Polo is a municipality of the Barahona Province in southwestern Dominican Republic, known for its green and high mountains and for growing fine coffee. Polo is located in the Sierra de Bahoruco mountain range at an elevation of approximately 740 metres above sea level, in a small valley surrounded by peaks reaching up to 1,680 metres. The municipality was settled in the 1890s and covers an area of 200.61 km². Its coffee is grown between 600 and 1,100 metres elevation and forms part of the broader Barahona coffee region, known internationally as "Café de Barahona" with a Denominación de Origen (protected designation of origin). Polo is one of four municipalities in the Barahona Province where coffee is cultivated, alongside Paraíso, Enriquillo and Barahona, with approximately 12,000 hectares under cultivation across the region and 2,600 growers. The municipality borders Cabral to the north, the city of Barahona to the northeast, La Ciénaga to the east, Paraíso to the southeast, Enriquillo to the south, and Las Salinas to the northwest.
The small town of Polo is also known for having El Polo Magnético (the magnetic pole), an area on a mountain near the village. If a car is stopped at the right place, and put in neutral, the car seems to be rolling up the hill. Rather than being caused by a magnetic field in the surrounding landscape, this phenomenon is produced by the gravity hill optical illusion.
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References
External links Magnetic Hill International: Polo Magnético http://www.polomagnetico.com/ - Daily news of Polo (Spanish) http://www.williamramos.tv/blog/polo-un-pueblo-en-barahona-que-esconde-grandes-tesoros-conocias-alguno/ - Video of the hidden paradise of Polo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DzOv6Hh5EAE/ - Kiskeya Life: Explicando el 'Polo Magnético' de Barahona: ¿realidad o mito?