on the banks of the Camú River. The site of the ruined town remained largely in farmland until a small portion of the original city was purchased by the Dominican government in the mid-1970s and renamed as National Park of Concepción de La Vega.
The local industries are based upon cacao, coffee, tobacco, rice, and cattle production. There is also a small but very famous brewery called Cervecería Vegana known for its pilsener-style beers, named Quisqueya and Soberana. There is a factory known for making the famous sausage Induveca.
La Vega is bounded on the north by the Camú River. This river flows about 100 kilometers before emptying into Yuna River. South of the city is the Cordillera Central, the largest mountain system of the Dominican Republic. El Ponton Field, a local airport, bounds the city on the east. To La Vega's west are the Camú River again and Montellano.
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Wikipedia