Quick Facts: 

Haiti occupies 27,750 square kilometers of land, making it approximately the same size as the state of Maryland. Haiti shares a 360-kilometer border with the Dominican Republic to the east. Because of its horseshoe shape, Haiti has a disproportionately long coastline. In all, Haiti’s coastline stretches 1,771 kilometers, with prominent peninsulas in both the north and the south.

Topography: Haiti occupies the mountainous portion of the island of Hispaniola. Its land area includes numerous small islands as well as four large islands: Île de la Gonâve to the west, Île de la Tortue off the north coast, and Île à Vache and Grande Cayemite, situated, respectively, south and north of the southern peninsula. Five mountain ranges dominate Haiti’s landscape and divide the country into three regions⎯northern, central, and southern. Slopes of more than a 20 percent grade cover nearly two-thirds of the country. Plains constitute only about 20 percent of Haiti’s land, making cultivation difficult.

The northern region has the country’s largest coastal plain, the Plaine du Nord, which covers an area of 2,000 square kilometers. The north’s major mountain range, the Massif du Nord, buttresses this plain. The central region consists of the Central Plateau, which covers an area of more than 2,500 square kilometers, as well as two smaller plains and three mountain ranges. The Guayamouc River splits the Central Plateau and provides some of the country’s most fertile soil. Haiti’s southern region contains a series of small coastal plains as well as the mountains of the Massif de la Selle. It encompasses both Haiti’s highest point Montagne Terrible, 2,684 meters, and the Plaine du Cul-de-Sac, which is a natural depression 12 kilometers wide and 32 kilometers wide.

Haiti operates five hours behind Greenwich Mean Time (GMT). Source Army Geospational Center