Here, let us take a look at the Geography of Dominican Republic. Shares island of Hispaniola with Haiti (eastern two-thirds makes up the Dominican Republic, western one-third is Haiti); the second largest country in the Antilles (after Cuba); geographically diverse with the Caribbean's tallest mountain, Pico Duarte, and lowest elevation and largest lake, Lago Enriquillo. Mother's mean age at first birth is 20.9 years (2013 est.) (Note: data represents median age at first birth among women 25-49), whereas, the Maternal mortality ratio is 107 deaths/100,000 live births (2020 est.)
Location | Caribbean, eastern two-thirds of the island of Hispaniola, between the Caribbean Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean, east of Haiti |
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Geographic coordinates | 19 00 N, 70 40 W |
Map references | Central America and the Caribbean |
Tarrain | rugged highlands and mountains interspersed with fertile valleys |
Natural Resources | nickel, bauxite, gold, silver, arable land |
Natural Hazards | lies in the middle of the hurricane belt and subject to severe storms from June to October; occasional flooding; periodic droughts |
Irrigated Land | 2,980 sq km (2018) |
Major rivers (by length in km) | |
Major aquifers | |
Land Boundaries | 376 km |
Border Countries | Haiti 376 km |
Coastline | 1,288 km |
Climate | tropical maritime; little seasonal temperature variation; seasonal variation in rainfall |
Area | |
Total Area | |
Land Area | 48,320 sq km |
Water Area | 350 sq km |
comparative Area | slightly more than twice the size of New Jersey |
Maritime Claims | |
Territorial sea | 12 nm |
Contiguous zone | 24 nm |
Exclusive economic zone | 200 nm |
Continental shelf | 200 nm or to the edge of the continental margin |
Elevations | |
Highest point | Pico Duarte 3,098 m |
Lowest point | Lago Enriquillo -46 m |
Mean elevation | 424 m |
Land Use | |
Agricultural land | 51.5% (2018 est.) |
Agricultural land: arable land | arable land: 16.6% (2018 est.) |
Agricultural land: permanent crops | permanent crops: 10.1% (2018 est.) |
Agricultural land: permanent pasture | permanent pasture: 24.8% (2018 est.) |
Forest | 40.8% (2018 est.) |
Other | 7.7% (2018 est.) |
Coastal development is significant, especially in the southern coastal plains and the Cibao Valley, where population density is highest; smaller population clusters exist in the interior mountains (Cordillera Central)
In Dominican Republic, the different Ethnic groups are such that we have: Mixed 70.4% (Mestizo/Indio 58%, Mulatto 12.4%), Black 15.8%, White 13.5%, other 0.3% (2014 est.)
Population | |
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Pop growth rate | 0.76% (2024 est.) |
Birth rate | 17.3 births/1,000 population (2024 est.) |
Death rate | 7.1 deaths/1,000 population (2024 est.) |
Health expenditure | 4.9% of GDP (2020) |
Physicians Density | |
Hospital bed Density | 1.6 beds/1,000 population (2017) |
Total fertility rate | 2.15 children born/woman (2024 est.) |
Gross reproduction rate | 1.06 (2024 est.) |
Contraceptive prevalence rate | 62.8% (2019) |
Est married women (ages 15-49) | 52.1% (2023 est.) |
Literacy | age 15 and over can read and write |
Education expenditures | 4.6% of GDP (2020 est.) |
Net Migration rate | -2.7 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2024 est.) |
Nationality | Dominican | Dominican(s) |
Languages | |
Religions | Evangelical 50.2%, Roman Catholic 30.1%, none 18.5%, unspecified 1.2% (2023 est.) |
Age Structure | |
0-14 years | 25.5% (male 1,402,847/female 1,358,833) |
15-64 years | 66.9% (male 3,667,584/female 3,563,848) |
65 years and over | 7.6% (2024 est.) (male 395,345/female 427,400) |
Dependency Ratios | |
Total dependency ratio | 53.8 |
Youth dependency ratio | 42.2 |
Elderly dependency ratio | 11.6 |
Potential support ratio | 8.6 (2021 est.) |
Median Age | |
Total | 29.2 years (2024 est.) |
Male | 29.1 years |
Female | 29.4 years |
Urbanization | |
Urban population | 84.4% of total population (2023) |
Rate of urbanization | 1.64% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.) |
Major urban areas (Pop) | 3.524 million SANTO DOMINGO (capital) (2023). |
Sex Ratio | |
At birth | 1.04 male(s)/female |
0-14 years | 1.03 male(s)/female |
15-64 years | 1.03 male(s)/female |
65 years and over | 0.93 male(s)/female |
Total population | 1.02 male(s)/female (2024 est.) |
Infant Motality | |
Total | 21.7 deaths/1,000 live births (2024 est.) |
Male | 24.3 deaths/1,000 live births |
Female | 19 deaths/1,000 live births |
Life Expectancy at birth | |
Total population | 72.6 years (2024 est.) |
Male | 71 years |
Female | 74.3 years |
Drinking Water Sources | |
Improved: urban | urban: 98.3% of population |
Improved: rural | rural: 91.7% of population |
Improved: total | total: 97.2% of population |
Unimproved: urban | urban: 1.7% of population |
Unimproved: rural | rural: 8.3% of population |
Unimproved: total | total: 2.8% of population (2020 est.) |
Sanitation facility acess | |
Improved: urban | urban: 97.4% of population |
Improved: rural | rural: 91.3% of population |
Improved: total | total: 96.3% of population |
Unimproved: urban | urban: 2.6% of population |
Unimproved: rural | rural: 8.7% of population |
Unimproved: total | total: 3.7% of population (2020 est.) |
Major Infectious diseases | |
Degree of risk | high (2023) |
Food or waterborne diseases | bacterial diarrhea, hepatitis A, and typhoid fever |
Vectorborne diseases | dengue fever |
Alcohol consumption per capita | |
Total | 5.56 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.) |
Beer | 3.15 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.) |
Wine | 0.17 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.) |
Spirits | 2.18 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.) |
Other alcohols | 0.06 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.) |
Tobacco use | |
Total | 10.6% (2020 est.) |
Male | 14.6% (2020 est.) |
Female | 6.5% (2020 est.) |
Child marriage | |
Women married by age 15 | 9.4% |
Women married by age 18 | 31.5% (2019 est.) |
Want to know more about Dominican Republic? Check all different factbooks for Dominican Republic below.