San Francisco de Macorís is a city in the Dominican Republic located in the northeast portion of the island, in the Cibao region. It is the capital of the Duarte Province, and the sixth most populated city in the country. The name San Francisco de Macorís comes from a combination of the name of Saint Francis, patron saint of the Franciscan Order (a religious organization from Italy that had come to this territory during colonization) and the territory's old name, which is Macorix. The city is known as the Land of Cacao ("Tierra del Cacao"). It the location of the area in the world where the greatest amount of organic cocoa is produced, which in turn makes the Dominican Republic the biggest producer and exporter nation of this product. It also makes the Dominican Republic the 10th biggest producer of chocolate cacao beans in the world History The city founded near San Francisco de Macorís was founded in 1497. After the Vega was founded, Cotuí was later established in 1505 in a place rich in gold. For centuries what is now San Francisco de Macorís and the Duarte Province was rural outskirts of La Vega and Cotuí respectively. By the beginning of the 18th century, foreign investment from Europeans created a market for the production of cocoa, allowing the locals to gain a new source of income apart from livestock. It was the cocoa market that allowed the community around the Santa Ana monastery to become San Francisco de Macorís. However, it wasn't until the 1760s that the province gained a monopoly on the cocoa industry or managing to become a town for European travelers to stop by. The Villa of Santa Ana of San Francisco de Macorís also previously called Hato Grande, was named this until it was owned by Francisco Ravelo Polanco, Provincial Mayor of the Santa Hermandad of Santiago de los Caballeros, and later the tradition points out to Juan de Alvarado and the families Tejada and De Jesus as the owners of the land and donors of the territorial area for the purpose of its foundation in 1778. In 1795, the Treaty of Basel was ratified, ceding to France the Spanish territory of Hispaniola. France took over the Spanish side in 1801, and under its administration San Francisco de Macorís is conceived became a parish with self-government. The official minutes of the city date back to