Country Profiles - Haiti

HAITI

Geography: Haiti, in the West Indies, occupies the western third of the island of Hispaniola, which it shares with the Dominican Republic. About the size of Maryland, Haiti is two-thirds mountainous, with the rest of the country marked by great valleys, extensive plateaus, and small plains.
Government: Republic with an elected government.
History: Explored by Columbus on Dec. 6, 1492, Haiti's native Arawaks fell victim to Spanish rule. In 1697, Haiti became the French colony of Saint-Dominique, which became a leading sugarcane producer dependent on slaves. In 1791, an insurrection erupted among the slave population of 480,000, resulting in a declaration of independence by Pierre-Dominique Toussaint l'Ouverture in 1801. Napoléon Bonaparte suppressed the independence movement, but it eventually triumphed in 1804 under Jean-Jacques Dessalines, who gave the new nation the Arawak name Haiti . It was the world's first independent black republic.

Map of Haiti

President: Michel Martelly (2011)

Prime Minister: Evans Paul (2015)

Land area: 10,641 sq mi (27,560 sq km); total area: 10,714 sq mi (27,750 sq km)

Population (2014 est.): 9,996,731 (growth rate: 1.08%); birth rate: 22.83/1000; infant mortality rate: 49.43/1000; life expectancy: 63.18

Capital and largest city (2011 est.): Port-au-Prince, 2.207 million

Monetary unit: Gourde

National name: République d'Haïti

Languages: Creole and French (both official)

Ethnicity/race: black 95%, mulatto and white 5%

Religions: Roman Catholic 80%, Protestant 16% (Baptist 10%, Pentecostal 4%, Adventist 1%, other 1%), other 3%, none 1%. Note: roughly half the population practices voodoo

National Holiday: Independence Day, January 1

Literacy rate: 48.7% (2006 est.)

Economic summary: GDP/PPP (2013 est.): $13.42 billion; per capita $1,300. Real growth rate: 3.4%. Inflation: 6.3% (2013). Unemployment: 40.6% (2010 est.). Arable land: 36.04%. Agriculture: coffee, mangoes, sugarcane, rice, corn, sorghum; wood. Labor force: 4.81 million; note: shortage of skilled labor, unskilled labor abundant (2010); agriculture 38.1%, services 50.4%, industry 11.5%. Industries: sugar refining, flour milling, textiles, cement, light assembly industries based on imported parts. Natural resources: bauxite, copper, calcium carbonate, gold, marble, hydropower. Exports: $876.8 million (2013 est.): manufactures, coffee, oils, cocoa, mangoes. Imports: $2.697 billion (2013 est.): food, manufactured goods, machinery and transport equipment, fuels, raw materials. Major trading partners: U.S., Dominican Republic, Netherlands Antilles, China (2012).

Communications: Telephones: main lines in use: 50,000 (2012); mobile cellular: 6.095 million (2012). Broadcast media: several TV stations, including 1 government-owned; cable TV subscription service available; government-owned radio network; more than 250 private and community radio stations with about 50 FM stations in Port-au-Prince alone (2007). Internet hosts: 555 (2012). Internet users: 1 million (2009).

Transportation: Railways: n.a. Highways: 4,266 km (2009) Waterways: n.a. Ports and harbors: Cap-Haitien, Gonaives, Jacmel, Port-au-Prince. Airports: 14 (2013).

International disputes: since 2004, about 8,000 peacekeepers from the UN Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH) maintain civil order in Haiti; despite efforts to control illegal migration, Haitians fleeing economic privation and civil unrest continue to cross into Dominican Republic and to sail to neighboring countries; Haiti claims US-administered Navassa Island.

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