Haiti
Name
| Official name | Republic of Haiti — République d'Haïti; Repiblik d Ayiti |
|---|---|
| Former names | Saint-Domingue, the French colony (1697–1804); the Empire of Haiti under Dessalines (1804–06) and Faustin I (1849–59); the Kingdom of Haiti of Henri Christophe in the north (1811–20) |
| Demonym | Haitian |
| Meaning of the name | Ayiti — "the land of high mountains," in Taíno, the island's name before Columbus |
| Motto | "Liberté, Égalité, Fraternité" — on the arms since 1986; "L'Union fait la force," unity makes strength, the motto of the arms of 1807 |
Quick facts
| Capital | Port-au-Prince — founded 1749, the capital since 1770; about 1 million in the city, 3 million in the metropolitan area |
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| Largest cities | Port-au-Prince with Carrefour, Delmas and Pétion-Ville; Cap-Haïtien, about 300,000; Gonaïves; Les Cayes; Saint-Marc; Jacmel; Port-de-Paix |
| Official languages | Haitian Creole — Kreyòl — spoken by all, and French, by about a tenth; the Creole official since 1987 |
| Currency | Haitian gourde — ISO code HTG, G; 100 centimes; about 130 to the U.S. dollar |
| Time zone | Eastern Standard Time, UTC−5; summer time UTC−4 in the years it is kept |
| Calling code | +509 |
| Internet domain | .ht |
| ISO 3166 codes | HT · HTI · 332 |
| Vehicle registration code | RH |
| Driving side | Right |
| Electricity | 110 V, 60 Hz; plug types A and B |
| Independence | 1 January 1804, from France — declared at Gonaïves by Jean-Jacques Dessalines; the first Black republic |
| National days | 1 January, Independence Day, with the soup joumou; 2 January, Ancestors' Day; 18 May, Flag Day, for Arcahaie 1803; 18 November, Vertières Day; 17 October, the death of Dessalines; the Kanaval before Lent; 1 November, All Saints and the Guédé |
| Constitution | 29 March 1987 — approved by referendum after the fall of the Duvaliers; amended 2012; the reform of 2024–25 abandoned in October 2025 |
| Population | 8,373,750 at the census of 2003 — the last; about 11.9 million (UN, 2025 est.) |
| Area | 27,750 km² (10,714 sq mi) — land 27,560 km², water 190 km²; the islands of Gonâve, Tortuga, Vache and the Cayemites |
Flag & national symbols
| National flag | Two horizontal bands of blue and red — the French tricolor with its white torn out by Dessalines at Arcahaie on 18 May 1803, the blue for the Blacks and the red for the mulattoes united — with the coat of arms on a white panel at the center: a royal palm with a liberty cap, six flags, cannons, drums and anchors, over "L'Union fait la force"; readopted 25 February 1986 after the Duvaliers' black and red.Flag of Haiti |
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| Coat of arms | A royal palm topped by a Phrygian cap, before a trophy of six flags, two cannons, cannonballs, drums, bugles, anchors and a broken chain, on a green lawn, over the motto L'Union fait la force — the arms of 1807, fixed 1986 |
| National anthem | "La Dessalinienne" — words by Justin Lhérisson, music by Nicolas Geffrard; first sung 1 January 1904 for the centenary; adopted 1904 |
| National motto | "Liberté, Égalité, Fraternité" — and "L'Union fait la force" on the arms |
| National colors | Blue and red |
| National bird | The Hispaniolan trogon — the kalson wouj; widely cited |
| National flower | The hibiscus — the choeblack; widely cited |
| National tree | The royal palm — on the flag and the arms |
| National dish | Soup joumou — the pumpkin soup of Independence Day, forbidden to the slaves and eaten every 1 January since 1804; inscribed by UNESCO as intangible heritage in 2021, the country's first; griot, the fried pork; diri ak pwa |
| Symbol status | The flag, arms and anthem are fixed by the Constitution and law; the tree by the arms; the soup by UNESCO listing; the bird and flower widely cited |
Geography
| Location | The Caribbean — the western third of Hispaniola, between the Atlantic to the north and the Caribbean to the south, with Cuba 80 km across the Windward Passage and Jamaica to the southwest; the Dominican Republic the one neighbor |
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| Land border | 376 km (234 mi) with the Dominican Republic — the wall along a third of it, the crossings closed in 2023 and the deportations of 2024–26 |
| Coastline | 1,771 km (1,100 mi) |
| Highest point | Pic la Selle, 2,680 m (8,793 ft), in the Massif de la Selle |
| Lowest point | The Caribbean Sea, 0 m |
| Mean elevation | 470 m (1,542 ft) |
