View Intelligence Dossier Back to 1990 CSV Excel Print All Years

Communications

Airports [time series]

15 total, 10 usable; 3 with permanent-surface runways; none with runways over 3,659 m; 1 with runways 2,440-3,659 m; 4 with runways 1,220-2,439 m

Civil air [time series]

4 major transport aircraft

Roadways (Highways) [time series]

4,000 km total; 950 km paved, 900 km otherwise improved, 2,150 km unimproved

Waterways (Inland waterways) [time series]

negligible; less than 100 km navigable

Ports [time series]

Port-au-Prince, Cap-Haitien

Railways (Railroads) [time series]

40 km 0.760-meter narrow gauge, single-track, privately owned industrial line

Telecommunication systems (Telecommunications) [time series]

domestic facilities barely adequate, international facilities slightly better; 36,000 telephones; stations--33 AM, no FM, 4 TV, 2 shortwave; 1 Atlantic Ocean earth station

Defense Forces

Military and security forces (Branches) [time series]

Army, Navy, Air Corps

Military expenditures (Defense expenditures) [time series]

Military manpower [time series]

males 15-49, 1,264,238; 679,209 fit for military service; 59,655 reach military age (18) annually

Economy

Agricultural products (Agriculture) [time series]

accounts for 32% of GDP and employs 65% of work force; mostly small-scale subsistence farms; commercial crops--coffee and sugarcane; staple crops--rice, corn, sorghum, mangoes; shortage of wheat flour

Aid [time series]

US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70-88), $638 million; Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments (1970-87), $627 million

Budget [time series]

revenues $252 million; expenditures $357 million, including capital expenditures of $NA million (1988)

Exchange rates (Currency) [time series]

gourde (plural--gourdes); 1 gourde (G) = 100 centimes

Electricity [time series]

230,000 kW capacity; 482 million kWh produced, 75 kWh per capita (1989)

Exchange rates [time series]

gourdes (G) per US$1-- 5.0 (fixed rate)

Exports [time series]

$200 million (f.o.b., FY88); commodities--light manufactures 65%, coffee 17%, other agriculture 8%, other products 10%; partners--US 77%, France 5%, Italy 4%, FRG 3%, other industrial 9%, less developed countries 2% (FY86)

Debt - external (External debt) [time series]

$820 million (December 1988)

Fiscal year [time series]

1 October-30 September

Real GDP (purchasing power parity) (GDP) [time series]

$2.4 billion, per capita $380; real growth rate 0.3% (1988 est.)

Imports [time series]

$344 million (c.i.f., FY88); commodities--machines and manufactures 36%, food and beverages 21%, petroleum products 11%, fats and oils 12%, chemicals 12%; partners--US 65%, Netherlands Antilles 6%, Japan 5%, France 4%, Canada 2%, Asia 2% (FY86)

Industrial production growth rate (Industrial production) [time series]

growth rate - 2% (FY87)

Industries [time series]

sugar refining, textiles, flour milling, cement manufacturing, bauxite mining, tourism, light assembly industries based on imported parts

Inflation rate (consumer prices) [time series]

5.8% (1988)

Economic overview (Overview) [time series]

About 85% of the population live in absolute poverty. Agriculture is mainly small-scale subsistence farming and employs 65% of the work force. The majority of the population does not have ready access to safe drinking water, adequate medical care, or sufficient food. Few social assistance programs exist, and the lack of employment opportunities remains the most critical problem facing the economy.

Unemployment rate [time series]

50% (1988 est.)

Geography

Climate [time series]

tropical; semiarid where mountains in east cut off trade winds

Coastline [time series]

1,771 km

Area - comparative (Comparative area) [time series]

slightly larger than Maryland

Contiguous zone [time series]

24 nm;

Continental shelf [time series]

to depth of exploitation;

Disputes - international (Disputes) [time series]

claims US-administered Navassa Island

Environment - current issues (Environment) [time series]

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

Extended economic zone [time series]

200 nm;

Land boundaries (Land boundary) [time series]

275 km with the Dominican Republic

Land use [time series]

20% arable land; 13% permanent crops; 18% meadows and pastures; 4% forest and woodland; 45% other; includes 3% irrigated

Natural resources [time series]

bauxite

Note [time series]

shares island of Hispaniola with Dominican Republic

Terrain [time series]

mostly rough and mountainous

Maritime claims (Territorial sea) [time series]

12 nm

Area (Total area) [time series]

27,750 km2; land area: 27,560 km2

Government

Administrative divisions [time series]

9 departments, (departements, singular--departement); Artibonite, Centre, Grand'Anse, Nord, Nord-Est, Nord-Ouest, Ouest, Sud, Sud-Est

