little known facts of haiti
- Native Haitians were pre-Colombian Amerindians called Taíno, “the good people.” The Taíno named their land “Ayiti,”meaning “Land of Mountains”—a term that evolved into “Haiti.”
- More than 10% of Haitian children die before age five.
- Eighty percent of Haitians live under the poverty line and 54% live in abject poverty. The average per capita income in Haiti is $480 a year, compared to $33,550 in the United States.
- Because of both violence and AIDS, Haiti has the highest percentage of orphans of any country in the Western Hemisphere. Before the 2010 earthquake, the United Nations estimated there were 430,000 orphans.e
- Nearly 1.5 million people left Haiti in the early 1990s.
- A typical worker in Haiti makes only $2.75 a day. Because jobs are so scarce (approximately 70% do not have regular jobs), those who do have jobs are afraid to speak out against unfair labor practices.e
- Only 53% of Haitians can read and write.
- Haiti’s national sport is soccer. Haiti first competed in the World Cup in 1974.
- Eighty percent of Haitians are Roman Catholic, 16% are Protestant, and 4% are other. Voodoo is often practiced alongside Christianity.