| Rivers and lakes | The Artibonite, 320 km, the longest on the island, from the Dominican Cordillera Central through the Péligre dam to the Gulf of Gonâve — the rice valley; the Trois Rivières; the Grande-Anse; Lake Azuei, Étang Saumâtre, the largest lake, salt and rising; Lake Péligre |
| Islands | Gonâve, 690 km², in the gulf before the capital, with 80,000 people; Tortuga — La Tortue — the buccaneers' island of the 1600s; Île-à-Vache off Les Cayes; the Cayemites |
| Terrain | Mountains over three-quarters of the land — the Massif du Nord, the Chaîne des Matheux, the Massif de la Hotte of the southern peninsula, the Massif de la Selle; the Artibonite and the Cul-de-Sac plains; the Central Plateau; the two peninsulas of the "claw" |
| Climate | Tropical — the rains of April to June and October to November; the northwest and the Cul-de-Sac dry in the rain shadow; the hurricane season |
| Natural hazards | Earthquakes — 12 January 2010, magnitude 7.0 under Léogâne, the capital destroyed, between 100,000 and 300,000 dead by the differing counts, the government's 316,000 among them; 14 August 2021, magnitude 7.2 in the south, about 2,200 dead; hurricanes — Matthew, 4 October 2016, some 550 dead, Jeanne 2004, the floods of Gonaïves; deforestation and the landslides it brings; drought |
| Natural resources | Bauxite, once mined; copper, gold at Morne Bossa, unmined; marble; hydropower at Péligre; the land, eroded |
| Land use | Agricultural land about 67%; forest about 4% by the old count, more by satellite — the most deforested country in the hemisphere either way |
| National parks | Pic Macaya in the Massif de la Hotte, the last cloud forest; La Visite in the Massif de la Selle; the National History Park of the Citadelle; the Three Bays marine park of the north |
| UNESCO World Heritage | 1 — the National History Park: Citadel, Sans Souci, Ramiers (1982), the fortress and palace of King Henri Christophe above Milot; the soup joumou on the intangible list since 2021 |
| Administrative divisions | 10 departments — Ouest with the capital, Nord, Nord-Est, Nord-Ouest, Artibonite, Centre, Sud, Sud-Est, Grand'Anse and Nippes — 42 arrondissements and 146 communes |
People
| Population | 8,373,750 (census of 2003); about 11.9 million (2025 est.) |
|---|---|
| Population density | About 430 per km² (1,100 per sq mi) — among the highest in the Americas |
| Population growth | About 1.2% a year |
| Median age | About 24 years |
| Life expectancy | About 64 years — the lowest in the Americas |
| Fertility rate | About 2.7 births per woman |
| Urban population | About 60% |
| Adult literacy | About 62% |
| Ethnic groups | Black about 95% — the descendants of the enslaved of West and Central Africa; mixed and white about 5%; the Syrian-Lebanese merchant families of the capital |
| Languages | Haitian Creole by all — the most spoken creole language in the world, of French words on African grammar; French by about a tenth, the language of the courts and the elite; English and Spanish among the migrants and the diaspora |
| Religion | Roman Catholic about 55%; Protestant about 29% — Baptist, Pentecostal, Adventist, growing; Vodou, recognized as a religion by decree in 2003, practiced alongside by about half by most estimates; no religion about 10% |
| Human Development Index | 0.554 (2023 data, 2025 report) — medium; about 163rd of 193 — the lowest in the Americas |
| Displacement | About 1.4 million displaced within the country by the gangs by 2025–26, most from the capital; some 5.7 million in acute hunger by the WFP's count, half the country; the deportations from the Dominican Republic, above 200,000 a year; the Haitians of the Darién and the U.S. border, and the ending of their protected status in the United States |
| Sport | Football — the World Cup of 1974, and the qualification of November 2025 for the World Cup of 2026, the second in the country's history, won without a home game; the Grenadières at the women's World Cup of 2023; the Kanaval and the rara bands |
| Diaspora | About 2 million of Haitian origin abroad — in the United States, Miami, New York and Boston; the Dominican Republic; Canada, Montreal; France; Chile and Brazil; the tenth department, in the saying |
Government
| Form of government | A semi-presidential republic under the Constitution of 1987 — in transition since 2021, with no president since the assassination of Jovenel Moïse on 7 July 2021, no parliament since January 2020 and no elected official since January 2023; executive power held by an appointed prime minister since 7 February 2026 |
