Haiti 
Facts
Population: 8,706,497
note: estimates for this country explicitly take into account the effects of excess mortality due to AIDS; this can result in lower life expectancy, higher infant mortality and death rates, lower population and growth rates, and changes in the distribution of population by age and sex than would otherwise be expected (July 2007 est.).
Age structure: 0-14 years: 42.1% (male 1,846,175/female 1,817,082)
15-64 years: 54.4% (male 2,313,542/female 2,426,326)
65 years and over: 3.5% (male 134,580/female 168,792) (2007 est.).
Population growth rate: 2.453% (2007 est.).
Birth rate: 35.87 births/1,000 population (2007 est.).
Death rate: 10.4 deaths/1,000 population (2007 est.).
Net migration rate: -0.94 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2007 est.).
Sex ratio: at birth: 1.03 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.016 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 0.954 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.797 male(s)/female
total population: 0.973 male(s)/female (2007 est.).
Infant mortality rate: total: 63.83 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 68.45 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 59.07 deaths/1,000 live births (2007 est.).
Life expectancy at birth: total population: 57.03 years
male: 55.35 years
female: 58.75 years (2007 est.).
Total fertility rate: 4.86 children born/woman (2007 est.).
HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate: 5.6% (2003 est.).
HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS: 280,000 (2003 est.).
HIV/AIDS - deaths: 24,000 (2003 est.).
Nationality: noun: Haitian(s)
adjective: Haitian.
Ethnic groups: black 95%, mulatto and white 5%.
Religions: Roman Catholic 80%, Protestant 16% (Baptist 10%, Pentecostal 4%, Adventist 1%, other 1%), none 1%, other 3%
note: roughly half of the population practices voodoo.
Languages: French (official), Creole (official).
Literacy: definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 52.9%
male: 54.8%
female: 51.2% (2003 est.).
GDP (purchasing power parity): $14.79 billion (2006 est.).
GDP - real growth rate: 2.5% (2006 est.).
GDP - per capita (PPP): $1,800 (2006 est.).
GDP - composition by sector: agriculture: 28%
industry: 20%
services: 52% (2004 est.).
Labor force: 3.6 million
note: shortage of skilled labor, unskilled labor abundant (1995).
Labor force - by occupation: agriculture: 66%
industry: 9%
services: 25%.
Population below poverty line: 80% (2003 est.).
Household income or consumption by percentage share: lowest 10%: NA%
highest 10%: NA%.
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 14.4% (2006 est.).
Unemployment rate: widespread unemployment and underemployment; more than two-thirds of the labor force do not have formal jobs (2002 est.).
Budget: revenues: $385 million
expenditures: $807.7 million; including capital expenditures of $NA (2006 est.).
Agriculture - products: coffee, mangoes, sugarcane, rice, corn, sorghum; wood.
Industries: sugar refining, flour milling, textiles, cement, light assembly based on imported parts.
Industrial production growth rate: NA%.
Electricity - production: 536.2 million kWh (2004).
Electricity - consumption: 498.6 million kWh (2004).
Electricity - exports: 0 kWh (2004).
Electricity - imports: 0 kWh (2004).
Exports: $443.7 million f.o.b. (2006 est.).
Exports - commodities: manufactures, coffee, oils, cocoa, mangoes.
Exports - partners: US 80.9%, Dominican Republic 6.9%, Canada 4% (2005).
Imports: $1.721 billion f.o.b. (2006 est.).
Imports - commodities: food, manufactured goods, machinery and transport equipment, fuels, raw materials.
Imports - partners: US 48.7%, Netherlands Antilles 11.9%, Brazil 3.3% (2005).
Debt - external: $1.309 billion (2006 est.).
Economic aid - recipient: $153 million (FY05 est.).
Currency (code): gourde (HTG).
Exchange rates: gourdes per US dollar - 40.232 (2006), 40.449 (2005), 38.352 (2004), 42.367 (2003), 29.251 (2002).
Fiscal year: 1 October - 30 September.
Statistics: C.I.A. World Factbook. Updated: July 20, 2007.
Press
Haïti Observateur
(Conservative weekly), Port-au-Prince
(Independent weekly), Port-au-Prince
http://www.haiti-progres.com/
Haiti in the News
1 2 3 4 5 
Displaying 9 to 12 of 17 items.
The Jamaica Gleaner endorses the Caribbean Community's call for a U.N.-led investigation into the circumstances under which Jean-Bertrand Aristide relinquished the presidency of Haiti.
The independent Haitian weekly Haïti Progrès looks at the prospect of foreign military intervention in the country with alarm.
In an unsigned editorial, the Dominican newspaper Hoy lambastes governments and aid organizations for talking a good line on Haiti, but not doing enough.
South African President Thabo Mbeki's visit to Haiti for its bicentennial celebrations sparked a lively debate in the South African press, associate editor Sarah Coleman finds.
Americas 
