Haiti: Difference between revisions
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{{hatnote|This article is about the republic. For other uses, see [[Haiti (disambiguation)]]. "Hayti" and "Ayiti" redirect here. For the island of Haiti, see [[Hispaniola]].}} |
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{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2016}} |
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{{Coord|19|00|N|72|25|W|display=title}} |
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{{infobox country |
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|conventional_long_name = Republic of Haiti |
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|native_name = {{unbulleted list|item_style=font-size:88%; |{{native name|fr|République d'Haïti}} |{{native name|ht|Repiblik Ayiti}}}} |
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|common_name = Haiti |
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|image_flag = Flag of Haiti.svg |
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|image_coat = Coat of arms of Haiti.svg |
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|image_map = Haiti (orthographic projection).svg |
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|image_map2 = Haiti - Location Map (2013) - HTI - UNOCHA.svg |
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|national_motto = <div style="padding-bottom:0.3em;">{{native phrase|fr|"[[Liberté, égalité, fraternité]]"|italics=off|nolink=on}} <ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.haiti-reference.com/histoire/constitutions/const_1987.htm |title=Article 4 of the Constitution |publisher=Haiti-reference.com |accessdate=24 July 2013}}</ref><br/>{{small|"Liberty, Equality, Fraternity"}}</div> {{nowrap|'''Motto on traditional coat of arms:'''}}<br/>{{native phrase|fr|"[[Unity makes strength|L'union fait la force]]"|italics=off|nolink=on}}<br/>{{small|"Union makes strength"}} |
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|national_anthem = {{native name|fr|[[La Dessalinienne]]|nolink=on}}<br/>{{small|''The Dessalines Song''}}<br/><center>[[File:Haiti National Anthem.ogg]]</center> |
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|official_languages = {{unbulleted list |[[French language|French]] |[[Haitian Creole]]}} |
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|demonym = [[Haitians|Haitian]] |
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|ethnic_groups = 95% [[Afro-Haitian|Black]]<br />5% [[Mulatto Haitians|Mulatto]], [[White Haitian|White]]<ref name="CIA_20110303"/> |
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|ethnic_groups_year = |
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|capital = [[Port-au-Prince]] |
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|latd=18 |latm=32 |latNS=N |longd=72 |longm=20 |longEW=W |
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|largest_city = capital |
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|government_type = {{nowrap|[[Unitary state|Unitary]] [[Semi-presidential republic|semi-presidential]]}} [[republic]] |
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|leader_title1 = [[President of Haiti|President]] |
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|leader_name1 = [[Jocelerme Privert]] ({{small|Acting}}) |
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|leader_title2 = [[Prime Minister of Haiti|Prime Minister]] |
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|leader_name2 = [[Enex Jean-Charles]] |
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|legislature = [[Parliament of Haiti|Parliament]] |
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|upper_house = [[Senate (Haiti)|Senate]] |
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|lower_house = [[Chamber of Deputies (Haiti)|Chamber of Deputies]] |
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|area_rank = 140th |
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|area_magnitude = 1 E10 |
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|area_km2 = 27,750 |
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|area_sq_mi = 10,714 <!--Do not remove per [[WP:MOSNUM]]--> |
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|percent_water = 0.7 |
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|population_estimate = 10,604,000<ref name="Haiti & The Dominican Republic">[http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/weo/2015/01/weodata/weorept.aspx?pr.x=87&pr.y=3&sy=2015&ey=2015&scsm=1&ssd=1&sort=country&ds=.&br=1&c=263%2C243&s=LP&grp=0&a= Haiti & The Dominican Republic] IMF population estimates</ref> |
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|population_estimate_rank = 85th |
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|population_estimate_year = 2015 |
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|population_density_km2 = 382 <!--(population_estimate ÷ area_km2)--> |
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|population_density_rank = 32nd |
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|population_density_sq_mi = 989.7 <!--(population_estimate ÷ area_sq_mi)--> |
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|GDP_PPP = US$19.871 billion<ref name=imf2>{{cite web |url=http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/weo/2015/02/weodata/weorept.aspx?pr.x=103&pr.y=16&sy=2016&ey=2016&scsm=1&ssd=1&sort=country&ds=.&br=1&c=512%2C672%2C914%2C962%2C612%2C674%2C614%2C676%2C311%2C548%2C213%2C556%2C911%2C678%2C912%2C867%2C313%2C682%2C419%2C684%2C513%2C273%2C316%2C868%2C913%2C921%2C339%2C948%2C638%2C943%2C514%2C686%2C218%2C688%2C963%2C518%2C616%2C728%2C223%2C558%2C516%2C278%2C918%2C692%2C748%2C694%2C618%2C449%2C624%2C564%2C522%2C565%2C622%2C283%2C626%2C853%2C628%2C288%2C228%2C293%2C924%2C566%2C233%2C964%2C632%2C453%2C636%2C968%2C634%2C922%2C238%2C714%2C662%2C862%2C960%2C716%2C611%2C456%2C321%2C722%2C243%2C942%2C248%2C718%2C469%2C724%2C253%2C813%2C642%2C199%2C643%2C733%2C644%2C524%2C819%2C361%2C646%2C362%2C648%2C364%2C915%2C732%2C652%2C366%2C328%2C734%2C258%2C463%2C656%2C923%2C654%2C738%2C336%2C578%2C263%2C537%2C268%2C742%2C944%2C866%2C534%2C369%2C536%2C744%2C429%2C186%2C433%2C925%2C343%2C869%2C439%2C746%2C916%2C926%2C664%2C466%2C826%2C298%2C967%2C927%2C443%2C846%2C917%2C299%2C544%2C582%2C446%2C474%2C666%2C754%2C668%2C698&s=NGDPD%2CNGDPDPC%2CPPPGDP%2CPPPPC&grp=0&a=|title=Haiti |publisher=International Monetary Fund }}</ref> |
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|GDP_PPP_rank = |
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|GDP_PPP_year = 2016 |
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|GDP_PPP_per_capita = US$1,849<ref name=imf2/> |
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|GDP_nominal_rank = |
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|GDP_nominal = US$8.924 billion<ref name=imf2/> |
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|GDP_nominal_year = 2016 |
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|GDP_nominal_per_capita = US$830<ref name=imf2/> |
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|GDP_PPP_per_capita_rank = |
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|sovereignty_type = [[Haitian Revolution|Independence]] |
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|sovereignty_note = from [[French First Republic|France]] |
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|established_event2 = Declared |
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|established_date2 = 1 January 1804 |
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|established_event3 = Recognized |
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|established_date3 = 17 April 1825 |
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|established_event4 = [[First Empire of Haiti|First Empire]] |
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|established_date4 = 22 September 1804 |
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|established_event5 = [[Republic of Haiti|Southern Republic]] |
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|established_date5 = 9 March 1806 |
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|established_event6 = [[State of Haiti|Northern State]] |
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|established_date6 = 17 October 1806 |
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|established_event7 = [[Kingdom of Haiti|Kingdom]] |
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|established_date7 = 28 March 1811 |
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|established_event8 = [[Unification of Hispaniola]] |
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|established_date8 = 9 February 1822 |
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|established_event9 = Dissolution |
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|established_date9 = 27 February 1844 |
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|established_event10 = [[Second Empire of Haiti|Second Empire]] |
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|established_date10 = 26 August 1849 |
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|established_event11 = Republic |
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|established_date11 = 15 January 1859 |
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|established_event12 = [[Constitution of Haiti|Current constitution]] |
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|established_date12 = 29 March 1987 |
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|Gini_year = 2012 |
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|Gini_change = <!--increase/decrease/steady--> |
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|Gini = 60.8 <!--number only--> |
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|Gini_ref = <ref name="wb-gini">{{cite web |url=http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SI.POV.GINI/ |title=Gini Index |publisher=The World Bank |accessdate=21 November 2015}}</ref> |
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|Gini_rank = |
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|HDI_year = 2014<!-- Please use the year to which the data refers, not the publication year--> |
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|HDI_change = steady<!--increase/decrease/steady--> |
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|HDI = 0.483 <!--number only--> |
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|HDI_ref = <ref name="HDI">{{cite web |url=http://hdr.undp.org/sites/default/files/hdr14-summary-en.pdf |title=2014 Human Development Report Summary |date=2014 |accessdate=27 July 2014 |publisher=United Nations Development Programme | pages=21–25}}</ref> |
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|HDI_rank = 163th |
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|currency = [[Haitian gourde]] (G) |
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|currency_code = HTG |
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|country_code = |
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|time_zone = [[Eastern Time Zone|EST]] |
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|utc_offset = −5 |
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|time_zone_DST = |
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|utc_offset_DST = |
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|drives_on = right |
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|calling_code = [[+509]] |
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|cctld = {{nowrap|[[.ht]]{{nbsp|3}}[[.gov|.gouv.ht]]{{nbsp|3}}[[.edu|.edu.ht]]}}<ref>[http://www.montagulaw.com/documents/gtlds_cctlds.xls [[Generic top-level domain|gTLDs]], [[Country code top-level domain|ccTLDs]]]</ref> |
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}} |
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'''Haiti''' ({{IPAc-en|audio=En-us-Haiti.ogg|ˈ|h|eɪ|t|i}}; {{lang-fr|Haïti}} {{IPA-fr|a.iti|}}; {{lang-ht|Ayiti}} {{IPA-ht|ajiti|}}), officially the '''Republic of Haiti''' ({{Lang-fr| République d'Haïti|links = no}}; {{Lang-ht|Repiblik Ayiti|links = no}}),<ref>{{cite web|url=http://ufdc.ufl.edu/AA00000626/00001/5j |title=Konstitisyon Repiblik Ayiti 1987 |publisher=Ufdc.ufl.edu |accessdate=24 July 2013}}</ref> is a [[sovereign state]] in the [[Western Hemisphere]] ([[North America]]).<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/resources/the-world-factbook/geos/ha.html |title=CIA World Factbook - Haiti's economy |accessdate=22 August 2015}}</ref> The country is located on the island of [[Hispaniola]], in the [[Greater Antilles]] archipelago of the [[Caribbean]]. It occupies the western three-eighths of the island, which it shares with the [[Dominican Republic]].<ref name="Hispaniola Article">{{cite web|url=http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/266962/Hispaniola |title=Hispaniola Article |publisher=Britannica.com |accessdate=4 January 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://cardiostart.org/blog/ |title=Dominican Republic 2014 |accessdate=24 April 2014}}</ref> Haiti is {{convert|27750|km2|sqmi|0}} in size and has an estimated 10.6 million people,<ref name="Haiti & The Dominican Republic"/> making it the most populous country in the [[Caribbean Community]] (CARICOM) and the second-most populous country in the Caribbean as a whole. |
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The region was originally inhabited by the indigenous [[Taíno people]]. Spain first discovered the island on 5 December 1492 during the [[Voyages of Christopher Columbus|first voyage]] of [[Christopher Columbus]] across the Atlantic. When Columbus initially landed in Haiti, he had thought he had found [[India]] or [[Asia]].<ref name="NgCheong-Lum, Roseline 19">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FUSD2v4EQE8C|title=Haiti (Cultures of the World)|author=NgCheong-Lum, Roseline|publisher=New York, NY: Times Editions Pte Ltd. (1995)|page=19|isbn=0-7614-1968-3|accessdate=29 September 2014}}</ref> On [[Christmas|Christmas Day]] 1492, Columbus' flagship the ''[[Santa Maria (ship)|Santa Maria]]'', ran aground north of what is now [[Limonade]].<ref name="Davies1953">{{cite journal|last=Davies|first=Arthur|title=The Loss of the Santa Maria Christmas Day, 1492 |journal=The American Historical Review|year=1953|pages=854–865}}</ref><ref>{{cite web| author=Maclean, Frances| title=The Lost Fort of Columbus| url=http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history-archaeology/fort-of-columbus-200801.html| work=[[Smithsonian Magazine]]| date=January 2008| accessdate=24 January 2008}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nilstremmel.com/haiti/f_noframes.htm |title=Haïti histoire – 7 Bord de Mer de Limonade |publisher=Nilstremmel.com |accessdate=15 July 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/histarch/ebs_intro.htm |title=Article du ''Florida Museum of Natural History'' |publisher=Flmnh.ufl.edu |accessdate=15 July 2014}}</ref> As a consequence, Columbus ordered his men to salvage what they could from the ship, and he created the first European settlement in the Americas, naming it [[La Navidad]] after the day the ship was destroyed. |
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The island was named ''La Española'' and claimed by [[Spanish Empire|Spain]], which ruled until the early 17th century. Competing claims and settlements by the French led to the western portion of the island being [[Treaty of Ryswick|ceded to France]], which named it ''Saint-Domingue''. The development of [[sugarcane]] [[Sugar plantations in the Caribbean|plantation]]s, worked by slaves brought from Africa, led to the colony being among the most lucrative in the world.<ref>[http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=17130 ''France and the History of Haiti''] by Gearóid Ó Colmáin, ''Global Research'', 22 January 2010</ref> |
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In the midst of the [[French Revolution]] (1789–1799), slaves and [[Gens de couleur|free people of colour]] revolted in the [[Haitian Revolution]] (1791–1804), culminating in the abolition of slavery and the defeat of [[Napoleon Bonaparte]]'s army at the [[Battle of Vertières]]. Afterward the sovereign nation of Haiti was established on 1 January 1804{{spaced ndash}} the first independent [[nation-state|nation]] of [[Latin America]] and the [[Caribbean]], the second [[republic]] in the Americas, the only nation in the western hemisphere to have defeated three European [[superpower]]s ([[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland|Britain]], [[Kingdom of France|France]] and [[Imperial Spain|Spain]]), and the only nation in the world established as a result of a successful [[slave revolt]].<ref>{{cite book|url=http://www.jstor.org/stable/41715319|title=Anacaona, Golden Flower|author=Danticat, Edwidge |publisher=New York: Scholastic Inc. (2005)|page=188|isbn=0-439-49906-2|accessdate=29 September 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.jstor.org/stable/987274|title=Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society Vol 140 No. 1|author=Matthewson, Tim|publisher=American Philosophical Society|page=22|issn=0003-049X|accessdate=29 September 2014}}</ref> The rebellion that began in 1791 was led by a former slave and the first black general of the [[French Army]], [[Toussaint Louverture]], whose military genius and political acumen transformed an entire society of [[Slavery|slaves]] into an independent country. Upon his death in a prison in France, he was succeeded by his lieutenant, [[Jean-Jacques Dessalines]], who declared Haiti's [[sovereignty]] and later became the first Emperor of Haiti, ''Jacques I''.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3lPaBA9nMZkC&printsec=frontcover|title=Toussaint L'Ouverture: A Biography |author=Bell, Madison Smartt |publisher=New York: Pantheon, 2007 (Vintage Books, 2008) |isbn=1-4000-7935-7}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=http://www.blackpast.org/gah/haitian-revolution-1791-1804| title=Haitian Revolution (1791–1804)|author=Sutherland, Claudia E. |accessdate=29 September 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.jstor.org/stable/494418|title=The History Teacher Vol. 32, No. 1 (Nov., 1998)|author=Peguero, Valentina|publisher=Society for History Education|page=36|accessdate=29 September 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1086/526481|title=American Art Vol. 21, No. 3 (Fall 2007)|author=Thompson, Krista A|publisher=The University of Chicago Press (on the behalf of the Smithsonian American Art Museum)|page=77|accessdate=29 September 2014}}</ref> The [[Haitian Revolution]] lasted nearly a decade; and apart from [[Alexandre Pétion]], the first President of the Republic, all the first leaders of government were former slaves.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/country_profiles/1202772.stm |title=Country profile: Haiti |date=19 January 2010 |publisher=BBC News |accessdate=23 January 2010}}</ref> The [[Citadelle Laferrière]] is the largest fortress in the Americas. [[Henri Christophe]]{{spaced ndash}} former slave and first king of Haiti, ''Henri I''{{spaced ndash}} built it to withstand a possible foreign attack.<ref>[http://www.haitianhistory.org/contents.php?pagetitle=History HAITIAN MONUMENT OUTLINE]{{dead link|date=June 2015}}, Haitian History</ref><ref name="news.google.com">{{cite web|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1955&dat=19780129&id=BN4hAAAAIBAJ&sjid=96AFAAAAIBAJ&pg=5745,4456684|title=Reading Eagle – Google News Archive Search|publisher=|accessdate=21 October 2014}}</ref> |
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In addition to CARICOM, Haiti is a member of the [[Latin Union]], the [[Organization of American States]], and the [[Community of Latin American and Caribbean States]]; it is also seeking associate membership status in the [[African Union]].<ref>{{cite news |publisher = [[BET]] |url=http://www.bet.com/news/global/2012/02/07/haiti-to-join-african-union.html |author=Naeesa Aziz |date=7 February 2012 |accessdate=28 February 2012 |title=Haiti to Join African Union}}</ref> It has the lowest [[List of countries by Human Development Index|Human Development Index]] in the Americas. Most recently, in February 2004, a ''[[2004 Haitian coup d'état|coup d'état]]'' originating in the north of the country forced the resignation and exile of President [[Jean-Bertrand Aristide]]. A provisional government took control with security provided by the [[United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti]] (MINUSTAH). [[Michel Martelly]], the previous president, was elected in the [[Haitian general election, 2011|2011 general election]]. |
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==Etymology== |
