Haiti

  • Area: 27,750 square kilometres
  • Currency: Gourde made up of 100 centimes $1 = 35.663 gourdes (at 4 October 2007)
  • Official languages: French and Creole
  • Population: 8.988 million
  • Head of State or Government: René Préval (President) 2004
  • GDP: $3,660.5 million
  • GDP per capita: $407
  • GDP growth: -3.5%
  • Inflation: 22.8%

About Haiti

The Republic of Haiti occupies the western third of the island of Hispaniola and the capital is Port-au-Prince. The principal export goods are manufactured articles and coffee. The agriculture, forestry and fishing sector employs approximately 61 per cent of the workforce and contributes 42 per cent of GDP.

Industry employs 9 per cent of the workforce and contributes 13 per cent of GDP, while the services sector employs 30 per cent of the workforce and contributes 45 per cent of GDP. Tourism was formerly the second largest source of foreign exchange, but has declined since the mid-1980s and workers’ remittances are growing in importance.