Haiti Adoption

Population

About 95 percent of Haitians are of African origin. The remaining 5 percent are mulatto and other races. The mulatto population makes up about half of the country's elite.  French and Creole, which uses both French colonial and West African phrases and words, are the official languages, the latter attaining that status in 1987. The poorer class (about 90 percent of the population) speak Creole, while the elite speak modern French. About 80 percent of Haiti 's people are nominal Roman Catholics, many of them combining an African animism called "voodoo" into their religious beliefs and ceremonies. Other religious groups include Baptists (about 10 percent), Pentecostals (4 percent), and Adventists (about 1 percent). The Protestant faiths do not allow voodoo practices.

The population of Haiti (1995 estimate) is about 7,180,000, giving the country an overall population density of about 259 persons per sq km (about 670 per sq mi). In arable areas, however, there are about 1178 persons per sq km (about 3035 per sq mi). About 79 percent of the population is classified as rural.