bbean Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean, west of the
Dominican Republic

Geographic coordinates: 19 00 N, 72 25 W

Map references: Central America and the Caribbean

Area: total: 27,750 sq km land: 27,560 sq km water: 190 sq km

Area - comparative: slightly smaller than Maryland

Land boundaries: total: 360 km border countries: Dominican Republic
360 km

Coastline: 1,771 km

Maritime claims: contiguous zone: 24 NM territorial sea: 12 NM
continental shelf: to depth of exploitation exclusive economic zone:
200 NM

Climate: tropical; semiarid where mountains in east cut off trade winds

Terrain: mostly rough and mountainous

Elevation extremes: lowest point: Caribbean Sea 0 m highest point:
Chaine de la Selle 2,680 m

Natural resources: bauxite, copper, calcium carbonate, gold, marble,
hydropower

Land use: arable land: 20% permanent crops: 13% other: 67% (1998 est.)

Irrigated land: 750 sq km (1998 est.)

Natural hazards: lies in the middle of the hurricane belt and subject to
severe storms from June to October; occasional flooding and earthquakes;
periodic droughts

Environment - current issues: extensive deforestation (much of the
remaining forested land is being cleared for agriculture and used as
fuel); soil erosion; inadequate supplies of potable water

Environment - international agreements: party to: Biodiversity, Climate
Change, Desertification, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Marine Life
Conservation, Ozone Layer Protection signed, but not ratified: Hazardous
Wastes, Nuclear Test Ban

Geography - note: shares island of Hispaniola with Dominican Republic
(western one-third is Haiti, eastern two-thirds is the Dominican Republic)

People Haiti

Population: 7,063,722 note: estimates for this country explicitly take
into account the effects of excess mortality due to AIDS; this can result
in lower life expectancy, higher infant mortality and death rates, lower
population and growth rates, and changes in the distribution of population
by age and sex than would otherwise be expected (July 2002 est.)

Age structure: 0-14 years: 39.5% (male 1,414,052; female 1,377,693)
15-64 years: 56.3% (male 1,924,867; female 2,049,952) 65 years and over:
4.2% (male 142,657; female 154,501) (2002 est.)

Population growth rate: 1.42% (2002 est.)

Birth rate: 31.42 births/1,000 population (2002 est.)

Death rate: 14.88 deaths/1,000 population (2002 est.)

Net migration rate: -2.31 migra