Map of Haiti | Geography | People | Government | Economy | Energy | Communication
Military | Transportation | Transnational Issues | Year: Guide198919901991199219931994199519961997199819992000200120022003200420052006200720082009201020112012201320142015201620172018201920202021202220232024 | More stats

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Background: One of the poorest countries in the Western Hemisphere Haiti has been plagued by political violence for most of its history. Over three decades of dictatorship followed by military rule ended in 1990 when Jean-Bertrand ARISTIDE was elected president. Most of his term was usurped by a military takeover.


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Location: in the northern Caribbean Sea, about 90 km southeast of Cuba

Geographic coordinates

Map reference: Central America and the Caribbean, Standard Time Zones of the World

Area
Total: 27,750 km²
Land: 27,560 km²

Land boundaries: total 275 km, Dominican Republic 275 km

Coastline: 1,771 km
Contiguous zone: 24 nm
Continental shelf: to depth of exploitation
Exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
Territorial sea: 12 nm

Maritime claims

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

Terrain: mostly rough and mountainous

Elevation

Natural resources: bauxite

Land use
Arable land: 20%
Permanent crops: 13%
Meadows and pastures: 18%
Forest and woodland: 4%
Other: 45%

Irrigated land: 750 km² (1989 est.)

Major rivers

Major watersheds area km²

Total water withdrawal

Total renewable water resources

Natural hazards

Geography


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Population: 6,384,877 (July 1993 est.)
Growth rate: 1.68% (1993 est.)

Nationality
Noun: Haitian(s)
Adjective: Haitian

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

Languages: French (official) 10%, Creole

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)

Demographic profile

Age structure

Dependency ratios

Median age

Population growth rate: 1.68% (1993 est.)

Birth rate: 40.77 births/1000 population (1993 est.)

Death rate: 18.88 deaths/1000 population (1993 est.)

Net migration rate: -5.04 migrant(s)/1000 population (1993 est.)

Population distribution

Urbanization

Major urban areas

Environment
Current issues: lies in the middle of the hurricane belt and subject to severe storms from June to October; occasional flooding and earthquakes; deforestation; soil erosion
Current issues note: shares island of Hispaniola with Dominican Republic (western one-third is Haiti, eastern two-thirds is the Dominican Republic)

Air pollutants

Sex ratio

Mothers mean age at first birth

Maternal mortality ratio

Infant mortality rate: 109.5 deaths/1000 live births (1993 est.)

Life expectancy at birth
Total population: 45.45 years
Male: 43.88 years
Female: 47.11 years (1993 est.)

Total fertility rate: 6.05 children born/woman (1993 est.)

Contraceptive prevalence rate

Drinking water source

Current health expenditure

Physicians density

Hospital bed density

Sanitation facility access

Hiv/Aids

Major infectious diseases

Obesity adult prevalence rate

Alcohol consumption

Tobacco use

Children under the age of 5 years underweight

Education expenditures

Literacy: age 15 and over can read and write (1990)
Total population: 53%
Male: 59%
Female: 47%

School life expectancy primary to tertiary education

Youth unemployment


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Country name
Conventional long form: Republic of Haiti
Conventional short form: Haiti
Local long form: Republique d'Haiti
Local short form: Haiti

Government type: republic

Capital: Port-au-Prince

Administrative divisions:

Dependent areas

Independence: 1 January 1804 (from France)

National holiday: Independence Day, 1 January (1804)

Constitution:

Legal system: based on Roman civil law system; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction

International law organization participation

Citizenship

Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal

Executive branch: president, Council of Ministers (cabinet)

Legislative branch: bicameral National Assembly (Assemblee Nationale) consisting of an upper house or Senate and a lower house or Chamber of Deputies

Judicial branch: Court of Appeal (Cour de Cassation)

Political parties and leaders

International organization participation:

Diplomatic representation
In the us chief of mission: Ambassador Jean CASIMIR
In the us chancery: 2,311 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20,008
In the us telephone: (202) 332-4,090 through 4,092
In the us consulates general:
From the us chief of mission: Special Charge d'Affaires Charles REDMAN
From the us embassy: Harry Truman Boulevard, Port-au-Prince
From the us mailing address: P. O. Box 1761, Port-au-Prince
From the us telephone: 509 22-0354, 22-0368, 22-0200, or 22-0612
From the us fax: 509 23-9,007

