ttle seasonal temperature variation;
seasonal variation in rainfall

Terrain: rugged highlands and mountains with fertile valleys
interspersed

Natural resources: nickel, bauxite, gold, silver

Land use:
arable land: 23%
permanent crops: 7%
meadows and pastures: 43%
forest and woodland: 13%
other: 14%

Irrigated land: 2,250 sq km (1989)

Environment:
current issues: water shortages; soil eroding into the sea damages
coral reefs; deforestation
natural hazards: occasional hurricanes (July to October)
international agreements: party to - Endangered Species, Marine
Dumping, Marine Life Conservation, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer
Protection; signed, but not ratified - Biodiversity, Climate Change,
Law of the Sea

Note: shares island of Hispaniola with Haiti (eastern two-thirds is
the Dominican Republic, western one-third is Haiti)

@Dominican Republic:People

Population: 7,511,263 (July 1995 est.)

Age structure:
0-14 years: 35% (female 1,288,210; male 1,336,162)
15-64 years: 61% (female 2,246,791; male 2,312,555)
65 years and over: 4% (female 178,388; male 149,157) (July 1995 est.)

Population growth rate: 1.17% (1995 est.)

Birth rate: 23.92 births/1,000 population (1995 est.)

Death rate: 6.15 deaths/1,000 population (1995 est.)

Net migration rate: -6.04 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1995 est.)

Infant mortality rate: 49.5 deaths/1,000 live births (1995 est.)

Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 68.73 years
male: 66.57 years
female: 70.99 years (1995 est.)

Total fertility rate: 2.72 children born/woman (1995 est.)

Nationality:
noun: Dominican(s)
adjective: Dominican

Ethnic divisions: white 16%, black 11%, mixed 73%

Religions: Roman Catholic 95%

Languages: Spanish

Literacy: age 15 and over can read and write (1990 est.)
total population: 83%
male: 85%
female: 82%

Labor force: 2.3 million to 2.6 million
by occupation: agriculture 49%, services 33%, industry 18% (1986)

@Dominican Republic:Government

Names:
conventional long form: Dominican Republic
conventional short form: none
local long form: Republica Dominicana
local short form: none

Digraph: DR

Type: republic

Capital: Santo Domingo

Administrative divisions: 29 provinces (provincias, singular -
provincia) and 1 district* (distrito); Azua, Baoruco, Barahona,
Dajabon, Distrito Nacional*, Duarte, Elias Pina, El Seibo, Espaillat,
Hato Mayor, I