- elevation 16 m (52 ft) Area 1,924 km² | Founded 1506 Subdivisions 6 | |
 | ||
Capital Monte Cristi, Dominican Republic Points of interest playa buen hombre, Centro de Interpretación de La Sal, Reserva Cientifica Villa Elisa, Parque de Sabana Cruz | ||
Monte Cristi ([ˈmonte ˈkɾisti]) is a province in the north-west of the Dominican Republic. The capital city is San Fernando de Monte Cristi (usually simply Monte Cristi). The spelling Montecristi is also seen.
Contents
Map of Monte Cristi Province, Dominican Republic
Municipalities and municipal districts
The province as of June 20, 2006 is divided into the following municipalities (municipios) and municipal districts (distrito municipal - D.M.) within them:
The following is a sortable table of the municipalities and municipal districts with population figures as of the 2012 census. Urban population are those living in the seats (cabeceras literally heads) of municipalities or of municipal districts. Rural population are those living in the districts (Secciones literally sections) and neighborhoods (Parajes literally stops) outside of them.
For comparison with the municipalities and municipal districts of other provinces see the list of municipalities and municipal districts of the Dominican Republic.
Also see Panama hats: Every Panama hat is unique as the making of the hats is a cottage industry and some of the finest panamas are made in Montecristi. The finest woven hats can take up to 6 months to weave and can command prices of up to £1,000. The best hats have to be woven in the right conditions and especially humidity. The weavers split the fibre razor thin and plait ring after ring of palm fibre constantly dipping their finger tips into water.
The finest panamas have a very silky texture and when held up to the light you can see a spiral of rings together with the weaver’s signature. These rings are called ‘vueltas’ and the more there are determines the quality of the hat. The cheaper quality hats may only have around ten ‘vueltas’ whereas a Montecristi Superino may have up to forty.
Panamas are exported from Ecuador in the form of hoods. These are then blocked by specialist hat factories into the two principal shapes which is the Trilby and the Folding Panama.