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Geography of the Dominican Republic - Definition and Overview |
| Related Words: Gaea, Ge, Tellus, Terra, Biosphere, Cartography, Geodesy, Geodetics, Geology, Geomorphology, Geophysics, Geosphere, Globe, Hydrogeology |
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 a beach in the Barahona province This article details the geography of the Dominican Republic.
- Location
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- Caribbean, it occupies two-thirds of the island of Hispaniola, between the Caribbean Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean, east of Haiti
- Geographic coordinates
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- 19 00 N, 70 40 W
- Map references
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- Central America and the Caribbean
- Area
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- Total: 48,730 km²
- Land: 48,380 km²
- Water: 350 km²
- Area - comparative
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- Slightly more than twice the size of New Hampshire
- Land boundaries
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- Total: 275 km
- Border countries: Haiti 275 km
- Coastline
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- 1,288 km
- Maritime claims
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- Contiguous zone: 24 nm
- Continental shelf: 200 nm or to the edge of the continental margin
- Exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
- Territorial sea: 6 nm
- Climate
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- Tropical maritime; little seasonal temperature variation; seasonal variation in rainfall
- Rivers
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- Significant rivers include the Jimani River, Río Yaque del Norte, Río Jamao del Norte, Río Isabela and the Ozamas River
- Terrain
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- Rugged highlands and mountains with fertile valleys interspersed
- Elevation extremes
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- Lowest point: Lago Enriquillo -46 m
- Highest point: Pico Duarte 3,175 m
- Natural resources
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- Nickel, bauxite, gold, silver
- Land use
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- Arable land: 21%
- Permanent crops: 9%
- Permanent pastures: 43%
- Forests and woodland: 12%
- Other: 15% (1993 est.)
- Irrigated land
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- 2,300 km² (1993 est.)
- Natural hazards
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- Lies in the middle of the hurricane belt and subject to severe storms from June to October; occasional flooding; periodic droughts
- Environment - current issues
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- Water shortages; soil eroding into the sea damages coral reefs; deforestation; Hurricane Georges damage
- Environment - international agreements
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- Geography - note
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- Shares island of Hispaniola with Haiti (eastern two-thirds is the Dominican Republic, western one-third is Haiti)
See also: Dominican Republic
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