GEO Haiti 2010

State of the Environment Report 2010
1. Geography
1.1 Geographical location of the Republic of Haiti
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The Republic of Haiti is located in the Northern
Hemisphere, more precisely, in the Caribbean
Basin between the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic
Ocean. It is situated between 18°0’ and 20°6’ North
latitude and 71°20’ and 74°30’ West longitude.
Known also by the names 12 of Quisqueya and
Bohio, it shares with the Dominican Republic the
island of Hispaniola, the second largest island
in the Caribbean. Its closest neighbours are the
Dominican Republic, Cuba, Jamaica and Puerto
Rico (Figure 2).
Figure 2: Location of Haiti within the Caribbean
Atlantic Ocean
Cap-Haïtien
Puerto Plata
Gonaïves
HAITI
Thomonde
Port-au-Prince
Sabaneta
DOMINICAN
REPUBLIC
Jarabacoa
Carbera
Santo Domingo
Punta
Cana
Les Cayes
Batey Bienvenido
Caribbean Sea
Source: http://www.maximini.com/fr/haiti/actualite/info-antilles/info_antilles.asp?num=15738
1.2 Administrative structure
Haiti is divided into ten non-autonomous provinces,
i.e., administered by a central power. The capital,
Port-au-Prince, is by far the most important city in
the country, with about 2 million inhabitants or
about a quarter of the population. The other urban
centers are Cap-Haïtien to the North, les Cayes in
the South, Jacmel in the Southeast and Gonaïves,
in the Artibonite province (Figure 3).
Figure 3: Administrative divisions in the Republic
of Haiti
The country comprises ten provinces, the most
recent of which is Nippes. They are highlighted on
the map above, with their main cities as provincial
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Magny, 2008
Source: Map from the Office of Geodesy