Dominican Republic: Geography and Environment

The Dominican Republic occupies the eastern two thirds of the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles, sharing its western border with Haiti. It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north and the Caribbean Sea to the south, with Puerto Rico lying across the Mona Passage to the east. The country's terrain is unusually varied for its size, ranging from the Cordillera Central mountain range, home to Pico Duarte, the highest peak in the Caribbean at just under 3,100 meters, to broad coastal plains and fertile river valleys.

The country is commonly divided into several regions: the Cibao Valley in the north, known for agriculture, the southern coastal plain around Santo Domingo, the eastern lowlands with their beaches and sugarcane fields, and the mountainous southwest, which includes Lake Enriquillo, a saline lake that sits below sea level. The climate is tropical, moderated by elevation in the mountains, with a wet season running roughly from May through November that coincides with the Atlantic hurricane season.

Environmental priorities include managing deforestation pressure, which has been especially severe along the border with Haiti, protecting coastal and marine ecosystems that support the country's large tourism economy, and safeguarding freshwater resources in a country prone to both drought and hurricane driven flooding. Conservation efforts have expanded national parks and protected areas in the Cordillera Central and along the coast, while balancing continued growth in agriculture and tourism with the country's limited freshwater and forest resources.