PEOPLE AND SOCIETY
Introduction
Background
The native Taino - who inhabited the island of Hispaniola when Christopher COLUMBUS first landed on it in 1492 - were virtually wiped out by Spanish settlers within 25 years. In the early 17th century, the French established a presence on Hispaniola. In 1697, Spain ceded to the French the western third of the island, which later became Haiti. The French colony, based on forestry and sugar-related industries, became one of the wealthiest in the Caribbean but relied heavily on the forced labor of enslaved Africans and environmentally degrading practices. In the late 18th century, Toussaint L'OUVERTURE led a revolution of Haiti's nearly half a million slaves that ended France's rule on the island. After a prolonged struggle, and under the leadership of Jean-Jacques DESSALINES, Haiti became the first country in the world led by former slaves after declaring its independence in 1804, but it was forced to pay an indemnity to France for more than a century and was shunned by other countries for nearly 40 years. After the US occupied Haiti from 1915-1934, Francois "Papa Doc" DUVALIER and then his son Jean-Claude “Baby Doc” DUVALIER led repressive and corrupt regimes that ruled Haiti from 1957-1971 and 1971-1986, respectively. A massive magnitude 7.0 earthquake struck Haiti in January 2010 with an epicenter about 25 km (15 mi) west of the capital, Port-au-Prince. Estimates are that over 300,000 people were killed and some 1.5 million left homeless. The earthquake was assessed as the worst in this region over the last 200 years. On 4 October 2016, Hurricane Matthew made landfall in Haiti, resulting in over 500 deaths and causing extensive damage to crops, houses, livestock, and infrastructure. Currently the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, Haiti continues to experience bouts of political instability.
People and Society
Population
11,198,240 (July 2021 est.)
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, higher death rates, lower population growth rates, and changes in the distribution of population by age and sex than would otherwise be expected
Nationality
noun: Haitian(s)
adjective: Haitian
Ethnic groups
Black 95%, mixed and White 5%
Languages
French (official), Creole (official)
major-language sample(s):
The World Factbook, une source indispensable d'informations de base. (French)
The World Factbook, the indispensable source for basic information.
Religions
Protestant/Methodist/Adventist/Jehovah's Witness 51.8%, Roman Catholic 35.4%, Vodou 1.7%, none 11% (2016-17 est.)
note: many Haitians practice elements of Vodou in addition to another religion, most often Roman Catholicism; Vodou was recognized as an official religion in 2003
Age structure
0-14 years: 31.21% (male 1,719,961/female 1,734,566)
15-24 years: 20.71% (male 1,145,113/female 1,146,741)
25-54 years: 38.45% (male 2,110,294/female 2,145,209)
55-64 years: 5.3% (male 280,630/female 305,584)
65 years and over: 4.33% (male 210,451/female 269,228) (2020 est.)
Dependency ratios
total dependency ratio: 60.4
youth dependency ratio: 52.1
elderly dependency ratio: 8.3
potential support ratio: 13.3 (2020 est.)
Median age
total: 24.1 years
male: 23.8 years
female: 24.3 years (2020 est.)
Net migration rate
-1.9 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2021 est.)
country comparison to the world: 169Population distribution
fairly even distribution; largest concentrations located near coastal areas
Urbanization
urban population: 58% of total population (2021)
rate of urbanization: 2.47% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.)
Major urban areas - population
2.844 million PORT-AU-PRINCE (capital) (2021)
Sex ratio
at birth: 1.01 male(s)/female
0-14 years: 0.99 male(s)/female
15-24 years: 1 male(s)/female
25-54 years: 0.98 male(s)/female
55-64 years: 0.92 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.78 male(s)/female
total population: 0.98 male(s)/female (2020 est.)
Mother's mean age at first birth
22.4 years (2016/7 est.)
note: median age at first birth among women 25-49
Maternal mortality ratio
480 deaths/100,000 live births (2017 est.)
country comparison to the world: 22Infant mortality rate
total: 41.29 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 47.1 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 35.42 deaths/1,000 live births (2021 est.)
Life expectancy at birth
total population: 65.61 years
male: 62.94 years
female: 68.31 years (2021 est.)
Contraceptive prevalence rate
34.3% (2016/17)
Drinking water source
improved: urban: 91.5% of population
rural: 55.4% of population
total: 75% of population
unimproved: urban: 8.5% of population
rural: 44.6% of population
total: 25% of population (2017 est.)
Current Health Expenditure
7.7% (2018)
Physicians density
0.23 physicians/1,000 population (2018)
Hospital bed density
0.7 beds/1,000 population (2013)
Sanitation facility access
improved: urban: 80.6% of population
rural: 40% of population
total: 62.1% of population
unimproved: urban: 19.4% of population
rural: 60% of population
total: 37.9% of population (2017 est.)
Major infectious diseases
degree of risk: very high (2020)
food or waterborne diseases: bacterial and protozoal diarrhea, hepatitis A and E, and typhoid fever
vectorborne diseases: dengue fever and malaria
Literacy
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 61.7%
male: 65.3%
female: 58.3% (2016)