Haiti's Environment
Haiti is the most densely populated country in the Western Hemisphere and makes up 27,750 sq km (10,714 sq mi) of the western third of Hispaniola, the second-largest island in the Caribbean. It's near the center of the West Indies, about 960km (594mi) south of Florida and 450km (280mi) north of Venezuela. Haiti contains a few remaining cloud-forested mountains and some fertile river valleys, although much of the countryside suffers from desertification and erosion. It has two large peninsulas, the northern and southern claws, which are separated by the Golfe de la Gonâve. Here, the largest of Haiti's ofshore islands, Île de la Gonâve, is easily accessible.
Haiti's name comes from the Arawak word for 'mountainous land;' indeed, 60% of all terrain is on gradients of 20% or higher. Major mountain ranges include the Massif de la Hotte on the southern claw, boasting the 2347m-high (7700ft-high) Pic Macaya; the Massif de la Selle, running west to east just southeast of Port-au-Prince, peaking out at Pic La Selle (2674m, 8770ft); and in the north, the spectacular Chaine du Bonnet, visible from the Citadelle. Numerous mountain streams burble down the hillsides, but the only navigable river is the broad Artibonite, which begins at the Dominican border and empties just north of St Marc.
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