more than twice the size of New Hampshire

Land boundaries:
total: 275 km
border country: Haiti 275 km

Coastline: 1,288 km

Maritime claims:
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

International disputes: none

Climate: tropical maritime; little seasonal temperature variation;
seasonal variation in rainfall

Terrain: rugged highlands and mountains with fertile valleys
interspersed
lowest point: Lago Enriquillo -46 m
highest point: Pico Duarte 3,175 m

Natural resources: nickel, bauxite, gold, silver

Land use:
arable land: 23%
permanent crops: 7%
meadows and pastures: 43%
forest and woodland: 13%
other: 14%

Irrigated land: 2,250 sq km (1989)

Environment:
current issues: water shortages; soil eroding into the sea damages
coral reefs; deforestation
natural hazards: occasional hurricanes (July to October)
international agreements: party to - Endangered Species, Marine
Dumping, Marine Life Conservation, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer
Protection; signed, but not ratified - Biodiversity, Climate Change,
Law of the Sea

Geographic note: shares island of Hispaniola with Haiti (eastern
two-thirds is the Dominican Republic, western one-third is Haiti)

People
------

Population: 8,088,881 (July 1996 est.)

Age structure:
0-14 years: 34% (male 1,401,322; female 1,355,530)
15-64 years: 62% (male 2,541,356; female 2,460,509)
65 years and over: 4% (male 156,238; female 173,926) (July 1996 est.)

Population growth rate: 1.73% (1996 est.)

Birth rate: 23.51 births/1,000 population (1996 est.)

Death rate: 5.66 deaths/1,000 population (1996 est.)

Net migration rate: -0.53 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1996 est.)

Sex ratio:
at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.03 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 1.03 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.9 male(s)/female
all ages: 1.03 male(s)/female (1996 est.)

Infant mortality rate: 47.7 deaths/1,000 live births (1996 est.)

Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 69.06 years
male: 66.89 years
female: 71.34 years (1996 est.)

Total fertility rate: 2.66 children born/woman (1996 est.)

Nationality:
noun: Dominican(s)
adjective: Dominican

Ethnic divisions: white 16%, black 11%, mixed 73%

Religions: Roman Catholic 95%

Languages: Spanish

Literacy: age 15 an