On December 7, 1508, Spanish trade authorities at Seville authorized Higüey to display a Coat of Arms by Royal Privilege, which granted it limited self-government. During the Spanish colonial period, Higüey remained a Parish of El Seibo county.

Then in 1801, a decade after the Haitian Revolution began, and after Napoleon deposed the Spanish king, Toussaint Louverture briefly captured the Spanish portion of Hispaniola. Spain had ceded Hispaniola to France under the Treaty of Basel in 1795, and did not regain control until 1809. During this and French rule, Higüey was a district of the Ozama department. After Spanish forces regained control in the España Boba period, Higüey again became part of the El Seibo región. In 1821, during the brief Spanish Republic of Haiti, the area tried to protect itself from its much larger neighbors by allying with Gran Colombia. However, wars both with Haiti and for independence continued. In 1822, Haitian forces under the command of Jean-Pierre Boyer recaptured Higüey in the Haitian occupation of Santo Domingo. The local economy sputtered under military rule and land expropriations, although slavery did end under both Haitian control and British naval enforcement throughout the Caribbean of antislavery policies advocated by William Wilberforce.

When the Dominican Republic was proclaimed in 1844 through the efforts of La Trinitaria, the new Governmental Central Meeting placed Higüey under administration of the Province of El Seibo. Pedro Santana, although President sporadically during the next decades, actually acted as the country's first dictator. While he ranched near the Haitian border, this eastern province was one of his strongholds. Santana sought to return to Spanish rule, and he got his wish for the four years before his death (although Spanish rule did little to develop the province). After the War of Restoration, the second Republic, either because of or in spite of the Monroe Doctrine lasted until 1916, although the countryside remained extremely poor and actually governed by various aristocratic cliques. Guerillas from El Seibo province fought the United States occupation of Santo Domingo from 1916 to 1924. The area experienced a few years of relative prosperity before agricultural prices again crashed and further de facto dictatorships began under Rafael Leónidas Trujillo Molina. The United States again occupied Santo Domingo from 1965 to 1966.

The city is divided into more than 50 sectors, some of them are:

Higüey features a trade-wind tropical rainforest climate, with consistently high temperatures and substantial rainfall throughout the year. The city has drier periods, with January to March being the driest months, but like other cities and towns with this climate, there is no dry season, and the city experiences an average of more than 55 inches or 1,400 millimetres of rainfall a year.

The town's patroness is the Virgin of La Altagracia, a painting brought to the island by Spanish missionaries and now displayed in the Sanctuary of Our Lady of La Altagracia. Every year on her feast day (January 21), thousands of Dominicans gather to venerate the miraculous image at what might be the earliest Marian shrine in the Americas. The Spanish National Library in Madrid has a letter from Can. Lic. Luis Jerónimo of Alcocer, born on Hispaniola, mentioning the veneration as early as 1650. The current Basilica was built to honor the image, which remains displayed in the old Cathedral's Sanctuary, which a corridor now unites to a modern basilica suitable for such large gatherings.

Juan de Esquivel, conqueror of the local Taino and later Jamaica, founded the historic village of Salvaleón of Higüey in 1505, and included a parish church. The first Marian sanctuary in America was emblazoned with a royal shield by order of the King of Spain.

The current brick cathedral was started in the middle of the 16th century by Can. Mr. Alonso of Rock with the architectural assistance of Simón Bolívar, fifth grandfather of the Liberator of South America. Despite the region's earthquakes, the solid construction has resisted deterioration. It has a vaulted ceiling of five simple but sturdy arches. While the dome they support resembles an orange skin or star, a seashell shape emphasized the altar area. At the center of the high altar, a silver niche highlights the ancient holy painting. The 16th-century artist carved the local mahogany by hand. An ornate silver baldaquin covers the high altar, steps and Sacrarium.

The old cathedral has a simple exterior, as does the bell tower. Joaquín Alfáu donated the bells in 1864, and a dozen years later paid for marble to pave the floor.

The Sanctuary keeps many votive offerings. Some are of historic value, others are curiosities or reminders of the gold and silver fever that once infected the region. In 1922, to celebrate independence as well as the painting's Canonical and Papal Coronation on August 15, residents donated a beautiful crown of gold and precious stones, topped by a cross of diamonds and two solid gold angels. The painting itself has a gold and silver frame, inlaid by precious stones including an emerald donated by Pope Pius X to Archbishop Adolfo Alejandro Nouel to commemorate his election as President of the Republic in 1912 (shortly before the first American occupation ended his term and he donated it to the miraculous image). The cathedral's treasury also holds a gigantic intricate colonial golden monstrance, as well as an elegant silver throne (with golden inlays and chimes), which was used in 1811 during the painting's transfer from the Church of San Dionisio. Another silver chalice dates from 1737, gift of the President of the Real Audience of Saint . Other precious objects include gold and silver walking canes, as well as many precious antique silver items including a crucifix, two chalices and cups, six sticks for the canopy used on feast days and other special occasions, a cross and parochial candlesticks, candelabras and flower vases.

Punta Cana International Airport (IATA: PUJ, ICAO: MDPC) is a privately owned commercial airport in Punta Cana, eastern Dominican Republic. The airport is built in a traditional Dominican style with open-air terminals with their roofs covered in palm fronds. A number of scheduled and charter airlines fly to Punta Cana. The airport handled more than 1 million visitors in 2002, making it the busiest airport in the Dominican Republic. In 2007 Punta Cana received more than 3 million passengers. The operators plan to upgrade the airport, including adding another runway.

• Bávaro
• Punta Cana
• Bayahíbe
• Boca de Yuma
• El Parque Nacional del Este
• Basílica de Nuestra Señora de La Altagracia

• Chiefdoms of Hispaniola
• Juan Ponce de León

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Higüey.

18°37′N 68°42′W / 18.617°N 68.700°W / 18.617; -68.700