; land area: 27,560 km2

_#_Comparative area: slightly larger than Maryland

_#_Land boundary: 275 km with the Dominican Republic

_#_Coastline: 1,771 km

_#_Maritime claims:

Contiguous zone: 24 nm;

Continental shelf: to depth of exploitation;

Exclusive economic zone: 200 nm;

Territorial sea: 12 nm

_#_Disputes: claims US-administered Navassa Island

_#_Climate: tropical; semiarid where mountains in east cut off trade
winds

_#_Terrain: mostly rough and mountainous

_#_Natural resources: bauxite

_#_Land use: arable land 20%; permanent crops 13%; meadows and
pastures 18%; forest and woodland 4%; other 45%; includes irrigated 3%

_#_Environment: lies in the middle of the hurricane belt and subject
to severe storms from June to October; occasional flooding and
earthquakes; deforestation; soil erosion

_#_Note: shares island of Hispaniola with Dominican Republic

_*_People
_#_Population: 6,286,511 (July 1991), growth rate 2.3% (1991)

_#_Birth rate: 43 births/1,000 population (1991)

_#_Death rate: 15 deaths/1,000 population (1991)

_#_Net migration rate: - 5 migrants/1,000 population (1991)

_#_Infant mortality rate: 106 deaths/1,000 live births (1991)

_#_Life expectancy at birth: 52 years male, 55 years female (1991)

_#_Total fertility rate: 6.3 children born/woman (1991)

_#_Nationality: noun--Haitian(s); adjective--Haitian

_#_Ethnic divisions: black 95%, mulatto and European 5%

_#_Religion: Roman Catholic is the official religion; 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% (1982)

_#_Language: French (official) spoken by only 10% of population; all
speak Creole

_#_Literacy: 53% (male 59%, female 47%) age 15 and over can
read and write (1990 est.)

_#_Labor force: 2,300,000; agriculture 66%, services 25%, industry 9%;
shortage of skilled labor, unskilled labor abundant (1982)

_#_Organized labor: NA

_*_Government
_#_Long-form name: Republic of Haiti

_#_Type: republic

_#_Capital: Port-au-Prince

_#_Administrative divisions: 9 departments, (departements,
singular--departement); Artibonite, Centre, Grand'Anse, Nord, Nord-Est,
Nord-Ouest, Ouest, Sud, Sud-Est

_#_Independence: 1 January 1804 (from France)

_#_Constitution: 27 August 1983, suspended February 1986; draft
constitution ap