Haiti (Republic of Haiti)

Haiti Republic of Haiti
Status	Independent State
Capital	Port-au-Prince
Land Area	27 560km21
Location	North America, The Americas, Caribbean
Groupings	Small Islands
Population	10.3m (2011)2
Life Expectancy	63.12yrs (2017)3
GNI	$1 657 (2017)4
ISO3166-1 Codes	HT, HTI, 3325
Internet Domain	.ht6
Currency	Gourde (HTG)7
Telephone	+5098

1. Overview
2. The Aftermath of Hurricane Matthew
3. Haiti National and Social Development
4. Population and Demographics
5. Human Rights, Equality and Freedom
6. Religion and Beliefs
7. The Internet
8. Public Health Issues
9. More Charts and Comparisons to Other Countries
10. Links

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1. Overview

#france #spain

“The native Taino - who inhabited the island of Hispaniola when it was discovered by Christopher COLUMBUS in 1492 - were virtually annihilated by Spanish settlers within 25 years. In the early 17th century, the French established a presence on Hispaniola. In 1697, Spain ceded to the French the western third of the island, which later became Haiti. The French colony, based on forestry and sugar-related industries, became one of the wealthiest in the Caribbean but only through the heavy importation of African slaves and considerable environmental degradation. In the late 18th century, Haiti's nearly half million slaves revolted under Toussaint L'OUVERTURE. After a prolonged struggle, Haiti became the first post-colonial black-led nation in the world, declaring its independence in 1804. Currently the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, Haiti has experienced political instability for most of its history. After an armed rebellion led to the forced resignation and exile of President Jean-Bertrand ARISTIDE in February 2004, an interim government took office to organize new elections under the auspices of the United Nations. Continued instability and technical delays prompted repeated postponements, but Haiti inaugurated a democratically elected president and parliament in May of 2006. This was followed by contested elections in 2010 that resulted in the election of Haiti's current President, Michel MARTELLY. A massive magnitude 7.0 earthquake struck Haiti in January 2010 with an epicenter about 25 km (15 mi) west of the capital, Port-au-Prince. Estimates are that over 300,000 people were killed and some 1.5 million left homeless. The earthquake was assessed as the worst in this region over the last 200 years.”

CIA's The World Factbook (2013)₉

“Haiti is still struggling with the aftermath of the devastating 2010 earthquake. But this is a proud country, born of revolution, and its people are determined to rebuild for a better future. Forget for a moment the rubble that still clogs parts of the capital. In actual fact, Haiti was once at the forefront of Caribbean tourism. In the 1950s, Port-au-Prince was rivaled only by Havana as a destination for the rich and famous; its jazz clubs and casinos a favored getaway for the Hollywood elite.

With a modicum of stability, Haiti could yet become the Caribbean´s alternative travel destination par excellence: it has palm-fringed beaches to rival any of its neighbors. But lazing on the sand isn´t really the point of Haiti (although you can do that, too). The richness of the country lies in its history and culture, closer to its African roots than any other Caribbean nation and ever present in its vibrant art and music scenes.

Haiti isn´t the easiest country to travel in. You frequently need to keep an ear out for the news, and it can be more expensive than you´d expect. However, once you´re there, travel is not only possible, but also incredibly rewarding. It´s an addictive country to visit.”

"The World" by Lonely Planet (2014)₁₀

2. The Aftermath of Hurricane Matthew ₁₁

Here is the summary from Human Rights Watch's report on the year 2017:

“Political instability in 2017 hindered the Haitian government´s ability to meet the basic needs of its people, resolve long-standing human rights problems, or address continuing humanitarian crises. The United Nations peacekeeping mission operating in Haiti for the past 13 years ended in October. A smaller mission replaced it.

More than 175,000 individuals remained displaced in the aftermath of October 2016´s Hurricane Matthew, and many more faced food insecurity due to widespread damage to crops and livestock. As of September 2017, authorities had failed to assist many of the nearly 38,000 individuals still living in displacement camps since the 2010 earthquake in resettling or returning to their places of origin. The country´s most vulnerable communities continue to face environmental risks, such as widespread deforestation, pollution from industry, and limited access to safe water and sanitation. Almost one-third of people live with food insecurity due to the ongoing drought affecting much of the country.

