GEOGRAPHY
Cities:
Port-au-Prince (1993 est. pop. 1.5 million). Other Cities-- Cap
Haitien (65,000).
Terrain: Mountainous; rest is plain.
Climate: Warm, semiarid; high humidity in many coastal
areas.
Location: Caribbean,
western one-third of the island of Hispaniola, between the Caribbean
Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean, west of the Dominican Republic
Geographic coordinates:
19 00 N, 72 25 W
Map references: Central
America and the Caribbean
Area:
total: 27,750 sq km
land: 27,560 sq km
water: 190 sq km
Area—comparative:
slightly smaller than Maryland
Land boundaries:
total: 275 km
border countries: Dominican Republic 275 km
Coastline: 1,771
km
Maritime claims:
contiguous zone: 24 nm
continental shelf: to depth of exploitation
exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
territorial sea: 12 nm
Climate: tropical;
semiarid where mountains in east cut off trade winds
Terrain: mostly rough
and mountainous
Elevation extremes:
lowest point: Caribbean Sea 0 m
highest point: Chaine de la Selle 2,680 m
Natural resources:
none
Land use:
arable land: 20%
permanent crops: 13%
permanent pastures: 18%
forests and woodland: 5%
other: 44% (1993 est.)
Irrigated land: 750
sq km (1993 est.)
Natural hazards:
lies in the middle of the hurricane belt and subject to severe
storms from June to October; occasional flooding and earthquakes;
periodic droughts
Environment—current
issues: extensive deforestation (much of the remaining forested
land is being cleared for agriculture and used as fuel); soil
erosion; inadequate supplies of potable water
Environment—international
agreements:
party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification,
Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Marine Life Conservation
signed, but not ratified: Hazardous Wastes, Nuclear Test
Ban
Geography—note:
shares island of Hispaniola with Dominican Republic (western one-third
is Haiti, eastern two-thirds is the Dominican Republic)
