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: 27,750 sq km
land: 27,560 sq km
water: 190 sq km
Area - comparative:
slightly smaller than Maryland
POPULATION:
8,121,622
note: estimates for this country explicitly take into account the effects of excess mortality due to AIDS; this can result
in lower life expectancy, higher infant mortality and death rates, lower population and growth rates, and changes in the
distribution of population by age and sex than would otherwise be expected
(July 2005 est.)
(July 2005 est.)
AGE STRUCTURE:
0-14 years: 42.6%
(male 1,741,622/female 1,721,436)
15-64 years: 53.9%
(male 2,137,225/female 2,242,639)
65 years and over: 3.4%
(male 124,383/female 154,317)
(2005 est.)
MEDIAN AGE:
total: 18.03 years
male: 17.63 years
female: 18.44 years
(2005 est.)
POPULATION GROWTH:
total: 18.03 years
male: 17.63 years
female: 18.44 years
(2005 est.)
HIV/AIDS-ADULT PREVALENCE RATE:
2.26%
(2005 est.)
HIV/AIDS- PEOPLE LIVING WITH HIV/AIDS :
total: 73.45 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 79.92 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 66.79 deaths/1,000 live births
(2005 est.)
HIV/AIDS-DEATH
5.5 %
ETHNIC GROUPS:
black 95%,
mulatto and white 5%
RELIGIONS:
Roman Catholic 80%,
Protestant 16%
(Baptist 10%, Pentecostal 4%, Adventist 1%, other 1%),
none 1%,
other 3%
(1982)
note: roughly half of the population practices Voodoo
LANGUAGES:
French (official),
Creole (official)
LITERACY:
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 52.9%
male: 54.8%
female: 51.2%
(2003 est.)
GOVERNMENT TYPE:
elected government
CAPITAL:
Port-au-Prince
ADMINISTRATIVE DIVISIONS:
9 departments (departements, singular - departement); Artibonite,
Centre, Grand 'Anse, Nord, Nord-Est, Nord-Ouest, Ouest, Sud, Sud-Est
INDEPENDENCE:
1 January 1804 (from France)
ECONOMY:
In this poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, 80% of the population
lives in abject poverty, and natural disasters frequently sweep the nation. Two-thirds of all
Haitians depend on the agriculture sector, which consists mainly of small-scale subsistence
farming. Following legislative elections in May 2000, fraught with irregularities, international
donors - including the US and EU - suspended almost all aid to Haiti. The economy shrank an
estimated 1.2% in 2001, 0.9% in 2002, grew 0.4% in 2003, and shrank by 3.5% in 2004. Suspended
aid and loan disbursements totaled more than $500 million at the start of 2003. Haiti also
suffers from rampant inflation, a lack of investment, and a severe trade deficit. In early
2005 Haiti paid its arrears to the World Bank, paving the way to reengagement with the Bank.
The resumption of aid flows from all donors is alleviating but not ending the nation's bitter
economic problems. Civil strife in 2004 combined with extensive damage from flooding in southern
Haiti in May 2004 and Tropical Storm Jeanne in northwestern Haiti in September 2004
further impoverished Haiti.
GDP:
purchasing power parity - $12.05 billion
(2004 est.)
POPULATION BELOW POVERT LINE:
80%
(2003 est.)
INFLATION RATE:
22%
(2004 est.)
UNEMPLOYMENT:
widespread unemployment and underemployment; more than two-thirds of the
labor force do not have formal jobs
(2002 est.)
EXCHANGE RATES:
gourdes per US dollar - 35.7436 (2004),
42.37 (2003),
29.2505 (2002),
24.4291 (2001),
21.1707 (2000)
ILLICIT DRUGS:
major Caribbean transshipment point for cocaine en route to the US and
Europe; substantial money-laundering activity; Colombian narcotics traffickers favor Haiti
for illicit financial transactions; pervasive corruption
