River Ocoa facts for kids

The River Ocoa is a river in the southern side of the Cordillera Central, Dominican Republic. It is 68 km long and flows through mountains except near its end in the Caribbean Sea.

Name

Ocoa is a Taíno word that means "a place with mountains"; coa meant "place" and o meant, in some cases, "mountain".

Course

The source of the Ocoa is at the La Chorreosa mountain (also known as La Chorriosa), on the eastern side of Valle Nuevo (Cordillera Central). It flows through the San José de Ocoa province and then form part of the limits between the Azua and Peravia provinces.

It ends at the eastern side of Ocoa Bay, on the Caribbean Sea.

The city of San José de Ocoa is the most important city near the river. Other towns are Las Carreras, Sabana Buey and Villa Fundación, in the Peravia province, and Palmar de Ocoa in the Azua province, near its mouth. The water of the river is used for irrigation in those towns; it is not used for the houses because it has too much solid materials because mountains have very few trees.

The most important tributaries are Banilejo, Canal and Arroyo Parra, all in the higher part of the river. There is not any important tributary in the lower part.

In history

In the 16th century, sugar cane was grown near the mouth of the river to produce sugar.

On April 1849, there was an important battle (the Battle of Las Carreras) here during the Dominican-Haitian War; the fight was on the western side of the river in Las Carreras, a place at about 20 km from the mouth. The Dominican army won the battle against the Haitian army.