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The Dominican Republic (Spanish: República Dominicana) is a country in the West Indies that occupies the eastern five-eighths of Hispaniola. It has an area of 48,670 km2, including offshore islands. The land border shared with Haiti, which occupies the western three-eighths of the island,[1][2] is 376 km long.[3] The maximum length, east to west, is 390 km from Punta de Agua to Las Lajas, on the border with Haiti. The maximum width, north to south, is 265 km from Cape Isabela to Cape Beata.[4] The capital, Santo Domingo, is located on the south coast.
| |
| Continent | North America |
|---|---|
| Region | Caribbean Greater Antilles |
| Coordinates | 19°00' N 70°40' W |
| Area | Ranked 131st |
| • Total | 48,670 km2 (18,790 sq mi) |
| • Land | 99.2% |
| • Water | 0.8% |
| Coastline | 1,288 km (800 mi) |
| Borders | Total land borders: 275 km |
| Highest point | Pico Duarte 3,098 m |
| Lowest point | Lake Enriquillo -46 m |
| Longest river | Yaque del Norte River |
| Largest lake | Lake Enriquillo |
| Exclusive economic zone | 255,898 km2 (98,803 sq mi) |
The Dominican Republic's shores are washed by the Atlantic Ocean to the north and the Caribbean Sea to the south. The Mona Passage, a channel about 130 km wide, separates the country (and Hispaniola) from Puerto Rico.[5]
The Dominican Republic is a country with many mountains, and the highest peaks of the West Indies are found here. The chains of mountains show a direction northwest–southeast, except in the Southern peninsula (in Haiti) where they have a direction west–east. The mountains are separated by valleys with the same general direction.
From north to south, the mountain ranges and valleys are:[6]
The Dominican Republic is a tropical, maritime nation. Owing to its diverse mountainous topography, the country's climate shows considerable variation for its size, and has the most diverse climate zones of all the Caribbean islands, including subtropical highland climates (Cwb), oceanic climates (Cfb) and hot semi-arid climates (BSh) along the usual tropical savanna (Aw), monsoon (Am), and rainforest (Af) climates typical of a Caribbean nation. Conditions are ameliorated in many areas by elevation and by the northeast trade winds, which blow steadily from the Atlantic all year long. The annual mean temperature is 25 °C (77 °F); regional mean temperatures range from 18 °C (64.4 °F) in the heart of the Cordillera Central (Constanza) to as high as 27 °C (80.6 °F) in arid regions. Temperatures rarely rise above 32 °C (89.6 °F), and freezing temperatures only occur in winter in the highest mountains. The average temperature in Santo Domingo in January is 24 °C (75.2 °F), and 27 °C (80.6 °F) in July.
The rain season for the northern coast is from November to January. For the rest of the country, the rain season is from May to November. The average annual rainfall is 1,346 mm (53.0 in), with extremes of 2,500 mm (98.4 in) or more in the mountainous northeast (the windward side of the island) and 500 mm (19.7 in) in the southwestern valleys. The western valleys, along the Haitian border, remain relatively dry, with less than 760 mm (29.9 in) of annual precipitation, due to the rain shadow effect caused by the central and northern mountain ranges. The northwestern and southeastern extremes of the country are also arid.
The Dominican Republic is occasionally damaged by tropical storms and hurricanes, which originate in the mid-Atlantic and southeastern Caribbean from June until November (mainly from August to October) each year.
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There are several smaller islands and cays that are part of Dominican territory. The largest islands are:
The 8 longest rivers of the Dominican Republic are:[8]
The Artibonite River is the longest river of the island, but only 68 km flows through the Dominican Republic.
The largest lake of Hispaniola, and of the Caribbean, is Lake Enriquillo. It is located in the Hoya de Enriquillo with an area of 265 km2. There are three small islands within the lake. It is around 40 meters below sea level, and is a hypersaline lake, with a higher concentration of salt than seawater.
Other lakes are Rincón (fresh water, area of 28.2 km2), Oviedo (brackish water, area of 28 km2), Redonda, and Limón.
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