Click on the flag to hear haiti's anthem

The background ( britcolobrit ) sound and these sounds are some old musics of haiti :

Click here to hear Haiti cherie

Click here to hear Mizik se metie

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Haiti, independent republic of the West Indies, occupying the western third of the island of Hispaniola. Haiti is bounded on the north by the Atlantic Ocean, on the east by the Dominican Republic, on the south by the Caribbean Sea, and on the west by the Windward Passage, which separates it from Cuba. Its area is 27,750 sq km (10,714 sq mi). Port-au-Prince is Haiti's capital and largest city.

II LAND AND RESOURCES  

Kalico beach

Haiti has a tropical climate. The distribution of mountains and lowlands affects temperature and rainfall, causing significant climate variations from place to place. Rainfall varies from a high of 3600 mm (144 in) on the western tip of the southern peninsula, to 600 mm (24 in) on the southwest coast of the northern peninsula. Most of the rain in the southwest falls in early and late summer. Port-au-Prince, located at sea level, has a yearly average temperature of 27° C (80° F). In Kenscoff, located just south of Port-au-Prince at an elevation of 1430 m (4700 ft), temperatures average 16° C (60° F). The mountains surrounding the cul-de-sac trap air in the valley, making the air hot, dry, and stagnant. Vulnerable to hurricanes, Haiti has been struck by destructive storms in 1963, 1980, 1988, and 1994.

Clearing forests for farms and wood for charcoal has stripped Haiti of most of its valuable native trees. Only some pine forests at high elevations and mangroves in inaccessible swamps remain. Semidesert scrub covers the ground in drier zones. Environmental deterioration has had a severe impact on Haiti's plants, animals, soil, and water resources. Tropical reefs surrounding the country are threatened by the large quantities of silt washed down from the eroding mountainsides. Coffee and cacao trees spread across the mountains in scattered clumps, while sugarcane, sisal, cotton, and rice cover most of the good farmland. Most of Haiti's native animals were hunted to extinction long ago. Caiman and flamingo are the most common wildlife seen today. Haiti's large population and the degree of deforestation already present seem to preclude the reestablishment of wildlife, although the climate would be hospitable to any tropical plants or animals.

Natural Resources

Rainbow in the hills

About 95 percent of Haitians are of African origin. The remaining 5 percent are mulatto and other races. The mulatto population makes up about half of the country's elite. French and Creole, which uses both French colonial and West African phrases and words, are the official languages, the latter attaining that status in 1987. The poorer class (about 90 percent of the population) speak Creole, while the elite speak modern French. About 80 percent of Haiti's people are nominal Roman Catholics, many of them combining an African animism called voodoo into their religious beliefs and ceremonies. Other religious groups include Baptists (about 10 percent), Pentecostals (4 percent), and Adventists (about 1 percent).

The population of Haiti (1997 estimate) is 6,679,984 , giving the country an overall population density of 241 persons per sq km (623 per sq mi). In arable areas, however, there are about five times more people than the average. Some 68 percent of the population lives in rural areas.

Political Divisions and Principal Cities

 

Marchee in P-A-P

By law, education is free and compulsory in Haiti for children between the ages of 6 and 12. In practice, access to education is sharply limited by school location, language comprehension (classes are taught in French), the cost of school clothes and supplies, and the availability of teachers. Only about 51 percent of the primary-school aged children actually attend school. As a consequence of limited educational opportunities, only 45 percent of the adult population is literate. The University of Haiti (1944), located in Port-au-Prince, has colleges of medicine, law, business, agronomy, social sciences, architecture, and engineering. In the early 1990s, about 1500 students were enrolled there. Many university-level students attend foreign universities.

 For most Haitians, daily life is a struggle for survival. An estimated 65 percent of the population lives in poverty. These people, many of whom farm small plots of poor mountain land, are often malnourished. Infant mortality is 100 per 1000 births, life expectancy at birth is only 51 years, and the incidence of diseases ranging from intestinal parasites to acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) is extremely high. Only about 41 percent of the population has access to safe drinking water, and only 25 percent has access to sanitary sewer systems. A limited elite of about 10 percent, mostly professionals, enjoys a sophisticated, affluent lifestyle. This elite class has traditionally resisted all attempts to restructure the Haitian social system.

