Economic Freedom Summary Index, Economic Freedom of the World, 16 Oct 2024
2022 overall score: 5.80, rank: 128
Territory in the island of Hispaniola in the Caribbean Sea, ruled since 1991 by the République d'Haïti
Haiti (French Haïti; Haitian Creole Ayiti), officially the Republic of Haiti (French: République d'Haïti; Haitian Creole: Repiblik Ayiti)and formerly called Hayti, is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean Sea. It occupies the western three-eighths of the island, which it shares with the Dominican Republic. Haiti is 27,750 square kilometers in size and has an estimated 10.8 million people, making it the most populous country in the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) and the second-most populous country in the Caribbean as a whole. The region was originally inhabited by the indigenous Taíno people. Explorers from Spain landed on the island on 5 December 1492 during the first voyage of Christopher Columbus across the Atlantic. When Columbus initially landed in Haiti, he had thought he had found India or China. On Christmas Day 1492, Columbus' flagship the Santa Maria ran aground north of what is now Limonade. As a consequence, Columbus ordered his men to salvage what they could from the ship, and he created the first European settlement in the Americas, naming it La Navidad after the day the ship was destroyed.
Geographical type: Island Territory
Latitude: 19° N — Longitude: 72.42° W
Area: 27,750 km²
ISO 3166-2 code: HT
Measures of Freedom
Haiti | Freedom House, Freedom in the World 2024
2016: Status: Partly Free, Aggregate Score: 41, Political Rights: 5, Civil Liberties: 5
2016: Status: Partly Free, Aggregate Score: 41, Political Rights: 5, Civil Liberties: 5
Haitian voters headed to the polls in 2015 for parliamentary, presidential, and local elections. The first round of parliamentary elections, held in August, was marred by violence and reports of widespread violations. The second round of the parliamentary vote was held concurrently with local elections and the first round of the presidential vote in October, with international monitors again reporting grave shortcomings.
Human Freedom Index [PDF], The Human Freedom Index 2023: A Global Measurement of Personal, Civil, and Economic Freedom
2021: 6.37, Rank: 106, Personal freedom: 6.53, Economic freedom: 6.37
2021: 6.37, Rank: 106, Personal freedom: 6.53, Economic freedom: 6.37
Articles
Stay Out of Haiti, by Sheldon Richman, 5 Mar 2004
Comments on the U.S. intervention in Haiti after the Feb 2004 coup d'état, recalling past meddling in the early 20th century and the 1990s
Comments on the U.S. intervention in Haiti after the Feb 2004 coup d'état, recalling past meddling in the early 20th century and the 1990s
Guy Philippe, the leader of the rebellion against now-exiled despotic elected president, Jean-Bertrand Aristide, has declared himself the military ruler of Haiti. The Bush administration, which has begun sending in Marines, says Philippe and his rebels should not be in any new government ... (Philippe has since backed down.) This can't have a happy ending. Given the history of U.S. intervention in Haiti, which began with a 19-year stint of outrageous meddling in 1915 at the behest of economic interests, and given the violently intractable nature of the place (in part thanks to that meddling), who can be optimistic?
Related Topics: George W. Bush, Woodrow Wilson
The introductory paragraph uses material from the Wikipedia article "Haiti" as of 25 Sep 2018, which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0.