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The name Haïti (or ''Hayti'') comes from the indigenous [[Taíno]] language which was the native name{{refn|group=note|The Taínos may have used ''Bohío'' as another name for the island.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Guitar|first1=Lynne|last2=Ferbel-Azcárate|first2=Pedro|last3=Estevez|first3=Jorge|title=Indigenous Resurgence in the Contemporary Caribbean|date=2006|publisher=Peter Lang Publishing|location=New York|isbn=0-8204-7488-6|page=41|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qXZeQZMDpgYC&pg=PA41|accessdate=10 July 2015|chapter=iii: Ocama-Daca Taíno (Hear me, I am Taíno)|lccn=2005012816}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Edmond|first1=Louisket|title=The Tears of Haiti|date=2010|publisher=[[Xlibris]]|location=|isbn=978-1-4535-1770-3|page=42|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_1wDXEB1fOUC&pg=PA42&dq=ayiti+bohio+kiskeya|accessdate=10 July 2015|lccn=2010908468}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Senauth|first1=Frank|title=The Making and Destruction of Haiti|date=2011|publisher=[[AuthorHouse]]|location=Bloomington, Indiana, USA|isbn=978-1-4567-5384-9|page=1|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QBdccuwnqY8C&pg=PA1&dq=ayiti+bohio+kiskeya|lccn=2011907203}}</ref>}} given to the entire island of [[Hispaniola]] to mean, "land of high mountains."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HOE8AAAAYAAJ&pg=PA321&dq=Dessalines+haiti+indian&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0CB0Q6AEwAGoVChMIp-bwqdjwxwIVTG4-Ch3_OQGR#v=onepage&q=Dessalines%20haiti%20indian&f=false |title=A Dictionary of Dates Relating to All Ages and Nations: For Universal Reference Comprehending Remarkable Occurrences, Ancient and Modern, The Foundation, Laws, and Governments of Countries-Their Progress In Civilization, Industry, Arts and Science-Their Achievements In Arms-And Their Civil, Military, And Religious Institutions, And Particularly of the British Empire |page=321 |author1=Haydn, Joseph |author2=Vincent, Benjamin |year=1860 |accessdate=12 September 2015}}</ref> The ''h'' is silent in French and the ''[[ï]]'' in ''Ha'''ï'''ti'', is a [[Diaeresis (diacritic)#French|diacritical mark]] used to show that the second vowel is pronounced separately, as in the word ''na'''ï'''ve''.<ref>{{cite book|author=Stein, Gail |title=The Complete Idiot's Guide to Learning French|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zaT3kj55aTcC&pg=PA18|year=2003|publisher=Alpha Books|isbn=978-1-59257-055-3|page=18}}</ref> In English, the rules for the pronunciation is often disregarded, thus the spelling ''Haiti'' is used and pronounced as ''"Hay''-ti".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/legacy/magazinemonitor/2010/01/how_to_say_haiti_and_portaupri.shtml |title=How to Say: Haiti and Port-au-Prince |publisher=BBC |accessdate=19 November 2014}}</ref> |
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The name Haïti was restored by Haitian revolutionary Jean-Jacques Dessalines as the official name of independent Saint-Domingue, as a tribute to the Amerindian predecessors.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lp54N7g2CYQC&pg=PA12&dq=Jean-Jacques+Dessalines+hayti+taino+honor&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0CB0Q6AEwAGoVChMIlcGS4vbwxwIVTKMeCh2Knwdr#v=onepage&q=Jean-Jacques%20Dessalines%20hayti%20taino%20honor&f=false |title=The Hour and the Man: A Fictional Account of the Haitian Revolution and the life of Toussaint L'Ouverture |page=12 |author=Martineau, Harriet |year=2010 |isbn=9789990411676 |accessdate=12 September 2015}}</ref> |
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In French, Haiti's nickname is the ''Pearl of the Antilles'' (''La Perle des Antilles'') because of both its natural beauty,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3xAIAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA33&dq=haiti+la+perle+des+antilles&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0CCAQ6AEwAGoVChMI07THq7TrxgIVSKQeCh2RdQOM#v=onepage&q=haiti%20la%20perle%20des%20antilles&f=false |title=Haïti, 13 ans de séjour aux Antilles |author= Eldin, F. |page=33 |year=1878 |accessdate=21 July 2015|language=fr}}</ref> and the amount of wealth it accumulated for the [[Kingdom of France]], as it was considered the richest colony owned by any of the European powers at the time.<ref>{{Cite web|title = Haiti, the First Black Republic|url = http://library.flawlesslogic.com/haiti.htm|website = library.flawlesslogic.com|accessdate = 2015-12-06}}</ref> |
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==History== |
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{{Main article|History of Haiti}} |
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===Pre-European history=== |
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{{Main article|Chiefdoms of Hispaniola}} |
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[[File:Copia de Cacicazgos de la Hispaniola.png|thumb|350px|The five [[cacique]]doms of Hispaniola at the time of the arrival of Christopher Columbus]] |
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At the time of European encounter, the island of [[Hispaniola]], of which Haiti occupies the western three-eighths,<ref name="Hispaniola Article"/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://cardiostart.org/dominican-republic-2015/ |title=Dominican Republic 2015 |accessdate=1 May 2015}}</ref> was one of many Caribbean islands inhabited by the [[Taíno people|Taíno]] Indians, speakers of an [[Arawakan]] language called Taino, which has been preserved in the Haitian Creole language. The Taíno name for the entire island was ''Haiti''. The people had migrated over centuries into the Caribbean islands from South America. Genetic studies show they were related to the [[Yanomami]] of the [[Amazon Basin]]. They also originated in Central and South America. After migrating to Caribbean islands, in the 15th century, the Taíno were pushed into the northeast Caribbean islands by the [[Island Caribs|Caribs]].<ref name="royal"/> |
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In the Taíno societies of the Caribbean islands, the largest unit of political organization was led by a ''[[cacique]],'' or chief, as the Europeans understood them. The island of Haiti was divided among five Caciquats: the Magua in the north east, the Marien in the north west, the Xaragua in the south west, the Maguana in the center region of Cibao and the Higuey in the south east.<ref>{{cite book|author=Cassá, Roberto |title=Los Indios de Las Antillas|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oJ-wJ49cNwAC&pg=PA126|year=1992|publisher=Editorial Abya Yala|isbn=978-84-7100-375-1|pages=126–}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|first=Samuel M.|last=Wilson|year=1990|title=Hispaniola: Caribbean Chiefdoms in the Age of Columbus|publisher=University of Alabama Press|page=110|ISBN=0-8173-0462-2}}</ref> The caciquedoms were tributary kingdoms, with payment consisting of harvests. |
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Taíno cultural artifacts include [[cave paintings]] in several locations in the country. These have become national symbols of Haiti and tourist attractions. Modern-day [[Léogane]] started as a French colonial town in the southwest, is beside the former capital of the caciquedom of ''Xaragua.''<ref name="royal">{{cite journal|url=http://www.millersville.edu/~columbus/data/ant/ROYAL-01.ANT|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090216092556/http://www.millersville.edu/~columbus/data/ant/ROYAL-01.ANT|archivedate= 16 February 2009|title=1492 and Multiculturalism|author=Royal, Robert |journal=The Intercollegiate Review|date=Spring 1992|volume=27|issue=2|pages=3–10}}{{Dead link|date=March 2015}}</ref> |
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===Spanish rule (1492–1625)=== |
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[[File:Piktograf1.png|thumb|right|1510 Taíno [[pictograph]] telling a story of missionaries arriving in [[Hispaniola]] ]] |
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Navigator [[Christopher Columbus]] landed in Haiti on 5 December 1492, in an area that he named ''[[Môle Saint-Nicolas]],''<ref>{{cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kqBBAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA96&dq=Mole+Saint+Nicolas+Columbus&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwi5kv_0qr7JAhXGbB4KHZmEB5MQ6AEITDAI#v=onepage&q=Mole%20Saint%20Nicolas%20Columbus&f=false |title=Columbus the Discoverer |editor=Ober, Frederick Albion |page=96 |year=1906 |publisher=Harper & Brothers Publishers New York and London |accessdate=2 December 2015}}</ref> and claimed the island for the [[Crown of Castile]]. Nineteen days later, his ship the ''[[Santa María (ship)|Santa María]]'' ran aground near the present site of [[Cap-Haïtien]]. Columbus left 39 men on the island, who founded the settlement of [[La Navidad]]. |
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The sailors carried [[endemic]] [[Eurasia]]n [[infectious disease]]s. The natives lacked [[immunity (medical)|immunity]] to these new diseases and died in great numbers in [[epidemic]]s.<ref>{{cite journal|url=http://www.smithsonianmag.com/people-places/What-Became-of-the-Taino.html|title=What Became of the Taíno?|journal=[[Smithsonian (magazine)|Smithsonian]]|date=October 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=Koplow, David A. |title=Smallpox: The Fight to Eradicate a Global Scourge|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nlQpbYPuTX0C|year=2004|publisher=University of California Press|isbn=978-0-520-24220-3}}</ref> The first recorded [[smallpox]] epidemic in the Americas erupted on Hispaniola in 1507.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.dshs.state.tx.us/preparedness/bt_public_history_smallpox.shtm |title=History of Smallpox – Smallpox Through the Ages |publisher=Texas Department of State Health Services |accessdate=24 July 2013}}</ref> The ''{{lang|es|[[encomienda]]}}'' system forced natives to work in gold mines and plantations.<ref>{{cite book|author=Graves, Kerry A. |title=Haiti|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8b047XP92i4C&pg=PA22|date=2002|publisher=Capstone|isbn=978-0-7368-1078-4|page=22}}</ref> |
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The Spanish passed the [[Laws of Burgos|Laws of Burgos, 1512–13]], which forbade the maltreatment of natives, endorsed their [[Proselytism|conversion]] to Catholicism,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://faculty.smu.edu/bakewell/BAKEWELL/texts/burgoslaws.html |title=Laws of Burgos, 1512–1513 |publisher=Faculty.smu.edu |accessdate=24 July 2013}}</ref> and gave legal framework to ''{{lang|es|encomiendas}}.'' The natives were brought to these sites to work in specific plantations or industries.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/186567/encomienda |title=Encomienda (Spanish policy) |publisher=Britannica.com |accessdate=24 July 2013}}</ref> |
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As a gateway to the [[Caribbean]], [[Hispaniola]] became a haven for [[Piracy in the Caribbean|pirates]] during the early colonial period. The western part of the island was settled by French [[buccaneer]]s. Among them was Bertrand d'Ogeron, who succeeded in growing [[tobacco]]. He recruited many French colonial families from [[Martinique]] and [[Guadeloupe]]. European nations were competing for control in the [[New World]], in the [[Caribbean]] as well as in [[North America]]. [[Kingdom of France|France]] and [[Imperial Spain|Spain]] settled their hostilities on the island, by way of the [[Treaty of Ryswick]] of 1697, and divided Hispaniola between them. |
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===French rule (1625–1804)=== |
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{{Further information|Saint-Domingue}} |
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France received the western third and subsequently named it [[Saint-Domingue]], the French equivalent of ''[[Captaincy General of Santo Domingo|Santo Domingo]]'', the Spanish colony of [[Hispaniola]] and the name of its patron saint, [[Saint Dominic]].<ref name=firstcolony>{{cite web |url=http://countrystudies.us/dominican-republic/3.htm |title=Dominican Republic – The first colony |accessdate= 19 June 2008 |work=Country Studies |publisher=[[Library of Congress]]; Federal Research Division}}</ref> |
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To develop it into sugarcane plantations, the French imported thousands of slaves from [[Africa]]. Sugar was a lucrative [[commodity crop]] throughout the 18th century. By 1789, approximately 40,000 white colonists lived in Saint-Domingue. In contrast, by 1763 the white population of [[New France|French Canada]], a vast territory, had numbered 65,000.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://faculty.marianopolis.edu/c.belanger/QuebecHistory/encyclopedia/ImmigrationHistoryofCanada.htm |title=Immigration History of Canada |publisher=Faculty.marianopolis.edu |accessdate=24 July 2013}}</ref> The whites were vastly outnumbered by the tens of thousands of African slaves they had imported to work on their plantations, which were primarily devoted to the production of sugarcane. In the north of the island, slaves were able to retain many ties to African cultures, religion and language; these ties were continually being renewed by newly imported Africans. Blacks outnumbered whites by about ten-to-one. |
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The French-enacted ''[[Code Noir]]'' ("Black Code"), prepared by [[Jean-Baptiste Colbert]] and ratified by [[Louis XIV]], had established rules on slave treatment and permissible freedoms. Saint-Domingue has been described as one of the most brutally efficient slave colonies; one-third of newly imported Africans died within a few years.<ref name="Farmer-LROB">{{cite web |author= Farmer, Paul | title=Who removed Aristide? |accessdate=19 February 2010 |date=15 April 2004 |url=http://www.lrb.co.uk/v26/n08/farm01_.html |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080608222428/http://www.lrb.co.uk/v26/n08/farm01_.html |archivedate=8 June 2008 }}</ref> Many slaves died from diseases such as [[smallpox]] and [[typhoid fever]].<ref>{{Cite book |author = Kiple, Kenneth F. | title = The Caribbean Slave: A Biological History | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=veMLoyrX0BEC&pg=&dq#v=onepage&q=&f | publisher = Cambridge University Press | year = 2002 | page = 145 | isbn = 0-521-52470-9 }}</ref> They had low [[birth rate]]s, and there is evidence that some women [[abortion|aborted]] foetuses rather than give birth to children within the bonds of slavery. {{citation needed|date=November 2015}} |
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As in its [[Louisiana (New France)|Louisiana colony]], the [[New France|French colonial]] government allowed some rights to [[free people of color]]: the [[mixed-race]] descendants of white male colonists and black female slaves (and later, mixed-race women). Over time, many were released from slavery. They established a separate [[social class]]. White French [[Creole peoples|Creole]] fathers frequently sent their mixed-race sons to [[France]] for their education. Some men of color were admitted into the military. More of the free people of color lived in the south of the island, near [[Port-au-Prince]], and many intermarried within their community. They frequently worked as artisans and tradesmen, and began to own some property. Some became slave holders. The [[free people of color]] petitioned the [[New France|colonial]] government to expand their rights. |
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===Haitian Revolution (1791–1804)=== |
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{{Main article|Haitian Revolution}} |
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[[File:Frontispiece from the book Saint-Domingue, ou Histoire de Ses Révolutions. ca. 1815 (colorcopy).jpg|thumb|Burning of the town of [[Cap-Haïtien|Cap-Français]], {{circa|1815}}]] |
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Inspired by the [[French Revolution]] of 1789 and principles of the [[rights of man]], [[free people of color]] and slaves in [[Saint-Domingue]] and the [[French West Indies]] pressed for freedom and more [[civil rights]]. Most important was the revolution of the slaves in Saint-Domingue, starting in the northern plains in 1791, where Africans greatly outnumbered the whites. |
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In 1792, the [[French First Republic|French]] government sent three commissioners with troops to re-establish control. To build an alliance with the ''[[gens de couleur]]'' and slaves, the French commissioners [[Sonthonax]] and [[Polverel]] abolished slavery in the colony. Six months later, the [[National Convention]], led by [[Robespierre]] and the [[Jacobin Club|Jacobins]], endorsed [[abolition of slavery timeline|abolition]] and extended it to all the French colonies.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://chnm.gmu.edu/revolution/d/291/ |title=Decree of the National Convention of 4 February 1794, Abolishing Slavery in all the Colonies |publisher=Chnm.gmu.edu |accessdate=24 July 2013}}</ref> |
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Political leaders in the [[United States]], which was a new republic itself, reacted with ambivalence, at times providing aid to enable [[Planter (plantation owner)|planters]] to put down the revolt. Later in the revolution, the US provided support to black Haitian military forces, with the goal of reducing French influence in [[North America]] and the [[Caribbean]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://history.state.gov/milestones/1784-1800/HaitianRev |title=1784–1800 – The United States and the Haitian Revolution |publisher=History.state.gov |accessdate=24 July 2013}}</ref> |
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[[Toussaint Louverture]], a former slave and leader in the slave revolt, drove out the [[Spanish Empire|Spanish]] (from Santo Domingo) and the [[Kingdom of Great Britain|British]] invaders who threatened the colony. In the uncertain years of revolution, the United States played both sides off against each other, with its traders supplying both the French and the rebels.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.nytimes.com/1987/03/22/books/poles-in-haiti.html |title=Poles in Haiti |work = [[The New York Times]] |date=22 March 1987 |accessdate=24 July 2013 |author =Joseph, Raymond A.}}</ref> The struggle within Haiti between the [[free people of color]] led by [[André Rigaud]] and the black Haitians led by Louverture devolved into the [[War of the Knives]] in 1799 and 1800.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www2.webster.edu/~corbetre/haiti/history/revolution/revolution3.htm |title=The Haitian Revolution of 1791–1803 |first=Bob |last=Corbett |publisher=Webster University}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Smucker|first=Glenn R.|at=Toussaint Louverture|url=http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/httoc.html|title=A Country Study: Haiti|editor=Richard A. Haggerty|publisher=[[Library of Congress]] [[Federal Research Division]]|date=December 1989}}</ref> Many surviving free people of color left the island as refugees. |
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[[File:San Domingo.jpg|thumb|right|Battle between [[Polish Legions (Napoleonic period)|Polish troops]] in French service and the [[Haitian Revolution|Haitian rebels]] ]] |
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After Louverture created a separatist constitution, [[First French Republic|Napoléon Bonaparte]] in 1802 sent an expedition of 20,000 soldiers and as many sailors<ref>{{cite book|author=Flora Frasier|title=Venus of Empire:The Life of Pauline Bonaparte|publisher=John Murray|date=2009}}</ref> under the command of his brother-in-law, General [[Charles Leclerc]], to retake the island. The French achieved some victories, but within a few months, most of the [[French Army|French]] had died from [[yellow fever]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://entomology.montana.edu/historybug/napoleon/yellow_fever_haiti.htm |title=The Haitian Debacle: Yellow Fever and the Fate of the French |publisher=Montana State University |accessdate=24 July 2013}}</ref> More than 50,000 French troops died in an attempt to retake the colony, including 18 generals.<ref>{{cite news|author=Adam Hochschild |url=http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2004/05/30/CMGKG6F3UV1.DTL |title=Birth of a Nation / Has the bloody 200-year history of Haiti doomed it to more violence? |work=San Francisco Chronicle |date=30 May 2004 |accessdate=24 July 2013}}</ref> The French captured Louverture, transporting him to France for trial. He was imprisoned at [[Fort de Joux]], where he died in 1803 of exposure and possibly [[tuberculosis]].<ref name = Farmer-LROB/> |
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The slaves, along with free ''gens de couleur'' and allies, continued their fight for independence. [[Jean-Jacques Dessalines]] defeated French troops at the [[Battle of Vertières]] on 18 November 1803, leading the first ever successful slave army revolution. In late 1803, France withdrew its remaining 7,000 troops from the island and Napoleon gave up his idea of re-establishing a [[North America]]n empire. With the war going badly, he sold [[Louisiana (New France)]] to the [[United States]], in the [[Louisiana Purchase]]. |
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===Early post-independence=== |
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{{Main article|1804 Haiti massacre}} |
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[[File:Le serment des Ancêtres.jpg|thumb|Pétion and Dessalines swearing allegiance to each other before God; painting by [[Guillaume Guillon-Lethière|Guillon-Lethière]] ]] |