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| Prime Minister | Alix Didier Fils-Aimé, since 11 November 2024 — a businessman of the capital, the president of the chamber of commerce before, born 27 August 1976 in Port-au-Prince; appointed by the transitional council to replace Garry Conille; since 7 February 2026 head of the interim government, alone at the top of the state |
| The transitional council | The nine-member Transitional Presidential Council installed 25 April 2024 under the CARICOM-brokered accord of 3 April 2024, after the gangs' offensive of February–March 2024 forced Prime Minister Ariel Henry from office while abroad — seven voting members from the parties and the business sector, its presidency rotating from Edgard Leblanc Fils to Leslie Voltaire to Fritz Alphonse Jean to Laurent Saint-Cyr; three members accused of demanding a US$770,000 bribe from a state bank in 2024; Conille dismissed in November 2024; the council's mandate ended 7 February 2026 without a vote held or security restored, and it dissolved, five of its members having voted on 29 January to remove Fils-Aimé, a move the United States opposed and the government ignored; "when we start to find a Haitian solution the international community comes in with all its claws," Voltaire said |
| The elections | The first general election since 2016 — set by the Provisional Electoral Council's calendar of 19 December 2025 for a first round on 30 August 2026 and a second in December, with the 146 communes; pushed to 13 December 2026 for the first round and 21 February 2027 for the second; the constitutional reform abandoned in October 2025 to clear the way; the voter rolls, the gang-held districts and the funding the open questions |
| The gangs | Viv Ansanm, the alliance of the capital's gangs under Jimmy "Barbecue" Chérizier, and the Gran Grif of the Artibonite — in control of about 85–90% of Port-au-Prince by the UN's count, the airport closed to U.S. flights, the prisons emptied in March 2024, the massacres of Pont-Sondé and Wharf Jérémie; some 5,600 killed in 2024 and more in 2025; designated terrorist organizations by the United States in May 2025; the spread into the Artibonite and Centre departments in 2025–26 |
| The security missions | The Kenyan-led Multinational Security Support mission, authorized by the Security Council in October 2023 and deployed from June 2024, about a thousand strong at its most, ended in October 2025 with the gangs stronger than it found them; the Gang Suppression Force of up to 5,550 authorized by resolution 2793 of 30 September 2025 with a mandate to arrest, its deployment through 2026; the private military contractors hired by the government; the Haitian National Police of about 10,000 and the reborn army of a few thousand |
| Legal system | Civil law on the French model; the Court of Cassation; the courts hollowed, the judges unpaid, the Palace of Justice burned in 2024 |
| Departments | 10 under delegates appointed by the government; the 146 communes with mayors, appointed since the terms of 2020 expired |
| The Dominican Republic | The border wall and the closure of September 2023 over the Massacre River canal; the mass deportations; the refusal of Dominican hospitals to some; the two countries' one island |
| United Nations | A founding member, 24 October 1945; the peacekeeping missions of 1993–2000 and 2004–17 — MINUSTAH, whose Nepalese troops brought the cholera of 2010, some 10,000 dead; BINUH, the political office since 2019, renewed by resolution 2814 of 2026 |
| Memberships | CARICOM since 2002, the only French-speaking member; the OAS; the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie; the Association of Caribbean States; the WTO; CELAC |
Economy
| GDP (nominal) | About US$25 billion (2025, IMF) |
|---|---|
| GDP per capita | About US$2,000 (2025) |
| GDP per capita (PPP) | About US$3,000 (2025) — the lowest in the Americas |
| GDP growth | Negative every year since 2019 — about −4% in 2024 and again in 2025, the sixth straight contraction; inflation about 30% |
| Economy by sector | Services about 55%, agriculture about 22% — employing about 40% — industry about 20% |
| Currency | Haitian gourde (HTG) |
| Remittances | About US$4 billion a year from the diaspora — about a fifth of GDP, more than exports and aid together, the income that feeds the country |
| Apparel | The garment factories of the capital and the Caracol park in the north, sewing for the U.S. market under the HOPE and HELP trade acts — the largest export and the largest formal employer, about 30,000 jobs left of 60,000 as the factories closed with the violence |
