Jimaní
| Jimaní | |
|---|---|
  Jimaní | |
| Coordinates: 18°29′24″N 71°51′0″W / 18.49000°N 71.85000°W | |
| Country | Dominican Republic |
| Province | Independencia |
| Municipality since | 1945 |
| Area[1] | |
| • Total | 472.5 km2 (182.4 sq mi) |
| Elevation[2] | 31 m (102 ft) |
| Population (2012)[3] | |
| • Total | 13,992 |
| • Density | 30/km2 (77/sq mi) |
| • Urban | 7,096 |
| Distance to – Santo Domingo |
280 km |
| Municipal Districts | 2 |
| Climate | Aw |
Jimaní is the capital and the second largest city of the Independencia Province of the Dominican Republic. It serves as one of the two main thoroughfares to Haiti (with Dajabón), with a duty-free open-air marketplace operating on the border with the Haitian town of Malpasse. The town was extensively damaged in the flash flood of May 25, 2004, which killed many citizens during the night and washed away hundreds of homes.[4]
History
The earliest inhabitants of Jimaní came from various communities of the southwest, such as Neiba, Duvergé, El Estero, Las Salinas, Azua de Compostela, Santa Cruz de Barahona, and included Haitian immigrants that married or had common-law marriages with Dominicans, forming families in the most populous neighborhood of the community, known as Jimaní Viejo.
By the 1930s Jimaní belonged to Neiba and in 1938, it became part of the commune of La Descubierta and Duvergé, forming a part of the Province of Neiba, later known as Baoruco. At that time, Jimaní was not recognized by historians and it did not even figure in the map of the Dominican Republic.
Due to its border location, Jimaní became part of the strategic plans of Dictator Rafael Trujillo for "Dominicanization" of all the region of the border with Haiti,[5] which resulted in the genocide of thousands of Haitians by Trujillo's agents known as the Parsley massacre.
After a phase of moderate development, Law 299 of 1943 raised Jimaní to the category of Municipal District, belonging to the commune of La Descubierta.
In 1948, Jimaní became a municipality. Trujillo wanted to turn it into a more beautiful and magnificent city. At that time many concrete buildings were made for soldiers and public officials brought from the interior of the country to assume public duties, due to the lack of local qualified personnel and widespread low literacy levels in the community.
Origin of name
The name "Ximani" is of native Taíno origin. Historian Rafael Leonidas Pérez y Pérez in his book "Annotations on the history of Jimaní", says that Ximani was a cacique of the chieftainship of Jaragua (Xaragua) that had the control of these lands. Another version of the origin of the name attributes it to some "Count of Jimani" of French origin; however, Pérez y Pérez argues the Count took his name from the town and not the other way around, and that the Jimaní name, being very old, predates the existence of the Count.
Climate
Jimaní has a tropical wet and dry climate and relatively constant temperatures throughout the course of the year. Annual rainfall is distributed, peaking in May and October; the dry season occurs from December through February.[6]
| Climate data for Jimaní | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °C (°F) | 37.0 (98.6) |
37.0 (98.6) |
38.0 (100.4) |
38.0 (100.4) |
38.0 (100.4) |
39.2 (102.6) |
39.5 (103.1) |
39.3 (102.7) |
39.8 (103.6) |
38.2 (100.8) |
37.5 (99.5) |
36.0 (96.8) |
39.8 (103.6) |
| Average high °C (°F) | 32.0 (89.6) |
32.5 (90.5) |
33.4 (92.1) |
33.8 (92.8) |
33.7 (92.7) |
34.2 (93.6) |
35.3 (95.5) |
35.2 (95.4) |
34.9 (94.8) |
33.9 (93) |
33.0 (91.4) |
32.2 (90) |
33.7 (92.7) |
| Daily mean °C (°F) | 26.0 (78.8) |
26.4 (79.5) |
27.3 (81.1) |
27.9 (82.2) |
28.1 (82.6) |
28.9 (84) |
29.6 (85.3) |
29.4 (84.9) |
29.1 (84.4) |
28.3 (82.9) |
27.3 (81.1) |
26.2 (79.2) |
27.9 (82.2) |
| Average low °C (°F) | 20.0 (68) |
20.4 (68.7) |
21.1 (70) |
22.0 (71.6) |
22.7 (72.9) |
23.6 (74.5) |
23.8 (74.8) |
23.6 (74.5) |
23.3 (73.9) |
22.8 (73) |
21.7 (71.1) |
20.2 (68.4) |
22.1 (71.8) |
| Record low °C (°F) | 15.0 (59) |
15.3 (59.5) |
16.8 (62.2) |
17.0 (62.6) |
18.6 (65.5) |
19.2 (66.6) |
18.0 (64.4) |
19.5 (67.1) |
19.0 (66.2) |
18.5 (65.3) |
15.6 (60.1) |
12.0 (53.6) |
12.0 (53.6) |
| Average rainfall mm (inches) | 18.3 (0.72) |
23.4 (0.921) |
41.2 (1.622) |
86.9 (3.421) |
141.7 (5.579) |
45.0 (1.772) |
23.6 (0.929) |
61.3 (2.413) |
94.0 (3.701) |
122.8 (4.835) |
52.1 (2.051) |
18.6 (0.732) |
728.9 (28.697) |
| Average rainy days (≥ 1.0 mm) | 2.0 | 2.5 | 4.1 | 7.0 | 8.9 | 4.5 | 2.9 | 4.6 | 6.6 | 8.7 | 4.5 | 1.5 | 57.8 |
| Average relative humidity (%) | 63.6 | 61.9 | 60.3 | 62.1 | 65.9 | 63.6 | 60.3 | 61.4 | 64.0 | 66.4 | 67.1 | 64.1 | 63.4 |
| Source: NOAA[7] | |||||||||||||
Economy
Agriculture and commerce with Haiti represent the main economic activities of this municipality. In agriculture the main products are cassava, batata, melon, peppers, cilantro and tomatoes.