Flag description: two equal horizontal bands of blue (top) and red with a centered white rectangle bearing the coat of arms, which contains a palm tree flanked by flags and two cannons above a scroll bearing the motto L'UNION FAIT LA FORCE (Union Makes Strength)

National symbols

National anthem

National heritage


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Economy overview: About 75% of the population live in abject poverty. Agriculture is mainly small-scale subsistence farming and employs nearly three-fourths of the work force. The majority of the population does not have ready access to safe drinking water, adequate medical care, or sufficient food. Few social assistance programs exist, and the lack of employment opportunities remains one of the most critical problems facing the economy, along with soil erosion and political instability. Trade sanctions applied by the Organization of American States in response to the September 1991 coup against President ARISTIDE have further damaged the economy.

Real gdp purchasing power parity

Real gdp growth rate: -4% (FY91 est.)

Real gdp per capita: $340 (1991 est.)

Gross national saving

Gdp composition by end use

Gdp composition by sector of origin

Agriculture products: accounts for 28% of GDP and employs around 70% of work force; mostly small-scale subsistence farms; commercial crops - coffee, mangoes, sugarcane, wood; staple crops - rice, corn, sorghum; shortage of wheat flour

Industries: sugar refining, textiles, flour milling, cement manufacturing, tourism, light assembly industries based on imported parts

Industrial production growth rate:

Labor force: 2.3 million
By occupation agriculture: 66%
By occupation services: 25%
By occupation industry: 9%
Note: shortage of skilled labor; unskilled labor abundant (1982)

Unemployment rate: 25-50% (1991)

Youth unemployment

Population below poverty line

Gini index

Household income or consumption by percentage share

Distribution of family income gini index

Budget: revenues $300 million; expenditures $416 million, including capital expenditures of $145 million (1990 est.)

Taxes and other revenues

Public debt

Revenue

Fiscal year: 1 October - 30 September

Inflation rate consumer prices

Central bank discount rate

Commercial bank prime lending rate

Stock of narrow money

Stock of broad money

Stock of domestic credit

Market value of publicly traded shares

Current account balance

Exports: $146 million (f.o.b., 1991 est.)
Commodoties: light manufactures 65%, coffee 19%, other agriculture 8%, other 8%
Partners: US 84%, Italy 4%, France 3%, other industrial countries 6%, less developed countries 3% (1987)

Imports: $252 million (f.o.b., 1991 est.)
Commodoties: machines and manufactures 34%, food and beverages 22%, petroleum products 14%, chemicals 10%, fats and oils 9%
Partners:

Reserves of foreign exchange and gold

Debt external

Stock of direct foreign investment at home

Stock of direct foreign investment abroad

Exchange rates: gourdes (G) per US$1 - 8.4 (December 1991), fixed rate of 5.000 through second quarter of 1991)


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Electricity
Production: 217,000 kW capacity; 480 million kWh produced, 75 kWh per capita (1992)

Coal

Petroleum

Crude oil

Refined petroleum

Natural gas

Carbon dioxide emissions

Energy consumption per capita


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Telephones

Telephone system

Broadcast media

Internet

Broadband fixed subscriptions


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Military expenditures
Percent of gdp: exchange rate conversion - $34 million, 1.5% of GDP (1988 est.)

Military and security forces

Military service age and obligation

Space program

Terrorist groups


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National air transport system

Civil aircraft registration country code prefix

Airports: 13
Usable: 10
With permanentsurface runways: 3
With runways over 3659 m: 0
With runways 2440-3659 m: 1
With runways 1220-2439 m: 3

Heliports

Pipelines

Railways

Roadways

Waterways: negligible; less than 100 km navigable

Merchant marine

Ports and terminals


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Disputes international: claims US-administered Navassa Island

Refugees and internally displaced persons

Illicit drugs: transshipment point for cocaine