Haiti’s Tumultuous History

In 1492, when Christopher Columbus landed near the city of the present day Cap Haitian, the country was called Hayti, meaning ‘mountainous land’.
Columbus claimed the land for the Spaniards who used the inhabitants (Arawak Indians) as slaves until the mid 1600’s when the French established settlements along the western coastal regions.

The slaves’ hatred for the French was fueled by brutally inhuman treatment in 1791, the desperate slaves made a pact that they and their posterity would serve the pagan gods and Satan for 200 years, in exchange for freedom from the French.

This pact initiated approximately 60 coups de tat, in the decades to follow. The infighting which accompanied the coups, (exacerbated by God’s hand being removed from them because of the pact with Satan) did virtually irrevocable damage to the economy and the country’s natural resources. Since 1971, Haiti has remained the poorest country in the western hemisphere.

In both 1995 and 2003, the acting Presidents rededicated the country to voodoo (devil worship), the practice of human sacrifice and black magic, in an effort to maintain “freedom”.

Haiti is about the size of the state of Maryland.
Approx. 11.7 million people live on the island.
Haiti is located 750 miles southeast of Florida.
Religion: 55% Catholic, 29% Protestant, 2.1% Haitian Vodue, 4.6% Other & 10% None.
Haiti has 25 doctors per 100,000 people.
Under-five mortality rate is 5.9%.
The average life span is 64 years.
Literacy: 77% over the age of 15.
The top 20% of households hold 64% of the total wealth in the county.
Average Income: 87.6% live on $6.85 per day (or less), 58.7% live on $3.65 per day (or less), 30.32% live on $2.15 per day (or less). Each percentage indicates a total percent of Haiti’s population related to dollar amount.
There are approx. 1,000 people per sq. mile in Haiti. United States has approx. 93 people per sq. mile.
One well with a hand pump often furnishes 500 people with water.
Climate: Tropical. More than 95% of population is exposed to natural hazards such as hurricanes, earthquakes and floods.

Information Courtesy of Christian Aid Ministries