San Cristóbal

San Cristóbal, in full Benemérita de San Cristóbal, city, southern Dominican Republic. It is situated in the coastal lowlands close to the Caribbean Sea. Founded by Spaniards in 1575, when gold was discovered in the area, it was the site of the signing of the Dominican Republic’s first constitution (1844) and of the birth of dictator Rafael Trujillo Molina (1891). San Cristóbal is now a prosperous commercial centre for its agricultural hinterland, which produces rice, coffee, sugarcane, fruit, potatoes, tubers, and livestock. The city lies on the paved highway linking Santo Domingo, the national capital, with Comendador, near the border with Haiti. Pop. (2002) urban area, 137,422; (2010) urban area, 138,455.