Jaragua National Park is a national park

National park

A national park is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state declares or owns. Although individual nations designate their own national parks differently A national park is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state declares or...

 of the Dominican Republic

Dominican Republic

The Dominican Republic is a nation on the island of La Hispaniola, part of the Greater Antilles archipelago in the Caribbean region. The western third of the island is occupied by the nation of Haiti, making Hispaniola one of two Caribbean islands that are shared by two countries...

. Jaragua National Park is located in Pedenales Province

Pedernales (province)

Pedernales is the southernmost province of the Dominican Republic, including the offshore island of Isla Beata. It was split from Barahona in 1956...

 in the extreme southwest of the Dominican Republic. Jaragua National Park has an area of 1374 km² (905 km² of which are marine), with coordinates from 17"28'N to 17'58'N and 71'16'W to 71"44'W, making it the largest protected area

Protected area

Protected areas are locations which receive protection because of their recognised natural, ecological and/or cultural values. There are several kinds of protected areas, which vary by level of protection depending on the enabling laws of each country or the regulations of the international...

 in the Caribbean

Caribbean

The Caribbean is a crescent-shaped group of islands more than 2,000 miles long separating the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, to the west and south, from the Atlantic Ocean, to the east and north...

 region.

Jaragua National Park was established by Presidential Decree No. 1315 on August 11, 1983, and was named after a Taíno

Taíno people

The Taínos were pre-Columbian inhabitants of the Bahamas, Greater Antilles, and the northern Lesser Antilles. It is thought that the seafaring Taínos are relatives of the Arawak people of South America...

 chief. The park is represented by the Hispaniolan dry forests ecoregion

Ecoregion

An ecoregion , sometimes called a bioregion, is an ecologically and geographically defined area that is smaller than an ecozone and larger than an ecosystem. Ecoregions cover relatively large areas of land or water, and contain characteristic, geographically distinct assemblages of natural...

. Spanning the southern slopes of the Baoruco Mountain Range

Baoruco Mountain Range

Baoruco Mountain Range is situated in the Baoruco Province in the far southwestern corner of the Dominican Republic...

 from Oviedo to Cabo Rojo

Cabo Rojo, Dominican Republic

Literally meaning "Red Cape", is both a cape on the southwestern coast of the Dominican Republic, and a beach on the same location. More specifically, it belongs to Pedernales Province, the southernmost province of the country....

, Jaragua National Park includes dry forest, mangrove

Mangrove

Mangroves are various kinds of trees up to medium height and shrubs that grow in saline coastal sediment habitats in the tropics and subtropics – mainly between latitudes N and S...

s, and scrub, as well as land and marine habitats. Beata Island

Beata Island

Beata Island is a small island on the Caribbean Sea, located 7 km southwest from cape Beata, the southernmost point of the island Hispaniola. Some 12 km SW of it lies the smaller Alto Velo Island...

 (Isla Beata), Alto Velo Island

Alto Velo Island

Alto Velo Island is an island located atop a crest, about 152 metres above sea level. One of the tips of the underwater mountain range of the Beata Island runs throughout the...

, Bahia de las Aguilas

Bahia de las Aguilas

Literally "Eagles Bay", Bahia de las Aguilas is an 8 km long beach along the southwestern coast of the Dominican Republic. It belongs to the Jaragua National Park, and it is considered by Dominicans one of the most beautiful beaches in the world....

 and Lago de Oviedo

Lago de Oviedo

Lago de Oviedo, also known as Laguna de Oviedo, is a saltwater lake in Jaragua National Park, Pedernales Province, Dominican Republic. It is approximately 25 km2 in area, making it the second largest body of water in the Dominican Republic after Lake Enriquillo.Although receiving freshwater...

(noted for its diverse bird life) are part of the park.