French and Creole are Haiti's two official languages although many also speak English.

Eighty percent of Haitians are Roman Catholic, Protestant 16% (Baptist 10%, Pentecostal 4%, Adventist 1%, other 1%).

With a population of some seven million, one out of every six Haitians lives outside of Haiti either in Canada, the United States or among the Caribbean Islands.

Port-au-Prince is capital of Haiti. Located in south west Haiti on a bay at the end of the Gulf of Gonaives Haiti's primary seaport exports mainly coffee and sugar. The city has food-processing plants, soap, textile, and cement industries. Founded in 1749 by French sugar planters it replaced Cap-Haitien (pop. 500,000, now the rebel stronghold) in 1770 as capital of the French colony of Saint-Domingue. In 1804 it became the capital of independent Haiti. Port-au-Prince has remained unsanitary and economically backward. It has suffered frequently from earthquakes, fires, and civil war. The city is laid out like an amphitheater with business and commercial quarters along the water and residences on the overlooking hills. Significant landmarks include the French-built quay (1780), the University of Haiti, the National Palace of Haiti, the Haitian National Museum, and the Basilica of Notre Dame.