Haiti

Official Name: Republic of Haiti

Land Area 27,560 sq km (10,641 sq miles)

Haiti covers the western part of the Caribbean island of Hispaniola. The capital city is Port-au-Prince, the currency is the Gourde (1 gourde = 100 centimes) and the official languages are French and French Creole. Population (1999 estimate) was 7.2 million with 660 people per square mile.

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

Area: total area: 27,750 sq km land area: 27,560 sq km
comparative area: slightly larger than Maryland

Climate: tropical; semiarid where mountains in east cut off trade winds

Terrain: mostly rough and mountainous

Land use:
arable land: 20% permanent crops: 13%
meadows and pastures: 18% forest and woodland: 4%

Environment:
current issues: extensive deforestation (much of the remaining forested land is being cleared for agriculture and use as fuel); soil erosion; inadequate supplies of potable water
natural hazards: lies in the middle of the hurricane belt and subject to severe storms from June to October; occasional flooding and earthquakes; periodic droughts

Age structure:
0-14 years: 46% (female 1,490,939; male 1,535,607)
15-64 years: 50% (female 1,692,032; male 1,557,568)
65 years and over: 4% (female 133,291; male 130,546) (July 1995 est.)

Population growth rate: 1.5% (1995 est.)

Birth rate: 38.64 births/1,000 population (1995 est.)

Death rate: 18.65 deaths/1,000 population (1995 est.)

Infant mortality rate: 107.5 deaths/1,000 live births (1995 est.)

Life expectancy at birth: total population: 44.77 years
male: 43.04 years female: 46.59 years (1995 est.)

Total fertility rate: 5.82 children born/woman (1995 est.)

Ethnic divisions: black 95%, mulatto and European 5%

Religions: Roman Catholic 80% (of which an overwhelming majority also practice Voodoo), Protestant 16% (Baptist 10%, Pentecostal 4%, Adventist 1%, other 1%), none 1%, other 3% (1982)

Literacy: age 15 & over can read & write (1982) total population: 35%
male: 37% female: 32%

Labor force: 2.3 million
by occupation: agriculture 66%, services 25%, industry 9%
note: shortage of skilled labor, unskilled labor abundant (1982)

Economy: About 75% of the population live in abject poverty. Agriculture is mainly small-scale subsistence farming and employs two-thirds of the work force. The majority of the population does not have ready access to safe drinking water, adequate medical care, or sufficient food. The lack of employment opportunities remains one of the most critical problems facing the economy, along with soil erosion and political instability. Haiti will continue to depend heavily on foreign aid.

Unemployment rate: 50% (1994 est.)

Highways: total: 4,000 km
paved: 950 km unpaved: otherwise improved 900 km; unimproved earth 2,150 km

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