Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Port-au-Prince (Agenzia Fides) – The Republic of Haiti has an area equal to approximately 27,000 square kilometers, is located about 80 km from Cuba, and has 9,035,536 inhabitants, of which only 3.4% have the hope of reaching their 64th birthday. The annual income per capita is just $1300, which puts Haiti at number 203 among the 229 countries in the world. Haiti occupies the western half of the island of Hispaniola, where Christopher Columbus docked at the end of his first trip in 1492. The literacy rate is 45% and life expectancy at about 50 years. The total population is formed by 95% black and 5% mixed and caucasian people. The country is often in the path of hurricanes that cause death and destruction. In 2008, they were hit by four (Fay, Gustav, Hanna and Ike), causing 330 deaths and many displaced persons throughout the country. The passage of four hurricanes in a month was considered by authorities to be the worst disaster in recent years, before yesterday's earthquake. Besides the capital, other major cities are Cap-Haitien and Gonaives. Despite the substantial exports of sugar, coffee, banana, and mango, Haiti remains one of the poorest and most struggling countries of the world. Unemployment affects more than 60% of the population. Founded in 1749, by French sugar planters, the country, originally a Spanish settlement, became a French colony in the seventeenth century and in 1804 was the first 'black' republic to gain independence. Haitians are 70% Catholic and 23% Protestant. The Catholic Church has 7,039,000 faithful, 10 ecclesiastical circumscriptions, 18 bishops, 485 diocesan priests and 306 religious priests, 332 religious (not priests), 1,851 religious sisters, and 421 major seminarians. The Church operates 26 hospitals, 213 dispensaries, 4 leprosy colonies, 23 homes for the elderly and chronically ill, and 39 orphanages. (CE) (Agenzia Fides 13/01/2010)
