HAITI
GEOGRAPHY
Total area: 27,750 km2; land area: 27,560 km2
Comparative area: slightly larger than Maryland
Land boundary: 275 km with the Dominican Republic
Coastline: 1,771 km
Maritime claims:
Contiguous zone: 24 nm;
Continental shelf: to depth of exploitation;
Exclusive economic zone: 200 nm;
Territorial sea: 12 nm
Disputes: claims US-administered Navassa Island
Climate: tropical; semiarid where mountains in east cut off trade
winds
Terrain: mostly rough and mountainous
Natural resources: bauxite
Land use: arable land 20%; permanent crops 13%; meadows and
pastures 18%; forest and woodland 4%; other 45%; includes irrigated 3%
Environment: lies in the middle of the hurricane belt and subject
to severe storms from June to October; occasional flooding and
earthquakes; deforestation; soil erosion
Note: shares island of Hispaniola with Dominican Republic
PEOPLE
Population: 6,286,511 (July 1991), growth rate 2.3% (1991)
Birth rate: 43 births/1,000 population (1991)
Death rate: 15 deaths/1,000 population (1991)
Net migration rate: - 5 migrants/1,000 population (1991)
Infant mortality rate: 106 deaths/1,000 live births (1991)
Life expectancy at birth: 52 years male, 55 years female (1991)
Total fertility rate: 6.3 children born/woman (1991)
Nationality: noun--Haitian(s); adjective--Haitian
Ethnic divisions: black 95%, mulatto and European 5%
Religion: Roman Catholic is the official religion; 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)
Language: French (official) spoken by only 10% of population; all
speak Creole
Literacy: 53% (male 59%, female 47%) age 15 and over can
read and write (1990 est.)
Labor force: 2,300,000; agriculture 66%, services 25%, industry 9%;
shortage of skilled labor, unskilled labor abundant (1982)
Organized labor: NA
GOVERNMENT
Long-form name: Republic of Haiti
Type: republic
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)
Constitution: 27 August 1983, suspended February 1986; draft
constitution approved March 1987, suspended June 1988, most articles
reinstated March 1989; March 1987 Constitution fully observed by
government installed on 7 February 1991
Legal system: based on Roman civil law system; accepts compulsory
ICJ jurisdiction
National holiday: Independence Day, 1 January (1804)
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
House of Deputies
Judicial branch: Court of Appeal (Cour de Cassation)
Leaders:
Chief of State--President Jean-Bertrand ARISTIDE (since 7 February
1991);
Head of Government--Prime Minister Rene PREVAL (since
13 February 1991)
Political parties and leaders:
National Front for Change and Democracy (FNCD) led by Jean-Bertrand
ARISTIDE, including Congress of Democratic Movements (CONACOM), Victor
BENOIT; National Konbite Movement (MKN), Volvick Remy JOSEPH;
National Alliance for Democracy and Progress (ANDP), a coalition
consisting of Movement for the Installation of Democracy in Haiti (MIDH),
Marc BAZIN; National Progressive Revolutionary Party (PANPRA), Serge
GILLES; and National Patriotic Movement of November 28 (MNP-28), Dejean
BELIZAIRE;
National Agricultural and Industrial Party (PAIN), Louis DEJOIE;
Movement for National Reconstruction (MRN), Rene THEODORE;
Haitian Christian Democratic Party (PDCH), Sylvio CLAUDE;
Assembly of Progressive National Democrats (RDNP), Leslie MANIGAT;
National Party of Labor (PNT), Thomas DESULME;
Mobilization for National Development (MDN), Hubert DE RONCERAY;
Democratic Movement for the Liberation of Haiti (MODELH), Francois
LATORTUE;
Haitian Social Christian Party (PSCH), Gregoire EUGENE;
Movement for the Organization of the Country (MOP), Gesner COMEAU
Suffrage: universal at age 18
Elections:
President--last held 16 December 1990 (next election to be held
by December 1995);
results--Rev. Jean-Bertrand ARISTIDE 67.5%, Marc BAZIN 14.2%, Louis
DEJOIE 4.9%;
Senate--last held 16 December 1990, with runoff held 20 January
1991 (next to be held by December 1992);
results--percent of vote NA;
seats--(27) FNCD 13, ANDP 6, PAIN 2, MRN 2, PDCH 1, RDNP 1, PNT 1,
independent 1;
Chamber of Deputies--last held 16 December 1990, with runoff
held 20 January 1991 (next to be held by December 1994);
results--percent of vote NA;
