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Rugged Beauty and Environmental Devastation 11

A view of La Plaine du Cul-de- Sac, near Port- au-Prince at the base of Haiti’s mountainous southern penin- sula.

and give the country the appearance of a large horseshoe. The northern peninsula extends into the Atlantic Ocean about 100 miles (161 km). The southern peninsula is twice as long and reaches into the Caribbean Sea. In between lies the Gulf of Gonâve. Within the gulf is an island, Isle de la Gonâve, which is part of Haiti. At the center of the “horseshoe,” between the two peninsulas, sits Port-au-Prince, the capital city. Haiti is one of the most mountainous countries in the world. In fact, more than 75 percent of Haiti’s land area is made up of mountain ranges, ridges, and cliffs. Four large mountain ranges—two in the north and two in the south—make traveling through the country difficult. The Massif du Nord stretches from the northern peninsula southeast and across the border into the Dominican Republic. The Montagnes Noires range is just to its south. In