Boca Chica - Wikipedia

Municipality in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic For the launch site, see SpaceX Starbase. For other uses, see Boca Chica (disambiguation). Place in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic

Boca Chica
Streets of Boca Chica
FlagCoat of arms
Boca ChicaBoca Chica in the Dominican Republic
Coordinates: 18°27′14″N 69°36′23″W / 18.45389°N 69.60639°W / 18.45389; -69.60639
Country	Dominican Republic
Province	Santo Domingo
Incorporated	2001
Government[1][2]
• Mayor	Radhamés Castro (Liberal Reformist Party)
Area[3]
• Total	145.67 km2 (56.24 sq mi)
Population (2022 census)[4]
• Total	167,040
• Density	1,146.7/km2 (2,969.9/sq mi)
• Urban	104,951
Municipal Districts	1

Boca Chica is a municipality (municipio) of the Santo Domingo province in the Dominican Republic. Within the municipality there is one municipal district (distritos municipal): La Caleta.[5] As of the 2022 census it had 167,040 inhabitants, 104,951 living in the city itself and 62,089 in its rural districts (Secciones).[4]

Boca Chica has a popular beach with the same name, located about 30 kilometers east of Santo Domingo de Guzmán in the south-east region of the country.[6]

History

[edit]

The community of Boca Chica was founded in 1779 during the government of Brigadier Don Isidro Peralta y Rojas with the name of San José de los Llanos. Boca Chica was later established by Dominican businessman and politician Juan Bautista Vicini Burgos, who developed sugar plantations there in the early 1900s. Boca Chica was developed by the Dominican state through the Boca Chica sugar company in 1916 and throughout the 1920s. In 1926 the highway was built that would connect it with the city of Santo Domingo.

In November 1932, by order of Dominican dictator Rafael Leónidas Trujillo, Boca Chica was separated from the province of San Pedro de Macorís to form part of the National District. The golden era of Boca Chica began in the 1940s, when dictator Rafael Leónidas Trujillo ordered the construction of a modern hotel named "Hotel Hamaca", which subsequently became an icon in the area. During the 1950s prominent families of the Dominican Republic built several summer properties along the beach only accessible by private transportation. The hotel also became more famous after Trujillo granted political asylum to the dictator Fulgencio Batista.

Boca Chica beach panorama view.

After the assassination of Rafael Trujillo in 1961 the beach became more accessible to the public. The beach became increasingly more popular and public transportation helped to make Boca Chica a very crowded place in the 1960s and 1970s; it was no longer a secluded beach for the elites as it had been during the 1950s. The Hamaca hotel was closed after Hurricane David in 1979, and it remained closed and abandoned for years which caused an economic decline in the area. It was later reopened and the public beach remains popular among people of different classes.

Geography

[edit]

Boca Chica's proximity to the city of Santo Domingo, its clear blue waters and white sand have made it one of the busiest beaches in the Dominican Republic, especially on weekends and holidays, because it is 30 km away from Santo Domingo. Boca Chica has two small islands Los Pinos, which were made with sand from the dredging of the Andrés port in the 1950s and La Matica and La Piedra, mangrove cays, submerged vascular plants and habitat for various species of birds. The beach has a natural breakwater, as well as a fresh water spring, coming from the Brujuelas underground river.

Characteristics

[edit]

The short distance from the capital city (19 miles), the crystalline waters and the white sands turned Boca Chica into the most crowded beach of the Dominican Republic, especially on weekends and holidays. Boca Chica beach has immaculate fine sand. You can walk in the water and the depth will barely change, the water will be to your waist (or a little bit over) all the time. Boca Chica has two small islands, Los Pinos and La Matica, and two marinas.

There are several bars, restaurants, pizza stands, souvenirs stalls and loud music throughout most of the day; all this along the beach sand very close to the shore. In the evening, Boca Chica transforms itself into a town of party bars.[7]

Notable people

[edit]

• Cristian Javier, Houston Astros pitcher
• Jeurys Familia, New York Mets pitcher
• Elvis Luciano, MLB pitcher for the Toronto Blue Jays

References

[edit]

