HAITI FACT SHEET ** Learn More HAITI in Brief:  An Historical Overview Agroforestry and sustainable resource conservation in Haiti: A Case Study Haiti, already the most economically impoverished country in the Western hemisphere, has sunk deeper and deeper into misery over the past decade according to nearly every social and economic indicator.  It is now ranked as the fourth poorest, the third hungriest, and the most water poor country among all the nations of the world. GEOGRAPHY: Total Land Area: 27,560 km Area Comparative: Slightly smaller than Maryland Climate: Mostly Tropical Natural Hazards: Haiti lies in the middle of the Hurricane Belt; Also suffers from flooding, mudslides, earthquakes and periodic droughts GENERAL DEMOGRAPHICS: Capital City: Port au Prince Date of Independence: January 1, 1804 Official Languages: Creole and French Population: 8.3 million Life Expectancy at Birth: 2003 – 51.78 Years Median Age: 18.1 Years Adult Literacy Rate (Ages 15 – 49) – 52.9% % of the population using adequate sanitation facilities: 34% (2002 est.) ECONOMIC INDICATORS: National Currency: Gourde Inflation Rate: 37.8% (2003 est.) Unemployment Rate: 66% % of Population living in abject poverty: 80% GDP Growth Rate: 2003 – 0% Exchange Rate per US Dollar:   2003 – 40.5 gourdes per US Dollar Inflation Rate: 37.8% (2003 est.) Unemployment Rate: 66% % of Population living in abject poverty: 80% HEALTH STATISTICS: Health Expenditure Per Capita: $22.00 US (2002 est.) Physicians per 10,000: 2 (1995 est.) Infant Mortality Rate per 1,000 live births: 74.38 HIV/AIDS – adult prevalence rate (2003 est.): 5.6% [Haiti exhibits the highest HIV/AIDS rate outside of Sub-Saharan Africa.] HIV/AIDS – people living with HIV/AIDS (2003 est.) – 280,000  Low Estimate: 120,000  High Estimate: 600,000 HIV/AIDS - # of deaths (2003 est.) – 24,000 Tuberculosis Incidence per 100,000 (2002 est.) – 319 % of males who have comprehensive knowledge of HIV/AIDS – 24% % of females who have comprehensive knowledge of HIV/AIDS – 14% % of one-year-olds fully immunized against the following (2003 est.): tuberculosis – 71.3% DPT3 – 43%   Polio3 – 53% The graphs below were created using the 2004 World Indicator Report published by the World Bank: ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES By every measure people of Haiti are living in a state of profound ecological crisis that is either little-noticed or completely ignored by world leaders including its near neighbor, the United States. Less than 1% of Haiti remains forested, having lost more than 97% of its tree cover in the last 50 years.  The UN calls Haiti a “silent emergency”. The stark deforestation provides opportunity for severe and sudden mudslides and flash flooding, which was witnessed in 2004 and tragically resulted in several thousand Haitian peasants losing their lives.  Furthermore, crop harvests are shrinking, topsoil is disappearing, malnutrition rates are growing (more than 33% of all Haitian children are malnourished), and preventable, infectious diseases are gaining ground. For more information read Haiti Case Study. Data contained in this fact sheet are derived from multiple sources including the CIA World Fact Book, World Bank Annual Reports, UN reports, IMF Data Sheets, the Canadian Foreign Council Office, and the South Florida Sun-Sentinel Special Report: “Haiti, the Eroding Nation”.