Nizao, Dominican Republic

Nizao
Juan Pablo Duarte Square, Nizao.
Nizao
Coordinates: 18°15′0″N 70°12′0″W / 18.25000°N 70.20000°W / 18.25000; -70.20000
Country	Dominican Republic
Province	Peravia
Area
• Total	48.54 km2 (18.74 sq mi)
Population (2012)
• Total	39,686
• Density	820/km2 (2,100/sq mi)
Municipal Districts	2

Nizao is a city in the province of Peravia in the Dominican Republic.

Nizao is a city in the Dominican Republic and capital of the Nizao Municipality. It is the second large municipality of the Peravia Province and is located in southeastern corner of this province, in the angle formed by the estuary of the Nizao River and the Caribbean Sea coast.

Nizao was founded in the 16th century when Diego, Christopher Colombus' firstborn son, built a sugar mill and plantation along Nizao River. The Nizao Municipality is divided into two municipal districts, Santana and Pizarrete, and one municipal section, Don Gregorio. Nizao was elevated to the category of Municipal District on January 1, 1945 and to Municipality in 1989. As a municipality, Nizao elected its authorities (Mayor and councilmen) for the first time in the 1990 general elections, in which were elected Salvador Clemente Pérez Pérez, a school teacher, as its first mayor and Juan Bautista Salvador (Guancho), Confesor Meléndez (Confe), Ramón Garcia Valdez (Ramón Garganta), Isidro Indalecio Valdez and Víctor Pérez as its first councilmen. It's believed that Nizao and the town of Don Gregorio will merge into one city in the future.

The economy of Nizao County for decades was based on the agriculture, especially rice, onion, chilis, tomato, etc., which has been substituted, to a large extent due to the international emigration of the Nizao people, the demographic and urban growth that has reduced the arable lands, by the rented labor, the motoconcho (motorcycles transportation system in the Dominican Republic) and the export of players to American professional baseball. Fishing has another major impact in Nizao economy.