Haiti

Haiti is a country of about 9 million people located on the eastern third of the island of Hispaniola in the Caribbean Sea. Most (80 percent) of the population is Roman Catholic, and about half the population is estimated to practice voodoo. The population is 95 percent black, with the remainder predominantly white or mulatto. Haiti is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, with 80 percent of the population living below the poverty line and a Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita of $1,300 in 2008. Haiti has suffered a long history of dictatorial rule and civil unrest, which has left most of the population impoverished and the state without adequate infrastructure to meet even basic health care needs.

Two-thirds of Haitians depend on the ...