| Agriculture | Rice of the Artibonite, undercut by the American import; mangoes, the Francique for export; coffee, once the colony's wealth; sugar; the vetiver of Les Cayes, half the world's supply of the perfume oil; charcoal from the last trees |
| Aid | The humanitarian appeal of about US$900 million a year, half funded; the U.S. aid cuts of 2025; the state's budget about US$3 billion |
| Public finances | The gourde losing half its value since 2019; public debt about 25% of GDP, most of it owed within; the port and customs revenue in the gangs' hands |
| Income classification | Lower-middle income (World Bank); the only least developed country in the Americas |
Transport & infrastructure
| Main airports | Toussaint Louverture International Airport, Port-au-Prince — closed for months in 2024 after gunfire hit airliners, U.S. carriers barred by the FAA; Cap-Haïtien International, the country's working gateway since; Jacmel, Les Cayes, Jérémie |
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| Airline | Sunrise Airways, the private carrier of Port-au-Prince, to the islands and Miami; the helicopters and small planes between the capital and the provinces over the gang roads |
| Main ports | Port-au-Prince, its terminal held and taxed by the gangs at times; Lafito, the private port north of the capital; Cap-Haïtien; Saint-Marc; Les Cayes |
| Railways | None — the sugar lines of the Plaine du Cul-de-Sac gone by the 1980s |
| Roads | About 4,000 km (2,500 mi), a fifth paved; Route Nationale 1 north to Cap-Haïtien and Route Nationale 2 south to Les Cayes, both cut by the gangs at Canaan and Martissant; the road to the Dominican border at Malpasse |
| The Citadelle | Citadelle Laferrière above Milot — the fortress of Henri Christophe, built 1805–1820 by 20,000 workers on a 900 m peak, with 365 cannons, the largest fortress in the Americas; the ruined palace of Sans-Souci below |
History in dates
| c. 5000 BC | The first settlers; the Taíno of Ayiti |
|---|---|
| 1492 | Columbus lands, 5 December; La Navidad |
| 1697 | The Treaty of Ryswick — the western third to France; Saint-Domingue, the richest colony on earth |
| 1791 | The ceremony of Bois Caïman, 14 August; the slave revolt of 22 August |
| 1793 | Slavery abolished in the colony; Toussaint Louverture rises |
| 1802 | Toussaint seized and deported, dead in the Jura, 7 April 1803 |
| 1803 | The flag at Arcahaie, 18 May; Vertières, 18 November — the French defeated |
| 1804 | Independence, 1 January — Dessalines |
| 1806 | Dessalines assassinated, 17 October; the north and south divided |
| 1811 | Henri Christophe king of the north; the Citadelle |
| 1825 | France's indemnity of 150 million francs for recognition — paid to 1947 |
| 1915–1934 | The U.S. occupation |
| 1957 | François Duvalier, Papa Doc, elected; the Tontons Macoutes |
| 1971 | Jean-Claude Duvalier, Baby Doc, at nineteen |
| 1986 | Baby Doc flees, 7 February |
| 1987 | The Constitution, 29 March |
| 1990 | Jean-Bertrand Aristide elected, 16 December; the coup of 1991; his return, 1994 |
| 2004 | Aristide flown out, 29 February; MINUSTAH |
| 2010 | The earthquake, 12 January; the cholera, October |
| 2016 | Hurricane Matthew, 4 October |
| 2021 | Jovenel Moïse assassinated, 7 July; the earthquake, 14 August |
| 2024 | The gangs' offensive, 29 February; Henry out; the council, 25 April; Fils-Aimé, 11 November |
| 2025 | The Gang Suppression Force authorized, 30 September; the World Cup qualification, 18 November |
| 2026 | The council dissolves, 7 February; the election set for 13 December |
Records & firsts
| The only successful slave revolution | 1791–1804 |
|---|---|
| The first Black republic | 1 January 1804 — and the second independent nation in the Americas |
| The largest fortress in the Americas | The Citadelle Laferrière |
| The most spoken creole language | Haitian Creole, about 12 million |
| A ransom for freedom | 150 million francs to France, 1825 |
| The deadliest earthquake of the century | 12 January 2010 |
| A capital held by gangs | About nine-tenths of Port-au-Prince |
| No elected official | Since January 2023 |
| The soup of freedom | Soup joumou, on UNESCO's list |
| Half the world's vetiver | The perfume oil of Les Cayes |
| A World Cup without a home game | Qualified in November 2025 |
| The first country to recognize Greek independence | Haiti, 1822 — by Boyer's letter |
Frequently asked questions
What is the official name of Haiti?
