People walk through the streets after a powerful earthquake struck Port-au-Prince, Tuesday, Jan. 12, 2010. (Cris Bierrenbach/Associated Press)People walk through the streets after a powerful earthquake struck Port-au-Prince, Tuesday, Jan. 12, 2010. (Cris Bierrenbach/Associated Press) Haiti occupies the western one-third of the Caribbean island of Hispaniola, with the Dominican Republican occupying the east. Though rich in history, French-speaking Haiti is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, hampering its ability to recover from natural disasters. The numbers tell a story:

A map showing the epicentre of the Jan. 12, 2010 earthquake. A map showing the epicentre of the Jan. 12, 2010 earthquake. (CBC)80

Percentage of the population living below the poverty line

54

Percentage of the population living in abject poverty

9

Haiti's population as of July 2009 was just over nine million

346.4

Population density per square kilometre

20

Median age

61

Life expectancy at birth

3.81

Fertility rate

80 out of 1,000

Children die before the age of five

120,000

Haitians were living with AIDS in 2007

7,200

Haitians died of AIDS in 2007

53 per cent

Literacy rate

47 per cent

Urban population

Four

Number of tropical storms in 2008 that severely damaged the transportation infrastructure and agricultural sector

Two-thirds

Proportion of the population that depends on the agricultural sector, mainly small-scale subsistence farming

3.2 million

Number of cellphones

1 million

Number of internet users

(Sources: CIA World Factbook, Europa World, Foreign Affairs and International Trade, Encyclopedia Britannica)