 Where In The World?
Where in the World is Dominican Republic?
published: February 2008
By Sheri Collins, Contributing Writer
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It's time to get out your globe! You need to know about the imaginary lines on globes and maps. These lines are called lines of latitude and longitude, and they tell a pilot or ship's captain exactly where in the world a certain place is located. Basically, latitude lines (also called parallels) are the horizontal lines on your map. Lines of longitude (also called meridians) are the vertical lines that run from the North Pole to the South Pole. This mapping system is written in degrees and uses the symbol . Get ready to travel the world!
Find longitude 70 W and latitude 19 N, and you will find the Dominican Republic. It is located in the Caribbean on the eastern two-thirds of the island of Hispaniola. Haiti takes up the western one-third of the island. The Dominican Republic is slightly larger than twice the size of New Hampshire. However, its population of 9,365,818 is more than seven times that of New Hampshires.
The climate is tropical, and the temperatures do not change much based on time of year. Seasons are defined more by the amount of rainfall than the temperature. Except along the northern coast, the rainy season runs from May through November and the dry season from November through April. The country lies in the middle of the hurricane belt, and severe storms are common between June and October. Although the Dominican Republic has the highest point in the Caribbean (Pico Duarte is 3,175 meters above sea level), it also has a saltwater lake below sea level.
The island was explored and claimed by Christopher Columbus on his first voyage in 1492 and became a very important base for the Spanish as they began to conquer the Caribbean and the American Mainland.
In the 1500s, the French inhabited the western end of the island, and in 1804 it became the Republic of Haiti. The Haitians conquered the whole island in 1822 and held it until 1844, when forces led by Juan Pablo Duarte, the hero of Dominican independence, drove them out and established the Dominican Republic as an independent state. Their independence is celebrated with a national holiday on Feb. 27.
By Sheri Collins, contributing writer. Sources: The World Factbook prepared by the Central
Intelligence Agency; Richard A. Haggerty, ed. Dominican Republic: A Country Study; Washington: GPO for the Library of Congress, 1989.
Where in the World Word
island [ahy-luhnd] a land mass, smaller than a continent, that is completely
surrounded by water.
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