Since its introduction by UN peacekeepers in 2010, cholera has claimed more than 9,500 lives and infected more than 800,000 people. Cholera cases surged in October 2016 in communities most impacted by Hurricane Matthew. There were more than 41,000 suspected cases and 440 deaths in 2016. The number of cases has since declined significantly due to intensified cholera control efforts, including an ambitious campaign in which more than 800,000 people were vaccinated. Only 11,916 suspected cases of cholera and 118 deaths had been reported from January to October 2017.”

"World Report 2018" by Human Rights Watch (2018)₁₂

3. Haiti National and Social Development

#human_development

UN HDI (2016)13
Pos.		Lower is better Rank13
1	Norway	1
2	Australia	2
3	Switzerland	2
	...
161	Lesotho	160
162	Senegal	162
163	Uganda	163
164	Haiti	163
165	Sudan	165
166	Togo	166
167	Benin	167
168	Yemen	168
	World Avg	94.3
q=188.

Social & Moral Development Index14
Pos.		Higher is better Points14
1	Denmark	84.0
2	Sweden	83.9
3	Finland	83.5
	...
135	Solomon Islands	47.0
136	Sao Tome & Principe	46.9
137	Saudi Arabia	46.8
138	Haiti	46.5
139	Gambia	46.4
140	Laos	46.0
141	Uganda	45.8
142	Tonga	45.6
	World Avg	53.8
q=198.

The United Nations produces an annual Human Development Report which includes the Human Development Index. The factors taken into account include life expectancy, education and schooling and Gross National Income (GNI) amongst many others..

The Social and Moral Development Index concentrates on moral issues and human rights, violence, public health, equality, tolerance, freedom and effectiveness in climate change mitigation and environmentalism, and on some technological issues. A country scores higher for achieving well in those areas, and for sustaining that achievement in the long term. Those countries towards the top of this index can truly said to be setting good examples and leading humankind onwards into a bright, humane, and free future. See: What is the Best Country in the World? An Index of Morality, Conscience and Good Life.

4. Population and Demographics

#demographics #Haiti #health #immigration #life_expectancy #overpopulation #population

Old-Age Dependency Ratio (2016)15
Pos.		Lower is better Per 10015
1	Uganda	04.3
2	Mali	04.5
3	Chad	04.7
	...
64	Kiribati	09.5
65	Guatemala	09.5
66	Saudi Arabia	09.5
67	Haiti	09.6
68	Vanuatu	09.9
69	Cape Verde	10.0
70	Philippines	10.3
71	Cambodia	10.4
	World Avg	18.3
q=185.

Emigrants (2010)16
Pos.		%16
1	Dominica	104.8
2	Palestine	68.4
3	Samoa	67.3
	...
67	Hong Kong	10.2
68	Dominican Rep.	10.1
69	Zimbabwe	9.9
70	Haiti	9.9
71	San Marino	9.9
72	Burkina Faso	9.7
73	Slovakia	9.6
74	Morocco	9.3
	World Avg	11.5
q=192.

Fertility Rate (2013)17
Pos.		2.0 is best17
1	N. Korea	2.00
2	Brunei	1.99
3	St Vincent & Grenadines	2.01
	...
124	Namibia	3.08
125	Zimbabwe	3.15
126	Tajikistan	3.19
127	Haiti	3.19
128	Gabon	3.20
129	Swaziland	3.21
130	Bolivia	3.25
131	Pakistan	3.25
	World Avg	2.81
q=180.

Immigrants (2010)16
Pos.		%16
1	Qatar	86.5
2	Monaco	71.6
3	UAE	70.0
	...
169	Papua New Guinea	0.4
170	Brazil	0.4
171	Angola	0.3
172	Haiti	0.3
173	Vanuatu	0.3
174	Tunisia	0.3
175	Honduras	0.3
176	Eritrea	0.3
	World Avg	9.2
q=192.

Life Expectancy (2015)18
Pos.		Higher is better Years18
1	Hong Kong	84.16
2	Japan	83.68
3	Italy	83.34
	...
153	Sudan	63.73
154	Comoros	63.57
155	Mauritania	63.24
156	Haiti	63.12
157	Congo, (Brazzaville)	62.89
158	Papua New Guinea	62.77
159	Djibouti	62.30
160	Kenya	62.16
	World Avg	71.27
q=190.

Population (2012)19
Pos.		The Overpopulation of the Earth19
1	China	1.4b
2	India	1.3b
3	USA	315.8m
	...
79	S. Sudan	10.7m
80	Czechia	10.6m
81	Guinea	10.5m
82	Haiti	10.3m
83	Bolivia	10.2m
84	Dominican Rep.	10.2m
85	Hungary	9.9m
86	Serbia	9.8m
	World Avg	36.0m
q=195.

