Baní is a capital town of the Peravia Province, Dominican Republic. It is the commercial and manufacturing center in a region producing bananas and coffee.

The city of Bani is the capital of the Peravia province; its residents also know it as the home of poets. It’s only an hour’s drive west of Santo Domingo. The province’s population is relatively small with 169,865 people, and only 61,864 in the Bani metro area. This is a tightly knit community with families and neighborhoods dating back several centuries.

Bani is a Taino word meaning “abundant water.” The area was named after an important Taino leader of the Maguana people. He was said to be one of Caonabo’s closest allies. But, it wasn’t until 1764 when a group of neighbors concerned with their security and safety came together to purchase a property large enough to build their own village in the valley of Bani. Historians set the sum of this purchase as that of “300 pesos fuertes” for a property called Cerro Gordo; the principals were listed as Francisco Baez and Bartolome del Castillo.