Samaná

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**Samaná**

Capital	Santa Bárbara de Samaná
Area	854 km²
Population (2000 est.)	82,135
Population density	96.2/km²
ISO 3166-2	DO-20

Samaná is a province of the Dominican Republic. Its capital is Santa Bárbara de Samaná, also known as Samaná City.

Samaná is located on the coast of the Atlantic Ocean in the northeastern part of the Dominican Republic. It is known for its mountains of which it is almost entirely formed. Samaná has numerous beaches, and with the November 2006 scheduled opening of the new Samaná El Catey International Airport, it is bound to become one of major tourist destinations in the Dominican Republic.

It was discovered on January 12 1493 by Christopher Columbus who was greeted with a barrage of spears and arrows from native Taíno warriors. It is said that this was the first instance of violent opposition to the Spanish conquistadors in the Americas.

Samaná is considered one of the most beautiful areas of the Dominican Republic, yet remains one of the least known by Dominican natives in general and foreign visitors in particular. Its tourist industry has not yet exploited the full potential of its location: the tropical forests, coconut groves, hundreds of cozy alcove beaches with turquoise crystal clear waters, waterfalls, protected national parks, a protected bay, a peninsula.

Samaná is one of the breeding places of the humpback whale. Thousands of humpback whales come to the coast off Samaná from January to March.

At one time proposed to be the capital of the country, Samaná was to be sold to the United States as a military base during Pedro Santana's presidency, but the deal was never realized, because the United States felt that the cost was too much.