The population of Haiti in 2003 was estimated by the United Nations at 8,326,000, which placed it as number 90 in population among the 193 nations of the world. In that year approximately 4% of the population was over 65 years of age, with another 43% of the population under 15 years of age. There were 97 males for every 100 females in the country in 2003. According to the UN, the annual population growth rate for 2000–2005 is 1.32%, with the projected population for the year 2015 at 9,694,000. Haiti is the most densely populated country in the Western Hemisphere; the population density in 2002 was 254 per sq km (659 per sq mi).
It was estimated by the Population Reference Bureau that 36% of the population lived in urban areas in 2001. The capital city and largest city, Port-au-Prince, had a population of 1,699,000 in that year. Other major cities are Jacmel (216,600) and Les Cayes (214,606). According to the United Nations, the urban population growth rate for 2000–2005 was 3.4%.
The prevalence of AIDS/HIV has had a significant impact on the population of Haiti. The United Nations estimated that 7.7% of adults between the ages of 15–49 were living with HIV/AIDS in 2001.
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75% of the population live in rural areas, concentrated on small family plots in the few areas suitable for agriculture. In these areas, the population density is very high, increasing the problems of disease exposure and spread. Although the official language is French, the principal spoken language is Creole, used by about 90% of the people. About 50% of the population is illiterate.
Over 80% of Haiti’s people live in abject poverty. Haiti is one of the most impoverished nations in the Western Hemisphere. The unemployment rate is estimated to be around 60 percent; and the literacy rate is approximately 45 percent. Eighty percent of the population lives in abject poverty and the unemployment rate is estimated to be nearly 90 percent. Half the population of Haiti earns $60 or less per year.
Ninety percent of all HIV and AIDS infections in the Caribbean are in Haiti: over 300,000 infected people have been identified and deaths from HIV/AIDS have left 163,000 children orphaned. Tuberculosis remains a major cause of adult mortality; rates are thought to be the highest in the hemisphere. Cases of TB in Haiti are more than ten times as high as those in other Latin American countries. Haiti’s infant mortality rate is staggering: 74 deaths per 1,000 live births and the maternal mortality rate is approximately 1400 deaths for every 100,000. Only 1 in every 10,000 Haitians has access to a physician.
Most Haitians are Christian but have woven elements of the traditional African religions into their current religious practices. This is the practice of “Voodoo.”
http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/haiti/intro.htm