11 in 11: Haiti

Eleven facts about Haiti:

1. Haiti occupies the western half of an island known by the English-speaking world as Hispaniola, which it shares with the Dominican Republic

2. Hispaniola was the first area of the Americas to be colonized by Europeans, and was proclaimed in the original Spanish, ‘La Espanola’, by Christopher Columbus

3. In 1697, Spain ceded the western portion of Hispaniola to the French, and the area developed into a wealthy and important hub of commerce between Europe and the Americas

4. After a slave rebellion in 1804, Haiti gained independence from France, and become the first sovereign nation in Latin America

5. Haiti was occupied by the United States from 1915 to 1934, and was
ruled by the dictatorship of father Dr. Francois Duvalier and his son
Jean-Claude Duvalier from 1957 to 1986

7. Official currency is the Gourde (HTG). Prices are often quoted in Haitian dollars, at a rate of 5 gourdes = 1 Haitian dollar

8. Many Haitians depend on wood and charcoal as a fuel source, and deforestation has become a problem. A large amount of topsoil is lost to erosion each year, which in turn reduces agricultural productivity

9. A woman in Haiti gives birth to an average of four children, and roughly half of the whole population is under twenty years old

10. If Haiti were a US state, it would be ranked 42nd by land mass, but
11th by population

 11. With an annual Gross Domestic Product of approximately $7 billion dollars,
Haiti’s GDP is exceeded by the revenue of 324 companies on the 2010
Fortune 500 list