Basic facts about Republic of Haiti

The earthquake hit Haiti on Tuesday, collapsing a hospital and damaging government buildings in the capital city of Port-au-Prince.

The Republic of Haiti is a Caribbean country, sharing the island of Hispaniola with the Dominican Republic.

Around three quarters of Haiti's territory is covered by mountains.

The capital Port-au-Prince is also the largest city of the country.

Haiti is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere with an estimated annual per capita GDP of 390 U.S. dollars.

The country's economy mainly depends on agriculture, but its weak infrastructure makes it difficult to be self-sufficient.

Only 20 percent of its population have access to clean water and only a similar number can read and write.

As the first country to win independence in Latin America, Haiti has been plagued by political instability, social unrest and natural disasters for two centuries.

A United Nations peacekeeping mission in Haiti has been in the country since mid-2004 after then president Jean-Bertrand Aristide went into exile amid violent unrest.

The UN peacekeeping mission currently has more than 9,000 military and police personnel and nearly 2,000 civilian staff to help the country re-establish security, build infrastructure and provide humanitarian aid.