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The independence of Saint-Domingue was proclaimed by Dessalines on 1 January 1804.<ref name=autogenerated2>{{cite web |url=http://www.webster.edu/~corbetre/haiti/history/earlyhaiti/dessalines.htm |title="A Brief History of Dessalines", 1825 Missionary Journal |publisher=Webster University |accessdate=24 July 2013}}</ref> The exact number of deaths due to the Haitian revolution is unknown. Slaves that made it to Haiti from the trans-Atlantic journey and slaves born in Haiti were first documented in Haiti's archives and transferred to France's Ministry of Defense and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. {{As of|2015}}, these records are in The National Archives of France. According to the 1788 Census, Haiti's population consisted of nearly 25,000 whites, 22,000 free coloureds and 700,000 slaves.{{citation needed|date=December 2015}} |
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Dessalines was proclaimed "Emperor for Life" by his troops.<ref>Constitution of Haiti [{{sic}}] ''New-York Evening Post'' 15 July 1805.</ref> Dessalines at first offered protection to the white planters and others.<ref>{{cite book|title=Monthly Magazine and British Register|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YVEoAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA335|volume=XLVIII|year=1819|publisher=R. Phillips|page=335}}</ref> Once in power, he ordered the [[1804 Haiti Massacre|massacre]] of most whites. Without regard to age or gender, those who did not swear allegiance to him were slain.<ref name="Davies2008">{{cite book|author=Boyce Davies, Carole |title=Encyclopedia of the African Diaspora: Origins, Experiences, and Culture. A-C. Volume 1|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mb6SDKfWftYC&pg=PA380|year=2008|publisher=ABC-CLIO|isbn=978-1-85109-700-5|page=380}}</ref> In the continuing competition for power, he was assassinated by rivals on 17 October 1806.<ref name=Haiti>{{cite news|title=News about Haiti, including commentary and archival articles published in The New York Times. |url=http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/international/countriesandterritories/haiti/index.html|accessdate=24 July 2015|agency=NEWS|publisher=topics.nytimes.com|first=Deborah|last=Sontag}}</ref> |
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Only [[1804 Haiti massacre#Aftermath|three categories of white people]] were selected out as exceptions and spared: the [[Polish Haitian|Polish]] soldiers, the majority of whom deserted from the French army and fought alongside the Haitian rebels; the little group of [[German Haitian|German]] colonists invited to [[Nord-Ouest Department|Nord-Ouest]] (North-West) Haiti before the revolution; and a group of [[Doctor of Medicine|medical doctors]] and professionals. Reportedly, people with connections to officers in the Haitian army were also spared, as well as the women who agreed to marry non-white men.{{citation needed|date=April 2016}} |
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Fearful of the influence of the slaves' revolution, US President [[Thomas Jefferson]] refused to recognize the new republic, as did most European nations. The US did not officially recognize Haiti for decades until after the [[American Civil War]]. Haiti's new government was not supported by other republics.{{citation needed|date=June 2015}} |
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The revolution led to a wave of emigration.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.inmotionaame.org/migrations/topic.cfm;jsessionid=f8303469141230638453792?migration=5&topic=2&bhcp=1 |title=From Saint-Domingue to Louisiana, The African-American Migration Experience |publisher=Inmotionaame.org |accessdate=24 July 2013}}</ref> In 1809, nearly 10,000 refugees from Saint-Domingue settled ''en masse'' in [[New Orleans]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thenation.com/article/congo-square-colonial-new-orleans?page=0,1 |title=In Congo Square: Colonial New Orleans |publisher=Thenation.com |date=10 December 2008 |accessdate=24 July 2013}}</ref> They doubled the city's population. In addition, the newly arrived slaves added to the city's African population.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://ccet.louisiana.edu/tourism/cultural/The_People/haitian.html |title=Haitians |publisher=Center for Cultural & Eco-Tourism, University of Louisiana |accessdate=24 July 2013}}</ref> |
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Saint-Domingue was divided between the [[Kingdom of Haiti]] in the north, directed by Henri Christophe, who declared himself [[Henri Christophe|Henri I]], and a republic in the south, directed by [[Alexandre Pétion]], an ''homme de couleur''. Henri Christophe established a semi-feudal [[corvée]] system, with a rigid education and economic code.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.answers.com/topic/henri-christophe |title=Henri Christophe: Biography |publisher=Answers.com |accessdate=24 July 2013}}</ref>{{Unreliable source?|date=July 2013}} |
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President Pétion gave military and financial assistance to the revolutionary leader [[Simón Bolívar]], which were critical in enabling him to liberate the [[Viceroyalty of New Granada]].<ref>{{cite book |title=Simón Bolívar: essays on the life and legacy of the liberator |editor1=David Bushnell |editor2=Lester Langley |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |year=2008 |page=5 |isbn=0-7425-5619-0 }}</ref> He was instrumental in aiding countries in [[South America]] achieve independence from [[New Spain|Spain]]. |
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Beginning in 1821, President [[Jean-Pierre Boyer]], also an ''homme de couleur'' and successor to Pétion, reunified the two parts of Haiti and extended control over the entire western portion of the island.<ref>{{cite web |author=Ernesto Sagás|title=An apparent contradiction? Popular perceptions of Haiti and the foreign policy of the Dominican Republic |publisher=Sixth Annual Conference of the Haitian Studies Association |date=14 October 1994 |url=http://haitiforever.com/windowsonhaiti/esagas2.shtml |accessdate=19 August 2007 }}</ref> In addition, after [[Santo Domingo]] declared its independence from Spain on 30 November 1821, Boyer sent [[Unification of Hispaniola|forces in to take control]]. Boyer ruled the entire island with iron rule, ending slavery in Santo Domingo.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/168728/Dominican-Republic/129491/History |title=Dominican Republic – History |publisher=Britannica.com |accessdate=24 July 2013}}</ref> After Santo Domingo achieved independence from Haiti, it established a separate national identity. |
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Struggling to revive the agricultural economy to produce [[commodity crops]], Boyer passed the Code Rural, which denied peasant laborers the right to leave the land, enter the towns, or start farms or shops of their own. Following the Revolution, many peasants wanted to have their own farms rather than work on plantations.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/76479/Jean-Pierre-Boyer?anchor=ref126082 |title=Jean-Pierre Boyer (President of Haiti) |publisher=Britannica.com |accessdate=24 July 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.webster.edu/%7Ecorbetre/haiti/history/earlyhaiti/boyer.htm |title=1820 – 1843: The rule of Jean-Pierre Boyer |author=Bob Corbett |publisher=Webster University |date=July 1995 |accessdate=24 July 2013}}</ref> |
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[[File:Citadelle Laferrière Aerial View.jpg|thumb|[[Citadelle Laferrière]] is the largest [[fortress]] in the Americas, and is considered locally to be the [[eighth wonder of the world]].<ref name="news.google.com"/>]] |
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The [[American Colonization Society]] (ACS) encouraged [[free negro|free blacks]] in the [[United States]] to emigrate to Haiti. Starting in September 1824, more than 6,000 [[African Americans]] migrated to Haiti, with transportation paid by the ACS.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.webster.edu/~corbetre/haiti-archive/msg00868.html |title=Haiti And Its Diaspora: New Historical, Cultural And Economic Frontiers, reprint from ''US Gazette'' Philadelphia, 1824 |author=Girard Alphonse Firire |publisher=Webster.edu |date=27 August 1999 |accessdate=24 July 2013}}</ref> Many found the conditions too harsh and returned to the United States. |
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In July 1825, [[Charles X|King Charles X]] of [[France]], during a period of "restoration" for the [[French monarchy|monarchy]], sent a [[French Navy|fleet]] to reconquer the island. Under pressure, [[Haiti indemnity controversy|President Boyer agreed to a treaty]] by which France formally recognized the independence of the nation in exchange for a payment of 150 million [[francs]] (reduced to 90 million in 1838). After losing the support of Haiti's elite, Boyer was ousted in 1843. A long succession of [[coup]]s followed his departure to exile.{{citation needed|date=June 2015}} |
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The enforced payment to France reduced Haiti's economy for years. Western nations did not give Haiti formal [[Diplomacy|diplomatic]] recognition. Both of these problems kept the Haitian economy and society isolated. [[Expatriates]] bankrolled and armed opposing groups.<ref name = "UOH">{{cite book|title=The uses of Haiti |author1=Farmer, Paul |author2=Kozol, Jonathan |page=74 |edition=3 |publisher=Common Courage Press |year=2006 |isbn=1-56751-344-1}}</ref> In 1892, the [[German Empire|German government]] supported suppression of the reform movement of [[Anténor Firmin]] and in 1897 the Germans used [[gun boat diplomacy]] to intimidate and then humiliate the Haitian government during the [[Luders Affair]]. |
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===20th century=== |
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[[File:U.S. Marines and guide in search of bandits. Haiti, circa 1919., 1927 - 1981 - NARA - 532584.tif|thumb|235px|[[United States Marine Corps|US Marines]] and guide in search of bandits, {{circa| 1919}}]] |
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In January 1914, [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland|British]], [[German Empire|German]] and US military forces entered Haiti, ostensibly to protect their citizens from civil unrest at the time.<ref name = "UOH"/> In an expression of the [[Theodore Roosevelt|Theodore]] [[Roosevelt Corollary]] to the [[Monroe Doctrine]], the [[United States occupation of Haiti|United States occupied]] the island in 1915. [[U.S. Marines]] were stationed in the country until 1934, a period of nineteen years. |
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[[Sisal]] was introduced to Haiti, and sugarcane and [[cotton]] became significant exports.<ref name="Henl, pp. 454–455">Henl, pp. 454–455.</ref> Haitian traditionalists, based in rural areas, were highly resistant to [[United States|American]]-backed changes, while the urban elites wanted more control. Together they helped secure an end to the occupation in 1934.<ref>{{cite journal|url=http://historicalstudiesineducation.ca/index.php/edu_hse-rhe/article/view/2357 |title=Education During the American Occupation of Haiti, 1915–1934 |journal=Historical Studies in Education |volume=22|issue=2|pages=1–17 |author=Angulo, A. J. |year=2010 |accessdate=24 July 2013}}</ref> The debts were still outstanding and the American financial advisor-general receiver handled the budget until 1941.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Munro|first=Dana G.|title=The American Withdrawal from Haiti, 1929–1934|journal=The Hispanic American Historical Review|volume=49|issue=1|doi=10.2307/2511314}}</ref> |
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Recognition of the distinctive traditionalism of the Haitian people had an influence on United States writers, including [[Eugene O'Neill]], [[James Weldon Johnson]], [[Langston Hughes]], [[Zora Neale Hurston]] and [[Orson Welles]].<ref>{{cite book|first=Mary A.|last=Renda|year=2000|title=Taking Haiti: Military Occupation and the Culture of U.S. Imperialism, 1915–1940|publisher=The University of North Carolina Press|ISBN=0-8078-4938-3}}</ref> |
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After US forces left in 1934, [[Dominican Republic|Dominican]] dictator [[Rafael Trujillo]] used anti-Haitian sentiment as a nationalist tool. In an event that became known as the [[Parsley Massacre]], he ordered his Army to kill Haitians living on the Dominican side of the border.<ref name="Farmer180">{{cite book|first=Paul|last=Farmer|title=AIDS and Accusation: Haiti and the Geography of Blame|year=2006|publisher=California University Press|ISBN=978-0-520-24839-7|pages=180–181}}</ref><ref name="wucker">{{cite web |author=Michele Wucker|title=Why the Cocks Fight: Dominicans, Haitians and the Struggle for Hispaniola| work=Windows on Haiti |url=http://www.ling.upenn.edu/courses/Fall_2003/ling001/wucker.html |accessdate=26 December 2007}}</ref> Between 10,000 and 20,000 Haitians were killed.<ref name="Farmer180"/> One-quarter Haitian, Trujillo continued policies against the neighboring population for some time. |
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[[United States|American]] and [[Europe]]an [[Tourism|tourists]] started to visit Haiti in the 1950s.<ref name=guardiantourism>{{cite news |title=Tourism can help Haiti return to its halcyon days|url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/global-development/poverty-matters/2013/jul/26/haiti-tourism-caribbean-redevelopment |publisher=guardian.co.uk |accessdate=26 July 2013 |location=London |first=Prospery |last=Raymond |date=26 July 2013}}</ref> |
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The waterfront area of [[Port-au-Prince]] was redeveloped to allow cruise ship passengers to walk from the docks to cultural attractions. |
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<!---the following sounds out-of-place here and should be among cultural attractions or something, not history-->Among these attractions were the Moorish-styled ''Iron Market'', where fine [[Haitian art]] and [[mahogany]] were sold. In the evenings entrepreneurs provided dancing, casino gambling and [[Haitian Vodou|Voodoo]] shows. <!--the following sounds a bit strained for a supposedly high level article-->[[Truman Capote]] and [[Noël Coward]] visited the [[Hotel Oloffson]], a 19th-century Gothic [[Gingerbread house (architecture)|gingerbread]] mansion set in a tropical garden, which was even portrayed in the [[Graham Greene]] novel, ''[[The Comedians (novel)|The Comedians]]''.<ref name="Clammer, Paul">{{cite news|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/paul-clammer/haiti-caribbean-destination_b_2593487.html |title=Is Haiti The Caribbean's Best New Destination? |author=Clammer, Paul |date=1 February 2014 |accessdate= 3 November 2014 |work=Huffington Post}}</ref> |
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[[File:Duvalier crop2.jpg|thumb|upright|"Papa Doc" [[François Duvalier|Duvalier]] in 1968]] |
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After a period of disorder, in [[Haitian presidential election, 1957|September 1957]] Dr. [[François Duvalier]] was elected President of Haiti. Known as "Papa Doc" and initially popular, Duvalier was President until his death in 1971. He advanced black interests in the public sector, where over time people of color had predominated as the educated urban elite.<ref name="bryan">{{cite book|author=Bryan, Patrick E. |title=The Haitian Revolution and Its Effects|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=q9owdkOc0wgC|year=1984|publisher=Heinemann|isbn=978-0-435-98301-7}}</ref> He stayed in power by enlisting an organization known as ''[[Tonton Macoute|Tontons Macoutes]]'' ("Bogeymen"), which maintained order by terrorizing the populace and political opponents.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|url=http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/174718/François-Duvalier|title=François Duvalier|encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica}}</ref> |
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Haiti's brief tourism boom was wiped out by the rule of [[Francois Duvalier|Francois "Papa Doc" Duvalier]] and his unstable government. When his son [[Jean-Claude Duvalier|Jean-Claude "Baby Doc" Duvalier]] succeeded him as ''President for Life'', tourism returned in the 1970s.<ref name="Clammer, Paul"/> ''Vive la différence'' has long been Haiti's national tourism slogan<ref>{{cite book|author=Showker, Kay |title=Northern and Northeastern Regions|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IaLFB-6nOd8C&pg=PA80|date= 1999|publisher=Globe Pequot Press|isbn=978-0-7627-0547-4|page=80}}</ref> and its proximity to the United States, made Haiti a hot attraction until the Duvalier regime was ousted in 1986.<ref name="Clammer, Paul"/> |
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Papa Doc's son [[Jean-Claude Duvalier]] – also known as "Baby Doc" – led the country from 1971 until his ouster in 1986, when protests led him to seek exile in France. Army leader General [[Henri Namphy]] headed a new [[National Council of Government (Haiti)|National Governing Council]].<ref name = "USEH">{{cite web|url=http://www.haiti.org/ |title=US Embassy to Haiti website |publisher=Haiti.org |accessdate=24 July 2013}}</ref>{{Failed verification|date=July 2013}} [[Haitian presidential election, 1987|General elections in November]] were aborted after dozens of inhabitants were shot in the capital by soldiers and Tontons Macoutes. Fraudulent [[Haitian presidential election, 1988|elections followed]]. The elected President, [[Leslie Manigat]], was overthrown some months later in the [[June 1988 Haitian coup d'état]]. The [[September 1988 Haitian coup d'état]], which followed the [[St Jean Bosco massacre]], revealed the increasing prominence of former Tontons Macoutes. General [[Prosper Avril]] led a military regime until March 1990. |
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In December 1990, a former Catholic priest, [[Jean-Bertrand Aristide]] was elected President in the [[Haitian general election, 1990–91|Haitian general election]]. In September of the following year, Aristide was overthrown by the military in the [[1991 Haitian coup d'état]]. In 1994, an American team negotiated the departure of Haiti's military leaders and the peaceful entry of US forces under [[Operation Uphold Democracy]]. This enabled the restoration of the democratically elected Jean-Bertrand Aristide as president.<ref name="CCHaiti">{{cite web |author= The Carter Center |title=Activities by Country: Haiti |url=http://www.cartercenter.org/countries/haiti.html |accessdate=19 February 2010}}</ref> In October 1994, Aristide returned to Haiti to complete his term in office.<ref>{{cite news|author=Catherine S. Manegol |url=http://www.nytimes.com/1994/10/16/world/mission-haiti-scene-for-aristide-s-followers-every-step-dance-every-cheer-song.html |title=For Aristide's Followers, Every Step Is a Dance, Every Cheer a Song |publisher=Nytimes.com |date=16 October 1994 |accessdate=24 July 2013}}</ref> Aristide vacated the presidency in February 1996. In the [[Haitian general election, 1995|1995 election]], [[René Préval]] was elected as president for a five-year term, winning 88% of the popular vote. |
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In November 1994, [[Hurricane Gordon (1994)|Hurricane Gordon]] brushed Haiti, dumping heavy [[rain]] and creating [[flash flood]]ing that triggered mudslides. Gordon killed an estimated 1,122 people, although some estimates go as high as 2,200.<ref>{{cite web|title=Hurricane Gordon 1994|publisher=Hurricane Central|url=http://hurricanecentral.freeservers.com/Prelim_Reports/1994_Gordon.htm|accessdate=Oct 4, 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Hurricane Gordon 1994|publisher=NOAA|url=http://www.publicaffairs.noaa.gov/gordon94.html|accessdate=Oct 4, 2016}}</ref> |
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===21st century=== |
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{{See also|2004 Haitian coup d'état|United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti|2010 Haiti earthquake|Haiti cholera outbreak|Hurricane Matthew}} |
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The [[Haitian presidential election, 2000|November 2000 election]] |
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returned Aristide to the presidency with 92% of the vote.<ref>{{cite book|last=Hallward|first=P.|title=Damming the Flood:Haiti, Aristide, and the Politics of containment|location=London, UK|publisher=Verso Books|year=2007|pages=xiii, 78–79}}</ref> The election had been boycotted by the opposition, then organized into the [[Convergence Démocratique]], over a dispute in the [[Haitian legislative election, 2000|May legislative elections]]. In subsequent years, there was increasing violence and [[human rights abuse]]s. Aristide supporters attacked the opposition.<ref name=bussandgardner>{{cite book|last1=Buss|first1=Terry F.|last2=Gardner|first2=Adam|title=Haiti in the Balance: Why Foreign Aid Has Failed and What We Can Do about It|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AbP8m_eMXn4C|date= 2009|publisher=Brookings Institution Press|isbn=0-8157-0164-0}}</ref> Aristide spent years negotiating with the Convergence Démocratique on new elections, but the Convergence's inability to develop a sufficient electoral base made elections unattractive. |
