1. Nation Report: Haiti By: Megan Morgan

2. Geography 27,750 sq. km, slightly smaller than the state of Maryland. Located in the Western Caribbean sea. Occupies one-third of the western side of the Island of Hispaniola. Dominican Republic borders Haiti to the East. Tropical climate Capital is Port-Au-Prince.

3. Geography Haiti natural resources include: copper, bauxite, carbonate, calcium, gold and marble. Due to it’s location directly in the center of the hurricane belt, Haiti suffers severe storms, flooding, hurricanes from June to October. Earthquakes and droughts are also common occurrences. Terrain is either beach, rough or mountainous.

4. People Population of roughly 9,719,932. Predominantly Catholic, but nearly half of the population practices Voodoo. Approximately 120,000 individuals are living with HIV/AIDS. AIDS creates a very high mortality rate for Haitians.

5. People 1.9% prevalence rate of AIDS in adults. High infectious disease risk, Hepatitis A and E, Typhoid Fever, and Bacterial and Protozoa Diarrhea., Dengue Fever, Malaria, and Leptospirosis. Median age is 21years and average age of death is 62 years. Average age of being able to read and write is 15 yrs. Poverty, Crime and political disarray is constant.

6. Culture A mix of French Creole and West African traditions. “Compa” is a popular music genre that combines African, Spanish and French influences. Festivals are times of celebration, the most popular being “Carnival”.

7. Culture Cuisine is Latin-Caribbean, but with more African influence. Rice and beans are the staple of the Haitian people. Rum is a common export, but distilled using sugar-cane instead of the traditional molasses. Marriage is common, but not necessary. A man and woman will often live together and have children long before the actual legalities of a marriage are performed.

8. History Discovered by Christopher Columbus on Dec 5, 1492, named it La Isla Espanola First Island settled in the New World. Originally occupied by Taino peoples. First settlement it is hypothesized to be destroyed by disease that indigenous people had not immunity towards. As well as Spanish settlers, French “castaways” consisting of pirates, mercenaries and fortune seekers made Haiti their home. French buccaneers established settlement of Tortuga as Spanish interest in island declined. The “French West Indian Company” was soon established, renaming Tortuga to Saint-Domingue. Saint Domingue became the Pearl of the Antilles”, one of the richest colonies of the French 18th century empire.

9. history Over half the Caribbean slave population was accumulated here, until their uprising and the result was reclaiming their island. Obtained complete independence in 1825, under the leadership of the first Haitian Emperor Jean Jacques Dessalines. US occupation of Haiti began to help US banks stabilize debt to Haitians., the occupation was highly criticized but reforms were put into place. Large history of foreign government involvement, corruption and revolts.

10. Works Cited http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Culture_of_Haiti http://www.haitian-culture.com/ http://www.everyculture.com/Ge-It/Haiti.html http://www.everyculture.com/Ge-It/Haiti.html http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Haiti https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/