About Haiti
Haiti is located in the Carribean on the island of Hispanola. Haiti covers 1/3 of the island, it occupies the western part of Hispanola, neighboring the Dominican Republic.
I collected some general information on Haiti here. For the specific place in Haiti, where our mission teams and I do missions work, please look at the page on Fond Doux, which includes reports on our Haiti travel.
Here are some outside links with facts about
Haiti. More info is summarized below.
- The Wikipedia entry about Haiti (includes a history of Haiti)
- A website that collects current news about Haiti.
- A Haitian website with news about Haiti.
There are 14 airports in Haiti (see map above), three of them are
international airports (Port-au-Prince: PAP, Cap Haitien: CAP, Les
Cayes: CYA).
Due to political unrest, the FAA currently forbids American airlines or pilots to fly into PAP. Since late 2025, there is one direct flight 4 times a week between MIA and CYA; and a daily flight between MIA (or Boston, or Newark) and CAP. Other flights from CAP to other nations are available; however, there are no direct flights to the neighboring nation (Dominican Republic).
Summary of facts about Haiti:
- Haiti is the poorest country in the western hemisphere with 80% of the people below the UN poverty line (for singles: less than $1/day income).
- The unemployment rate is hard to measure, but it is estimated to be 70% - 80%.
- The highest source sets the median income at $160/year, i.e. less than 50 cents a day. The average income is at most around $480/year. There are many sources putting these numbers at about half these values.
- There is a highly inadequate supply of potable water.
- As of summer 2025, the second-worst famine in the World was declared for Haiti (South Sudan is the worst).
- Their language is (Haitian) Creole; more educated people know French.
- Haiti gained independence from France on Jan 1, 1804.
- The population is estimated to be close to 11.4 mio people. The median age is 18.5 years, that means half the people are adults and the other half are children. Life expectancy is 57.5 years.
- 53% of people cannot read or write.
- An estimated half of the population practices voodoo. 16% are Protestant Christians with 4% being Pentecostal.
- The AIDS rate is 5.6%, with probably a high number of people HIV infected without knowing it.
- The four hurricanes that hit Haiti in 2008 put the developments in Haiti back by 5 years (UN estimate). The 7.0 earthquake on Jan 12, 2010, devastated Haiti with an estimated death toll of 230,000 people and more than 1.5 mio people homeless.