Dominican Republic and Haiti: Country Studies

Dominican Republic: The Society and Its Environment
Seasons, however, vary more as a function of rainfall than of
temperature. Along the northern coast, the rainy season lasts
from November through January. In the rest of the country, it
runs from May through November, with May being the wettest
month. The dry season lasts from November through April,
with March being the driest month. The average annual rainfall
for the country as a whole is 150 centimeters. Rainfall varies,
however, from region to region, from thirty-five
centimeters in the Valle de Neiba to 274 centimeters in the
Cordillera Oriental. In general, the western part of the country,
including the interior valleys, receives the least rain.
Tropical cyclones—such as tropical depressions, tropical
storms, and hurricanes—occur on the average once every two
years in the Dominican Republic. More than 65 percent of the
storms strike the southern part of the country, especially along
the Hoya de Enriquillo. The season for cyclones lasts from the
beginning of June to the end of November; some cyclones
occur in May and December, but most occur in September and
October. Hurricanes usually occur from August through October.
They may produce winds greater than 200 kilometers per
hour and rainfall greater than fifty centimeters in a twenty-fourhour
period.
Population
Size and Growth
The country's total population in 1993, according to the
census of that year, totaled slightly more than 7 million; its population
for 1997 has been estimated to be slightly above 8 million.
Growth has been high since official census-taking began
in 1920. The average growth rate peaked during the 1950s at
3.6 percent per year. Since then the rate has been declining:
during the 1960s, the population grew at 2.9 percent annually;
during the 1970s, at 2.3 percent; during the 1980s, at 2.0 percent;
and during the 1990s, at 1.6 percent (see fig. 3).
The total fertility rate, although still relatively high, declined
substantially in the 1970s and then slowly in the 1980s and early
1990s: from 3.7 children per woman of child-bearing age in
1985 to 3.2 in 1990, 2.8 in 1992, and 2.7 in 1995. Official estimates
indicate that half of all married women use contraceptives—
the rate was reportedly 58 percent in 1984 in
comparison to 32 percent in 1975. However, the Dominican
Republic's existing population growth rate and field studies
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