undaries:
total: 360 km
border countries: Haiti 360 km

Coastline:
1,288 km

Maritime claims:
territorial sea: 6 nm
contiguous zone: 24 nm
exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
continental shelf: 200 nm or to the edge of the continental margin

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: 22.65%
permanent crops: 10.33%
other: 67.02% (2001)

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

Environment - international agreements:
party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto
Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes,
Marine Dumping, Marine Life Conservation, Ozone Layer Protection,
Ship Pollution
signed, but not ratified: Law of the Sea

Geography - note:
shares island of Hispaniola with Haiti

People Dominican Republic

Population:
8,950,034 (July 2005 est.)

Age structure:
0-14 years: 32.9% (male 1,505,964/female 1,438,809)
15-64 years: 61.7% (male 2,815,544/female 2,703,012)
65 years and over: 5.4% (male 226,372/female 260,333) (2005 est.)

Median age:
total: 23.88 years
male: 23.68 years
female: 24.09 years (2005 est.)

Population growth rate:
1.29% (2005 est.)

Birth rate:
23.28 births/1,000 population (2005 est.)

Death rate:
7.35 deaths/1,000 population (2005 est.)

Net migration rate:
-3.02 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2005 est.)

Sex ratio:
at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 1.04 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.87 male(s)/female
total population: 1.03 male(s)/female (2005 est.)

Infant mortality rate:
total: 32.38 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 34.81 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 29.84 deaths/1,000 live births (2005 est.)

Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 71.44 years
male: 69.94 years
female: 73.03 years (2005 est.)

Total fertilit