Jimaní has a popular duty-free open-air marketplace with Haiti that is also visited by people from adjoining towns and even from distant regions of the country. In this market, basic food products are sold, as well as foreign beverages, clothes, shoes, and new and used electrical appliances.
The customs zone of the border is called "The Door" and it is visited by foreign tourists that come to observe the dynamics of the business and intercultural and interracial relation between Dominicans and Haitians.
The municipal City Hall receives monthly RD$1,000,000 as mandated by the General Law of Budget, through the Dominican Municipal League. The authorities of the City Hall estimate the internal tax collection to be about $15,000 monthly.
The municipal districts El Limón and Boca de Cachón receive monthly $500,000 each one, from the transfer ordered by the law through the Dominican Municipal League.
There are two financial institutions in Jimaní. A branch office of the Reserve Bank and a branch office of the Cooperative of Savings and Credit of Neiba (Coopacrene).
Education
There are six basic schools with two daily schedules and four public high schools, three of them for adults.
Health
The municipality has a municipal hospital and four rural clinics or hospitals. The majority of the Jimanisenses prefer to seek medical attention in the Regional University Hospital Jaime Mota of Barahona.
Culture and religion
Jimaní is mostly Roman Catholic. Local holidays are celebrated March 19, in honor of their Saint San José. A carnival is being added to the Patronal Feast, to expand the celebration. Also being instituted is the celebration of a Cultural Week each year, in memory of the flood that destroyed a big part of the population in May 2004.
As a historic-cultural monument, Jimaní conserves intact and conditioned the "Mansion of Trujillo", one of many the dictator built in the border region, although he never spent the night in this particular one.
Public works
Local governments have carried out different works for the community, such as the reconstruction and restructuring of the municipal cemetery, the reconstruction of street gutters, rehabilitation of electric lighting in the urban area and in the sector of Tierra Nueva. There are also ongoing projects to enlarge the aqueduct network for the neighborhoods of La Cu and El Cerro.
Organizations
In Jimaní there are several community associations. For example, in each of the towns that conform the municipality there is an Association of Farmers as well as an Association of Mothers.
There is also a Lions Club, the Association of Minibuses Jimaní-Barahona, a committee that represents the Association of "Jimanisenses" in Massachusetts, US, a technical team of World Vision, Fundasur (Foundation of the South) and Conani (the National Council for Childhood and Adolescence).
References
- ↑ "Tu municipo en cifras, Jimaní" (PDF) (in Spanish). Oficina Nacional de Estadistica. Retrieved 2015-02-20.
- ↑ De la Fuente, Santiago (1976). Geografía Dominicana (in Spanish). Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic: Editora Colegial Quisqueyana.
- ↑ Censo 2012 de Población y Vivienda, Oficina Nacional de Estadistica
- ↑ Weiner, Tim; Polgreen, Lydia (May 28, 2004). "Grief as Haitians and Dominicans Tally Flood Toll". New York Times. Retrieved 2015-02-25.
- ↑ Alvarez, Julie (November 28, 2014). "Driving the Seam of Hispaniola". Travel. New York Times. Retrieved 2015-02-25.
- ↑ "Jimani, Dominican Republic". Climatemps.com. Retrieved 2015-02-20.
- ↑ "Jimaní Climate Normals 1961–1990". National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Retrieved 2015-03-23.
Coordinates: 18°29′N 71°51′W / 18.483°N 71.850°W
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