Haiti

total:

0.99 cu km/yr (5%/1%/94%)

per capita:

116 cu m/yr (2000)

• lies in the middle of the hurricane belt and subject to severe storms from June to October;
• occasional flooding and earthquakes;
• periodic droughts

• extensive deforestation (much of the remaining forested land is being cleared for agriculture and used as fuel);
• soil erosion;
• inadequate supplies of potable water

party to:

Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Marine Life Conservation, Ozone Layer Protection

signed, but not ratified:

Hazardous Wastes

at birth:

1.03 male(s)/female

under 15 years:

1.02 male(s)/female

15-64 years:

0.98 male(s)/female

65 years and over:

0.64 male(s)/female

total population:

0.98 male(s)/female (2009 est.)

degree of risk:

high

food or waterborne diseases:

bacterial and protozoal diarrhea, hepatitis A and E, and typhoid fever

vectorborne diseases:

dengue fever and malaria

water contact disease:

leptospirosis (2009)

noun:

Haitian(s)

adjective:

Haitian

conventional long form:

Republic of Haiti

conventional short form:

Haiti

local long form:

Republique d'Haiti/Repiblik d' Ayiti

local short form:

Haiti/Ayiti

name:

Port-au-Prince

geographic coordinates:

18 32 N, 72 20 W

time difference:

UTC-5 (same time as Washington, DC during Standard Time)

daylight saving time:

+1hr, begins first Sunday in April; ends last Sunday in October

chief of state:

President Rene PREVAL (since 14 May 2006)

head of government:

Prime Minister Jean-Max BELLERIVE (since 7 November 2009)

cabinet:

Cabinet chosen by the prime minister in consultation with the president

elections:

• president elected by popular vote for a five-year term (may not serve consecutive terms);
• election last held 7 February 2006 (next to be held in 2011);
• prime minister appointed by the president, ratified by the National Assembly

election results:

Rene PREVAL elected president; percent of vote - Rene PREVAL 51%

• bicameral National Assembly or Assemblee Nationale consists of the Senate (30 seats; members elected by popular vote to serve six-year terms; one-third elected every two years) and the Chamber of Deputies (99 seats; members are elected by popular vote to serve four-year terms);
• note - in reestablishing the Senate, the candidate in each department receiving the most votes in the last election serves six years, the candidate with the second most votes serves four years, and the candidate with the third most votes serves two years

elections:

• Senate - last held 21 April 2006 with run-off elections on 3 December 2006 (next regular election, for one third of seats, to be held in 2008);
• Chamber of Deputies - last held 21 April 2006 with run-off elections on 3 December 2006 and 29 April 2007 (next regular election to be held in 2010)

election results:

• Senate - percent of vote by party - NA;
• seats by party - L'ESPWA 11, FUSION 5, OPL 4, FL 3, LAAA 2, UNCRH 2, PONT 2, ALYANS 1;
• Chamber of Deputies - percent of vote by party - NA;
• seats by party - L'ESPWA 23, FUSION 17, FRN 12, OPL 10, ALYANS 10, LAAA 5, MPH 3, MOCHRENA 3, other 10;
• results for six other seats contested on 3 December 2006 remain unknown

