Natural hazards: lies in the middle of the hurricane belt and subject to severe storms from June to October; occasional flooding and earthquakes; periodic droughts
Environment - current issues: extensive deforestation (much of the remaining forested land is being cleared for agriculture and used as fuel); soil erosion; inadequate supplies of potable water
Environment - international agreements: party to: Biodiversity, Climate
Change, Desertification, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Marine Life
Conservation, Ozone Layer Protection signed, but not ratified: Hazardous
Wastes, Nuclear Test Ban
Geography - note: shares island of Hispaniola with Dominican Republic (western one-third is Haiti, eastern two-thirds is the Dominican Republic)
People Haiti
Population: 7,063,722 note: estimates for this country explicitly take into account the effects of excess mortality due to AIDS; this can result in lower life expectancy, higher infant mortality and death rates, lower population and growth rates, and changes in the distribution of population by age and sex than would otherwise be expected (July 2002 est.)
Age structure: 0-14 years: 39.5% (male 1,414,052; female 1,377,693) 15-64 years: 56.3% (male 1,924,867; female 2,049,952) 65 years and over: 4.2% (male 142,657; female 154,501) (2002 est.)
Population growth rate: 1.42% (2002 est.)
Birth rate: 31.42 births/1,000 population (2002 est.)
Death rate: 14.88 deaths/1,000 population (2002 est.)