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[[File:Haitian national palace earthquake.jpg|thumb|300px|The [[National Palace (Haiti)|National Palace]] following the [[2010 Haiti earthquake]] ]] |
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In 2004, [[2004 Haitian coup d'état|a revolt began in northern Haiti]]. The rebellion eventually reached the capital; and Aristide was forced into exile, whereupon the United Nations stationed peacekeepers in Haiti. Some including Aristide and his bodyguard, Franz Gabriel, stated that he was the victim of a "new [[coup d'état]] or modern kidnapping" by U.S. forces. Mrs. Aristide stated that the kidnappers wore US Special Forces uniforms, but changed into civilian clothes upon boarding the aircraft that was used to remove Aristide from Haiti.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.globalpolicy.org/component/content/article/186/34344.html |title=Aristide Kidnapped by US Forces? |publisher=Globalpolicy.org |date=1 March 2004 |accessdate=24 July 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.democracynow.org/2004/3/16/exclusive_aristide_and_his_bodyguard_describe |title=Exclusive: Aristide and His Bodyguard Describe the U.S. Role In His Ouster |publisher=[[Democracy Now!|Democracynow.org]] |date=16 March 2004 |accessdate=24 July 2013}}</ref> The [[United Nations Stabilisation Mission in Haiti|United Nations Stabilisation Mission (MINUSTAH)]] was establishing after the 2004 coup d'état and remains in the country to the present day. |
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[[Boniface Alexandre]] assumed interim authority. [[René Préval]] was elected President in February 2006, following [[Haitian general election, 2006|elections]] marked by uncertainties and popular demonstrations. The United States led an international campaign to prevent Aristide from returning to his country while he was exiled in South Africa. Released Wikileaks cables show that high-level US and UN officials coordinated activity against Aristide to prevent him from "gaining more traction with the Haitian population and returning to Haiti." The United States and its allies allegedly poured tens of millions of dollars into unsuccessful efforts to slander Aristide as a drug trafficker, human rights violator, and heretical practitioner of Vodou.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.democracynow.org/2011/8/11/haiti_wikileaks_cables_expose_how_us |title=Haiti: WikiLeaks Cables Expose How U.S. Blocked Aristide's Return After 2004 Coup |publisher=Democracynow.org |date=11 August 2011 |accessdate=24 July 2013}}</ref> |
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In 2004, [[Hurricane Jeanne#Haiti|Tropical Storm Jeanne]] skimmed the north coast of Haiti, leaving 3,006 people dead in flooding and [[mudslide]]s, mostly in the city of [[Gonaïves]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.orlandosentinel.com/sfl-0923haitigallery,0,7266223.photogallery | title=Photo Gallery: Jeanne hits Haiti |publisher=Orlando Sentinel |accessdate=16 February 2010}}</ref> In 2008 Haiti was again struck by tropical storms; [[Tropical Storm Fay (2008)|Tropical Storm Fay]], [[Hurricane Gustav]], [[Hurricane Hanna]] and [[Hurricane Ike]] all produced heavy winds and rain. There were 331 dead and about 800,000 in need of humanitarian aid.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2008-09-10-Haiti-floods_N.htm |title=UN seeks almost US$108 million for Haiti floods | work = [[USA Today]] | date=10 September 2008 |accessdate=24 July 2013}}</ref> The state of affairs produced by these storms was intensified by already high food and fuel prices that had caused a food crisis and political unrest in April 2008.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSN1228245020080413 |title=Haiti's government falls after food riots |date=12 April 2008 |accessdate=16 February 2010 | agency=Reuters}}</ref> |
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On 12 January 2010, at 4:53pm local time, Haiti was struck by a [[moment magnitude scale|magnitude]]-7.0 earthquake. This was the country's most severe earthquake in over 200 years.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eqinthenews/2010/us2010rja6/ |title=Magnitude 7.0 – Haiti Region |accessdate=12 January 2010 }}</ref> The [[2010 Haiti earthquake]] was reported to have left up to 316,000 people dead and 1.6 million homeless,<ref>{{cite news|title=Haiti: Quake's Toll Rises to 316,000|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/14/world/americas/14briefs-Haiti.html|author=Randal C. Archibold|date=13 January 2011|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|accessdate=18 March 2012}}</ref> though later reports found these numbers to have been grossly inflated, and put the death toll between 46,000 and 85,000.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-13606720 |title=Report challenges Haiti earthquake death toll |date=31 May 2011 |publisher= BBC News |accessdate=31 May 2011 }}</ref> The country has yet to recover from the 2010 earthquake and a subsequent and massive [[Haiti cholera outbreak]] that was triggered when cholera-infected waste from a [[MINUSTAH]] peacekeeping station contaminated the country's main river, the [[Artibonite River|Artibonite]].<ref>{{cite news|last1=Sontag|first1=Deborah|title=In Haiti, Global Failures on a Cholera Epidemic|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/01/world/americas/haitis-cholera-outraced-the-experts-and-tainted-the-un.|website=www.nytimes.com|publisher=The New York Times|accessdate=21 June 2015}}</ref> The country has yet to fully recover, due to both the severity of the damage Haiti endured in 2010, as well as a government that was ineffective well before the earthquake.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.oxfam.org/en/pressroom/pressrelease/2011-01-06/year-indecision-leaves-haiti-recovery-standstill |title=A year of indecision leaves Haiti recovery at a standstill |publisher=Oxfam.org |date=6 January 2011 |accessdate=24 July 2013}}</ref> |
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General elections had been planned for January 2010, but were postponed due to the earthquake. The [[Haitian general election, 2010–11|elections were held on 28 November 2010]] for the senate, the parliament and the first round of the presidential elections. The run-off between [[Michel Martelly]] and [[Mirlande Manigat]] took place on 20 March 2011, and preliminary results, released on 4 April, named Michel Martelly the winner.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-2951-haiti-inauguration-michel-martelly-56th-president-of-haiti.html |title=Haiti – Inauguration : Michel Martelly, 56th President of Haiti |publisher=Haitilibre.com |date=14 May 2011 |accessdate=24 July 2013}}</ref> On 7 February 2016, Michel Martelly stepped down as president without a successor, but only after a deal was reached for a provisional government and leaving Prime Minister Evans Paul in power "until an interim president is chosen by both chambers of Parliament."<ref>{{cite news | url=http://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/08/world/americas/michel-martelly-haitis-president-departs-without-a-successor.html | title=Michel Martelly, Haiti’s President, Departs Without a Successor | work=News report | date=7 February 2016 | agency=New York Times | accessdate=7 February 2016 | author=Robles, Frances}}</ref> |
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In 2013, Haiti called for European nations to pay [[reparations for slavery]] and establish an official commission for the settlement of past wrong-doings. Attempting to sidestep the difficulty of evaluating the impact of the past in the present, the ''Economist'' wrote, "Any assistance to the region should be carefully targeted; and should surely stem from today's needs, not the wrongs of the past." <ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.economist.com/news/americas/21587236-pressure-grows-compensation-caribbean-trade-blood-money |title=Slavery reparations: Blood money |publisher=''[[The Economist]]'' |date=5 October 2013}}</ref> The topic, however, has more than a passing reference for a country that, as Lord Anthony Gifford wrote, "was forced to pay compensation to the government of France."<ref>{{cite journal | url=https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=SofDAgAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PT14&dq=%22Formulating+the+Case+for+reparations%22,+Lord+Anthony+Gifford++Reparations--+Colonialism,+Slavery,+Reparations,+and+Trade&ots=rQwr5_H7c9&sig=EeagdpM51eTfQVBlpApchFJb2fU#v=onepage&q=Haiti&f=false | title=Formulating the Case for reparations | author=Anthony Gifford, Lord | journal=Colonialism, Slavery, Reparations and Trade: Remedying the'Past'? Routledge | year=2012 | pages=96}}</ref> |
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{{further information|Haitian parliamentary election, 2015–16}} |
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On 4 October 2016, [[Hurricane Matthew]] made landfall near [[Les Anglais]], making it the worst hurricane to strike the nation since [[Hurricane Cleo]] in 1964. |
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==Geography== |
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{{Main article|Geography of Haiti}} |
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[[File:Haiti topographic map-fr.svg|thumb|600x600px|A map of Haiti]] |
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[[File:Haiti Saut-d'Eau.JPG|thumb|200px|[[Saut-d'Eau]] ]] |
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[[File:Labadee, Haiti from Freedom of the Seas (13107276383) (2).jpg|thumb|438x438px|[[Labadee]] beach and village]] |
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Haiti is on the western part of [[Hispaniola]], the second largest island in the [[Greater Antilles]]. Haiti is the third largest country in the Caribbean behind [[Cuba]] and the [[Dominican Republic]] (the latter shares a {{convert|360|km|mi|0|adj=on}} border with Haiti). Haiti at its closest point is about {{convert|45|nmi|km mi|0}} away from Cuba and comprises the ''horseshoe''-shape peninsula and because of this, it has a disproportionately long coastline and is ''second'' in length ({{convert|1771|km|mi|0|abbr=on|disp=or}}) in the Greater Antilles. Cuba has the longest.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.loc.gov/today/placesinthenews/archive/2010arch/20100114_haiti.html |title=Geography: Haiti |accessdate=29 September 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.worldatlas.com/webimage/countrys/namerica/caribb/haiti/htland.htm |title=Geography: Haiti| accessdate=29 September 2014}}</ref> |
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Haiti's terrain consists mainly of rugged mountains interspersed with small coastal plains and river valleys. The climate is tropical, with some variation depending on altitude. Haiti is the most mountainous nation in the Caribbean and its highest point is [[Pic la Selle]], at {{convert|2680|m|ft|0|}}.<ref name="NgCheong-Lum, Roseline 19"/> |
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The northern region consists of the ''[[Massif du Nord]]'' (Northern Massif) and the ''[[Plaine du Nord]]'' (Northern Plain). The ''Massif du Nord'' is an extension of the ''Cordillera Central'' in the Dominican Republic. It begins at Haiti's eastern border, north of the [[Guayamouc River]], and extends to the northwest through the northern peninsula. The lowlands of the ''Plaine du Nord'' lie along the northern border with the Dominican Republic, between the ''Massif du Nord'' and the North Atlantic Ocean. |
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The central region consists of two plains and two sets of mountain ranges. The ''Plateau Central'' (Central Plateau) extends along both sides of the Guayamouc River, south of the ''Massif du Nord''. It runs from the southeast to the northwest. To the southwest of the ''Plateau Central'' are the ''Montagnes Noires'', whose most northwestern part merges with the ''Massif du Nord''. Its westernmost point is known as Cap Carcasse. |
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The southern region consists of the [[Plaine du Cul-de-Sac]] (the southeast) and the mountainous southern peninsula (also known as the [[Tiburon Peninsula, Haiti|Tiburon Peninsula]]). The Plaine du Cul-de-Sac is a natural depression that harbors the country's saline lakes, such as [[Trou Caïman]] and Haiti's largest lake, [[Étang Saumatre]]. The [[Chaîne de la Selle]] mountain range – an extension of the southern mountain chain of the Dominican Republic (the Sierra de Baoruco) – extends from the Massif de la Selle in the east to the [[Massif de la Hotte]] in the west. This mountain range harbors [[Pic la Selle]], the highest point in Haiti at {{convert|2680|m|ft|0}}.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.elahmad.com/maps/qibla-english.htm?latitude=18.9712&longitude=-72.2845&t=h&zoom=9 |title=Map of Haiti |publisher=Elahmad.com |accessdate=24 July 2013}}</ref>{{Failed verification|date=July 2013}} |
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Haiti's most important valley in terms of crops is the Plaine de l'Artibonite, which is oriented south of the Montagnes Noires. This region supports the country's (also Hispaniola's) longest river, the [[Artibonite River|Riviere l'Artibonite]], which begins in the western region of the Dominican Republic and continues most of its length through central Haiti and onward where it empties into the [[Gulf of Gonâve|Golfe de la Gonâve]]. The eastern and central region of the island is a large elevated plateau. |
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Haiti also includes various offshore islands. The island of [[Tortuga (Haiti)|Tortuga]] (Île de la Tortue) is located off the coast of northern Haiti. The [[Arrondissements of Haiti|arrondissement]] of [[Gonâve Island|La Gonâve]] is located on the island of the same name, in the [[Gulf of Gonâve|Golfe de la Gonâve]]. Gonâve Island is moderately populated by rural villagers. [[Île à Vache]] (Cow Island), a lush island with many beautiful sights, is located off the tip of southwestern Haiti. Also part of Haiti are the [[Cayemites]] and Île d' Anacaona. [[Navassa Island|La Navasse]] located {{convert|40|nmi|mi km}} west of [[Jérémie]] on the south west [[peninsula]] of Haiti,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.latinamericanstudies.org/haiti/rock.htm |title=Whose Rock Is It? Yes, the Haitians Care |author=Larry Rohter |date=19 October 1998 |work=Port-au-Prince Journal (reprinted in New York Times)|accessdate=28 January 2012}}</ref> is subject to an ongoing territorial dispute with the United States. |
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===Climate=== |
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Haiti's climate is tropical with some variation depending on altitude. Port-au-Prince ranges in January from an average minimum of {{convert|23|°C|1}} to an average maximum of {{convert|31|°C|1}}; in July, from {{convert|25|–|35|°C|°F}}. The rainfall pattern is varied, with rain heavier in some of the lowlands and the northern and eastern slopes of the mountains. Haiti's dry season occurs from November to January. |
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Port-au-Prince receives an average annual rainfall of {{convert|1370|mm|in|1|abbr=on}}. There are two rainy seasons, April–June and October–November. Haiti is subject to periodic droughts and floods, made more severe by deforestation. Hurricanes are also a menace. In summary, Haiti is generally a hot and humid tropical climate. |
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===Geology=== |
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[[File:Haiti relief location map.jpg|thumb|350px|Haiti's topography]] |
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There are [[Thrust fault#Blind thrust faults|blind thrust faults]] associated with the [[Enriquillo-Plantain Garden fault zone|Enriquillo-Plantain Garden fault system]] over which Haiti lies.<ref name="USGSHaiti2">{{cite web|url=http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eqinthenews/2010/us2010rja6/#summary |title="Magnitude 7.0 – HAITI REGION Tectonic Summary" United States Geological Survey, 12 January 2010 |publisher=Earthquake.usgs.gov |accessdate= 11 January 2014}}</ref> After the earthquake of 2010, there was no evidence of surface rupture and based on seismological, geological and ground deformation data.<ref name="Hayes">{{cite journal|last=Hayes|first=G.P.|coauthors=Briggs R.W., Sladen A., Fielding E.J., Prentice C., Hudnut K., Mann P., Taylor F.W., Crone A.J., Gold R., Ito T. & Simons M.|year=2010|title=Complex rupture during the 12 January 2010 Haiti earthquake|journal=Nature Geoscience|doi=10.1038/ngeo977|url=http://www.nature.com/ngeo/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/ngeo977.html|accessdate=21 October 2010|volume=3|issue=11|pages=800–805| archiveurl= https://web.archive.org/web/20101023111012/http://www.nature.com/ngeo/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/ngeo977.html| archivedate= 23 October 2010 | deadurl= no|bibcode = 2010NatGe...3..800H }}</ref> |
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The northern boundary of the fault is where the [[Caribbean plate|Caribbean]] [[tectonic plate]] shifts eastwards by about {{convert|20|mm|in|abbr=in}} per year in relation to the [[North American plate]]. The [[strike-slip fault]] system in the region has two branches in Haiti, the [[Septentrional-Oriente fault zone|Septentrional-Oriente fault]] in the north and the Enriquillo-Plantain Garden fault in the south. |
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A 2007 earthquake hazard study, noted that the Enriquillo-Plantain Garden fault zone could be at the end of its seismic cycle and concluded that a worst-case forecast would involve a 7.2 M<sub>w</sub> earthquake, similar in size to the [[1692 Jamaica earthquake]].<ref name="DeMets">{{cite journal|last=DeMets|first=C.|author2=Wiggins-Grandison W.|year=2007|title=Deformation of Jamaica and motion of the Gonâve microplate from GPS and seismic data|journal=[[Geophysical Journal International]]|volume=168|pages=362–378|url=http://www.mona.uwi.edu/earthquake/files/DeformJaGPS2007.pdf |accessdate=19 December 2009|doi=10.1111/j.1365-246X.2006.03236.x|bibcode = 2007GeoJI.168..362D }}</ref> A study team presented a hazard assessment of the Enriquillo-Plantain Garden fault system to the 18th Caribbean Geologic Conference in March 2008, noting the large strain. The team recommended "high priority" historical geologic rupture studies, as the fault was fully locked and had recorded few earthquakes in the preceding 40 years.<ref name="18cgc">{{cite web|url=http://www.ig.utexas.edu/jsg/18_cgg/Mann3.htm |title=Entiquillo-Plantain Garden Strike-Slip Fault Zone: A Major Seismic Hazard Affecting Dominican Republic, Haiti and Jamaica |publisher=18th Caribbean Geological Conference |author=Mann, Paul, Calais, Eric, Demets, Chuck, Prentice, Carol S, and Wiggins-Grandison, Margaret |date=March 2008 |accessdate=13 January 2010 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20100116160020/http://www.ig.utexas.edu/jsg/18_cgg/Mann3.htm |archivedate=16 January 2010 |deadurl=yes |df=dmy }}</ref> An article published in Haiti's ''[[Le Matin (Haiti)|Le Matin]]'' newspaper in September 2008 cited comments by geologist Patrick Charles to the effect that there was a high risk of major seismic activity in Port-au-Prince.<ref name="lematinhaiti">{{cite news|url=http://www.lematinhaiti.com/Article.asp?ID=14646 |archiveurl=http://www.webcitation.org/5mqlCDrAo?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.lematinhaiti.com%2FArticle.asp%3FID%3D14646 |archivedate=17 January 2010 |title=Haiti/ Menace de Catastrope Naturelle / Risque sismique élevé sur Port-au-Prince |last=Delacroix |first=Phoenix |date=25 September 2008 |accessdate=12 January 2010 |deadurl=no |df=dmy }}</ref> |
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Haiti also has rare elements such as [[Gold]], which can be found at The [[Mont Organisé]] [[gold mining|gold mine]].<ref>[http://www.ute.gouv.ht/caracol/images/stories/docs/environmental%20assessment%20of%20the%20usaidhaiti%20north%20park%20power%20project.pdf ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT OF THE USAID/HAITI NORTH PARK POWER PROJECT]. United States Agency for International Development. ute.gouv.ht. June 2011</ref> |
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===Environment=== |
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{{Main article|Environment of Haiti|Deforestation in Haiti}} |
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[[File:Haiti deforestation.jpg|thumb|300px|Haiti's border with the [[Dominican Republic]] in 2002 (right) shows the amount of deforestation on the Haitian side]] |
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The [[Erosion|soil erosion]] and [[deforestation]] have caused periodic and severe flooding in Haiti, as experienced, for example, on 17 September 2004. Earlier in May that year, floods had killed over 3,000 people on Haiti's southern border with the Dominican Republic.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.usatoday.com/weather/hurricane/2004-09-23-haiti-deforest_x.htm |title=Deforestation Exacerbates Haiti Floods |publisher=Usatoday.com |date=23 September 2004 |accessdate=24 July 2013}}</ref> |
