 GEOGRAPHY |
Dominican Republic is an independent country in the West Indies, a region of the Caribbean Sea. It occupies the eastern two-thirds of Hispaniola, the second largest island in the Greater Antilles. The republic of Haiti occupies the rest of the island. Hispaniola lies between the islands of Cuba and Puerto Rico and is located about 1,000 kilometers southeast of Florida, United States.
The Dominican Republic is a land of fertile valleys and wooded mountains. It is a center for both tourism and agriculture. The republic’s capital, Santo Domingo de Guzman, lies in the southern coastal region. It is the country’s main port and the longest surviving European settlement in the Western Hemisphere.
| The land to the west of Cordillera Central is mostly dry and semi desert. The Sierra de Neiba and the Sierra de Bahoruco are mountains in the west of the Republic, Lake Enriquillo, a saltwater lake 46 meters below sea level, is the lowest lake in the West Indies, and also has an island in the center called Isla Cabritos. It lies between the two Sierras, Neiba and Bahoruco.
The Cibao region lies north of the Cordillera Central. The Cibao is an area of pine-covered slopes and a fertile plain called the Vega Real (Royal Plain). It is the country’s chief agricultural area. The Cordillera Septentrional is in the far north.
The eastern end of the Dominican Republic is less mountainous. Most of the nation’s sugar cane is grown in the east and along the southeastern coast.
The Dominican Republic has a warm, tropical climate. Temperatures vary little and never fall bellow 16C or exceed 32C. The country has about 150 centimeters of rain annually. The rain season lasts from May till November in the south and from December till April in the north
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