The Cibao Valley is the broad fertile depression running east to west through the centre of the Dominican Republic, and Santiago is its capital. Tobacco fields, plantain farms, and rice paddies stretch out from the city in every direction, and the surrounding mountains — the Cordillera Central to the south and the Cordillera Septentrional to the north — frame the view on clear days.
Driving out of Santiago in any direction gives a quick sense of how productive this landscape is. The road south toward Jarabacoa rises into coffee and cacao country within an hour; the road north toward Puerto Plata drops through citrus groves before hitting the coast. A drive simply around the valley itself, stopping in the tobacco towns and at roadside stands selling fresh sugarcane juice, is one of the best ways to understand why Santiago has always been the second city of the republic.