Haiti

Geography

Economics

Demographics

Military

Politics

Surface

Surface (in square kilometers)

Surface (in square miles)

Surface (water)

Water Surface (in square kilometers)

Water Surface (in square miles)

Share of water (%)

Temperature

Average temperature (in Celcius)

Average temperature (in Farenheit)

Average high temperature (in Celcius)

Average high temperature (in Farenheit)

Average low temperature (in Celcius)

Average low temperature (in Farenheit)

Rainfall

Average rainfall (mm)

Average rainfall (inch)

Distance to other capitals (kilometers)

Distance to other capitals (miles)

Proximity

Economic organizations

Gross Domestic Product (US$)

Gross Domestic Product per capita

Amount of memberships (economic organizations)

Absolute earnings for every 1$

Relative earnings

GDP in PPP per capita (in US$)

GDP in PPP per capita

Gross Domestic product (in million US$)

GDP per capita (in US$)

Surface GDP

GDP per square kilometer (in US$)

GDP per square mile(in US$)

Relative GDP in PPP

Population

Population density

Emigration

Immigration

Literacy

Health

Population density (in km2)

Population density (in mi2)

Religion

Christianity (share of the total population)

Islam (share of the total population)

Buddhism (share of the total population)

Hinduism (share of the total population)

Judaism (share of the total population)

Other religions (share of the total population)

Non-religious (share of the total population)

Military spending (in % of GDP)

Military spending

Haiti spends around 0.01 percent of its GDP, or US$1 million on its military. This represents 0.00003 percent of total global military expenditure and ranks Haiti as the 170th highest military spender in the world.

The Haitian military mainly consists of paramilitary forces, coast guard and national police. Their main task is to ensure internal political stability.

Military membership

Haiti is also a member of three international military organizations which makes it the 161st most the militarily interconnected state in the world. It is a member of the following organizations:

Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons
International Atomic Energy Agency
Non-Aligned Movement

Military membership

International wars

Since its independence, Haiti participated in five international wars. These are:

Haitian Revolution 1791-1804
Fourth quarter of the Haitian Revolution 1801-1805
Haitian invasion of Santo Domingo 1805-1805
Dominican War of Independence 1844-1849
United States occupation of Haiti 1915-1934

Number of international wars fought

Military spending (in US$ million)

Membership (international political organizations)

Haiti is a member of 11 international political organizations which makes it the 103rd most politically interconnected state in the world. It is a member of the following organizations:

Member state of the United Nations
International Labour Organization
Organization of American States
Association of Caribbean States
International Centre for the Study of the Preservation and Restoration of Cultural Property
Member states of the Organization internationale de la Francophonie

Political Membership

Democracy/dictatorship rating

Despite being a democracy, Haiti has been plagued with ballot tempering as well as political unrest over the last 40 years. This has also led to more violent transitions of power then peaceful transitions of power. Because of this, Haiti is ranked as the 117th most democratic state in the world.

Democracy/Dictatorship

The politics of Haiti are in the form of a semi-presidential republic where the president is head of state and the Prime Minister is head of government.

Interpol
Permanent Court of Arbitration
Alliance of Small Island States
Association of World Election Bodies
World Organization for Animal Health

If you liked this page, and you want to support us, please take a look at the support options on the top bar.

If you want to know more about other states, click on the flag on the right to discover the Holy See (Vatican).

With its name meaning mountainous land, Haiti is home to one of the most beautiful beaches as well as a scenic mountain range. Its first contact with the Europeans was with Christopher Columbus at the end of the 15th century. During the 16th and 17th century, the native population were subdued by the Spanish which incorporated the territory into the Spanish Empire. At the turn of the 18th century, Haiti was incorporated into the French Empire and became one of the leading exporters of sugar. However, nearly 100 years later, an insurrection by the slave population overthrew the French and proclaimed its independence in 1791. After establishing full control of Haiti at the start of the 19th century, Haiti became the first black independent republic. Since its independence, Haiti was divided into a northern part which was controlled by people of African descent and the southern part that was controlled by people of mixed descent. After rising tensions between both groups, the United States invaded Haiti in 1915 in order to protect its assets. When the United States withdrew its forces in 1934, Haiti was reunited. Throughout the rest of the 20th century and into the 21st century, several military coups ensued which created a large period of political unrest. This has also led to a slow economic growth which was further hindered by a series of hurricanes and earthquakes over the last two decades

Haiti

Located on the Caribbean Sea, the Island which is known as Hispaniola is currently split into half with the Western part occupied by Haiti and the eastern part occupied by the Dominican Republic. The geography of Haiti is characterized as mountainous with large mountain ranges that stretches from East to West throughout Haiti. These mountains are densely forested or covered by low vegetation.

It is the 143rd largest state in the world with a total surface area of 27,889 square kilometers or 10,764 square miles. This makes Haiti slightly larger than Rwanda and slightly smaller than Burundi.

It has approximately 191 square kilometers or 73 square miles of surface water which makes it the 132nd highest in the world.

Below, a graph is shown which displays the absolute amount of water of each state in square kilometers and square miles.

With its location in the tropical sphere, Haiti is the 64th warmest state in the world with an average temperature of 24.9 degrees Celsius or 76.7 degrees Fahrenheit.

During the summer period, the average temperature goes up to 29.1 degrees Celsius or 84.4 degrees Fahrenheit.

