Geography of Haiti

**Haiti** (; ) is a country in the Caribbean. It occupies the western three-eighths of Hispaniola; the Dominican Republic occupies the eastern five-eighths (63%) of the island.

The country has a total area of , of which 27,560&nbsp;km² is land and 190&nbsp;km² is water. Haiti has  of coast-line and a  border with the Dominican Republic.

The limits of the country are the Dominican Republic to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north, and the Caribbean Sea to the south and west. The capital, Port-au-Prince, is a seaport located on the west coast.

Cuba is to the northwest and Jamaica to the southwest of Haiti; the Winward Passage separates Cuba from Haiti (and Hispaniola), and the Jamaica Channel separates Haiti from Jamaica.

There are two large peninsulas: the Northwestern on the Atlantic Ocean, and the Southern peninsulas on the Caribbean Sea. The Northwestern, or just Northern, Peninsula () is also known as the Saint-Nicolas Peninsula; it was the first part of the Hispaniola visited by Christopher Columbus on 1492. The historical name of the Southern Peninsula () was Tiburón Peninsula.

Between those two large peninsulas there is a gulf (a very large bay): the Gulf of Gonâve. It is named so after the Gonâve Island that is in the middle of the gulf. It was called also Gulf of Léogane after the city of Léogane, one of the oldest in Haiti.  Its Taíno name was *Guanabo*.
# **Tortuga** (), located off the northwest coast of Hispaniola, in the Atlantic Ocean; it is part of the Nord-Ouest Department. It has an area of .
* The *Plaine du Nord* ("Northern Plain"), along the north coast from Cap-Haïtien to the Dominican Republic, where it is called the *Cibao* Valley.
* The *Massif du Nord* ("Northern Massif"), which in the Dominican Republic is called *Cordillera Central*. The highest Haitian mountain of this mountain range is *Gros Morne* (1,198 m).
* The *Plateau Central* ("Central Plateau") is a large high valley.
* The *Bombardopolis Plateau* (640 m), *Montagnes de Terre Neuve* (1,100 m, *Morne Goreille*), *Montagnes Noires* (1,700 m, *Pic Bonhomme*). All this chains form one group of mountains.
* Artibonite Plain and Valley, between those mountains mentioned above and below. It is the valley formed by the river Artibonite and its Haitian tributaries.
* *Chaîne des Matheux* (*Morne Delpech*, 1,600 m) and the ''Montagnes du Trou d'Eau* (*Morne Ma Pipe*, 1,510 m) form one group that get together with the previous group of mountains to form, in the Dominican Republic, the *Sierra de Neiba*.
* The *Cul-de-Sac* (Haiti) or *Hoya de Enriquillo* (Dominican Republic), is a remarkable valley, with a west-east direction, of low elevation (on average 50 m with some points below sea level) and with the *Êtang Saumatre* lake in the eastern end, on the border with the Dominican Republic. Port-au-Prince is on the western end of this valley.
* *Massif de la Hotte* (*Pic Macaya*, 2,405 m) and *Massif de la Selle* (*Pic* or *Morne La Selle*, 2,680 m, the highest Haitian mountain) are in the Southern Peninsula. The *Massif de la Selle* is called *Sierra de Bahoruco* in the Dominican Republic. The Gonâve Island (*Morne La Pierre*, 776 m) belongs, in geological terms, to the *Massif de la Selle*.

## Rivers and lakes 
The river *Artibonite* is the longest river of the island and of Haiti. It is 321&nbsp;km long (68&nbsp;km in the Dominican Republic, 253&nbsp;km in Haiti). Its sources are in the Cordillera Central (Dominican Republic) and flows into the Gulf of Gonâve. Its watershed has an area of 6,399&nbsp;km² in Haiti and 2,614&nbsp;km² in the Dominican Republic. and *Trou Caïman'' (16.2&nbsp;km²), a small lake at 6&nbsp;km from Étang Saumâtre.  

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## References