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Haiti Country Guide

Explore Haiti in North America

Haiti with the capital city Port-au-Prince is located in North America (Caribbean, western one-third of the island of Hispaniola). It covers some 27,750 square kilometres (slightly smaller than Maryland) with 8,924,000 citizens.

Interactive map of Haiti

The terrain features mostly rough and mountainous. The average density of population is approximately 322 per km². The notable climate conditions in Haiti can be described as tropical with semiarid where mountains in east cut off trade winds. Potential natural disasters are lies in the middle of the hurricane belt and subject to severe storms from June to October or occasional flooding and earthquakes or periodic droughts.

To reach someone in Haiti dial +509 prior to a number. There are 108,300 installed telephones. And there are 3,648,000 registered mobile phones. The cellular networks commonly support frequencies of none MHz. Websites registered in this country end with the top level domain ".ht". If you want to bring electric equipment on your trip (e.g. laptop power supply), note the local power outlet of 110V - 60Hz.

About the flag and history of Haiti

Haiti Flag Icon

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); the colors are taken from the French Tricolor and represent the union of blacks and mulattoes.


The native Taino - who inhabited the island of Hispaniola when it was discovered by Christopher 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 post-colonial black-led nation in the world, declaring its independence in 1804. Currently the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, Haiti has experienced political instability 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. Continued instability and technical delays prompted repeated postponements, but Haiti inaugurated a democratically elected president and parliament in May of 2006. This was followed by contested elections in 2010 that resulted in the election of Haiti''s current President, Michel MARTELLY. A massive magnitude 7.0 earthquake struck Haiti in January 2010 with an epicenter about 25 km (15 mi) west of the capital, Port-au-Prince. Estimates are that over 300,000 people were killed and some 1.5 million left homeless. The earthquake was assessed as the worst in this region over the last 200 years.



Geography Quick-Facts

SummaryContinent: North America
Neighbours: Dominican Republic
Capital: Port-au-Prince
Size27,750 square kilometers (km² or sqkm) or 10,714 square miles (mi² or sqmi)
slightly smaller than Maryland
Population8,924,000
CurrencyName Gourde, Currency Code:HTG
Country Top Level Domain (cTLD).ht
Telephone Country Prefix+509
Mobile Phone Connections3,648,000
Landline Phone Connections108,300

Country Position in World Rankings

Information about single country attributes and how these compare against the rest of the world. The information below is compiled with data from 2013. As such, it may differ a bit to the Information above in the text (which is from 2010).

Geography

Value nameValueWorld Rank
Area27,750 (sq km)148

People and Society

Value nameValueWorld Rank
Population9,893,934 88
Population growth rate0.99 (%)117
Birth rate23.35 (births/1,000 population)71
Death rate8.00 (deaths/1,000 population)99
Net migration rate-5.50 (migrant(s)/1,000 population)194
Maternal mortality rate350.00 (deaths/100,000 live births)33
Infant mortality rate50.92 (deaths/1,000 live births)41
Life expectancy at birth62.85 (years)186
Total fertility rate2.88 (children born/woman)66
Health expenditures6.90 (% of GDP)83
HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate1.90 (%)31
HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS120,000 37
HIV/AIDS - deaths7,100 30
Obesity - adult prevalence rate7.90 (%)137
Children under the age of 5 years underweight18.90 (%)38

Economy

Value nameValueWorld Rank
GDP (purchasing power parity)13,150,000,000 146
GDP - real growth rate2.80 (%)115
GDP - per capita (PPP)1,300 208
Labor force4,810,000 80
Unemployment rate40.60 (%)189
Distribution of family income - Gini index59.20 7
Investment (gross fixed)37.00 (% of GDP)8
Taxes and other revenues12.70 (% of GDP)202
Budget surplus (+) or deficit (-)-1.40 (% of GDP)69
Inflation rate (consumer prices)6.70 (%)174
Commercial bank prime lending rate11.61 (%)70
Stock of narrow money1,090,000,000 147
Stock of broad money3,509,000,000 139
Stock of domestic credit2,040,000,000 137
Industrial production growth rate7.00 (%)37
Current account balance-1,509,000,000 128
Exports785,000,000 165
Imports2,640,000,000 154
Reserves of foreign exchange and gold1,307,000,000 128
Debt - external1,125,000,000 155
Stock of direct foreign investment - at home753,300,000 95

Energy

Value nameValueWorld Rank
Electricity - production726,000,000 (kWh)154
Electricity - consumption208,500,000 (kWh)184
Electricity - installed generating capacity130,000 (kW)167
Electricity - from fossil fuels79.00 (% of total installed capacity)94
Electricity - from hydroelectric plants21.00 (% of total installed capacity)89
Refined petroleum products - consumption14,000 (bbl/day)148
Refined petroleum products - imports15,130 (bbl/day)120
Carbon dioxide emissions from consumption of energy1,457,000 (Mt)155

Communications

Value nameValueWorld Rank
Telephones - main lines in use50,000 164
Telephones - mobile cellular4,200,000 115
Internet hosts555 181
Internet users1,000,000 99

Transportation

Value nameValueWorld Rank
Airports14 149
Roadways4,266 (km)155

Military

Value nameValueWorld Rank
Military expenditures0.40 (% of GDP)164

Data based on CIA facts book 2010 & 2013, wikipedia, national statistical offices and their census releases

List of current world heritage sites

NameSince
National History Park – Citadel, Sans Souci, Ramiers
These Haitian monuments date from the beginning of the 19th century, when Haiti proclaimed its independence. The Palace of Sans Souci, the buildings at Ramiers and, in particular, the Citadel serve as universal symbols of liberty, being the first mon ...
1982