Haiti's population is predicted to rise to 12.53 million by 2030. These millions of extra people will all need space to live, food to eat, energy to consume, and will increase the burden on the planet's resources. This country has a fertility rate of 3.19. The fertility rate is, in simple terms, the average amount of children that each woman has. The higher the figure, the quicker the population is growing, although, to calculate the rate you also need to take into account morbidity, i.e., the rate at which people die. If people live healthy and long lives and morbidity is low, then, 2.0 approximates to the replacement rate, which would keep the population stable. If all countries had such a fertility rate, population growth would end. The actual replacement rate in most developed countries is around 2.1.

• The Overpopulation of the Earth
• Abortion, Birth Control and Contraception

5. Human Rights, Equality and Freedom

#equality #freedom #haiti #human_rights #politics #tolerance

Haiti is generally poor at ensuring human rights and freedom compared to the rest of the world. Haiti does better than average in fighting anti-semitic opinions₂₀, supporting press freedom₂₁, commentary from Human Rights Watch₂₂, supporting personal, civil & economic freedoms₂₃ and in LGBT equality₂₄. Haiti does not succeed in everything, however. It does worse than average in eliminating modern slavery₂₅, its Global Peace Index rating₂₆ and in its nominal commitment to Human Rights₂₇. And finally, it falls into the bottom 20 in opposing gender inequality₂₈ and in fighting corruption₂₉. There is a widespread problem with violence against women and poor legal protections for the vulnerable. Prisons are inhumanely overcrowded: detainees have less than one metre of space and are confined for 23 hours a day: the main cause is that 71% of them have been imprisoned before trials have been held₁₂.

For tables, charts and commentary, see:

• Human Rights and Freedom in Haiti

6. Religion and Beliefs

#belief #buddhism #christianity #god #hinduism #islam #judaism #religion #voodoo

Disbelief In God (2007)30
Pos.		Higher is better30
1	Vietnam	81
2	Japan	65
3	Sweden	64
	...
105	Zambia	0
106	Tanzania	0
107	Malaysia	0
108	Haiti	0
109	Iraq	0
110	Guinea	0
111	Ghana	0
112	Jordan	0
	World Avg	9.9
q=137.

Data from the Pew Forum, a professional polling outfit, states that in 2010 the religious makeup of this country was as follows in the table below₃₁:

Christian	86.9%
Muslim	0.1%
Hindu	0.1%
Buddhist	0.1%
Folk Religion	2.2%
Jew	0.1%
Unaffiliated	10.6%

The CIA World Factbook has slightly different data, and states: Roman Catholic 80%, Protestant 16% (Baptist 10%, Pentecostal 4%, Adventist 1%, other 1%), none 1%, other 3%. Note: Despite what they put on official forms, roughly half of the population practices Voodoo.₃₂.

An introduction to Vodun, or Voodoo:

“A traditional religion from Western Africa with an ethical focus on combating greed and promoting honour. It is based on the worship of spirits that are loyal to a monotheistic₃₃ deistic (non-interventionist) creator god. It is more correctly known as Vodun, although other titles include Vodoun, Voudou, and Sevi Lwa. "The name is traceable to an African word for 'spirit'. Vodun's roots go back to the West African Yoruba people who lived in 18th and 19th century Dahomey. That country occupied parts of today's Togo, Benin and Nigeria"₃₄. When West Africans were forcibly taken to Haiti and other islands in the West Indies as slaves, their beliefs spread with them_33,34, and also to South America and the Caribbean region in general₃₅. Voodoo was suppressed and its followers persecuted₃₃ by Christian powermongers, and it was forced underground, with many believers merely pretending to be Christian, and practicing Voodoo in secret_33,36,37. As a result of this, Voodoo priests were well-placed to orchestrate and inspire slave revolts. It is now acknowledged that Voodoo merged African beliefs with re-interpreted Christian saints and symbols_35,33, but also that Christianity abused and mis-represented Voodoo, causing long term damage to its reputation. There are up to 60 million Voodoo practitioners worldwide, with about 16 million in Ghana, Togo, Benin and Nigeria₃₃.”

