| Geography and Climate |
Haiti is located in the Caribbean, western one-third of the island of Hispaniola, between the Caribbean Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean, west of the Dominican Republic. Area comparatively slightly smaller than Maryland. Total land boundary is 275 km, border country is Dominican Republic 275 km.
Haiti has a tropical climate; semiarid where mountains in east cut off trade winds. Terrain consists of mostly rough and mountainous. Elevation extreme has the lowest point in the Caribbean Sea 0 m and highest point in Chaine de la Selle 2,680 m. 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 hazard 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
Geography—note: shares island of Hispaniola with Dominican Republic (western one-third is Haiti, eastern two-thirds is the Dominican Republic).
Ref. Anonymous, 1999 |