Capital [time series]

Port-au-Prince

Political parties (Communists) [time series]

United Party of Haitian Communists (PUCH), Rene Theodore (roughly 2,000 members)

Constitution [time series]

27 August 1983, suspended February 1986; draft constitution approved March 1987, suspended June 1988, most articles reinstated March 1989

Diplomatic representation in the US (Diplomatic representation) [time series]

Ambassador (vacant), Charge d'Affaires Fritz VOUGY; Chancery at 2311 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington DC 20008; telephone (202) 332-4090 through 4092; there are Haitian Consulates General in Boston, Chicago, Miami, New York, and San Juan (Puerto Rico); US--Ambassador Alvin ADAMS; Embassy at Harry Truman Boulevard, Port-au-Prince (mailing address is P. O. Box 1761, Port-au-Prince), telephone [509] (1) 20354 or 20368, 20200, 20612

Executive branch [time series]

president, Council of Ministers (cabinet)

Flag [time series]

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)

Independence [time series]

1 January 1804 (from France)

Judicial branch [time series]

Court of Appeal (Cour de Cassation) Chief of State and Head of Government--Provisional President Ertha PASCAL-TROUILLOT (since 13 March 1990)

Legal system [time series]

based on Roman civil law system; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction

Legislative branch [time series]

bicameral National Assembly (Assemblee Nationale) consisted of an upper house or Senate and a lower house or House of Representatives, but was dissolved on 20 June 1988 after the coup of 19 June 1988 (there was a subsequent coup on 18 September 1988); after naming a civilian as provisional president on 13 March 1990, it was announced that a Council of State was being formed

Country name (Long-form name) [time series]

Republic of Haiti

International organization participation (Member of) [time series]

CCC, FAO, G-77, GATT, IADB, IAEA, IBA, IBRD, ICAO, ICO, IDA, IDB--Inter-American Development Bank, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMF, IMO, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IRC, ITU, OAS, PAHO, SELA, UN, UNESCO, UPU, WHO, WMO, WTO

National holiday [time series]

Independence Day, 1 January (1804)

Political parties (Other political or pressure groups) [time series]

Democratic Unity Confederation (KID), Roman Catholic Church, Confederation of Haitian Workers (CTH), Federation of Workers Trade Unions (FOS), Autonomous Haitian Workers (CATH), National Popular Assembly (APN)

Political parties (Political parties and leaders) [time series]

Haitian Christian Democratic Party (PDCH), Sylvio Claude; Haitian Social Christian Party (PSCH), Gregoire Eugene; Movement for the Installation of Democracy in Haiti (MIDH), Marc Bazin; National Alliance Front (FNC), Gerard Gourgue; National Agricultural and Industrial Party (PAIN), Louis Dejoie; Congress of Democratic Movements (CONACOM), Victor Bono; National Progressive Revolutionary Party (PANPRA), Serge Gilles; National Patriotic Movement of November 28 (MNP-28), Dejean Belizaire; Movement for the Organization of the Country (MOP), Gesner Comeau; Mobilization for National Development (MDN), Hubert De Ronceray

Suffrage [time series]

none President--last held 17 January 1988 (next to be held by mid-June 1990); on 13 March 1990 Ertha Pascal-Trouillot became provisional president after the resignation of President Lieut. Gen Prosper Avril; Legislature--last held 17 January 1988, but dissolved on 20 June 1988; the government has promised an election by mid-June 1990

Government type (Type) [time series]

republic

People

Birth rate [time series]

45 births/1,000 population (1990)

Death rate [time series]

16 deaths/1,000 population (1990)

Ethnic groups (Ethnic divisions) [time series]

95% black, 5% mulatto and European

Infant mortality rate [time series]

107 deaths/1,000 live births (1990)

Labor force [time series]

2,300,000; 66% agriculture, 25% services, 9% industry; shortage of skilled labor, unskilled labor abundant (1982)

Languages (Language) [time series]

French (official) spoken by only 10% of population; all speak Creole

Life expectancy at birth [time series]

52 years male, 55 years female (1990)

Literacy [time series]

23%

Nationality [time series]

noun--Haitian(s); adjective--Haitian

Net migration rate [time series]

- 6 migrants/1,000 population (1990)

Organized labor [time series]

Population [time series]

6,142,141 (July 1990), growth rate 2.3% (1990)

Religions (Religion) [time series]

75-80% Roman Catholic (of which an overwhelming majority also practice Voodoo), 10% Protestant

Total fertility rate [time series]

6.4 children born/woman (1990)