History of Haiti
In the early 17th century, the French established a presence on the island of Hispaniola, held until that time by Spain. In 1697, Spain ceded to the French the western third of the island. The French colony, based on forestry and sugar-related industries, became one of the wealthiest in the Caribbean, but only through the massive introduction of African slaves, and considerable environmental degradation. In the late 18th century, nearly half-million slaves revolted under Toussaint L’Ouverture, and after a prolonged struggle, Haiti declared its independence in 1804, naming Port-Au-Prince the country’s capital city.
Haiti has experienced political instability and natural disasters for most of its history. In January 2010, a massive, magnitude 7.0 earthquake struck Haiti. Estimates are that over 300,000 people were killed and some 1.5 million left homeless. Prior to the earthquake, Haiti had 380,000 orphans—after the earthquake, one million or 10% of the country’s population are orphans.
For more information on Haiti, read the following Country Snapshot.
Country Snapshot
Geography
About the size of the State of Maryland, and 700 miles from Miami, Haiti shares the western side of the Caribbean island of Hispaniola with the Dominican Republic.
Population, Language, and Religion
- With a population of 10 million, Haiti is a young country where 33% of the population is under the age of 14, and with over one million orphans or abandoned children.
- French and Creole are (by law) the official languages of Haiti
- Haiti has (by law) two official religions: Catholicism and Voodo.
Education¹
- Literacy rate of only 41%
- Half of Haiti’s children never attend primary school, with 50% not enrolled at any given time, and only 25% ever enrolled in secondary school
- One-third of girls over six years old never go to school.
- Approximately 30% of children attending primary school will not make it to third grade; 60% will abandon school before sixth grade.
- Only 15% of teachers at the primary level have basic teacher qualifications (including university degrees), while almost half of public sector teachers lack basic qualifications.
¹ USAID, World Bank, UNICEF, CIA—The World Factbook
Economics
- The poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, and the 30th poorest
in the world - Unemployment rate of 48%
- Mostly unskilled workforce.²
- Average worker salary of $55 per month
- 80% of the population lives under the poverty line, and more than half, or 54%,
in abject poverty - In terms of Human Development Index³, Haiti ranks 168 out of 187 countries worldwide, just ahead of Afghanistan
² One-third of Haiti’s college graduates have left the country after the 2010 earthquake—United Nations Conference on Trade and Development.
³ United Nations Development program which measures and integrates life expectancy, literacy, education, standards of living, and quality of life to create its index.