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Haiti Facts

Population:

  • 8.1 million
  • 95% black, mulatto and white 5%

Official Languages:

  • French
  • Haitian Creole

Religion:

  • 80% Roman Catholic
  • Protestant denominations
  • Roughly one-half of the population practices Voodoo

Area:

  • 10,700 square miles, slightly smaller than Maryland
  • Haiti occupies the Western one-third of the Caribbean island of Hispaniola, which it shares with the Dominican Republic

Environmental Issues:

  • Extensive deforestation
  • Soil erosion
  • Inadequate supply of potable water

Capital:

  • Port-au-Prince
  • Population estimated at 2 million

Economy:

  • Haiti is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere
  • 80% of the populations lives in abject poverty
  • The average income is approximately $1 per day
  • 66% the population works in agriculture, but only 28% of Haiti's land is arable
  • Main crops: coffee, sugarcane, mangoes, corn, wood, sorghum and rice
  • Main imports: food, manufactured goods, machinery and fuels
  • 60% of imports come from the US
  • Main exports: mangoes, oils, coffee and manufactures
  • Over 80% of exports go to the US
  • Widespread unemployment and underemployment

Currency:

  • Gourde

Historical Overview:

  • Visited by Christopher Columbus in 1492
  • Spanish Colony ceded to France in 1697
  • Slave revolt began in 1791
  • Independence in 1804 (World's first Black Republic)
  • Temporarily joined with the Dominican Republic in 1822
  • Haiti and the Dominican Republic became separate nations again in 1844
  • Us Military occupied Haiti from 1915-1934, due to Haiti's unstable political and economic conditions
  • Francois "Papa Doc" Duvalier took power in 1957
  • Jean-Claude "Baby Doc" Duvalier took power in 1971 and ruled until February 7, 1986, when he fled to exile in France
  • Fighting between various factions of the former Duvalier regimes and military continued for the next 5 years
  • Haiti's first free and fair elections were held in December 1990, electing former Catholic priest Jen-Bertrand Aristide
  • President Aristide served 7 months until ousted by a military coup in September
  • The UN imposed a worldwide oil and arms embargo on Haiti in June 1993
  • On October 14, 1994 US troops brought President Aristide back and the US/UN peacekeeping troops remained until December 31, 1999
  • Aristide is again elected in 2000
  • Current political situation in Haiti is especially volatile due to the mixed reaction to the departure of President Aristide in February of 2004
  • Haiti is scheduled to hold elections in late 2005 to replace the interim government that has been serving since Aristide's departure