@Dominican Republic
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Geography

Location: Caribbean, eastern two-thirds of the island of
Hispaniola, between the Caribbean Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean,
east of Haiti

Geographic coordinates: 19 00 N, 70 40 W

Map references: Central America and the Caribbean

Area:
total: 48,730 sq km
land: 48,380 sq km
water: 350 sq km

Area--comparative: slightly more than twice the size of New
Hampshire

Land boundaries:
total: 275 km
border countries: 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

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

Terrain: rugged highlands and mountains with fertile valleys
interspersed

Elevation extremes:
lowest point: Lago Enriquillo -46 m
highest point: Pico Duarte 3,175 m

Natural resources: nickel, bauxite, gold, silver

Land use:
arable land: 21%
permanent crops: 9%
permanent pastures: 43%
forests and woodland: 12%
other: 15% (1993 est.)

Irrigated land: 2,300 sq km (1993 est.)

Natural hazards: lies in the middle of the hurricane belt and
subject to severe storms from June to October; occasional flooding;
periodic droughts

Environment--current issues: water shortages; soil eroding into
the sea damages coral reefs; deforestation; Hurricane Georges damage

Environment--international agreements:
party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered
Species, Marine Dumping, Marine Life Conservation, Nuclear Test Ban,
Ozone Layer Protection
signed, but not ratified: Law of the Sea

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

People

Population: 8,129,734 (July 1999 est.)

Age structure:
0-14 years: 35% (male 1,447,435; female 1,393,122)
15-64 years: 61% (male 2,501,206; female 2,426,564)
65 years and over: 4% (male 171,049; female 190,358) (1999 est.)

Population growth rate: 1.62% (1999 est.)

Birth rate: 25.97 births/1,000 population (1999 est.)

Death rate: 5.66 deaths/1,000 population (1999 est.)

Net migration rate: -4.14 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1999 est.)

Sex ratio:
at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.04 male