Dominican_Republic_update.qxd

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A Tropical Land of Mountains and Valleys

The Río Yaque del Norte rushes through the Cordillera Central, the country’s major mountain range.

up from the sea floor. In fact, the tallest mountain range in the Dominican Republic, the Cordillera Central, actually stretches from Cuba through Hispaniola and all the way to Puerto Rico—but most of it is underwater. Mountain ranges divide the Dominican Republic into distinct regions. The northern portion of the country consists mainly of a coastal plain along the Atlantic Ocean. One smaller mountain range, the Cordillera Septentrional, runs through the area, but its peaks do not exceed 3,500 feet (1,068 meters). The Cordillera Central, which contains Pico Duarte, is the highest and