• Artibonite in Action or LAAA [Youri LATORTUE];
• Assembly of Progressive National Democrats or RDNP [Leslie MANIGAT];
• Convention for Democratic Unity or KID [Evans PAUL];
• Cooperative Action to Build Haiti or KONBA [Evans LESCOUFALIR];
• Democratic Alliance or ALYANS [Evans PAUL] (coalition composed of KID and PPRH);
• Effort and Solidarity to Create an Alternative for the People or ESKAMP [Joseph JASME];
• For Us All or PONT [Jean-Marie CHERESTAL];
• Front for Hope or L'ESPWA [Rene PREVAL] (alliance of ESKAMP, PLB, and grass-roots organizations Grand-Anse Resistance Committee, the Central Plateau Peasants' Group, and Kombit Sudest);
• Haitian Christian Democratic Party or PDCH [Osner FEVRY and Marie-Denise CLAUDE];
• Haitian Democratic and Reform Movement or MODEREH [Dany TOUSSAINT and Pierre Soncon PRINCE];
• Heads Together or Tet-Ansanm [Dr. Gerard BLOT];
• Independent Movement for National Reconciliation or MIRN [Luc FLEURINORD];
• Justice for Peace and National Development or JPDN [Rigaud DUPLAN];
• Fanmi Lavalas or FL [Rudy HERIVEAUX];
• Liberal Party of Haiti or PLH [Gehy MICHEL];
• Merging of Haitian Social Democratic Parties or FUSION or FPSDH [Serge GILLES] (coalition of Ayiti Capable, Haitian National Revolutionary Party, and National Congress of Democratic Movements);
• Mobilization for Haiti's Development or MPH [Samir MOURRA];
• Mobilization for National Development or MDN [Hubert de RONCERAY];
• Movement for National Reconstruction or MRN [Jean Henold BUTEAU];
• Movement for the Installation of Democracy in Haiti or MIDH [Marc BAZIN];
• National Christian Union for the Reconstruction of Haiti or UNCRH [Marie Claude GERMAIN];
• National Front for the Reconstruction of Haiti or FRN [Guy PHILIPPE];
• New Christian Movement for a New Haiti or MOCHRENA [Luc MESADIEU];
• Open the Gate Party or PLB [Anes LUBIN];
• Popular Party for the Renewal of Haiti or PPRH [Claude ROMAIN];
• Struggling People's Organization or OPL [Edgard LEBLANC];
• Union of Nationalist and Progressive Haitians or UNITE [Edouard FRANCISQUE]

• Autonomous Organizations of Haitian Workers or CATH [Fignole ST-CYR];
• Confederation of Haitian Workers or CTH;
• Federation of Workers Trade Unions or FOS;
• General Organization of Independent Haitian Workers [Patrick NUMAS];
• Grand-Anse Resistance Committee, or KOREGA;
• National Popular Assembly or APN;
• Papaye Peasants Movement or MPP [Chavannes JEAN-BAPTISTE];
• Popular Organizations Gathering Power or PROP;
• Protestant Federation of Haiti;
• Roman Catholic Church

chief of mission:

Ambassador Raymond JOSEPH

chancery:

2311 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008

telephone:

[1] (202) 332-4090

FAX:

[1] (202) 745-7215

consulate(s) general:

Boston, Chicago, Miami, New York, San Juan (Puerto Rico)

consulate(s):

Orlando (Florida)

chief of mission:

Ambassador Janet A. SANDERSON

embassy:

Tabarre 41, Route de Tabarre, Port-au-Prince

mailing address:

use mailing address

telephone:

[509] 229-8000

FAX:

[509] 229-8028

• two equal horizontal bands of blue (top) and red with a centered white rectangle bearing the coat of arms, which contains a palm tree flanked by flags and two cannons above a scroll bearing the motto L'UNION FAIT LA FORCE (Union Makes Strength);
• the colors are taken from the French Tricolor and represent the union of blacks and mulattoes

agriculture:

66%

industry:

9%

services:

25% (1995)

lowest 10%:

0.7%

highest 10%:

47.7% (2001)

general assessment:

• telecommunications infrastructure is among the least developed in Latin America and the Caribbean;
• domestic facilities barely adequate;
• international facilities slightly better;
• mobile-cellular telephone services are expanding rapidly due, in part, to the introduction of low-cost GSM phones in 2006

domestic:

coaxial cable and microwave radio relay trunk service

international:

country code - 509; satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean)

total:

4,160 km

country comparison to the world: 155

paved:

1,011 km

unpaved:

3,149 km (2000)

• no regular military forces - small Coast Guard;
• the regular Haitian Armed Forces (FAdH) - Army, Navy, and Air Force - have been demobilized but still exist on paper until or unless they are constitutionally abolished (2009)

males age 16-49:

2,047,083

females age 16-49:

2,047,953 (2008 est.)

males age 16-49:

1,518,840

females age 16-49:

1,530,043 (2009 est.)

male:

108,444

female:

106,243 (2009 est.)

• since 2004, about 8,000 peacekeepers from the UN Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH) maintain civil order in Haiti;
• despite efforts to control illegal migration, Haitians cross into the Dominican Republic and sail to neighboring countries;
• Haiti claims US-administered Navassa Island

• Caribbean transshipment point for cocaine en route to the US and Europe;
• substantial bulk cash smuggling activity;
• Colombian narcotics traffickers favor Haiti for illicit financial transactions;
• pervasive corruption;
• significant consumer of cannabis