Notes

1. ^ "Radhamés Castro ya es el nuevo alcalde de Boca Chica" (in Spanish). Boca Chica: Diario Digital RD. 17 August 2016. Retrieved 26 August 2016.
2. ^ "Radhamés Castro asegura será el nuevo alcalde de Boca Chica 2016- 2020" (in Spanish). Boca Chica: El Nacional. 24 December 2015. Retrieved 26 August 2016.
3. ^ Superficies a nivel de municipios, Oficina Nacional de Estadistica Archived April 17, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
4. ^ a b Citypopulation, Boca Chica municipality
5. ^ Oficina Nacional de Estadistica, Departamento de Cartografia, Division de Limites y Linderos. "Listado de Codigos de Provincias, Municipio y Distritos Municipales, Actualizada a Junio 20 del 2006" (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 2007-03-14. Retrieved 2007-01-24.
6. ^ Amaury Mo (2019-07-10). "Historia de la Playa de Boca Chica Ensegundos República Dominicana". Ensegundos (in Spanish). Retrieved 2024-04-21.
7. ^ "In Dominican Republic seaside village, a virtual supermarket of sex". Retrieved 2013-02-03.

External links

[edit] Wikimedia Commons has media related to Boca Chica (Santo Domingo).

• Online guide to Boca Chica
• Boca Chica; Santo Domingos Badewanne

v t e Municipalities of the Dominican Republic
Azua	Azua Estebanía Guayabal Las Charcas Padre Las Casas Peralta Pueblo Viejo Nueva Sabana Yegua Sabana Yegua Tábara Arriba Las Yayas de Viajama
Baoruco	Galván Los Ríos Neiba Tamayo Villa Jaragua
Barahona	Cabral El Peñón Enriquillo Fundación Jaquimeyes La Ciénaga Las Salinas Paraíso Polo Santa Cruz de Barahona Vicente Noble
Dajabón	Dajabón El Pino Loma de Cabrera Partido Restauración
Distrito Nacional	See: Sectors
Duarte	Arenoso Castillo Eugenio María de Hostos Las Guáranas Pimentel San Francisco de Macorís Villa Riva
Elías Piña	Bánica Comendador El Llano Hondo Valle Juan Santiago Pedro Santana
El Seibo	Miches Santa Cruz de El Seibo
Espaillat	Cayetano Germosén Gaspar Hernández Jamao al Norte Moca San Víctor
Hato Mayor	El Valle Hato Mayor del Rey Sabana de la Mar
Hermanas Mirabal	Salcedo Tenares Villa Tapia
Independencia	Cristóbal Duvergé Jimaní La Descubierta Mella Postrer Río
La Altagracia	Higüey San Rafael del Yuma
La Romana	Guaymate La Romana Villa Hermosa
La Vega	Concepción de la Vega Constanza Jarabacoa Jima Abajo
María Trinidad Sánchez	Cabrera El Factor Río San Juan Nagua
Monseñor Nouel	Bonao Maimón Piedra Blanca
Monte Cristi	Castañuelas Guayubín Las Matas de Santa Cruz Pepillo Salcedo San Fernando de Monte Cristi Villa Vásquez
Monte Plata	Peralvillo Sabana Grande de Boyá Yamasá Bayaguana Monte Plata
Pedernales	Oviedo Pedernales
Puerto Plata	Altamira Guananico Imbert Los Hidalgos Luperón Puerto Plata Sosúa Villa Isabela Villa Montellano
Peravia	Baní Matanzas Nizao
Samaná	Las Terrenas Santa Bárbara de Samaná Sánchez
San Cristóbal	Bajos de Haina San Cristóbal Cambita Garabitos Los Cacaos Sabana Grande de Palenque San Gregorio de Nigua San Gregorio de Yaguate Villa Altagracia
San José de Ocoa	Rancho Arriba Sabana Larga San José de Ocoa
San Juan	Bohechío El Cercado Juan de Herrera Las Matas de Farfán San Juan de la Maguana Vallejuelo
San Pedro de Macorís	Consuelo Guayacanes Quisqueya Ramón Santana San José de los Llanos San Pedro de Macorís
Sánchez Ramírez	Cevicos Cotuí Fantino La Mata
Santiago	Baitoa Jánico Licey al Medio Puñal Sabana Iglesia San José de las Matas Santiago de los Caballeros Tamboril Bisonó Villa González
Santiago Rodríguez	San Ignacio de Sabaneta Monción Villa Los Almácigos
Santo Domingo	Los Alcarrizos Boca Chica Pedro Brand San Antonio de Guerra Santo Domingo Este Santo Domingo Norte Santo Domingo Oeste
Valverde	Esperanza Laguna Salada Santa Cruz de Mao

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