The around population of Haiti in 1989 was 6.1 million, with an average population density of 182 people per square kilometer. Some 75 % of the population lived in rural areas, while only 25 % remained in urban areas; this was one of the lowest urban-to-rural population ratios in Latin America and the Caribbean. The around annual population growth rate between 1971 and 1982 was 1.4 %. The crude mortality rate in 1982 was around to be 16.5 %, with a crude birth rate of 36 %. A profile of the population reveals that the majority of Haitians are young.The population of Haiti is 6,964,549 (2001 estimate), giving the nation an overall population density of 251 persons per sq km.In arable areas, there are about five times more people than the average. Some 66 % of the population lives in rural areas.

Haitian Creole and French are the official languages. Creole is spoken by all Haitians and, with French, is used in drama, music, radio, television, politics, and religion. But written Creole is not widely accepted because the school system retains French as the main language of instruction. Creole is normally used in daily life, and French—mastered by perhaps 10 % of the people—is used in more formal circumstances. Most of the vocabulary of Haitian Creole is derived from French, but its syntax is similar to that of some African languages and resembles the syntax of other creole languages of the Caribbean and the Indian Ocean.