Haitian culture fuses African, French, and West Indian elements. Formerly a social divider, the Creole language is now being used in attempts to define a national culture. The language is used in literature, drama, music, dance, and some governmental functions. Haitian works of art are enjoying increasing worldwide recognition. The country has several outstanding libraries. The collection of the Brothers of Saint Louis de Gonzague (1912), the National Archives (1860), and the Bibliothèque Nationale (1940), all located in Port-au-Prince, contain rare works that date from the colonial period. Also devoted to Haitian history is the National Museum (1983), located in Port-au-Prince.

Haiti's most serious social problems stem from the disproportionate distribution of wealth. However, although Haiti is 95 percent black, there are also racial divisions between the small mulatto elite and the larger black population. Since colonial times the mulattoes have functioned as the ruling class. Having more in common with the wealthy classes of other countries, the mulattoes identify very little with poor Haitians. Underdeveloped social, economic, and political institutions-chiefly education-mean that there are few mechanisms within the country to promote upward social mobility. Another problem preventing social cohesion is the physical isolation of rural communities. About 79 percent of Haitians have little contact with Port-au-Prince or other centers of cultural change.

Haiti's economy has been shrinking since the early 1980s while the population has continued to grow. In 1996, Haiti's per-capita gross domestic product was $360. This placed Haiti among the world's poorest nations. Agriculture employs about two-thirds of the labor force; manufacturing, services, and tourism are the next largest employers. About 25 to 50 percent of the workforce is underemployed or unemployed. The international sanctions employed against Haiti's military leaders from 1991 to 1994 further weakened the already crippled economy. Government revenue in the mid-1990s was about $300 million and spending was about $416 million. Haiti's international debt is approaching $1 billion.

Most of Haiti's farmers work subsistence plots of land that produce small amounts of cash crops. Soil erosion and overworked land are major agricultural problems, while hurricanes and drought have also taken their toll. Coffee, sugarcane, sisal, and fruit are the major commercial crops, while beans, rice, corn, and sorghum are the main food crops. Coffee is the major agricultural export. Sugarcane, cotton, sisal, coconuts, and vetiver (a grass that yields oils used in the manufacture of perfume) are raised on plantations revitalized by loans from the Organization of American States (OAS) and the United Nations (UN) in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Chickens are the most common livestock, but some cattle and goats are also raised. The country's pig population was decimated when African swine fever swept through Haiti in the early 1980s.

Forestry, Fishing, and Mining

Fisher boat in cap-Haitien

Most of Haiti's manufacturing base is foreign owned and includes electronics assembly, baseball stitching, and the sewing of beaded clothing and accessories. Domestic manufacturing is limited to sugar refining, flour and cement mills, textiles, and food processing. The petite industrie, or handicraft industry, is an important source of income for many Haitians. Houses in the shantytowns of Port-au-Prince double as shops where artisans carve wood, weave cloth, or make a variety of other handicrafts to sell to tourists. Further industrialization in Haiti has been obstructed by an uncertain electrical supply, waste disposal problems, limited transportation, a lack of capital and skilled labor, and government policies.

Haiti's energy consumption per capita is only one-third that of the world's poorest nations. Other than private generators, the Péligre hydroelectric plant on the Artibonite River is the only local source of commercial energy. In 1996 Haiti produced 415 million kilowatt-hours, produced mostly by burning imported fossil fuels. Poor Haitians use charcoal to supply energy for home use.

Haiti's unit of currency is the gourde, consisting of 100 centimes. The gourde's value in relation to the United States dollar has been fixed at 5 to 1 since 1934. On the black market the gourde often is worth less than half its official value. U.S. currency is recognized as legal tender. The national Bank of Haiti is government-owned and performs commercial and central bank functions. U.S., French, and Canadian banks operate on a small scale. In the mid-1990s Haiti's major exports were light manufactured goods and coffee, and its chief imports were machinery and manufactured goods, food and beverages, and chemicals. The United States was Haiti's primary trading partner, buying 84 percent of its exports and supplying 64 percent of its imports. In 1995, exports were valued at $105million and imports at $652 million. Haiti is a member of the Association of Caribbean States (ACS), a free-trade organization comprising 12 Caribbean nations and the members of the Caribbean Community and Common Market (CARICOM).