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There has been little marine, coastal, and river basin management. Forest cover in the steep hills surrounds Haiti's river basin retains soil, which in turn retains water from rainfall, reducing river flood peaks and conserving flows in the dry season. Haiti's forests covered 60 percent of the country as recently as fifty years ago, but today less than one percent of Haiti remains forested.<ref>{{cite web|title=Reforestation|url=http://www.lambifund.org/programs_reforestation.shtml|website=The Lambi Fund of Haiti|publisher=The Lambi Fund of Haiti|accessdate=5 January 2015}}</ref> |
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Deforestation has resulted in much of the soil being released from the upper catchments. Many of Haiti's rivers are now highly unstable, changing rapidly from destructive flooding to inadequate flows.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.haitiregeneration.org/node/67|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110303050815/http://www.haitiregeneration.org/node/67|archivedate=3 March 2011 |title=Environment and Natural Hazards | The Haiti Regeneration Initiative |publisher=Wayback.archive.org |date= 3 March 2011 |accessdate= 11 January 2014}}</ref> Scientists at the [[The Earth Institute#Center for International Earth Science Information Network (CIESIN)Earth Institute|Columbia University's Center for International Earth Science Information Network (CIESIN)]] and the [[United Nations Environment Programme]] are working on the Haiti Regenerative Initiative an initiative aiming to reduce poverty and natural disaster vulnerability in Haiti through ecosystem restoration and sustainable resource management. |
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===Flora=== |
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In 1925{{citation needed|date=April 2016}}, Haiti was lush, with 60% of its original forest covering the lands and mountainous regions. In 1988 only 2% percent of land had tree cover. Haiti's residents have cut down forest cover for use as firewood, destroying soils and contributing to [[desertification]] and droughts.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://countrystudies.us/haiti/53.htm |title=Forestry in Haiti |accessdate=16 February 2010}}</ref> |
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==Government and politics== |
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{{Main article|Politics of Haiti}} |
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[[File:Haitians voting in the 2006 elections.jpeg|thumb|Voting in the 2006 elections in [[Port-au-Prince]] ]] |
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The government of Haiti is a [[semi-presidential system|semi-presidential]] republic, a multiparty system wherein the [[President of Haiti]] is head of state elected directly by popular [[elections in Haiti|elections]].<ref>{{cite web|title=1987 Constitution of the Republic of Haiti|url=http://pdba.georgetown.edu/constitutions/haiti/haiti1987.html|publisher=Georgetown University|accessdate=9 July 2011|location=ARTICLE 134|pages=ARTICLE 134}}</ref> The Prime Minister acts as head of government and is appointed by the President, chosen from the majority party in the National Assembly. Executive power is exercised by the President and Prime Minister who together constitute the government. In 2013, the annual budget was US$1 billion.<ref name="daniel5">{{Cite news | first=Trenton | last=Daniel | title=Haiti hopes push to woo tourists pays off | url=http://abcnews.go.com/Health/wireStory/haiti-hopes-160-high-end-tourism-pays-off-19600269#.UeW_EayQOSo| work= | newspaper=[[The Burlington Free Press]] | location=[[Burlington, Vermont]] | pages= 5A | date=8 July 2013 | id= | accessdate=16 July 2013}}</ref><!---hard and soft copy sources do not match but are identical articles---> |
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Legislative power is vested in both the government and the two chambers of the [[National Assembly of Haiti]]. The government is organized [[unitary state|unitarily]], thus the central government ''delegates'' powers to the departments without a constitutional need for consent. The current structure of Haiti's political system was set forth in the [[Constitution of Haiti]] on 29 March 1987. |
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Haitian politics have been contentious: since independence, Haiti has suffered 32 coups.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1741707&ps=rs |title=Haiti Starts Over, Once Again |author=Michele Kelemen |publisher=Npr.org |date=2 March 2004 |accessdate=24 July 2013}}</ref> Haiti is the only country in the Western Hemisphere to undergo a successful [[Haitian Revolution|slave revolution]], but a long history of oppression by dictators{{spaced ndash}}including [[François Duvalier]] and his son [[Jean-Claude Duvalier]]{{spaced ndash}}has markedly affected the nation. France, the United States and other Western countries have repeatedly intervened in Haitian politics since the country's founding, sometimes at the request of one party or another. Along with international financial institutions, they have imposed large quantities of debt – so much that foreign debt payments have rivaled the available government budget for social sector spending. There have been criticisms of financial institutions for enforcing trade policies on Haiti that are considered by some to be detrimental to local industry.<ref name="Bell">{{cite book |last=Bell |first=Beverly |date=2013 |title=Fault Lines: Views across Haiti's Divide |location=Ithaca, NY |publisher=Cornell University Press|pages=30–38 |isbn=978-0-8014-7769-0}}</ref> |
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According to a [[Corruption Perceptions Index]] report in 2006, there is a strong correlation between corruption and poverty and Haiti ranked first of all countries surveyed for of levels of perceived domestic corruption.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://transparency.ie/content/2006-corruption-perceptions-index-reinforces-link-between-poverty-and-corruption-and-shows-w |title=2006 Corruption Perceptions Index reinforces link between poverty and corruption |publisher=Transparency International |date=6 November 2006 |accessdate=15 January 2009}}</ref> The [[International Red Cross]] reports that seven out of ten Haitians live on less than US$2 a day, however, stated below "such statistical estimations should be looked upon very skeptically because of the fact that the average Haitian and Haitian family has to and does spend a lot more than that daily. The disconnect likely lies in the fact that these are estimates based on surveys conducted by asking individuals what their incomes are; in the Haitian culture it is very unlikely that one will receive a truthful and accurate answer to such a personal question. For various reasons individuals will not tell the truth on such a private matter. For some it is because "it's none of your business," for others, they will simply exaggerate their poor situation in hopes that some type of financial aide will be gained or rendered to them".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.redcross.int/EN/mag/magazine2006_2/10-11.html |title=Hoping for change in Haiti's Cité-Soleil |publisher=International Red Cross |accessdate=16 February 2010}}</ref> |
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[[Cité Soleil]] in Port-au-Prince, one of the biggest [[slum]]s in the Northern Hemisphere, has been called "the most dangerous place on Earth" by the United Nations.<ref name="Cité Soleil">{{cite news |last=Fry |first=Ted |url=http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/movies/2003828982_ghosts10.html |title="Ghosts of Cité Soleil" a harrowing look at Haiti's hellish slums |publisher=The Seattle Times |date=10 August 2007 |accessdate=24 July 2013}}</ref> Many residents are supporters of former Haitian President [[Jean-Bertrand Aristide]],<ref>{{cite news|last=Varner |first=Bill |url=http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=az0cdhHzic3M&refer=redirectoldpage |title=Haitian Gangs Seek Truce That Would Ease Elections |publisher=Bloomberg.com |date=25 August 2005 |accessdate=24 July 2013}}</ref> who, according to the BBC, "accused the US of forcing him out – an accusation the US rejected as 'absurd'".<ref>{{cite news|last=Buschschluter |first=Vanessa |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8460185.stm |title=The long history of troubled ties between Haiti and the US |publisher=BBC News |date=16 January 2010 |accessdate=24 July 2013}}</ref> |
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Jean-Bertrand Aristide was initially denied access to Haiti by Haitian immigration authorities, despite issuing appeals for entrance to his supporters and international observers. The world's most prominent governments did not overtly oppose such appeals, nor did they support them; an unnamed analyst "close to the Haitian government" quoted in several media sources{{spaced ndash}} including ''[[The New York Times]]''{{spaced ndash}} is reported to have said: "Aristide could have 15 passports and he's still not going to come back to Haiti ... France and the United States are standing in the way." However, Aristide finally returned to Haiti on 18 March 2011, days before the 2011 presidential election.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/20/world/americas/20haiti.html |work= [[The New York Times]] |author=Ginger Thompson |title=Aristide Says He Is Ready to Follow Duvalier Back to Haiti |date=19 January 2011}}</ref> |
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[[File:Bel Air, Haiti 2008.jpg|thumb|US Marines patrol the streets of Port-au-Prince on 14 April 2004]] |
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The first round of the [[Haitian general election, 2010|2010 general election]] was held in December. [[Mirlande Manigat]] and [[Jude Célestin|Jude Celestin]] qualified for the second round of the presidential election, but its results were contested. Some people said that the first round was a fraud and that [[Michel Martelly]] should replace Jude Celestin, René Préval's chosen successor. There was some violence between the contending parties.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.pbs.org/wnet/religionandethics/episodes/december-10-2010/haiti-unrest/7663/ |title=Haiti Unrest |publisher=Educational Broadcasting Corporation |accessdate=12 November 2010}}</ref> On 4 April 2011, the Provisional Electoral Council announced preliminary results indicating that Martelly had won the presidential election.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://flcourier.com/2012/05/10/sweet-micky-martelly-reportedly-wins-haiti-election/ |title='Sweet Micky' Martelly reportedly wins Haiti election |author=Charles, Jacqueline |publisher=Flcourier.com |date=10 May 2012 |accessdate=24 July 2013 |deadurl=yes |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20130501130703/http://flcourier.com/2012/05/10/sweet-micky-martelly-reportedly-wins-haiti-election/ |archivedate=1 May 2013 }}</ref> |
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After the U.S. funded $33 million<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.jacobinmag.com/2016/05/haiti-elections-hillary-clinton-fraud-corruption-earthquake-martelly/|title=Clinton’s Long Shadow {{!}} Jacobin|website=www.jacobinmag.com|access-date=2016-06-01}}</ref> to legislative and presidential elections in August and October 2015, a special verification panel - implemented by interim President [[Jocelerme Privert|Joceleme Privert]] - declared the results "tainted by significant fraud".<ref name="The Associated Press">{{Cite news|url=http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2016/05/30/world/americas/ap-cb-haiti-election-verification.html|title=Haiti Panel Recommends Throwing Out Results of Disputed Vote|last=The Associated Press|date=2016-05-30|newspaper=The New York Times|issn=0362-4331|access-date=2016-06-01}}</ref> [[Jovenel Moïse]], the supposed winner of the October 25, 2015 election, had been had-picked by former President [[Michel Martelly]]. The month-long examination in May 2016 was created after the elections were condemned as fraudulent to restore credibility to the process.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://cepr.net/blogs/haiti-relief-and-reconstruction-watch/election-verification-results-expected-this-weekend-what-to-expect-and-what-comes-next|title=Election Verification Results Expected this Weekend: What to Expect and What Comes Next?|last=Johnston|first=Jake|website=cepr.net|language=en-US|access-date=2016-06-01}}</ref> The commission recommended completely redoing the vote after auditing a random sample of about 13,000 ballots.<ref name="The Associated Press"/> |
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In February 2012, Haiti signaled it would seek to upgrade its observer status to full associate member status of the [[African Union]] (AU).<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-4863-haiti-diplomacy-haiti-becomes-a-member-of-the-african-union.html |title=Haiti becomes a member of the African Union |publisher=Haitilibre.com |date=2 February 2012 |accessdate=24 July 2013}}</ref> At its next summit in June 2013, the AU plans to upgrade Haiti's status from observer to associate.<ref name="haitics">{{cite web |url=http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Americas/Latin-America-Monitor/2012/0229/Long-distance-relationship-Haiti-s-bid-to-join-the-African-Union |title=Long distance relationship: Haiti's bid to join the African Union |author=Sampson, Ovetta |work=[[The Christian Science Monitor]] |date=29 February 2012 |accessdate=1 March 2012}}</ref> |
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In 2010, the [[Haitian National Police]] force numbered 7,000.<ref>{{cite news |author=Sadowski, Dennis |title=Hope and struggles remain in Haiti six months after earthquake |publisher=Florida Catholic |location=Orlando, Florida |pages=A7 |date=6–19 August 2010 }}</ref> The legal system for torts<!---not criminal, there has to be a better way of wording this--> is based on a version of the [[Napoleonic Code]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://jurist.law.pitt.edu/world/haiti.htm |title=Haitian Law |publisher=Jurist.law.pitt.edu |accessdate=24 July 2013 |deadurl=yes |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20130630063029/http://jurist.law.pitt.edu/world/haiti.htm |archivedate=30 June 2013 }}</ref> |
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The [[Institut de Sauvegarde du Patrimoine National|Institute for the Protection of National Heritage]] has preserved 33 historical monuments and the historic center of Cap-Haïtien.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.haiti.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=121&Itemid=90 |title=Institut de Sauvegarde du Patrimoine National |publisher=Haiti.org |accessdate=24 July 2013}}</ref> |
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===Cabinet=== |
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{{Main article|Cabinet of Haiti}} |
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{{Clarify|This seems to expand on the article Cabinet of Haiti and begs the question: why are there two places with identical information? Why is this one superior to the article it is supposed to "summarize"?|date=October 2014}} |
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The executive function is divided into ministries, each led by a Minister appointed by the Prime Minister and confirmed by Parliament:<ref>{{cite web|url=http://primature.gouv.ht/?page_id=28|title=Ministres – Primature République d'Haiti|publisher=primature.gouv.ht|accessdate=21 October 2014}}</ref><ref>[http://pdf.usaid.gov/pdf_docs/PA00JD8B.pdf Usaid’s Leadership In Public Financial Management. 2013 Program on Cost-Benefit Cost-Effectiveness Analysis]. Queen’s University Final Report. 2 August 2013</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=Martino, John |title=Worldwide Government Directory with Intergovernmental Organizations 2013|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CQWhAQAAQBAJ&pg=PA697|year=2013|publisher=CQ Press|isbn=978-1-4522-9937-2|page=697}}</ref> |
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{| class="wikitable" |
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! Ministry !! Minister !! Address |
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|- |
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| [[Ministry of Planning and External Cooperation (Haiti)|Ministry of Planning and External Cooperation]] |
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| Yves Germain Joseph |
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| 347, Ave John Brown (Bourdon), Port-au-Prince, Haiti |
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|- |
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| [[Ministry of the Environment (Haiti)|Ministry of the Environment]] |
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| Jean-Marie Claude Germain |
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| Delmas 31, Rue Jacques 1 # 11, Port-au-Prince, Haiti |
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|- |
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| [[Ministry of Defense (Haiti)|Ministry of Defense]], [[Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Haiti)|Foreign Affairs]] and [[Ministry of Worship (Haiti)|Worship]] |
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| Lener Renauld |
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| Port-au-Prince, Haiti |
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|- |
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| [[Ministry of Commerce and Industry (Haiti)|Ministry of Commerce and Industry]] |
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| Hervey Day |
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| 6 Rue Legitimate, Port-au-Prince, Haiti HT-00116 |
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|- |
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| [[Ministry of Education (Haiti)|Ministry of Education and Professionals]] |
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| Nesmy Manigat |
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| 5, Ave Jean-Paul II, Port-au-Prince, Haiti |
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|- |
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| [[Ministry of Economy and Finance (Haiti)|Ministry of Economy and Finance]] |
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| [[Marie Carmelle Jean-Marie]] |
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| 22 Avenue Charles Summer, Port-au-Prince, Haiti |
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|- |
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| [[Ministry of Justice and Public Security (Haiti)|Ministry of Justice and Public Security]] |
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| Pierre Richard Casmir |
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| 19 Charles Sumner Avenue, Port-au-Prince, Hait |
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|- |
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| [[Ministry of Communication (Haiti)|Ministry of Communication]] |
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| Rotchild François Jr. |
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| Port-au-Prince, Haiti |
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|- |
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| [[Ministry of Tourism (Haiti)|Ministry of Tourism]] |
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| [[Stéphanie Villedrouin]] |
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| 8, Rue Legitimate (Champs-de-Mars), Port-au-Prince, Haiti |
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|- |
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| [[Ministry of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Rural Development (Haiti)|Ministry of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Rural Development]] |
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| Fresner Dorcin |
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| Route Nationale No. 1, Damien, Port-au-Prince, Haiti |
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|- |
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| [[Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor (Haiti)|Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor]] |
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| Victor Benoit |
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| |
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|- |
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| [[Ministry of Interior and Territorial Communities (Haiti)|Ministry of Interior and Territorial Communities]] |
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| Ariel Henry |
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| Palais des Ministeres, Champs de Mars, Port-au-Prince, Haiti |
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|- |
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| [[Ministry of Health (Haiti)|Ministry of Health]] |
