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: 21.08% permanent crops: 9.92% other: 69% (1998 est.)
Irrigated land:
2,590 sq km (1998 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, Hazardous Wastes, Marine Dumping, Marine Life Conservation,
Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution
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 Dominican Republic
Population:
8,715,602 (July 2003 est.)