About Haiti

Geography

Haiti is situated east of Cuba and shares a 275-kilometre border with the Dominican Republic. The total area of Haiti is 27,750 km².

The country

Haiti, officially called the Republic of Haiti, is an island state in the Caribbean Sea. The republic consists of the western part of the island Hispaniola and a number of smaller islands, among which Île de la Gonâve, Île de la Tortue and Île à Vache. Haiti is divided into ten departments, which in turn are divided into districts. The head of state is the president, who has a lot of power. The current President is René Préval, who took office on 14 May 2006. After being a Spanish and French colony respectively, Haiti became an independent state in 1804. It was the first independent state in Latin America and the first post colonial ‘black’ country in the world. Haiti is one of the poorest countries in the world; it is politically instable and has suffered from many natural disasters. The earthquake of January 2010 destroyed a large part of the country, especially in the capital Port-au-Prince.

The capital
Port-au-Prince is the capital. It is also the largest city of Haiti and has approximately 1.2. million inhabitants. Besides being the capital of Haiti Port-au-Prince is also the capital of the department Ouest and the district Port-au-Prince.

Population and language
Haiti’s population amounts to about 9 million people. The Indians are the original inhabitants of Haiti. The current population mainly descends from African people, who were transported to Haiti as slaves. They speak Kreyòl, a language based on the French language. There is also a small group of French speaking people with a mixed-race background. They usually have a French father and a black mother. This small group also belongs to the elite in Haiti. There is a high percentage of child mortality and illiteracy. Aids is widespread. Because of the poverty and the instable political situation in Haiti, many people emigrate to the U.S. and the Dominican Republic.

Religion
Although the African slaves brought their own religion, many of them converted to Roman Catholicism (often forced). A mix of catholicism and African religions resulted in Vodou, a variation of the West African Vodou. The majority of the population are official Roman Catholics, but over the last few decades protestantism has increased.