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| Florence Duperval Guillaume |
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| 111, Rue Saint-Honore, Port-au-Prince, Haiti |
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|- |
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| [[Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Haiti)|Ministry of Foreign Affairs]] |
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| Duly Brutus |
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| Boulevard Harry Truman, Cité de l'Exposition, Port-au-Prince, Haiti |
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|- |
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| [[Ministry of Public Works, Transport and Communications (Haiti)]] |
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| Jacques Rousseau |
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| Palais des Ministeres, Rue Monseigneur Guilloux, B.P. 2002, Port-au-Prince, Haiti |
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|- |
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| Ministry of The Youth & of Sports |
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| Jimmy Albert |
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| Port-au-Prince, Haiti |
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|- |
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| Ministry of Culture |
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| Dithny Joan Raton |
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| Port-au-Prince, Haiti |
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|- |
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| Ministry of the Feminine Condition & the rights of Women |
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| Yves Rose Morquette |
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| Port-au-Prince, Haiti |
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|- |
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| Ministry of Haitians Living as Foreigners |
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| Robert Labrousse |
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| Rue Prosper No. 8, Bourdon, Musseau, Port-au-Prince, Haiti, HT6140 |
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|- |
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| Minister Delegated to the Prime Minister in charge of social programs and projects of the Government |
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| Edouard Jules |
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| Port-au-Prince, Haiti |
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|} |
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===Military=== |
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{{Main article|Military of Haiti}} |
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Haiti's Ministry of Defense is the main body of their armed forces.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.md.gouv.ht/mission.php|title=Missions et Attributions du Ministère de la Défense |publisher=Ministere de la Defense|accessdate=21 October 2014}}</ref> The former [[Armed Forces of Haiti|Haitian Armed Forces]] were demobilized in 1995, however, [[Defence Force of Haiti|efforts to reconstitute it are currently underway]].<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2013/09/16/haiti-army-again/2822823/ |title=Haiti a step closer to having army again |publisher=USA Today |accessdate=29 January 2014 |date=16 September 2013}}</ref> The current defense force for Haiti is the [[Haitian National Police]], which has a highly trained SWAT team, and works alongside the [[Haitian Coast Guard]]. |
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===Law enforcement and crime=== |
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{{Main article|Haitian National Police|Crime in Haiti}} |
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[[File:Fiat Siena DDO -- 08-11-06.jpg|thumb|Law enforcement in Haiti is maintained primarily by police forces for each department. The [[Haitian National Police|Direction Département de L’Ouest]] (DDO) in Port-au-Prince, is one of the six offices in the metropolitan area.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.minustah.org/modalites-de-recrutement-a-la-police-en-5-points/ |title=Recrutement de la PNH : mode d’emploi (Recruitment HNP: manual) |editor=MINUSTAH |accessdate=20 April 2015}}</ref>]] |
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Haiti has consistently ranked among the most corrupt countries in the world on the [[Corruption Perceptions Index]].<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/6120522.stm |title=Haiti tops world corruption table |publisher=BBC News |date=6 November 2006 |accessdate=24 July 2013}}</ref> It is estimated that President [[Jean-Claude Duvalier|"Baby Doc" Duvalier]], his wife [[Michèle Bennett|Michelle]], and their agents stole US $504 million from the country's treasury between 1971 and 1986.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.pbs.org/frontlineworld/stories/bribe/2009/05/haiti-the-long-road-to-recovery.html |title=Haiti: The Long Road to Recovery, Public Broadcasting Service |author=Siri Schubert |publisher=Pbs.org |date=22 May 2009 |accessdate=24 July 2013}}</ref> |
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Similarly, some media outlets alleged that millions were stolen by former president [[Jean-Bertrand Aristide]].<ref name="American Spectator Vol 1994">{{cite journal|title=Aristide Development|journal=American Spectator|volume=27|issue=7|date=1 July 1994}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.radiokiskeya.com/RapportUCREF.pdf |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20060501062854/http://www.radiokiskeya.com/RapportUCREF.pdf |archivedate=1 May 2006 |title=Rapport UCREF |format=PDF |accessdate=24 July 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.dominicantoday.com/dr/world/2005/10/31/6524/Probe-of-Aristide-administration-finds-evidence-of-embezzlement |title=Probe of Aristide administration finds evidence of embezzlement |publisher=Dominican Today |date=31 October 2005}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://online.wsj.com/article/SB117124344952105351.html |title=The Haiti File |author=Mary Anastasia O'Grady |publisher=Online.wsj.com |date=12 February 2007 |accessdate=24 July 2013}}</ref> In March 2004, at the time of Aristide's being [[Kidnapping|kidnapped]], a [[BBC]] article wrote that the Bush administration State Department stated that Aristide had been involved in drug trafficking.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/3524444.stm |title=Haiti's drug money scourge |publisher=BBC |date=19 March 2004 |author=Nick Caistor}}</ref> The BBC also described [[pyramid scheme]]s, in which Haitians lost hundreds of millions in 2002, as the "only real economic initiative" of the Aristide years.<ref name="basketcase">{{cite news |last=Schifferes |first=Steve |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/3522155.stm |title=Haiti: An economic basket-case |publisher=BBC News |date=1 March 2004 |accessdate=24 July 2013}}</ref> |
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Conversely, according to the 2013 [[United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime]] ([[UNODC]]) report, murder rates in Haiti (10.2 per 100,000) are far ''below'' the regional average (26 per 100,000); less than ¼ that of Jamaica (39.3 per 100,000) and nearly ½ that of the Dominican Republic (22.1 per 100,000), making it among the safer countries in the region.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/press/releases/2014/April/some-437000-people-murdered-worldwide-in-2012-according-to-new-unodc-study.html |title=Some 437,000 people murdered worldwide in 2012, according to new UNODC study |accessdate=12 April 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.unodc.org/documents/gsh/pdfs/2014_GLOBAL_HOMICIDE_BOOK_web.pdf |title=Global Study on Homicide |year=2013 |publisher=UNODC |accessdate=20 April 2015}}</ref> In large part, this is due to the country's ability to fulfill a pledge by increasing its national police yearly by 50%, a four-year initiative that was started in 2012. In addition to the yearly recruits, the Haitian National Police (HNP) has been using innovative technologies to crackdown on crime. A notable bust in recent years, led to the dismantlement of the largest kidnapping ring in the country with the use of an advanced software program developed by a [[United States Military Academy|Westpoint]]-trained Haitian official that proved to be so effective that it has led to its foreign advisers to make inquiries.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.caribbeannewsnow.com/headline-Haiti-among-safest-destinations-in-the-Americas%252C-say-recent-studies-14006.html |title=Haiti among safest destinations in the Americas, say recent studies |editor=Caribbean News Now |date=7 January 2013 |accessdate=20 April 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://baltimorepostexaminer.com/haiti-earthquake-fails-to-deter-hotel-boom/2013/06/22 |title=Haiti earthquake fails to deter hotel boom |editor=Luxner, Larry |publisher=Baltimore Post-Examiner |date=22 June 2013 |accessdate=20 April 2015}}</ref> |
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In 2010, the [[New York City Police Department]] (NYPD) has sent a team of veteran officers to Haiti to assist in the rebuilding of its police force with special training in investigative techniques, strategies to improve the anti-kidnapping personnel and community outreach to build stronger relationships with the public especially among the youth. It has also helped the HNP set up a police unit in the center of [[Delmas, Ouest|Delmas]], a neighborhood of Port-au-Prince.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.usatoday.com/videos/news/nation/2014/11/17/19200343/ |title=NYPD officers train Haitian police |editor=USA Today |date=17 November 2014 |accessdate=20 April 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://nypost.com/2010/01/21/nypd-to-help-train-haitian-police/ |title=NYPD to help train Haitian police |editor=Weiss, Murray |publisher=New York Post |date=21 January 2011 |accessdate=20 April 2015}}</ref><ref name="USAID">{{cite web|url=http://www.usaid.gov/haiti/governance-rule-law-and-security |title=Haiti: governance, Rule of Law, and Security |publisher=USAID |accessdate=20 April 2015}}</ref> |
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In 2012 and 2013, 150 HNP officers received specialized training funded by the US government, which also contributed to the infrastructure and communications support by upgrading radio capacity and constructing new police stations from the most violent-prone neighborhoods of [[Cité Soleil]] and [[Grande Ravine]] in Port-au-Prince to the new northern industrial park at [[Caracol, Nord-Est|Caracol]].<ref name="USAID"/> |
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===Administrative divisions=== |
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{{Further information|Departments of Haiti|Arrondissements of Haiti|Communes of Haiti}} |
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Administratively, Haiti is divided into ten [[Departments of Haiti|departments]]. The departments are listed below, with the departmental capital cities in parentheses. |
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[[File:Haiti, administrative divisions - Nmbrs - colored.svg|thumb|300px|Departments of Haiti]] |
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# [[Nord-Ouest (department)|Nord-Ouest]] ([[Port-de-Paix]]) |
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# [[Nord (Haitian department)|Nord]] ([[Cap-Haïtien]]) |
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# [[Nord-Est (department)|Nord-Est]] ([[Fort-Liberté]]) |
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# [[Artibonite (department)|Artibonite]] ([[Gonaïves]]) |
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# [[Centre (department)|Centre]] ([[Hinche]]) |
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# [[Ouest (department)|Ouest]] ([[Port-au-Prince]]) |
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# [[Grand'Anse (department)|Grand'Anse]] ([[Jérémie]]) |
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# [[Nippes]] ([[Miragoâne]]) |
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# [[Sud (department)|Sud]] ([[Les Cayes]]) |
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# [[Sud-Est (department)|Sud-Est]] ([[Jacmel]]) |
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The departments are further divided into 42 [[Arrondissements of Haiti|arrondissement]]s, 145 [[Communes of Haiti|communes]] and 571 [[communal section]]s. These serve as, respectively, second- and third-level administrative divisions.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://lenouvelliste.com/lenouvelliste/article/148647/Creation-de-cinq-nouvelles-communes-par-decret-presidentiel |title=Création de cinq nouvelles communes par décret présidentiel |editor=Olivier, Louis-Joseph |date=14 August 2015 |publisher=Le Nouvelliste |accessdate=17 March 2016}} {{fr}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-14858-haiti-politic-5-new-communes-in-haiti.html |title=Haïti - Politique : 5 nouvelles communes en Haïti |editor=Press |date=16 August 2015 |publisher=Haiti Libre |accessdate=17 March 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://haiti-reference.com/pages/plan/geographie-et-tourisme/divisions-territoriales/ |title=7300.- Divisions territoriales |date=17 August 2015 |publisher=Haiti-Référence |accessdate=17 March 2016}} {{fr}}</ref> |
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==Economy== |
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{{Main article|Economy of Haiti}} |
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[[File:Haiti Export Treemap.jpg|thumb|350px|A proportional representation of Haiti's exports]] |
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Haiti's [[Gross domestic product#Cross-border comparison|purchasing power parity GDP]] fell 8% in 2010 (from US$12.15 billion to US$11.18 billion) and the GDP per capita remained unchanged at PPP US$1,200.<ref name="CIA_20110303">{{cite web |publisher=[[Central Intelligence Agency]] |work=[[The World Factbook]] |title=Haiti |url=https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ha.html}}</ref> Despite having a viable tourist industry, Haiti is one of the world's poorest countries and the poorest in the Americas region, with poverty, corruption, poor infrastructure, lack of health care and lack of education cited as the main sources. The economy receded due to the [[2010 Haiti earthquake|2010 earthquake]] and subsequent [[2010 Haiti cholera outbreak|outbreak of Cholera]]. Haiti ranked 145 of 182 countries in the 2010 United Nations [[Human Development Index]], with 57.3% of the population being deprived in at least three of the HDI's poverty measures.<ref name="UNDP_2010">{{cite web|publisher=[[United Nations Development Programme]] |archiveurl=http://www.webcitation.org/5wu7eL0Db?url=http%3A%2F%2Fhdrstats.undp.org%2Fen%2Fcountries%2Fprofiles%2FHTI.html |archivedate=3 March 2011 |url=http://hdrstats.undp.org/en/countries/profiles/HTI.html |title=International Human Development Indicators: Haiti |year=2010 |others=2008 data in 2010 Report |deadurl=no |df=dmy }}</ref> |
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Following the disputed 2000 election and accusations about President Aristide's rule,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.wow509.com/news/jean-bertrand-aristide-net-worth/|title=Jean Bertrand Aristide net worth|work=WOW509}}</ref> US aid to the Haitian government was cut off between 2001 and 2004.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2004/03/07/before_fall_of_aristide_haiti_hit_by_aid_cutoff/ |title=Before fall of Aristide, Haiti hit by aid cutoff by |author=Farah Stockman |publisher=Boston.com |date=7 March 2004 |accessdate=24 July 2013}}</ref> After Aristide's departure in 2004, aid was restored and the [[Brazilian army]] led a [[United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti]] peacekeeping operation. After almost four years of recession, the economy grew by 1.5% in 2005.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://globaledge.msu.edu/countries/haiti/economy/|title=Haiti: Economy|publisher=Michigan State University}}</ref> In September 2009, Haiti met the conditions set out by the [[IMF]] and [[World Bank]]'s [[Heavily Indebted Poor Countries]] program to qualify for cancellation of its external debt.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/scr/2009/cr09288.pdf |title=Haiti: Enhanced Initiative for Heavily Indebted Poor Countries |publisher=International Monetary Fund |format=PDF |date=September 2009 |accessdate=24 July 2013}}</ref> |
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More than 90 percent of the government’s budget comes from an agreement with [[Petrocaribe]], a Venezuela-led oil alliance.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.heritage.org/index/pdf/2015/countries/haiti.pdf |title=Haiti Economy |accessdate=11 April 2015}}</ref> |
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===Foreign aid=== |
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{{Further information|Foreign aid to Haiti}} |
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[[Foreign aid]] is indispensable to Haiti. Haiti received more than US$4 billion in aid from 1990 to 2003, including US$1.5 billion from the United States.<ref>{{cite web |publisher=Thomson Reuters Foundation |url=http://www.trust.org/item/20090928173400-eslm0/?source=spotnewsfeed |title=Haiti's aid controversy |author=Anastasia Moloney |date=28 September 2009 |accessdate=24 July 2013}}</ref> |
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The largest donor is the US, followed by Canada and the European Union.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.nytimes.com/2004/07/21/world/1-billion-is-pledged-to-help-haiti-rebuild-topping-request.html |title=$1 Billion Is Pledged to Help Haiti Rebuild, Topping Request |author=Christopher Marquis | work = [[The New York Times]] |date=21 July 2004 |accessdate=24 July 2013}}</ref> In January 2010, following the earthquake, US President [[Barack Obama]] promised US$1.15 billion in assistance.<ref>{{cite news|first=Jonathan M.|last=Katz|url=http://www.foxnews.com/world/2010/04/11/haitis-police-struggle-control-ravaged-capital/|title=Haiti's police struggle to control ravaged capital|agency=Associated Press|date=11 April 2010|work=Fox News}}</ref> [[European Union]] nations pledged more than €400 million (US$616 million).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://uk.news.yahoo.com/18/20100118/twl-haiti-fears-grows-despite-surge-in-r-4bdc673.html |title=Haiti fears grows despite surge in relief effort |publisher=[[Yahoo! News]] |date=18 January 2009 }}{{dead link|date=June 2016|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref> |
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Neighboring [[Dominican Republic]] has also provided extensive humanitarian aid to Haiti, including the funding and construction of a public university,<ref>{{cite news |url=http://elnuevodiario.com.do/app/article.aspx?id=272087 |title=Universidad de Haití donada por RD se llamará ahora "Roi Henry I" |author= | work = El Nuevo Diario |date=|accessdate=20 July 2016}}</ref> human capital, free healthcare services in the border region, and logistical support after the 2010 earthquake.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://es.globalvoices.org/2010/01/16/republica-dominicana-ayuda-a-su-vecino-haiti-despues-del-terremoto/ |title=República Dominicana: Ayuda a su vecino Haití después del terremoto |author= | work = |date=|accessdate=20 July 2016}}</ref> |
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According to the UN Office of the Special Envoy for Haiti, as of March 2012, of Humanitarian funding committed or disbursed by bilateral and multilateral donors in 2010 and 2011, only 1% has been pledged to the Haitian Government<ref>{{cite journal |url=http://www.haitispecialenvoy.org/download/International_Assistance/1-overall-keyfacts.pdf |title= UN Office of the Special Envoy for Haiti Key Facts as of March 2012. }}</ref> |
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According to the 2013 CIA World Factbook, the [[2010 Haiti earthquake]] inflicted an estimated US$7.8 billion in damage and caused the country's GDP to contract.<ref>{{cite web| url=https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ha.html |title=Haiti |accessdate=11 April 2015}}</ref> |
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The United Nations states that in total US$13.34 billion has been earmarked for the crisis through 2020, though two years after the 2010 quake, less than half of that amount had actually been released, according to UN documents. {{As of|2015}}, the US government has allocated US$4 billion; US$3 billion has already been spent, and the rest is dedicated to longer-term projects.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nbcnews.com/news/investigations/what-does-haiti-have-show-13-billion-earthquake-aid-n281661|title=What does Haiti have to show for the US$13 billion in earthquake aid?-NBC News.com |date= January 2015 }}</ref> |
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<!---the following seems a bit trivial. suggest removal---> |