The Republic of Haiti — République d'Haïti in French, Repiblik d Ayiti in Haitian Creole — declared on 1 January 1804 by Jean-Jacques Dessalines, when the slaves of the French colony of Saint-Domingue completed the only successful slave revolution in history and founded the first Black republic and the second independent nation in the Americas. The name is the Taíno Ayiti, "the land of high mountains," which the island bore before Columbus called it Hispaniola.
What is the capital of Haiti?
Port-au-Prince, on the Gulf of Gonâve — founded by the French in 1749 and the capital since 1770, with about a million people in the city and some 3 million in its metropolitan area, a quarter of the country, in the hills above the bay; leveled by the earthquake of 2010 and, in 2024–26, about nine-tenths of it in the hands of armed gangs, by the UN's count. Cap-Haïtien in the north, the colonial Cap-Français and the city of Henri Christophe's citadel, is the second city; Gonaïves, where independence was declared, Les Cayes and Jacmel follow.
How big is Haiti, and how many people live there?
About 27,750 km² (10,714 sq mi) — a little smaller than Maryland, about the size of Albania — the western third of Hispaniola, shared with the Dominican Republic, with the islands of Gonâve and Tortuga. The last census, in 2003, counted 8,373,750 people; the UN estimates about 11.9 million for 2025, the most populous country of the Caribbean after Cuba and the Dominican Republic, and more than a million of them driven from their homes by the gangs.
What are the highest and lowest points of Haiti?
Pic la Selle, 2,680 m (8,793 ft), in the Massif de la Selle southeast of the capital — the name of the country means "land of high mountains," and the Haitians say that behind mountains there are more mountains — and the Caribbean. The Artibonite, 320 km, is the longest river of the island, dammed at Péligre; Lake Azuei on the Dominican border the largest lake; the hills stripped of the forest that once covered them.
What currency does Haiti use?
The Haitian gourde (ISO code HTG, G), of 100 centimes, issued by the Bank of the Republic of Haiti and named for the calabash that was money after independence — at about 130 to the U.S. dollar, and prices in the street quoted in "Haitian dollars" of five gourdes. Clocks keep Eastern Standard Time, UTC−5, with summer time when the government declares it.
Who governs Haiti?
Prime Minister Alix Didier Fils-Aimé, a businessman appointed by the Transitional Presidential Council on 11 November 2024 and, since the council dissolved at the end of its mandate on 7 February 2026, the sole holder of executive power in a country with no elected official since the last senators' terms expired in January 2023. The nine-member council, installed on 25 April 2024 after Prime Minister Ariel Henry was forced out by the gangs' offensive, ended without restoring security or holding a vote; five of its members tried to remove Fils-Aimé nine days before it dissolved, and the United States backed him. The first general election since 2016 was set for 30 August 2026 by the electoral calendar of December 2025 and has been pushed to 13 December 2026, with a second round in February 2027; a UN-authorized Gang Suppression Force is to replace the Kenyan-led police mission.
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