San José de Ocoa Province
Bartolomé de Las Casas was the first person that wrote about the region when he said that Maniey (now, Maniel) was a Taíno province. Maniey or Maniel meant "a place where there are peanuts"; mani () is the Taíno word for peanut. Peter Martyr d'Anghiera did not write about the Maniey but he wrote about a lake in the region of Rancho Arriba; there is not a lake (or lakes) there anymore, only a swamp.