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Former US President Bill Clinton's foundation contributed US$250,000 to a [[recycling]] initiative for a sister-program of "Ranmase Lajan" or "Picking Up Money" by use of [[reverse vending machine]]s.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bostonglobe.com/business/2014/04/28/recycling-helps-clean-haiti-create-new-income/XZWFJPd4NtOcpabBWoLryM/story.html|title=Recycling helps clean up Haiti, create new income – Business – The Boston Globe|work=BostonGlobe.com|accessdate=21 October 2014}}</ref> |
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===Trade=== |
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According to the 2015 CIA [[World Factbook]], Haiti's main import partners are: Dominican Republic 35%, US 26.8%, Netherlands Antilles 8.7%, China 7% (est. 2013). Haiti's main export partner is the US 83.5% (est. 2013).<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ha.html|title=The World Factbook|work=www.cia.gov|accessdate=24 May 2015}}</ref> |
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Haiti had a trade deficit of US$3 billion in 2011, or 41% of GDP.<ref name=ammart>{{cite web |last=Watkins |first=Tate |title=How Haiti's Future Depends on American Markets |url=http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2013/05/how-haitis-future-depends-on-american-markets/275682/ |publisher=The Atlantic |accessdate=24 July 2013}}</ref> |
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===Energy=== |
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Haiti relies heavily on an oil alliance with [[Petrocaribe]] for much of its energy requirements. In recent years, hydroelectric, solar and wind energy have been explored as possible sustainable energy sources.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.clintonfoundation.org/our-work/clinton-foundation-haiti/programs/powering-haiti-clean-energy |title=Powering Haiti with Clean Energy}}</ref> |
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===Personal income=== |
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[[File:CapHaitienMarche.jpg|thumb|300px|A market in [[Cap Haitien]] ]] |
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''[[The World Factbook]]'' reports a shortage of skilled labor, widespread unemployment and underemployment, saying "more than two-thirds of the labor force do not have formal jobs." It is also often stated that three-quarters of the population lives on US$2 or less per day.{{citation needed|date=April 2015}} Such statistical estimations could be viewed with skepticism because the average Haitian and Haitian family spends more than that daily.{{citation needed|date=April 2015}} |
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''[[The World Factbook]]'' also states that "remittances are the primary source of foreign exchange, equaling one-fifth (20%) of GDP and representing more than five times the earnings from exports in 2012".<ref>{{cite web |title=The World Factbook |url=https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ha.html |work=www.cia.gov |accessdate=24 May 2015}}</ref> This implies that [[remittance]]s are the life-blood of the Haitian economy. |
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The World Bank estimates that over 80% of college graduates from Haiti were living abroad in 2004.<ref>{{cite web|archiveurl=http://www.webcitation.org/5wuDIPQgH?url=http%3A%2F%2Fweb.worldbank.org%2FWBSITE%2FEXTERNAL%2FNEWS%2F0%2C%2CcontentMDK%3A21109448%7EpagePK%3A64257043%7EpiPK%3A437376%7EtheSitePK%3A4607%2C00.html%3Fcid%3D3001 |archivedate=3 March 2011 |url=http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/NEWS/0,,contentMDK:21109448~pagePK:64257043~piPK:437376~theSitePK:4607,00.html?cid=3001 |publisher=[[World Bank]] |title=Latin America Shouldn't Bet Everything On Remittances |date=31 October 2006 |deadurl=no |df=dmy }}</ref> |
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Haiti continues to exhibit the greatest income inequality in the continent, and is one of the most unequal countries in the world. The richest 20% of households earn 64% of the country’s total income, while the poorest 20% makes do with just 1%.<ref name="Worldbank.org">{{cite news |url=http://www.worldbank.org/en/news/feature/2014/12/11/haiti-the-day-that-the-news-were-good |title=Extreme poverty drops in Haiti. Is it sustainable? |publisher=Worldbank.org |date=11 December 2014 |accessdate=14 April 2015}}</ref> |
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Between 2000 and 2012, the percentage of people living in extreme poverty{{spaced ndash}} with one dollar or less a day{{spaced ndash}} dropped from 31% to 24% at the national level, and from 20% to 5% in Port-au-Prince. More than 200,000 people have climbed out of poverty. There is a growing gap between Port-au-Prince and the rest of the country. More than 80% of those living in extreme poverty do so in rural areas. Families in the north and southwest of the country work hard to grow food, but they fail to earn enough. Extreme climatic events, lack of fertilizers, pesticides and seeds, and limited market access are just some of the impediments they face.<ref name="Worldbank.org"/> |
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Haiti's economy was severely impacted by the [[2010 Haiti earthquake]] which occurred on 12 January 2010, killing over 300,000 and displacing 1.5 million residents.<ref name = "CIA" >[http://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ha.html CIA World Factbook], Haiti entry, accessed 1 June 2012.</ref> |
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===Real estate=== |
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In rural areas, people often live in wooden huts with corrugated iron roofs. Outhouses are located in back of the huts. In Port-au-Prince, colorful [[shantytowns]] surround the central city and go up the mountainsides.<ref name=c151222>{{Cite news | first=Nathalie | last=Gagnon-Joseph | title=On sports, treasure hunting, and life | url=https://bartonchronicle.com/a-week-in-haiti-on-sports-treasure-hunting-and-life/| newspaper=The Chronicle | location=Barton, Vermont | pages= 28A, 29A | date=22 December 2015 }}</ref><!---the softcopy requires a subscription. Sorry. There is no softcopy alternative--> |
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The middle and upper classes live in Suburbs, or in the central part of the bigger cities in apartments, where there is urban planning. Many of the houses they live in are like miniature fortresses, located behind walls embedded with metal spikes, barbed wire, broken glass, and sometimes all three. The gates to these houses are barred at night, the house is locked; guard dogs patrol the yard. These houses are often self-sufficient as well. The houses have backup generators, because the electrical grid in Haiti is unreliable. Some even have rooftop reservoirs for water, as the water supply is also unreliable.<ref name=c151222/> |
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===Agriculture=== |
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{{Further information|Agriculture in Haiti}} |
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Haiti is the world's leading producer of [[Chrysopogon zizanioides|vetiver]], a root plant used to make luxury perfumes, essential oils and fragrances, providing for half the world's supply.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.tradeforum.org/Frager-Haiti-shortening-the-perfume-chain-to-become-world-number-one/ |title=Frager, Haiti: shortening the perfume chain to become world number one |editor1=International Trade Centre |editor2=International Trade Forum |accessdate=12 April 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.theguardian.com/business/2014/mar/04/chanel-perfume-legislation-guerlain-loreal |title=Perfume manufacturers must cope with the scarcity of precious supplies |editor=The Guardian |accessdate=12 April 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.fida-pch.org/index.php?p=stories.View&story=11 |title=FEATURE-Perfumers promote fair trade for Haiti's 'super-crop' |author=Adams, David |date=24 April 2014 |publisher=Reuters UK |accessdate=12 April 2015}}</ref> Half of all Haitians work in the agricultural sector.<ref name=feedh/> Haiti relies upon imports for half its food needs and 80% of its rice.<ref name=feedh>{{cite news |title=Feeding Haiti: A new menu |url=http://www.economist.com/news/americas/21579875-government-tries-load-up-plates-poorest-people-americas-new-menu?zid=305&ah=417bd5664dc76da5d98af4f7a640fd8a | work = [[The Economist]] |accessdate=24 July 2013 |date=22 June 2013}}</ref> |
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Haiti exports crops such as [[mango]]es, [[cocoa bean|cacao]], [[coffee]], [[papaya]]s, [[mahogany]] nuts, [[spinach]], and [[watercress]].<ref name="ute.gouv.ht">{{cite web|url=http://www.ute.gouv.ht/caracol/images/stories/docs/environmental%20assessment%20of%20the%20usaidhaiti%20north%20park%20power%20project.pdf |title=Environmental Accessment of the USAID/Haiti North Park Power Project |page=23 |publisher=USAID |year=2011 |accessdate=20 April 2015}}</ref> Agricultural products comprise 6% of all exports.<ref name=ammart /> In addition, local agricultural products include [[corn]], [[beans]], [[cassava]], [[sweet potato]], [[peanut]]s, [[pistachio]]s, [[banana]]s, [[millet]], [[pigeon pea]]s, sugarcane, [[rice]], [[sorghum]], and [[wood]].<ref name="ute.gouv.ht"/><ref>[http://www.indexmundi.com/haiti/economy_profile.html Index Mundi: Haiti Economy Profile 2014]</ref> |
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===Currency=== |
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{{Main article|Haitian gourde}} |
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The [[Haitian gourde]] (HTG) is the national currency. The "[[Haitian gourde|Haitian dollar]]" equates to 5 gourdes (''goud''), which is a fixed exchange rate that exists in concept ''only,'' but are commonly used as informal prices. |
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The vast majority of the business sector and individuals in Haiti will also accept US dollars, though at the outdoor markets gourdes may be preferred. Locals may refer to the USD as "dollar américain" (''dola ameriken'') or "dollar US" (pronounced ''oos'').<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.haitihub.com/download/Money-Matters-in-Haiti.pdf |title=All About Money: Gourdes, Dollars and Sense for Work and Life in Haiti|publisher=haitihub.com |accessdate=16 February 2014}}</ref> |
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===Tourism=== |
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{{Main article|Tourism in Haiti}} |
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[[File:Jacmel Seaside.jpg|thumb|300px|Seaside in [[Jacmel]] ]] |
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[[File:Labadee.jpg|thumb|300px|[[Labadee]], a cruise ship destination]] |
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In 2014, the country received 1,250,000 tourists (mostly from cruise ships), and the industry generated US$200 million in 2014.<ref name="daniel5"/><!---hard and soft copy sources do not match but are identical articles---> In December 2014, the [[US State Department]] issued a travel warning about the country, noting that while thousands of American citizens safely visit Haiti each year, a few foreign tourists had been victims of burglary, predominantly in the [[Port-au-Prince]] area.<ref name=bcawarn>{{cite web |title=Haiti Travel Warning |url=http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/tw/tw_5850.html |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20131028232407/http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/tw/tw_5850.html |archivedate=2013-10-28 |publisher=Bureau of Consular Affairs |accessdate=26 July 2013}}</ref> |
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Several hotels were opened in 2014, including an upscale [[Best Western#Differentiation|Best Western Premier]],<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.traveldailynews.com/news/article/52973/best-western-international-targets-120 |title=Best Western International targets 120 new hotel projects in 2013 |publisher=Traveldailynews.com |accessdate=24 July 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.travelpulse.com/news/destinations/dispatch-good-times-in-haiti.html |title=Dispatch: Good Times in Haiti |editor=Major, Brian |date=9 December 2014 |publisher=Travel Pulse |accessdate=29 August 2015}}</ref> a five-star Royal Oasis hotel by Occidental Hotel and Resorts in [[Pétionville]],<ref>{{cite web|last=Charles |first=Jacqueline |url=http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/12/13/3141328/haiti-gets-new-luxury-hotel.html |title=Petionville: Haiti gets new luxury hotel |publisher=MiamiHerald.com |accessdate=24 July 2013 |deadurl=yes |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20130511112236/http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/12/13/3141328/haiti-gets-new-luxury-hotel.html |archivedate=11 May 2013 }}</ref> a four-star [[Marriott International|Marriott]] hotel in the Turgeau area of Port-au-Prince<ref>{{cite news|author=with Barbara De Lollis |url=http://travel.usatoday.com/hotels/post/2011/11/marriott-announces-first-hotel-in-haiti-port-au-prince/574010/1 |title=Marriott announces first hotel in Haiti |publisher=Travel.usatoday.com |date=29 November 2011 |accessdate=24 July 2013 |deadurl=yes |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120626145655/http://travel.usatoday.com/hotels/post/2011/11/marriott-announces-first-hotel-in-haiti-port-au-prince/574010/1 |archivedate=26 June 2012 }}</ref> and other new hotel developments in Port-au-Prince, [[Les Cayes]], [[Cap-Haïtien]] and [[Jacmel]].{{citation needed|date=March 2014}} Other tourist destinations include [[Île-à-Vache]], [[Camp-Perrin]], [[Pic Macaya]].{{citation needed|date=March 2014}} |
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The [[Haitian Carnival]] has been one of the most popular carnivals in the Caribbean. In 2010, the government decided to stage the event in a different city outside Port-au-Prince every year in an attempt to decentralize the country.<ref name="haitilibre.com">{{cite web |url=http://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-5009-haiti-culture-more-than-300-000-people-celebrated-the-carnival-2012-in-les-cayes.html |title=More than 300,000 people celebrated the Carnival 2012 in Les Cayes |publisher=Haitilibre.com |date=22 February 2012 |accessdate=24 July 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://magazine.nd.edu/news/47009-global-doc-kanaval/ |title=Global Doc: Kanaval |author=DeGennaro, Vincent |accessdate=23 November 2014}}</ref> The National Carnival{{spaced ndash}} usually held in one of the country's largest cities (i.e., Port-au-Prince, Cap-Haïtien or Les Cayes){{spaced ndash}} follows the also very popular Jacmel Carnival, which takes place a week earlier in February or March.<ref name="haitilibre.com"/> |
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===Caracol Industrial Park=== |
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On 21 October 2012, Haitian President [[Michel Martelly]], US Secretary of State [[Hillary Clinton]], Bill Clinton, [[Richard Branson]], [[Ben Stiller]] and [[Sean Penn]] inaugurated the {{convert|600|acre}} Caracol industrial park, the largest in the [[Caribbean]].<ref name="usatoday.com">{{cite news |url=http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2012/10/22/clinton-haiti-earthquake/1650763/ |title=Clintons land in Haiti to showcase industrial park | work = [[USA Today]] |date= 22 October 2012 |accessdate= 11 January 2014}}</ref> Costing US$300 million, the project, which includes a 10-megawatt [[power plant]], a water-treatment plant and worker housing, is intended to transform the northern part of the country by creating 65,000 jobs.<ref name="usatoday.com"/> |
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The park is part of a "master plan" for Haiti's North and North-East departments, including the expansion of the [[Cap-Haitien International Airport]] to accommodate large international flights, the construction of an international Seaport in [[Fort-Liberté]] and the opening of the $50 million Roi Henri Christophe Campus of a new university in Limonade (near Cap-Haitien) on 12 January 2012.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/10/22/haiti-clinton-caracol-idUSL1E8LM3BF20121022 |title=Clintons preside at star-studded opening of Haitian industrial park |publisher=Reuters.com |date=22 October 2012 |accessdate=24 July 2013}}</ref> |
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[[South Korean]] clothing manufacturer [[Sae-A Trading Co. Ltd]], one of the park's main tenants, has created 5,000 permanent jobs out of the 20,000 projected and has built 8,600 houses in the surrounding area for its workers. The industrial park ultimately has the potential to create as many as 65,000 jobs once fully developed.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.uspolicy.be/headline/state-dept-fact-sheet-haitis-caracol-industrial-park |title=State Dept. Fact Sheet on Haiti's Caracol Industrial Park |publisher=US Policy |date=22 October 2012 |accessdate=20 April 2015 }}{{dead link|date=June 2016|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.usaid.gov/haiti/caracol-industrial-park |title=Caracol Industrial Park |publisher=USAID |year=2014 |accessdate=20 April 2015}}</ref> |
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==Infrastructure== |
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===Transportation=== |
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{{Main article|Transport in Haiti}} |
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[[File:Haiti rail map 1925.jpg|thumb|right|300px|Rail map as of 1925]] |
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Haiti has two main highways that run from one end of the country to the other. The northern highway, Route Nationale No. 1 (National Highway One), originates in Port-au-Prince, winding through the coastal towns of [[Montrouis]] and [[Gonaïves]], before reaching its terminus at the northern port [[Cap-Haïtien]]. The southern highway, Route Nationale No. 2, links Port-au-Prince with [[Les Cayes]] via [[Léogâne]] and [[Petit-Goâve]]. |
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According to the Washington Post, "Officials from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said Saturday [23 January 2010] that they assessed the damage from the [12 January] quake in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, and found that many of the roads aren't any worse than they were before because they've always been in poor condition."<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/01/23/AR2010012302113.html |title=Haiti's Bad Roads not Damaged by Quake, Army Engineers Say |author=Hedgpeth, Dana |publisher=Washington Post |date=23 January 2010 |accessdate=24 July 2013}}</ref> |
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The port at Port-au-Prince, [[Port international de Port-au-Prince]], has more registered shipping than any of the other dozen ports in the country. The port's facilities include [[Crane (machine)|crane]]s, large [[Berth (moorings)|berth]]s, and [[warehouse]]s, but these facilities are not in good condition. The port is underused, possibly due to the substantially high port fees. The port of [[Saint-Marc]] is currently the preferred port of entry for consumer goods coming into Haiti. Reasons for this may include its location away from volatile and [[Traffic congestion|congested]] Port-au-Prince, as well as its central location relative to numerous Haitian cities. |
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During the 2010 earthquake, the Port-au-Prince port suffered widespread damage, impeding aid to the victims. The main pier caved in and fell into the water. One of the main cranes also collapsed in the water. Port access roads were severely damaged as well. |
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In the past, Haiti used rail transport, however the rail infrastructure was poorly maintained when in use and cost of rehabilitation is beyond the means of the Haitian economy. |
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===Airports=== |
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[[File:Toussaint Louverture International Airport.jpg|thumb|Toussaint L'Ouverture International Airport]] |
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{{Main article|List of airports in Haiti}} |
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[[Toussaint Louverture International Airport]] is located {{convert|10|km}} North/North East of Port-au-Prince. It has Haiti's main [[jetway]], and along with [[Hugo Chavez International Airport]] located near Cap-Haïtien, handles the vast majority of the country's international flights. To travel on from the international airport at Port-au-Prince to other Haitian cities requires boarding a smaller plane. Cities such as Jacmel, Jérémie, Les Cayes, and Port-de-Paix have airports that are accessible by smaller aircraft. Companies that fly to these airports include: [[Caribintair]], [[Sunrise Airways]] and [[Tortug' Air]]. |
