Hispaniola
Two nations share one island. Compare Haiti and the Dominican Republic.
59%
Dominican Republic
Haiti
24%
POVERTY: How many people live below the poverty line? Keep this
in mind: Countries have different ideas of what it means to be poor.
Poor in Haiti or the D.R. is much worse than poor in America.
X
CITY LIFE: What percentage of people live in cities?
83%
58%
45%
27%
INFANTS: For every 1,000 babies born, how many die in the first year?
95%
SANITATION: This graph shows the percentage of people who have access to water.
56%
NATURAL HAZARDS: The most frequent
danger comes from
being right in the
middle of the
hurricane belt. But
earthquakes are also
a hazard. Haiti is
recovering from a major quake in 2021 as well as a serious
quake in 2010.
CURRENCY: Trade between nations is good. But both nations have
their own money. Their value changes. Recently, Haitians have paid
three times as much for goods in the Dominican Republic.
The Dominican
Republic peso
The Haitian
gourde
2%
Other
No religion
20%
Voodoo
5%
1%
RELIGION: Hispaniola was under Spanish rule for 205 years.
Spain brought Roman Catholicism to the island. Many converted.
But pagan practices of voodoo have been mixed into the Catholic religion.
26%
Roman Catholic
10%
Protestant
49%
LIFE EXPECTANCY: Length of life can't always be easily
explained. But life expectancy can indicate the quality
and safety of life in one country compared to another.
Monaco
has the
highest life
expectancy
Dominican
Republic
54
years
73
years
Chadhas thelowest life expectancy
64
years
87
years
UNEMPLOYMENT: It can be hard to measure unemployment.
The official number shows how many people are actually looking for
jobs. It doesn’t try to guess how many people have given up hope.
15%
7.7%
A shield bears the logo "God, Fatherland, and
Liberty,” and a Bible is open to John 8:32.
FLAGS: Their flags look much alike with the
same colors and a coat of arms in the middle.
A scroll above two cannons reads,
“Union Makes Strength."
LITERACY: What part of each nation's population is able to read and write? (age 15 and older)
62%
French
Haitian Creole, French-based creole language
native to Haiti, is also an official language in Haiti.
Spanish
LANGUAGE: People of the Caribbean islands once spoke Taino.
The language of nations that colonized the islands eventually took over.
In Taino, canoe is knowa, hurricane is hurrah, and hammock is hamaka.
ELECTRICITY USED: It seems like everything runs on electricity. So the
amount of power used by a nation is a hint about the quality of life there.
47%
100%
CLIMATE and TERRAIN: The way trade winds blow
and the position of Hispaniola’s mountains give more
rain to the Dominican Republic side of the island.