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Haiti

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Background :

The native Taino Amerindians - who inhabited the island of Hispaniola when it was discovered by COLUMBUS in 1492 - were virtually annihilated by Spanish settlers within 25 years. In the early 17th century, the French established a presence on Hispaniola. In 1697, Spain ceded to the French the western third of the island, which later became Haiti. The French colony, based on forestry and sugar-related industries, became one of the wealthiest in the Caribbean but only through the heavy importation of African slaves and considerable environmental degradation. In the late 18th century, Haiti's nearly half million slaves revolted under Toussaint L'OUVERTURE. After a prolonged struggle, Haiti became the first black republic to declare independence in 1804. The poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, Haiti has been plagued by political violence for most of its history. After an armed rebellion led to the forced resignation and exile of President Jean-Bertrand ARISTIDE in February 2004, an interim government took office to organize new elections under the auspices of the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH). Continued violence and technical delays prompted repeated postponements, but Haiti finally did inaugurate a democratically elected president and parliament in May of 2006. A massive magnitude 7.0 earthquake struck Haiti in January 2010 with an epicenter about 15 km southwest of the capital, Port-au-Prince. An estimated 2 million people live within the zone of heavy to moderate structural damage. The earthquake is assessed as the worst in this region over the last 200 years. 

Location :

Caribbean, western one-third of the island of Hispaniola, between the Caribbean Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean, west of the Dominican Republic 

Geographic Coordinates Center :

19 00 N, 72 25 W  (Latitude, Longtitude)

Geographic Coordinates Rectangle :

West -74.48
North 20.09
East -71.61
South 18.02

Area :

total 27 750 square km
land 27 560 square km
water 190 square km

Coastline :

1771.00 km

Climate :

tropical; semiarid where mountains in east cut off trade winds 

Terrain :

mostly rough and mountainous 

Elevation extremes :

lowest point 0 metres
highest point 2 680 metres

Natural resources :

bauxite calcium carbonate
copper gold
hydropower marble

Land use :

arable land 28.11 %
permanent crops 11.53 %
other 60.36 %

Irrigated land :

920 square km

Natural hazards :

earthquakes flooding
periodic droughts torms

current issues :

extensive deforestation (much of the remaining forested land is being cleared for agriculture and used as fuel); soil erosion; inadequate supplies of potable water 

international agreements :

Biodiversity Climate Change
Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol Desertification
Hazardous Wastes Law of the Sea
Marine Dumping Marine Life Conservation
Ozone Layer Protection

Population :

9 035 536 

Indicators :

Growth rate 1.84 %
Birth rate 29.10 births/1,000 population
Total fertility rate 3.81 children born/woman
Death rate 8.65 deaths/1,000 population
Net migration rate -2.07 migrant(s)/1,000 population

Age structure :

0-14 years 38.10 %
15-64 years 58.50 %
65 years and over 3.40 %

Median age :

total 20.20 years
male 19.80 years
female 20.70 years

Sex ratio :

at birth 1.03 male(s)/female
under 15 years 1.02 male(s)/female
15-64 years 0.98 male(s)/female
65 years and over 0.64 male(s)/female
total population 0.98 male(s)/female

Health :

Infant mortality rate 59.69 deaths/1,000 live births
Life expectancy at birth - total population 60.78 years
Life expectancy at birth - male 59.13 years
Life expectancy at birth - female 62.48 years
HIV-AIDS adult prevalence rate 2.20 %
HIV-AIDS people living with HIV-AIDS 120 000
HIV-AIDS deaths 7 200

Religions :

Roman Catholic 80.00 %
Protestant 16.00 %
none 1.00 %
other 3.00 %

Languages :

French  
Creole  

Literacy :

total population 52.90 %
male 54.80 %
female 51.20 %

Country name :

conventional long form Republic of Haiti
conventional short form Haiti
local long form Republique d'Haiti/Repiblik d' Ayiti
local short form Haiti/Ayiti

Country Codes :

ISO 3166 HT
ISO Numeric 332
ISO3 HTI
FIPS HA
ccTLD ht
English Haiti

Administrative divisions :

10 departments (departements, singular - departement); Artibonite, Centre, Grand 'Anse, Nippes, Nord, Nord-Est, Nord-Ouest, Ouest, Sud, Sud-Est 

Capital :

name Port-au-Prince
geographic coordinates 18 32 N, 72 20 W
time difference -5.00
daylight saving time 1

International organization participation :

ACP AOSIS
CDB Caricom
FAO G-77
IADB IAEA
IBRD ICAO
ICCt (signatory) ICRM
IDA IFAD
IFC IFRCS
ILO IMF
IMO IOC
IOM ITSO
ITU ITUC
Interpol LAES
MIGA NAM
OAS OIF
OPANAL OPCW
PCA PetroCaribe
RG UN
UNCTAD UNESCO
UNIDO UNWTO
UPU Union Latina
WCO WFTU
WHO WIPO
WMO WTO

Independence :

1804-01-01 

National holiday :

Independence Day

1804-01-01

Executive branch :

President Rene PREVAL Prime Minister Jean-Max BELLERIVE

GDP - Gross Domestic product :

PPP - Purchasing Power Parity 11 610 000 000 $
Official Exchange Rate 6 908 000 000
RGR - Real Growth rate -0.50 %
PPP - per capita 1 300 $

GDP Composition by sector :

agriculture 28.00 %
industry 20.00 %
services 52.00 %

Labor force - by occupation :

agriculture 66.00 %
industry 9.00 %
services 25.00 %

Other Indicators :

Labor force 3 643 000 people
Population below poverty line 80.00 %
Distribution of family income - Gini index 59.20
Inflation rate (consumer prices) 0.40 %
Investment (gross fixed) 28.90 % of GDP
Current account balance - 566 000 000 $
Reserves of foreign exchange and gold 734 000 000 $
Debt external 428 000 000 $
Military expenditures 0.40 % of GDP

Household income or consumption by percentage share :

lowest 10% 0.70 %
highest 10% 47.70 %

Budget :

revenues 960 600 000 $
expenditures 1 186 000 000 $

Agriculture - products :

coffee corn
mangoes rice
sorghum sugarcane
wood

Industries :

cement flour milling
light assembly based on imported parts sugar refining
textiles

Energy :

Electricity Production 448 000 000 kWh
Electricity Consumption 273 000 000 kWh
Oil Consumption 12 000 bbl/day
Oil Imports 12 280 bbl/day

Value :

524 000 000 $

Commodities :

apparel cocoa
coffee mangoes
manufactures oil

Value :

2 023 000 000 $

Commodities :

food fuels
machinery and transportation equipment manufactured products
raw materials

Communications :

Telephons Main lines in use 108 000
Telephons Mobile, Cellular 3 200 000
FM Radio broadcast stations 26
Television broadcast stations 2
Internet Country code (ccTLD) ht
Internet Hosts 9
Internet Users 1 000 000

Transportation :

Airports with paved runways 4
Roadways - total 4 160 km
Roadways - paved 1 011 km
Roadways - unpaved 3 149 km

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