Haiti Facts, Haiti Flag -- National Geographic

Fast Facts

Population:: 8,288,000
Capital:: Port-au-Prince; 1,961,000
Area:: 27,750 square kilometers (10,714 square miles)
Language:: French, Creole
Religion:: Roman Catholic, Protestant, Voodoo
Currency:: Gourde
Life Expectancy:: 51
GDP per Capita:: U.S. $1,400
Literacy Percent:: 53

Haiti, the first Caribbean state to achieve independence, occupies the western third of the island of Hispaniola. Mountainous with a tropical climate, it is the poorest country in the Americas due to decades of violence and instability. There is a huge income gap between the Creole-speaking black majority and the French-speaking mulattos (mixed African and European descent). Mulattos, only 5 percent of the population, control most of the wealth. Haiti became the first black republic in 1804 after a successful slave revolt against the French. As Haiti celebrated 200 years of independence, a rebellion toppled the government in February 2004.

ECONOMY

Industry: Sugar refining, flour milling, textiles, cement
Agriculture: Coffee, mangoes, sugarcane, rice; wood
Exports: Manufactures, coffee, oils, cocoa

—Text From National Geographic Atlas of the World, Eighth Edition

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