Religions: Roman Catholic 80%, Protestant 16% (Baptist 10%,
Pentecostal 4%, Adventist 1%, other 1%), other 3%, none 1%. Note:
roughly half the population practices Vaudou
Literacy rate: 53% (2003 est.)
Economic summary:GDP/PPP (2007 est.):
$15.82 billion; per capita $1,900. Real growth rate: 3.5%.
Inflation: 8.9%. Unemployment: widespread unemployment
and underemployment; more than two-thirds of the labor force do not
have formal jobs (2002 est.). Arable land: 28%. Agriculture:
coffee, mangoes, sugarcane, rice, corn, sorghum; wood. Labor
force: 3.6 million; note: shortage of skilled labor, unskilled
labor abundant (1995); agriculture 66%, services 25%, industry 9%.
Industries: sugar refining, flour milling, textiles, cement,
light assembly industries based on imported parts. Natural
resources: bauxite, copper, calcium carbonate, gold, marble,
hydropower. Exports: $554.8 million f.o.b. (2007 est.):
manufactures, coffee, oils, cocoa, mangoes. Imports: $1.844
billion f.o.b. (2007 est.): food, manufactured goods, machinery and
transport equipment, fuels, raw materials. Major trading
partners: U.S., Dominican Republic, Canada, Trinidad and Tobago,
Cuba, UK (2004).
Communications:
Telephones: main lines in use: 145,300 (2005); mobile cellular:
over 500,200 (2005). Radio broadcast stations: AM 41, FM 26,
shortwave 0 (1999). Television broadcast stations: 2 (plus a
cable TV service) (1997). Internet hosts: 7 (2007) Internet
users: 650,000 (2006).
Transportation:
Railways: n.a. Highways: 4,160 km (1999) Waterways:
n.a. Ports and harbors: Cap-Haitien. Airports: 14
(2007).
International disputes: since
2004, about 8,000 peacekeepers from the UN Stabilization Mission in
Haiti (MINUSTAH) maintain civil order in Haiti; despite efforts to
control illegal migration, Haitians fleeing economic privation and
civil unrest continue to cross into Dominican Republic and to sail to
neighboring countries; Haiti claims US-administered Navassa
Island.
Haiti, in the West Indies, occupies the western third of the island of
Hispaniola, which it shares with the Dominican Republic. About the size of
Maryland, Haiti is two-thirds mountainous, with the rest of the country
marked by great valleys, extensive plateaus, and small plains.
Government
Republic with an elected government.
History
Explored by Columbus on Dec. 6, 1492, Haiti's native Arawaks fell
victim to Spanish rule. In 1697, Haiti became the French colony of
Saint-Dominique, which became a leading sugarcane producer dependent on
slaves. In 1791, an insurrection erupted among the slave population of
480,000, resulting in a declaration of independence by Pierre-Dominique
Toussaint l'Ouverture in 1801. Napoléon Bonaparte suppressed the
independence movement, but it eventually triumphed in 1804 under
Jean-Jacques Dessalines, who gave the new nation the Arawak name
Haiti. It was the world's first independent black republic.
The revolution wrecked Haiti's economy. Years of strife between the
light-skinned mulattos who dominated the economy and the majority black
population, plus disputes with neighboring Santo Domingo, continued to
hurt the nation's development. After a succession of dictatorships, a
bankrupt Haiti accepted a U.S. customs receivership from 1905 to 1941.
Occupation by U.S. Marines from 1915 to 1934 brought stability. Haiti's
high population growth made it the most densely populated nation in the
Western Hemisphere.
In 1949, after four years of democratic rule by President Dumarsais
Estimé, dictatorship returned under Gen. Paul Magloire, who was succeeded
by François Duvalier, nicknamed “Papa Doc,” in 1957. Duvalier's secret
police, the “Tontons Macoutes,” ensured political stability with brutal
efficiency. Upon Duvalier's death in 1971, his son, Jean-Claude, or “Baby
Doc,” succeeded as ruler of the poorest nation in the hemisphere. In the
early 1980s, Haiti became one of the first countries to face an AIDS
epidemic. Fear of the disease caused tourists to stay away, and the
tourist industry collapsed, causing rising unemployment. Unrest generated
by the economic crisis forced Baby Doc to flee the country in 1986.
Throughout the 1990s the international community tried to establish
democracy in Haiti. The country's first elected chief executive,
Jean-Bertrand Aristide, a leftist Roman Catholic priest who seemed to
promise a new era in Haiti, took office in Feb. 1991. The military,
however, took control in a coup nine months later. A UN peacekeeping
force, led by the U.S.—Operation Uphold Democracy—arrived in 1994.
Aristide was restored to office and René Preval became his successor in
1996 elections. U.S. soldiers and UN peacekeepers left in 2000. Haiti's
government, however, remained ineffectual and its economy was in ruins.
Haiti has the highest rates of AIDS, malnutrition, and infant mortality in
the region.
In 2000, former president Aristide was reelected president in elections
boycotted by the opposition and questioned by many foreign observers. The
U.S. and other countries threatened Haiti with sanctions unless democratic
procedures were strengthened. Aristide, once a charismatic champion of
democracy, grew more authoritarian and seemed incapable of improving the
lot of his people. Violent protests rocked the country in Jan. 2004, the
month of Haiti's bicentennial, with protesters demanding that Aristide
resign. By February, a full-blown armed revolt was under way, and
Aristide's hold on power continued to slip. The protests, groups of armed
rebels, and French and American pressure led to the ousting of Aristide on
Feb. 29. Thereafter a U.S.-led international force of 2,300 entered the
chaos-engulfed country to attempt to restore order, and an interim
government took over. In September, Hurricane Jeanne ravaged Haiti,
killing more than 2,400 people. Lawlessness and gang violence were
widespread, and the interim government had no control over parts of the
country, which were run by armed former soldiers.
After numerous delays, Haiti held elections on Feb. 7, 2006. The
elections, backed by 9,000 United Nations troops, were seen as a crucial
step in returning Haiti to some semblance of stability. Former prime
minister and Aristide protegé René Préval, very popular among the poor,
was seen as the favorite. But when the election count indicated that
Préval's lead over the other candidate was dropping and that he would not
win an outright majority, Préval contested the election and charged that
“massive fraud and gross errors had stained the process.” On Feb. 14, the
interim government halted the election count, and the following day, after
the votes were retabulated, Préval was declared the winner.
In April 2008, Prime Minister Jacques-Édouard Alexis was removed from
office by the senate, which held him responsible for the poor economy. On
April 12, after violent street riots, President René Préval announced that
he would cut the cost of rice by nearly 16%. On April 27, President René
Préval designated Ericq Pierre as the new prime minister.
