Latitude/Longitude: Maissade, Haiti - lat. 19.10; long. 72.08
Climate: tropical; semiarid where mountains in east cut off trade winds
Terrain: mostly rough and mountainous
Natural resources: bauxite
Population: 7.2 million (32% urban, 68% rural)
Life expectancy: 56 (female); 53 (male)
Infant mortality: 86 per 1,000 births
Literacy rate: 47% (female); 59% (male)
Ethnic divisions: black 95%, mulatto and European 5%
Principal religions: 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%
Principal languages: French (official) spoken by only 10% of population; all speak Creole
Rank of affluence among U.N. members: 147/183
Haiti occupies the forested western end of the island of Hispaniola (the Dominican Republic occupies the island's eastern two thirds). Most of it is mountainous, punctuated with great valleys and plateaus. By most standards it is the poorest nation in the western hemisphere. Beginning with the arrival of Columbus in 1492, Haiti has been the scene of almost unrelieved tragedy. Spanish settlers slaughtered the original inhabitants, the Arawak Indians; later the French turned it into the largest slave colony in the Americas. A slave revolt in 1804 made Haiti the second American nation to gain independence (and the oldest black republic in the world). But no stable and democratic local government has ever held power.
A series of 19th century despots were followed by a period of U.S. rule; then, in 1957, strongman Francois (Papa Doc) Duvalier turned Haiti into a personal police state that he ruled until his death in 1971. His son continued the Duvalier dictatorship for another 15 years before fleeing the country in 1986.
More hardship and instability followed until Jean-Bertrand Aristide, a populist priest, won elections in December of 1990. The military soon ousted him, adding international condemnation and a trade embargo to Haiti's woes. The tragedy continues to unfold, with new calls for U.S. intervention as waves of desperate refugees wash up on Florida beaches.
