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Dominican Republic map
When looking at the Dominican Republic map
detailing the population, one can't help but notice how crowded it looks.
With a population of ten million people, it is not hard to understand why
it
looks this way. The country is quite small and with four mountain ranges,
much of the country is inhabitable. Most of the people live in the areas
where the soil is fertile for farming.
With an area of 48,482 square kilometers, it occupies two thirds of the
island of Hispaniola, which it shares with its neighbor Haiti to the west.
The Windward Passage separates western Hispaniola from Cuba to the east
and Puerto Rico lies only fifty-four miles away.
The country is divided into twenty-nine provinces with a national
territory surrounding the capital of Santo Domingo. Santo Domingo and
Santiago de los Caballeros have the largest concentration of people, with
a combined total of two and a half million people. The Dominican Republic
encompasses the fertile land of Cibal valley and the looming Cordillera
Central mountain chain. It boasts both the loftiest and the lowest points
in the Caribbean with Duarte peak rising to 3,175 meters and Lake
Enriquillo, which drops to forty-four meters below sea level.
The Dominican Republic occupies sixty six percent of Hispaniola. While the
territory also includes the island of Beata Catalina, Saona, Alto Velo and
Catalinita; it can be divided into two main regions, the highlands, which
consist of four mountain ranges, and the lowlands, which consist of long
parallel valleys, which lie in the northwest direction. The largest lake
on the
island is Lake Enriquillo.
Traveling in the Dominican Republic is very different than what we know
about travel. There are 1,654 kilometers of railroad, 11,400 kilometers of
roads. They also have very different rules for anyone driving on their
highways, such as a red light don't always mean that anyone is going to
stop, and that trucks have the right of way over cars. So if you're
planning on driving on these highways during your visit it would probably
be a good idea to read up on the rules and regulations for that country.
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