Haiti Overview
The Republic of Haiti occupies the western third of Hispaniola, the second largest island in the Caribbean, and shares a border with the Dominican Republic. The original inhabitants of the area, the Taíno, named the island Ayiti, which means “land of high mountains.” Rugged highlands cover two-thirds of the country, while the remainder is marked by low plateaus, deep valleys, and small coastal plains. The climate is tropical, with some temperature variation depending on the altitude. Haiti sits in the middle of the hurricane belt and is subject to severe storms from June to October. Natural resources include copper, calcium carbonate, gold, marble, and hydropower.

Approximately 95 percent of Haitians are descendents of West African slaves. The remaining five percent are mulatto—a mix of Caucasian and African ancestry. French and Creole are the country’s two official languages. French is spoken by 10 percent of Haitians, while nearly everyone speaks Creole, a blend of French and African dialects. Spanish is used mostly near the border with the Dominican Republic, and English is becoming a popular language in the business sector.

Discovered by Christopher Columbus in 1492, Haiti became a Spanish and then, later, French colony. A successful slave revolt in 1801 led to Haiti becoming the first black republic to declare independence.

Violence and political instability marked much of the 1800s until Haiti declared bankruptcy in 1914. Occupation by United States Marines brought economic and democratic consistency to the country for the next 20 years.

Physician (and practitioner of voodoo) Francois “Papa Doc” Duvalier seized power in 1956 in a military coup and set up a dictatorship that would last for 30 years. Jean-Bertrand Aristide served as president once in the 1990s and once in the 21st century—both times amid rebellion and protests. In 2004, Aristide stepped down and, after two years of interim leadership, René Préval was elected president. In August and September 2008, a series of four powerful storms ripped through the country, affecting nearly 800,000 people.

Haiti is the least-developed country in the Western Hemisphere and one of the poorest in the world. Many problems are endemic to the country, including widespread malnutrition, poor education, and the highest rate of HIV and AIDS in the Americas.

More than 190,000 Haitians are currently living with HIV and AIDS. Of the estimated 17,000 children living with the disease, only 300 have access to antiretroviral therapy. The epidemic is fueled by a high rate of poverty and a lack of quality education. Only 20 percent of children attend and fewer than two percent complete secondary school.

Fear of HIV and AIDS has dissuaded tourists from visiting Haiti, virtually collapsing the tourism industry and causing a high rate of unemployment. An estimated two-thirds of the labor force in Haiti is currently unemployed. Nearly 65 percent of people live below the poverty line and 78 percent live on less than $2 a day. Despite slight gains in the economy since 2005, a huge income gap exists between the impoverished Creole-speaking majority and the more affluent French-speaking minority. Around one percent of the wealthier Haitians own half the country’s wealth.

There were riots in the spring of 2008 due to nationwide food shortages. Food costs in Haiti have risen 40 percent in the last year. As a result, approximately 2.4 million Haitians cannot afford the minimum daily calories recommended by the World Health Organization. Among the more vulnerable communities, chronic malnutrition is common, with moderate to severe stunting affecting 42 percent of children under the age of five.


The church in Haiti struggles to provide for the ministry in a land where subsistence living is the norm.