The country has a tropical climate but modified by elevation and the "trade winds" (winds that come from the northeast, from the Atlantic Ocean), which blow from the Atlantic all year long. The average yearly temperature is 25 °C with small changes from one season to another; the average temperatures change from one region to another, from 21 °C in the centre of the Cordillera Central to as high as 28 °C on the coastal plains. Temperatures very few times get above 32 °C; temperatures get below 0 °C only in the highest mountains in winter. The average temperature in Santo Domingo in January is 25 °C and 30 °C in July.
The rain season is from May to November. The average yearly rainfall is 1,346 mm, with extremes of 2,500 mm or more in the northeastern mountains and 500 mm in the southwestern valleys. The western valleys, along the Haitian border, remain relatively dry, with less than 760 mm of annual precipitation. The northwestern and southeastern extremes of the country are also very dry.
From June to November (mainly from August to October), tropical storms and hurricanes are frequent and can do much damage in the country.
There are several smaller islands and cays that are part of the Dominican Republic. The largest islands are:
Some of the cays are "Cayos Siete Hermanos" (in English, "Seven Brothers Cays"), close to the northwestern coast, and the cays of Samaná Bay.
The Dominican Republic is a country with many mountains; the highest peaks of the Caribbean are found here. The chains of mountains show a direction northwest-southeast and they are separated by valleys with the same general direction.
From north to south, the mountain ranges and valleys are:
The 8 longest rivers of the Dominican Republic are:
The Artibonite River is the longest river of the island but only 68 km are in the Dominican Republic.
The largest lake of the Hispaniola, and of the Caribbean, is the Lake Enriquillo. It is in the "Hoya de Enriquillo" with an area of 265 km². There are three small islands within the lake. It is around 40 meters below sea level and is a saline lake with a higher concentration of salt than the sea water.
Others lakes are "Rincón" (fresh water, area of 28.2 km²), "Oviedo" (brackish water, area of 28 km²), "Redonda", "Limón".
Arbedo-Castione
Arbedo-Castione is a municipality of the district of Bellinzona in the canton of Ticino in Switzerland.
Zofingen
Zofingen is a city in the canton of Aargau in Switzerland. It is the capital of the district of Zofingen.
Arogno
Arogno is a municipality of the district of Lugano in the canton of Ticino.
Aarwangen
Aarwangen is a municipality of the administrative district of Oberaargau in the canton of Bern in Switzerland.
Adelboden
Adelboden is a municipality of the administrative district of Frutigen-Niedersimmental in the canton of Bern in Switzerland.
Adelboden (disambiguation)
Adelboden is a municipality in the canton of Bern in Switzerland.
Other places named Adelboden:
Aefligen
Aefligen is a municipality of the administrative district of Emmental in the canton of Bern in Switzerland.
Aegerten
Aegerten is a municipality of the administrative district of Biel/Bienne of the canton of Bern in Switzerland.
Aeschi bei Spiez
Aeschi bei Spiez is a municipality of the administrative district of Frutigen-Niedersimmental in the canton of Bern in Switzerland.
107 Camilla
107 Camilla is one of the biggest main belt asteroids. It orbits within the Cybele Group, beyond most of the main belt asteroids. It has a very dark surface and is made of carbonate. It was found by N. R. Pogson on November 17, 1868, and named after Camilla, Queen of the Volsci in Roman mythology.
Study of its light curve shows that Camilla's pole probably points towards ecliptic coordinates (β, λ) = (+51°, 72°) with a 10° uncertainty, which gives it an axial tilt of 29°.
On March 1, 2001, a moon of Camilla was found by A. Storrs, F. Vilas, R. Landis, E. Wells, C. Woods, B. Zellner, and M. Gaffey using the Hubble Space Telescope. It has been labelled S/2001 (107) 1 but it does not yet have an official name.
Later sightings in September 2005 with the VLT allowed scientists to work out its orbit. Apart from data in infobox, the inclination was found to be 3 ± 1° with respect to an axis pointing towards (β, λ) = (+55°, 75°). Given the ~10° uncertainty in the actual rotational axis of Camilla, the orbit's inclination probably is less than 10°.
The moon is estimated to be about 11 km in diameter. If it has the same density as Camilla, this would give it a mass of about ~1.5 kg. It has a similar colour to Camilla.
Aya Ueto
She became famous when she won the jury's special award in the "Japan Bishojo Contest", a beauty and talent competition. Her first single was "Pureness".
Chitose Hajime
Chitose Hajime (元ちとせ "Hajime Chitose") is a singer from Japan. She is from Amami Ōshima and sings in a style particular to that region, with distinctive falsetto effects. Because of this, it is said that her voice has a relaxing effect that has been observed in electroencephalograms taken from the brains of people listening to her singing.
Chitose Hajime was recognized as a gifted folk singer at a young age. She won many folk song competitions, released two traditional folk albums on an indie label, and was approached by many record labels. She decided to study to become a beautician instead of pursuing music. However, Hajime had severe allergic reactions to many of the chemicals used by beauticians. She withdrew from school, and seriously considered a music career.
In 2001, she released a self-titled mini-album on the indie label Office Augusta. The album was covers of older songs, but was so well received that Hajime was pushed to release another mini-album. In August 2001, Chitose released her second mini-album with Augusta Records entitled Kotonoha ( コトノハ, Kotonoha) . This release featured 5 original tracks.
In 2002 she released her first major label single on Epic Records - "Wadatsumi no Ki" ( ワダツミの木, "Wadatsumi no Ki") . It was the third highest selling single of the year behind only Hikaru Utada 's " traveling ", and Ayumi Hamasaki 's " H ". Three months later, she released a brand new single, "Kimi wo Omō" ( 君ヲ想フ, "Kimi wo Omō") . While also very popular, it was not nearly the success that her first single was, although it did help to cement her as a permanent artist.
Her first major album, Hainumikaze ( ハイヌミカゼ, Hainumikaze), followed later in the year. It sold 800,000 copies, charted for 57 weeks, and was the 16th highest selling album of the year.
She released 3 more singles before her second major album, Nomad Soul ( ノマド・ソウル, nomado souru ), was released in 2003. Shortly after a concert tour, and the release of a live album and DVD in 2004, Hajime announced that she would be taking time away from the music scene to get married, and have a child. Her first child miscarried, but she successfully gave birth to a girl on January 20, 2005.