Haiti Mission
Haiti Fact Sheet
By Bob DellaValle-Rauth
Jan 24, 2008, 21:34

HAITI FACT SHEET (revised 1/24/08 RGR)
“The most impoverished country in the Western Hemisphere”

LOCATION: 700 miles southeast of Miami, just 100 minutes air travel time, occupying the western third of the island of Hispaniola, which it shares with the Dominican Republic. Haiti’s northern tip is only 60 miles from Cuba.

SIZE: 10,714 square miles, or 1/4 the size of Virginia (about the size of Maryland).

POPULATION: Approximately 8.2 million people. Another 1.5 million live abroad, mostly in the U.S. and Canada, with an estimated additional number (varying between 450,000 to 750,000) living in the neighboring Dominican Republic.

GOVERNMENT: Columbus landed at Mole Nicholas in 1492 after stopping in the West Indies and then Cuba. Under Spain and then France until 1804 when Haiti, through a successful slave rebellion, became the first Black Republic in the world. The first democratic elections were held only in December 1990 when Jean Bertrand Aristide was elected President. A military coup placed him in exile Sept. 29, 1991. President Clinton returned Aristide Oct. 15, 1994. A nonviolent transfer of power from President Aristide to newly elected Rene Preval took place Feb. 7, 1996. Aristide was re-elected President Nov. 26, 2000. The Parliament of 83 Delegates and 27 Senators was elected in May 2000 (with term extending to Feb. 7, 2006). Turnout of eligible voters in all elections exceeded 60%. President Aristide was forcibly removed from Haiti on Feb. 29, 2004 by agreement of the U.S., France, and Canada after a bloody invasion of Haitian terrorists (former military, & FRAPH members) from the Dominican Republic. They were backed by the political opposition party Democratic Convergence/Group 184, which was supported by the U.S. A de facto-illegal unconstitutional government ruling through fear, terror and violence and placed in power by the US and France was replaced on Feb. 7, 2006 by constitutionally elected Rene Preval, current president of Haiti. The Treasury was decimated from 2004-2006 and inflation rose exponentially…contributing to interminable suffering.

RELIGION: 80% Roman Catholic. 10% various Protestant mainline churches. Evangelical Christians are increasingly becoming evident. Vodou remains a part of Haitian culture stemming from African roots and the government officially recognizes the Vodouist Federation.

LANGUAGE: Kreyol and French are official but everyone speaks Kreyol. All of Haitian law is in French, the language of only 15% of the people. Some grassroots groups and the clergy are learning English.

EDUCATION: Free public education is sporadic in urban areas and non-existent in many rural areas. Only 5-10% of rural children ever complete elementary school. 80% of the population is illiterate however President Aristide was able to set up one literacy school in each of the 565 districts in Haiti.

LIVING CONDITIONS: Only 15% of the rural population has access to safe water. Most families do not have electricity or running water. Sanitary facilities as we know them, sewage disposal, flush toilets, etc., are almost nonexistent. Over 3.0 million people live in urban slums. In 1999 the UN designated Haiti the 3rd hungriest nation in the world behind Somalia and Afghanistan. Haiti is the 4th poorest country in the world.

LIFE EXPECTANCY: 49 years. For some labor activities such as pulling bourets, 45 years.

ECONOMY: Average per capita income is less than $350, closer to $150 in the rural areas. Less than 1% of the population controls the majority of the wealth. Fewer than 200 families control the entire economy.

TRADE: Much of the food for survival, such as rice, is imported at low prices because of subsidies to US farmers by the U.S. government. Exports have been limited because of high US tariffs (10 to 12%). However, trade under President Aristide’s democratic government was increasing with Cuba, Venezuela, Taiwan, Japan, and Caribbean nations.
























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