"An introduction to Vodun, or Voodoo" by Vexen Crabtree (2016)

Vodun is still practiced by the majority of Haiti even though the majority also call themselves Christian. "It was given official status as a national religion in 2003 by Jean-Bertrand Aristide, then Haitian president"₃₃. Haitian Voodoo is has some features that distinguishing it from African Voodoo. The success of the hope-inspiring slave revolts was directly related to the secretive and suppressed nature of the Vodun religion within the slave culture. The underground religion naturally expanded to include underground abolitionist activism and played an inspirational and functional role, directly facilitating underground societies and powerful leaders, something which no other anti-slave movement did. This series of revolts led to Toussaint L'Ouverture and his successes in the region, which inspired and fuelled abolitionist movements worldwide.

“Some historians say that voodoo's bad image in the world is because Haitian slaves used it as a form of protest; it gave them a secret place where they could foment revolt against their masters.”

The Economist (2006)₃₈

Links:

• A List of All Religions and Belief Systems
• Secularisation Theory: Will Modern Society Reject Religion? What is Secularism?

7. The Internet

#Haiti #internet #the_internet

Internet Users (2016)39
Pos.		Higher is better39
1	Iceland	100%
2	Faroe Islands	99%
3	Norway	98%
	...
169	Kiribati	13%
170	Rwanda	12%
171	Mali	12%
172	Haiti	12%
173	Papua New Guinea	12%
174	Djibouti	12%
175	Cambodia	11%
176	Gabon	10%
	World Avg	48.1%
q=201.

Internet access has become an essential research tool. It facilitates an endless list of life improvements, from the ability to network and socialize without constraint, to access to a seemingly infinite repository of technical and procedural information on pretty much any task. The universal availability of data has sped up industrial development and personal learning at the national and personal level. Individuals can read any topic they wish regardless of the locality of expert teachers, and, entire nations can develop their technology and understanding of the world simply because they are now exposed to advanced societies and moral discourses online. Like every communications medium, the Internet has issues and causes a small range of problems, but these are insignificant compared to the advantages of having an online populace.

8. Public Health Issues

#alcohol #Haiti #health #mental_health #parenting #population #smoking #suicide #vaccines

Adolescent Birth Rate (2015)28
Pos.		Lower is better Per 100028
1	N. Korea	0.5
2	S. Korea	1.6
3	Switzerland	2.9
	...
90	Tajikistan	38.1
91	Vietnam	38.6
92	Pakistan	38.7
93	Haiti	39.3
94	Syria	39.4
95	Kyrgyzstan	39.6
96	Georgia	39.7
97	Barbados	40.7
	World Avg	47.9
q=185.

Alcohol Consumption (2010)40
Pos.		Lower is better Per Capita40
1	Libya	0.1
2	Pakistan	0.1
3	Kuwait	0.1
	...
92	Bolivia	5.9
93	Ivory Coast	6.0
94	Colombia	6.2
95	Haiti	6.4
96	Cook Islands	6.4
97	Lesotho	6.5
98	Vietnam	6.6
99	Equatorial Guinea	6.6
	World Avg	6.2
q=191.

Food Aid, Health Contributions & WHO Compliance (2017)41
Pos.		Lower is better Rank41
1	Sweden	1
2	Ireland	2
3	Denmark	3
	...
112	Romania	112
113	Peru	113
114	Kenya	114
115	Haiti	115
116	Malawi	116
117	Swaziland	117
118	Iran	118
119	Yemen	119
	World Avg	82.0
q=163.

Infant Immunizations 2011-2015 (2015)42
Pos.		Higher is better Avg %42
1	Hungary	99.0
2	China	99.0
3	Uzbekistan	98.9
	...
181	Samoa	68.1
182	Yemen	67.4
183	Papua New Guinea	66.3
184	Haiti	65.7
185	Vanuatu	65.5
186	Guinea	63.3
187	Syria	62.4
188	Ukraine	55.2
	World Avg	88.3
q=194.

Smoking Rates (2014)43
Pos.		Lower is better43
1	Guinea	15
2	Solomon Islands	26
3	Kiribati	28
	...
23	Sao Tome & Principe	111
24	India	111
25	Eritrea	114
26	Haiti	114
27	Peru	116
28	Somalia	117
29	Ghana	121
30	Benin	122
	World Avg	819
q=182.

Suicide Rate (2013)44
Pos.		Lower is better Per 100k44
1	Haiti	0
2	Grenada	0
3	Egypt	0.1
4	Jordan	0.2
5	Maldives	0.7
6	Azerbaijan	1.3
7	S. Africa	1.8
8	Bahamas	2.5
9	Peru	2.9
10	Kuwait	3.6
11	Armenia	3.9
12	Dominican Rep.	4.6
	World Avg	20.93
q=91.

9. More Charts and Comparisons to Other Countries