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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 (including Police), Navy, Air Corps

Military expenditures (Defense expenditures) [time series]

$34 million, 1.5% of GDP (1988 est.)

Manpower availability [time series]

males 15-49, 1,287,179; 691,926 fit for military service; 61,265 reach military age (18) annually

Economy

Agricultural products (Agriculture) [time series]

accounts for 33% of GDP and employs 66% of work force; mostly small-scale subsistence farms; commercial crops--coffee, mangoes, sugarcane and wood; staple crops--rice, corn, sorghum; shortage of wheat flour

Budget [time series]

revenues $300 million; expenditures $416 million, including capital expenditures of $145 million (1990 est.)

Exchange rates (Currency) [time series]

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

Economic aid [time series]

US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70-89), $700 million; Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments (1970-88), $682 million

Electricity [time series]

230,000 kW capacity; 264 million kWh produced, 43 kWh per capita (1990)

Exchange rates [time series]

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

Exports [time series]

$169 million (f.o.b., 1990 est.); commodities--light manufactures 69%, coffee 19%, other agriculture 8%, other 8%; partners--US 84%, Italy 4%, France 3%, other industrial 6%, less developed countries 3% (1987)

Debt - external (External debt) [time series]

$838 million (December 1990)

Fiscal year [time series]

1 October-30 September

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

$2.7 billion, per capita $440; real growth rate - 3.0% (1990 est.)

Illicit drugs [time series]

transshipment point for cocaine

Imports [time series]

$348 million (c.i.f., 1990 est.); commodities--machines and manufactures 34%, food and beverages 22%, petroleum products 14%, chemicals 10%, fats and oils 9%; partners--US 64%, Netherlands Antilles 5%, Japan 5%, France 4%, Canada 3%, Germany 3% (1987)

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

growth rate 0.3% (FY88); accounts for 15% of GDP

Industries [time series]

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

Inflation rate (consumer prices) [time series]

20% (1990 est.)

Economic overview (Overview) [time series]

About 85% of the population live in abject poverty. Agriculture is mainly small-scale subsistence farming and employs two-thirds 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 one of the most critical problems facing the economy, along with soil erosion and political instability.

Unemployment rate [time series]

25-50% (1990 est.)

Geography

Climate [time series]

tropical; semiarid where mountains in east cut off trade winds

Coastline [time series]

1,771 km Contiguous zone: 24 nm; Continental shelf: to depth of exploitation; Exclusive economic zone: 200 nm; Territorial sea: 12 nm

Area - comparative (Comparative area) [time series]

slightly larger than Maryland

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; soil erosion

Land boundaries (Land boundary) [time series]

275 km with the Dominican Republic

Land use [time series]

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

Natural resources [time series]

bauxite

Note [time series]

shares island of Hispaniola with Dominican Republic

Terrain [time series]

mostly rough and mountainous

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; March 1987 Constitution fully observed by government installed on 7 February 1991

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

Ambassador (vacant), Charge d'Affaires Raymond Alcide JOSEPH; 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 P. ADAMS, Jr.; Embassy at Harry Truman Boulevard, Port-au-Prince (mailing address is P. O. Box 1761, Port-au-Prince), telephone [509] (1) 20-354 or 20-368, 20-200, 20-612

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--President Jean-Bertrand ARISTIDE (since 7 February 1991); Head of Government--Prime Minister Rene PREVAL (since 13 February 1991) National Front for Change and Democracy (FNCD) led by Jean-Bertrand ARISTIDE, including Congress of Democratic Movements (CONACOM), Victor BENOIT; National Konbite Movement (MKN), Volvick Remy JOSEPH; National Alliance for Democracy and Progress (ANDP), a coalition consisting of Movement for the Installation of Democracy in Haiti (MIDH), Marc BAZIN; National Progressive Revolutionary Party (PANPRA), Serge GILLES; and National Patriotic Movement of November 28 (MNP-28), Dejean BELIZAIRE; National Agricultural and Industrial Party (PAIN), Louis DEJOIE; Movement for National Reconstruction (MRN), Rene THEODORE; Haitian Christian Democratic Party (PDCH), Sylvio CLAUDE; Assembly of Progressive National Democrats (RDNP), Leslie MANIGAT; National Party of Labor (PNT), Thomas DESULME; Mobilization for National Development (MDN), Hubert DE RONCERAY; Democratic Movement for the Liberation of Haiti (MODELH), Francois LATORTUE; Haitian Social Christian Party (PSCH), Gregoire EUGENE; Movement for the Organization of the Country (MOP), Gesner COMEAU

Legal system [time series]

based on Roman civil law system; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction

Legislative branch [time series]

bicameral National Assembly (Assemblee Nationale) consisting of an upper house or Senate and a lower house or House of Deputies

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

Republic of Haiti

International organization participation (Member of) [time series]

ACCT, CARICOM (observer), CCC, ECLAC, FAO, G-77, GATT, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, IDA, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMF, IMO, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IOC, ITU, LAES, LORCS, OAS, OPANAL, PCA, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WCL, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, 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)

Suffrage [time series]

universal at age 18 President--last held 16 December 1990 (next election to be held by December 1995); results--Rev. Jean-Bertrand ARISTIDE 67.5%, Marc BAZIN 14.2%, Louis DEJOIE 4.9%; Senate--last held 16 December 1990, with runoff held 20 January 1991 (next to be held by December 1992); results--percent of vote NA; seats--(27) FNCD 13, ANDP 6, PAIN 2, MRN 2, PDCH 1, RDNP 1, PNT 1, independent 1; Chamber of Deputies--last held 16 December 1990, with runoff held 20 January 1991 (next to be held by December 1994); results--percent of vote NA; seats--(83) FNCD 27, ANDP 17, PDCH 7, PAIN 6, RDNP 6, MDN 5, PNT 3, MKN 2, MODELH 2, MRN 1, independent 5, other 2

Government type (Type) [time series]

republic

People

Birth rate [time series]

43 births/1,000 population (1991)

Death rate [time series]

15 deaths/1,000 population (1991)

Ethnic groups (Ethnic divisions) [time series]

black 95%, mulatto and European 5%

Infant mortality rate [time series]

106 deaths/1,000 live births (1991)

Labor force [time series]

2,300,000; agriculture 66%, services 25%, industry 9%; 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 (1991)

Literacy [time series]

53% (male 59%, female 47%) age 15 and over can read and write (1990 est.)

Nationality [time series]

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

Net migration rate [time series]

- 5 migrants/1,000 population (1991)

Organized labor [time series]

Population [time series]

6,286,511 (July 1991), growth rate 2.3% (1991)

Religions (Religion) [time series]

Roman Catholic is the official religion; Roman Catholic 80% (of which an overwhelming majority also practice Voodoo), Protestant 16% (Baptist 10%, Pentecostal 4%, Adventist 1%, other 1%), none 1%, other 3% (1982)

Total fertility rate [time series]

6.3 children born/woman (1991)