seats--(83) FNCD 27, ANDP 17, PDCH 7, PAIN 6, RDNP 6, MDN 5, PNT 3,
MKN 2, MODELH 2, MRN 1, independent 5, other 2
Communists: United Party of Haitian Communists (PUCH), Rene
THEODORE (roughly 2,000 members)
Other political or pressure groups: Democratic Unity Confederation
(KID), Roman Catholic Church, Confederation of Haitian Workers (CTH),
Federation of Workers Trade Unions (FOS), Autonomous Haitian Workers
(CATH), National Popular Assembly (APN)
Member of: ACCT, CARICOM (observer), CCC, ECLAC, FAO, G-77, GATT,
IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, IDA, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMF, IMO, INTELSAT,
INTERPOL, IOC, ITU, LAES, LORCS, OAS, OPANAL, PCA, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO,
UNIDO, UPU, WCL, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO
Diplomatic representation: Ambassador (vacant), Charge
d'Affaires Raymond Alcide JOSEPH; Chancery at 2311 Massachusetts Avenue
NW, Washington DC 20008; telephone (202) 332-4090 through 4092; there
are Haitian Consulates General in Boston, Chicago, Miami, New York,
and San Juan (Puerto Rico);
US--Ambassador Alvin P. ADAMS, Jr.; Embassy at Harry Truman
Boulevard, Port-au-Prince (mailing address is P. O. Box 1761,
Port-au-Prince), telephone 509 (1) 20-354 or 20-368, 20-200, 20-612
Flag: 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)
ECONOMY
Overview: About 85% of the population live in abject poverty.
Agriculture is mainly small-scale subsistence farming and employs
two-thirds 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.
GDP: $2.7 billion, per capita $440; real growth rate - 3.0% (1990
est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 20% (1990 est.)
Unemployment rate: 25-50% (1990 est.)
Budget: revenues $300 million; expenditures $416 million, including
capital expenditures of $145 million (1990 est.)
Exports: $169 million (f.o.b., 1990 est.);
commodities--light manufactures 69%, coffee 19%, other agriculture
8%, other 8%;
partners--US 84%, Italy 4%, France 3%, other industrial 6%,
less developed countries 3% (1987)
Imports: $348 million (c.i.f., 1990 est.);
commodities--machines and manufactures 34%, food and beverages 22%,
petroleum products 14%, chemicals 10%, fats and oils 9%;
partners--US 64%, Netherlands Antilles 5%, Japan 5%, France 4%,
Canada 3%, Germany 3% (1987)
External debt: $838 million (December 1990)
Industrial production: growth rate 0.3% (FY88); accounts for
15% of GDP
Electricity: 230,000 kW capacity; 264 million kWh produced,
43 kWh per capita (1990)
Industries: sugar refining, textiles, flour milling, cement
manufacturing, tourism, light assembly industries based on imported parts
Agriculture: accounts for 33% of GDP and employs 66% of work force;
mostly small-scale subsistence farms; commercial crops--coffee, mangoes,
sugarcane and wood; staple crops--rice, corn, sorghum; shortage of
wheat flour
Illicit drugs: transshipment point for cocaine
Economic aid: US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70-89), $700
million; Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments
(1970-88), $682 million
Currency: gourde (plural--gourdes); 1 gourde (G) = 100 centimes
Exchange rates: gourdes (G) per US$1-- 5.0 (fixed rate)
Fiscal year: 1 October-30 September
COMMUNICATIONS
Railroads: 40 km 0.760-meter narrow gauge, single-track, privately
owned industrial line
Highways: 4,000 km total; 950 km paved, 900 km otherwise improved,
2,150 km unimproved
Inland waterways: negligible; less than 100 km navigable
Ports: Port-au-Prince, Cap-Haitien
Civil air: 4 major transport aircraft
Airports: 15 total, 10 usable; 3 with permanent-surface runways;
none with runways over 3,659 m; 1 with runways 2,440-3,659 m; 4 with
runways 1,220-2,439 m
Telecommunications: domestic facilities barely adequate,
international facilities slightly better; 36,000 telephones;
stations--33 AM, no FM, 4 TV, 2 shortwave; 1 Atlantic Ocean earth station
DEFENSE FORCES
Branches: Army (including Police), Navy, Air Corps
Manpower availability: males 15-49, 1,287,179; 691,926 fit for
military service; 61,265 reach military age (18) annually
Defense expenditures: $34 million, 1.5% of GDP (1988 est.)