During the winter period, the temperature drops down to 20.3 degrees Celsius or 68.5 degrees Fahrenheit.

It is the 55th state with the highest amount of rainfall which mainly occurs between November and March. The average precipitation is 151.8 centimetres or 59.8 inches per year.

The capital of Haiti, Port-au-Prince is home to 1.4 million people. The capital that is closest located is Santo Domingo of the Dominican Republic with a distance of 269 kilometers or 167 miles. The capital that is furthest located from Port-au-Prince is Jakarta Indonesia with a distance of 18,650 kilometers or 11,588 miles.

Haiti has a free market economy. Because of its recent natural disasters, the economy of Haiti has taken a large hit which has created large external debts. Around half of the Haitian economy is dependent on agriculture which is mainly uses to support its population. Another large sector of the Haitian economy is the textile sector which it largely exports to the United States which it has a free trade agreement with.

Haiti is a member of 12 international economic organizations which makes it the 95th most economically interconnected state in the world. It is a member of the following organizations:

Alliance for Financial Inclusion
Caribbean Development Bank
Inter-American Development Bank
International Monetary Fund
World Bank Group
World Customs Organization
World Trade Organization
Organization of African, Caribbean and Pacific States
Caribbean Community
International Solar Alliance
Group of 77
Group of 24

It has the 148th highest GDP in the world which is US$9.8 billion and represents 0.012 percent of total global GDP.

Its GDP per surface area is the 109th highest in the world with US$350,842 per square kilometer or US$909,044 per square mile.

Its GDP per capita is the 173rd highest in the world which stands at US$863.

The absolute earnings (GDP per capita) reflect the average yearly income. The figure below shows how much, on average, an inhabitant of another state earns for every $1 earned by a citizen of this state.

Its purchasing power is also the 173rd highest in the world with US$2187 as the average purchasing power of the Haiti citizen.

The relative Gross Domestic Product in Purchasing Power Parity compares the purchasing power of this state with that of the rest of the world. The graph on the left shows how much purchasing power of 1$ compared to the purchasing power of other states

With a population of 11,3 million people, Haiti is the 81st most populous state in the world. The vast majority of Haitians are of African descent. Around five percent of the population is a mix between European and African descendants. This group is relatively wealthier compared to the African population. Other groups of people from European descent represents only a fraction of the total population.

It is the 23rd most densely populated state in the world with 406 people per square kilometer or 1051 people per square mile.

Emigration from Haiti is represented by 13.4 percent of the population, or just over 1.5 million people. This makes Haiti the 47th state with the highest number of emigrants. The main reason for migration is economic as well as the need for survival as more than 25 percent of the population faces severe malnutrition.

Immigration to Haiti is represented by 0.11 percent of the total population, or just over 10,000 people. These mainly consist of people that have married natives as well as businessmen that invest in the economy of Haiti.

With the literacy rate of 60.9 percent, Haiti is the 174th most literate state in the world. This means that Haiti has the lowest literacy rate of central and south America. The reason for this low literacy rate is the low investments in education due to political and economic instability over the last 50 years. The earthquakes of 2010 have only exacerbated this problem due to the destruction of most of the schools in Haiti.

Before its natural disasters, Haiti was subject to communicable diseases such as tuberculosis and HIV AIDS. After the earthquake of 2010, much of its health infrastructure was destroyed and because of its status as a developing economy, its healthcare has declined rapidly. This has also resulted in the rise of preventable deaths as well as deaths from polluted drinking water. Haiti has the lowest life expectancy in the Western Hemisphere and his ranked 151st with an average life expectancy of 65 years. Women reach the average age of 67.2 years and men reach the average age of 62.8 years.

The government of Haiti provides freedom of religion towards all religions. However, Haiti used to have Catholicism as its state religion until the end of the 20th century. The remnants of this are still seen with the preferential treatment of the Catholic church. Other non-Christian denominations seem to be struggling with stigmas from the Haitian government.

Christianity, with Roman Catholicism as its largest subbranch, is the largest denomination in Haiti. Christianity is followed by 81.9 percent of the population which makes it the 41st most Christian state in the world. Catholicism was the only religion that was allowed during the colonial period of France and Spain. Other religions were outlawed and even punishable by law.

Islam was introduced with the shipment of Islamic people of African descent from the 16th century until the abolishment of slavery. Over time, orthodox Islam started to wane and currently there are five mosques located on Haiti. The total Islamic population represents less than one percent of the total population which makes Haiti the 187th most Islamic state in the world.

There are no official Buddhist organizations in Haiti.

Around 0.03 percent of the population adheres to Hinduism which mainly stem from people from India that remained in Haiti after the relocation of the British Empire.

Judaism was introduced to Haiti during the Spanish Inquisition when many Jews fled from Spain to the Caribbean. Currently, less than 0.03 percent of the population adheres to Judaism. These are mainly Jews that do business in Haiti or took part in the African slave trade.

Other religions are practiced by 1.67 percent of the population. These are mainly traditional African religions with voodoo being the largest among them. Other religions are the Taino religion which belong to the population that was present in Haiti before European contact.

Irreligion is practiced by 7.1 percent of the population.

Haiti does not have larger navigable rivers and is dependent on smaller rivers for its water supply. Because of the natural disasters over the last two decades, much of the water treatment plants as well as waste management has been destroyed. This has led to a severe pollution of available water which is both being used for waste disposal as well as drinking water.