 
Haiti's road network was built by U.S. Marines during the U.S. occupation of Haiti from 1915 to 1934. Of the 4160 km (2585 mi) of roads, only about one-quarter are paved. Even main roads are in poor condition, and most bridges have become unusable. The country has one international airport in Port-au-Prince and nearly a dozen smaller airstrips throughout the nation. Domestic air service is provided by a government-owned airline. The only railroad tracks are privately owned.

Most of Haiti's communications network is clustered in Port-au-Prince. International communications tend to be better than domestic. In 1995 there were 35 television sets and 53 radios in use for every 1000 residents. Haiti had 8 telephone mainlines per 1000 people in 1996. There were 4 daily newspapers in 1995, with an average circulation of about 45,000, or about 6 papers per 1000 inhabitants. Most of the newspapers and broadcast stations are in Port-au-Prince, and these cater to the capital's richer inhabitants. Rural Haitians depend on personal contacts to disseminate information.

Labor

 
Since the overthrow of the dictatorship of Jean Claude Duvalier in 1986, Haiti has had five governments, most installed by coup d'état. Haitian constitutions have been modified to suit individual rulers throughout the nation's history. Local government has traditionally been left to appointed supporters of the regime in power and has often been characterized by violence. The 1987 constitution, currently in effect, was modeled on those of the United States and France, and is the basis of the government headed by Jean-Bertrand Aristide, which was restored to power in 1994.

Haiti's medical system is struggling to cope with the nation's serious health hazards. There is only one physician for every 10,855 inhabitants and medical facilities are poor. Malaria, dengue, intestinal parasites, yaws, AIDS, and other infectious diseases are common. Foreign governments and several international organizations, including the UN and the OAS, provide food and medicine to Haiti, but the scope of the country's problems overwhelm these efforts. Haiti's social services are similarly limited.

The Arawak, the original inhabitants of the island Haiti shares with the Dominican Republic, called the island Ayti, meaning "land of mountains." When he arrived in 1492, Christopher Columbus named the island La Isla Española (Spanish for "The Spanish Island") in honor of his Spanish sponsors. The name later evolved into the modern name Hispaniola. After an early settlement near Cap-Haïtien was destroyed by Native Americans, the Spanish settled the eastern half of the island and left the west unsettled. French pirates operating from the island of Tortue hunted wild boar and other animals in Haiti to sell as food to passing ships. By 1697, when Spain formally ceded the western one-third of Hispaniola-the portion that later became Haiti-to France, the French had established a flourishing slave-plantation system throughout the colony. At the end of the next century, Saint-Domingue (the French colonial term for Haiti) was the world's richest colony. The population at that time totaled more than 450,000 slaves, more than 25,000 free mulattoes, and about 30,000 French planters.

About 800 Haitian volunteers fought in the American Revolution (1775-1783) under the French General Marquis de Lafayette, and thereby gained some military experience. The French Revolution, which began in 1789, inspired the Haitian Slave Revolt of 1791. This rebellion was led by Toussaint L'Ouverture, Jean Jacques Dessalines, Henri Christophe, Alexandre Sabès Pétion, and Jean Pierre Boyer. By 1794 forces under Toussaint L'Ouverture (today known as "the Precursor") had freed the colony's slave population and rid it of its French and British presence. By 1801 Toussaint ruled the entire colony. Although Toussaint was captured by French forces in 1802 and died a prisoner in France, the rebellion he had fostered did not die. In 1804 Dessalines declared Haiti to be the world's first black republic. Unfortunately, most of the country's plantation infrastructure had been destroyed and all the experienced administrators had been eliminated.

In 1806 Dessalines was assassinated, and for some years thereafter the northern part of Haiti was held by Christophe. In the southern part of the island a republic was established by Pétion. Upon the death of Christophe in 1820, Boyer, the successor to Pétion, consolidated his power throughout the island. In 1844 the eastern two-thirds of the island declared its independence as the Republic of Santo Domingo, now the Dominican Republic.

The subsequent history of Haiti was characterized by a series of bitter struggles for political ascendancy between the blacks and the mulattoes. In 1849 a black, Faustin Élie Soulouque, proclaimed himself emperor as Faustin I, and for ten years ruled in a despotic manner. In early 1859, the mulatto Nicholas Fabre Geffrard restored republican government; he remained in office until 1867.

Tourism

The fugees's concert in haiti