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In 2013, plans for the development of an international airport on Île-à-Vache were introduced by the Prime Minister.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-9270-haiti-tourism-official-launch-of-project-tourist-destination-ile-a-vache.html|title=Haiti – Tourism : Official launch of project "Tourist destination Ile-à-Vache" – HaitiLibre.com : Haiti news 7/7|work=HaitiLibre.com}}</ref> |
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===Bus service=== |
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[[File:Tap tap public transportation Haiti.jpg|thumb|A "Tap tap" bus in [[Port-Salut]] ]] |
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[[Tap tap]] buses are colorfully painted buses or pick-up trucks that serve as share taxis. The "tap tap" name comes from the sound of passengers tapping on the metal bus body to indicate they want off.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.jansochor.com/photo-blog.aspx?id=tap-tap-haiti |title=Tap-Tap |accessdate=29 January 2014}}</ref> These vehicles for hire are often privately owned and extensively decorated. They follow fixed routes, do not leave until filled with passengers, and riders can usually disembark at any point. The decorations are a typically Haitian form of art.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.unv.org/en/news-resources/news/doc/un-volunteer-takes-part.html |title=UN Volunteer takes part in art exhibition in Germany |accessdate=29 January 2014}}</ref> |
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In August 2013, the first coach bus prototype was made in Haiti.<ref name="http">{{cite web|url=http://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-9284-haiti-economy-presentation-of-the-first-bus-prototype-made-in-haiti.html |title=Haiti – Economy : Presentation of the first Bus prototype Made in Haiti |accessdate=29 January 2014}}</ref> |
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===Communications=== |
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{{Main article|Telecommunications in Haiti|Television in Haiti}} |
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In Haiti, communications include the radio, television, fixed and mobile telephones, and the Internet. Haiti ranked last among North American countries in the World Economic Forum's Network Readiness Index (NRI){{snd}} an indicator for determining the development level of a country's information and communication technologies. Haiti ranked number 143 out of 148 overall in the 2014 NRI ranking, down from 141 in 2013.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www3.weforum.org/docs/GITR/2014/GITR_OverallRanking_2014.pdf | title=NRI Overall Ranking 2014 | publisher=World Economic Forum | accessdate=28 June 2014}}</ref> |
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=== Water supply and sanitation === |
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{{Main article|Water supply and sanitation in Haiti}} |
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Haiti faces key challenges in the [[water supply]] and [[sanitation]] |
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sector: |
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Notably, access to public services is very low, their quality is inadequate and public institutions remain very weak despite foreign aid and the government's declared intent to strengthen the sector's institutions. Foreign and Haitian [[NGO]]s play an important role in the sector, especially in rural and urban slum areas. |
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==Demographics== |
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{{Main article|Demographics of Haiti}} |
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[[File:Haiti-demographie.png|thumb|450px|Haiti's population (1961–2003)]] |
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Haiti's population was about 10.1 million according to UN 2011 estimates,<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/low/americas/country_profiles/1202772.stm |title=Country profile: Haiti |date=17 October 2012 |accessdate=24 July 2013 |work=BBC News}}</ref> with half of the population younger than age 20.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.unfpa.org/public/global/pid/227 |title=New Haiti Census Shows Drastic Lack of Jobs, Education, Maternal Health Services |publisher=United Nations Population Fund |date=10 May 2006 |accessdate=24 July 2013}}</ref> In 1950 the first formal census gave a total population of 3.1 million.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://countrystudies.us/haiti/21.htm |title=Haiti – Population |publisher=[[Library of Congress Country Studies]] |accessdate=24 July 2013}}</ref> Haiti averages approximately 350 people per square kilometer (~900 per sq mi.), with its population is concentrated most heavily in urban areas, coastal plains, and valleys. |
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Most modern Haitians are descendants of former black [[Ethnic groups of Africa|African]] slaves, including [[Free people of color|Mulattoes]] who are of [[multiracial]] admixture. The remainder are of [[Europe]]an descent and [[Arab Haitians]],<ref name="joshuaproject.net">{{cite web |url=http://www.joshuaproject.net/peopctry.php |title=Aimaq, Firozkohi of Afghanistan Ethnic People Profile |publisher=Joshua Project |accessdate=14 January 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/vjw/haiti.html |title=The Virtual Jewish History Tour: Haiti |publisher=Jewishvirtuallibrary.org |accessdate=14 January 2010}}</ref> the descendants of settlers (colonial remnants and contemporary immigration during [[World War I|WWI]] and [[World War II|WWII]]). Haitians of [[East Asia]]n descent or [[Marabou (ethnicity)|East Indian]] origin number approximately 400+. |
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Millions of Haitians live abroad in the [[United States]], [[Dominican Republic]], [[Cuba]], [[Canada]] (primarily [[Montreal]]), [[Bahamas]], [[France]], [[French Antilles]], the [[Turks and Caicos]], [[Jamaica]], [[Puerto Rico]], [[Venezuela]], [[Brazil]] and [[French Guiana]]. There are an estimated 881,500 in the United States,<ref>[http://factfinder2.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?pid=ACS_10_1YR_B04003&prodType=table American FactFinder – Results<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> 800,000 in the Dominican Republic,<ref name=pinadep>{{cite web |url=http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=37018 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090215084725/http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=37018 |archivedate=2009-02-15 |title=DOMINICAN REPUBLIC: Deport Thy (Darker-Skinned) Neighbour |accessdate=14 October 2008 |author=Pina, Diógenes |publisher=Inter Press Service (IPS)|date=21 March 2007}}</ref> 300,000 in Cuba,<ref>[http://www.afrocubaweb.com/haiticuba.htm Haiti in Cuba] Retrieved 30 December 2013.</ref> 100,000 in Canada,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www12.statcan.ca/english/census06/data/highlights/ethnic/pages/Page.cfm?Lang=E&Geo=PR&Code=01&Table=2&Data=Count&StartRec=1&Sort=3&Display=All |title=Ethnic origins, 2006 counts, for Canada, provinces and territories – 20% sample data |accessdate=2009-04-26 |deadurl=bot: unknown |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20081205060008/http://www12.statcan.ca/english/census06/data/highlights/ethnic/pages/Page.cfm?Lang=E&Geo=PR&Code=01&Table=2&Data=Count&StartRec=1&Sort=3&Display=All |archivedate=5 December 2008 |df=dmy }}, Statistics Canada (2006).</ref> 80,000 in France,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://gulfnews.com/news/world/other-world/france-suspends-expulsions-of-illegal-haitians-1.567985 |title=France Suspends Expulsions Of Illegal Haitians |publisher=Gulfnews.com |date=14 January 2010 |accessdate=24 July 2013}}</ref> and up to 80,000 in the Bahamas.<ref>{{cite news |last=Davis |first=Nick |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8257660.stm |title=Bahamas outlook clouds for Haitians |publisher=BBC News |date=20 September 2009 |accessdate=24 July 2013}}</ref> But there are also smaller Haitian communities in many other countries, including [[Chile]], [[Switzerland]], [[Japan]] and [[Australia]]. |
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In 2015, the life expectancy at birth was 63 years.<ref>[http://www.indexmundi.com/haiti/life_expectancy_at_birth.html]</ref> |
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===Population genetics=== |
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====Autosomal DNA==== |
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The [[gene pool]] of Haiti is about 95.5% [[Sub-Saharan Africa]]n, 4.3% [[Ethnic groups in Europe|European]], with the rest showing some traces of [[East Asia]]n genes;<ref name=autogenerated1>{{cite journal|author1=Simms, Tanya M.|author2=Rodríguez, Carol E.|author3=Rodríguez, Rosa|author4=Herrera, René J.|title=The genetic structure of populations from Haiti and Jamaica reflect divergent demographic histories|date=May 2010|page=63|doi=10.1002/ajpa.21194|pmid=19918989|url=http://www.researchgate.net/publication/38094802_The_genetic_structure_of_populations_from_Haiti_and_Jamaica_reflect_divergent_demographic_histories|accessdate=18 May 2015|journal=Am J Phys Anthropol|volume=142}}</ref> according to a 2010 [[autosomal]] [[genealogical DNA test]]ing. |
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====Y-chromosome and Mitochondrial DNA==== |
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{{Expand section|with=information about [[Human mitochondrial DNA haplogroup]]s, which assesses the DNA inherited by [[matriline]]|date=June 2015|small=no}} |
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A 2012 genetic study on Haitian and Jamaican [[Human Y-chromosome DNA haplogroup|Y-chromosomal ancestry]], has revealed that both populations "''exhibit a predominantly [[Y-DNA haplogroups by populations of Sub-Saharan Africa|Sub-Saharan paternal component]], with haplogroups [[Haplogroup A (Y-DNA)|A1b-V152]], [[Haplogroup A (Y-DNA)|A3-M32]], [[Haplogroup B (Y-DNA)|B2-M182]], [[Haplogroup E (Y-DNA)|E1a-M33]], [[Haplogroup E (Y-DNA)|E1b1a-M2]], [[Haplogroup E (Y-DNA)|E2b-M98]], and [[Haplogroup R1b (Y-DNA)#R1b1c (R-V88)|R1b2-V88]]"'' comprising (77.2%) of the Haitian and (66.7%) of Jamaican paternal gene pools.<ref name="ReferenceA">{{cite journal|author1=Simms, TM|author2=Wright, MR|author3=Hernandez, M|author4=Perez, OA|author5=Ramirez, EC|author6=Martinez, E|author7=Herrera, RJ|title=Y-chromosomal diversity in Haiti and Jamaica: contrasting levels of sex-biased gene flow.|date=11 May 2012|doi=10.1002/ajpa.22090|pmid=22576450|url=|journal=Am J Phys Anthropol|volume=148|pages=618–31}}<!--|accessdate=20 May 2015--></</ref> Y Chromosomes indicative of [[Y-DNA haplogroups in European populations|European ancestry]] "''(i.e., haplogroups [[Haplogroup G-M201|G2a*-P15]], [[Haplogroup I-M170|I-M258]], [[Haplogroup R1b (Y-DNA)#R1b1a2 (R-M269)|R1b1b-M269]], and [[Haplogroup T-M184|T-M184]]) were detected at commensurate levels in Haiti (20.3%) and Jamaica (18.9%)''".<ref name="ReferenceA"/> |
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This corresponds to approximately 1 in every 5 Paternal ancestors, hailing from Europe. |
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While, Y-haplogroups indicative of Chinese [[O-M175]] (3.8%) and Indian [[H-M69]] (0.6%) and [[L-M20]] (0.6%) ancestry were found at significant levels in Jamaica,<ref name="ReferenceA"/> [[Arab Haitian|Levantine]] Y-haplogroups were found in Haiti. |
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====Duffy antigens==== |
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According to a 2008 study examining the frequency of the [[Duffy antigen system|Duffy antigen]] receptor for [[Chemokine]]s ([[DARC (gene)|DARC]]) [[Single-nucleotide polymorphism|Single Nucleotide polymorphisms]] (SNPs), (75%) of Haitian women sampled exhibited the CC genotype (absent among women of [[Europe]]an ancestry) at levels comparable to US [[African-Americans]] (73%), but more than [[Jamaica]]n females (63%).<ref name=Genetic-structure>{{cite journal|author1=Simms, Tanya M.|author2=Rodríguez, Carol E.|author3=Rodríguez, Rosa|author4=Herrera, René J.|title=The genetic structure of populations from Haiti and Jamaica reflect divergent demographic histories|date=May 2010|page=50|doi=10.1002/ajpa.21194|pmid=19918989|url=http://www.researchgate.net/publication/38094802_The_genetic_structure_of_populations_from_Haiti_and_Jamaica_reflect_divergent_demographic_histories|accessdate=7 June 2015|journal=Am J Phys Anthropol|volume=142}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|author1=Grann, VR.|author2=Ziv, E.|author3=Joseph, CK.|author4=Neugut, AI.|author5=Wei, Y.|author6=Jacobson, JS.|author7=Horwitz, MS.|author8=Bowman, M.|author9=Beckman, K.|author10=Hershman, DL.|title=Duffy (fy), DARC and neutropenia among women from the United States, Europe and the Caribbean|date=2009|doi=10.1111/j.1365-2141|url=http://www.researchgate.net/publication/23998610_Duffy_(Fy)_DARC_and_neutropenia_among_women_from_the_United_States_Europe_and_the_Caribbean|accessdate=7 June 2015|publisher=British Journal of Haematology}}</ref> |
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===Casta discrimination=== |
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{{Main article|Casta|Gens de couleur}} |
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Due to the [[Casta|racial caste system]] instituted in colonial Haiti, [[Mulatto|Haitian mulattoes]] became the nation's social elite and racially privileged. Numerous leaders throughout Haiti's history have been mulattoes. Comprising 5% of the nation's population, mulattoes have retained their preeminence, evident in the political, economic, social and cultural hierarchy in Haiti.<ref>{{cite web|last=Smucker|first=Glenn R|url=http://lcweb2.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?frd/cstdy:@field%28DOCID+ht0033%29|title=A Country Study: Haiti; The Upper Class|editor=Richard A. Haggerty|publisher=[[Library of Congress]] [[Federal Research Division]]|date=December 1989}}</ref> [[Alexandre Pétion]], born to a Haitian mother and a wealthy French father, was the first President of the Republic of Haiti. |
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===Religion=== |
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{{Main article|Religion in Haiti}} |
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{{Pie chart |
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|thumb = right |
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|caption = Religion in Haiti [https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ha.html] |
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|label1 = [[Catholicism]] |
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|value1 = 80 |
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|color1 = purple |
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|label2 = [[Protestantism]] |
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|value2 = 16 |
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|color2 = red |
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|label3 = other religion |
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|value3 = 3 |
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|color3 = gray |
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|label4 = no religion |
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|value4 = 1 |
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|color4 = black |
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}} |
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The 2015 CIA Factbook, reported that around 80% of Haitians profess to being [[Roman Catholicism in Haiti|Catholics]] while [[Protestantism in Haiti|Protestants]] made up about 16% of the population (Baptist 10%, Pentecostal 4%, Adventist 1%, other 1%). Other sources put the Protestant population higher than this, suggesting that it might have formed one-third of the population in 2001.<ref name="ReyStepick2013">{{cite book|last1=Rey|first1=Terry|last2=Stepick|first2=Alex|title=Crossing the Water and Keeping the Faith: Haitian Religion in Miami|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=40SIdXeUEhUC&pg=PA6|year=2013|publisher=NYU Press|isbn=978-1-4798-2077-1|page=6|quote=With no indications of any subsequent decline in Protestant affiliation either in Port-au-Prince or the countryside, one could reasonably estimate that today Haiti is already more than one-third Protestant}}</ref> Haitian [[Cardinal (Catholicism)|Cardinal]] [[Chibly Langlois]] is president of the National Bishops Conference of the Catholic Church. |
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[[Haitian vodou|Vodou]], a religion with African roots similar to those of [[Cuba]] and [[Brazil]], originated during colonial times in which slaves were obliged to disguise their [[loa]] or spirits as [[Catholic Church|Roman Catholic]] saints, an element of a process called [[syncretism]] and is still practiced by some Haitians today. Since the religious syncretism between Catholicism and Vodou, it is difficult to estimate the number of Vodouists in Haiti.<ref>{{cite book | last = Blier |first = Suzanne Preston |editor-first = Cosentino |editor-last = Donald J. |title = Sacred Arts of Haitian Vodou | publisher = Los Angeles: UCLA Fowler Museum of Cultural History |year = 1995 |pages = 61–87 |chapter = Vodun: West African Roots of Vodou |isbn = 0-930741-47-1 |ref = harv}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://wesscholar.wesleyan.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1015&context=div2facpubs |title=The Madonna of 115th St. Revisited: Vodou and Haitian Catholicism in the Age of Transnationalism |author=McAlister, Elizabeth |work=In S. Warner, ed., Gatherings in Diaspora. Philadelphia: Temple Univ. Press ISBN 1-56639-614-X. |year=1998 |accessdate=24 July 2013}}</ref> |
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Minority religions in Haiti include [[Islam in Haiti|Islam]], [[Bahá'í Faith in Haiti|Bahá'í Faith]], [[History of the Jews in Haiti|Judaism]], and [[Buddhism]].<ref name="CIA_20110303" /> |
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===Languages=== |
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The two official languages of Haiti are [[French language|French]] and [[Haitian Creole]]. French is the principal written and administratively authorized language (as well as the main language of the press) and is spoken by 42% of Haitians.<ref>{{cite book|title=La langue française dans le monde 2014|date=2014|publisher=Nathan|isbn=978-2-09-882654-0|url=http://www.francophonie.org/Langue-Francaise-2014/projet/Rapport-OIF-2014.pdf|accessdate=20 May 2015}}</ref><ref>À ce propos, voir l'essai ''Prétendus Créolismes : le couteau dans l'igname'', Jean-Robert Léonidas, Cidihca, Montréal 1995</ref> It is spoken by all educated Haitians, is the medium of instruction in most schools, and is used in the business sector. It is also used in ceremonial events such as weddings, graduations and church masses. |
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Haiti is one of two independent nations in the Americas (along with Canada) to designate French as an [[official language]]; the other French-speaking areas are all [[French overseas departments and territories|overseas]] ''[[Departments of France|départements]]'', or ''[[Overseas collectivity|collectivités]],'' of France. Haitian Creole,<ref>{{cite journal|url=http://www.indiana.edu/~creole/creolenatllangofhaiti.html |title=Creole: The National Language of Haiti |author=Valdman, Albert |journal=Footsteps|volume= 2|issue=4|pages= 36–39 |publisher=Indiana University Creole Institute }}</ref> which has recently undergone a standardization, is spoken by virtually the entire population of Haiti.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.indiana.edu/~creole/creolenatllangofhaiti.html |title=creolenationallanguageofhaiti |publisher= [[Indiana University]] |accessdate= 11 January 2014}}</ref> Haitian Creole is one of the [[French-based creole languages]]. Its vocabulary is 90% derived from French, but its grammar and influences are from some West African, Taino, Spanish, and Portuguese languages.<ref>{{cite web|last=Bonenfant|first=Jacques L.|title=History of Haitian-Creole: From Pidgin to Lingua Franca and English Influence on the Language|url=http://www.fmuniv.edu/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/History_of_haitian_review_of_higher_education.pdf|editor=Haggerty, Richard A. |publisher=[[Library of Congress]] [[Federal Research Division]]|date=December 1989}}</ref> Haitian Creole is related to the other [[French-based creole languages|French creoles]], but most closely to [[Antillean Creole]] and [[Louisiana Creole French|Louisiana Creole]] variants. |
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<!---Spanish is often inserted here but never with a reference. There are indications that Haitians speak little Spanish.---> |
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===Emigration=== |
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{{Main article|Haitian diaspora}} |
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Emigrants from Haiti have constituted a segment of American and Canadian society since before [[Haitian Revolution|the independence of Haiti from France]] in 1804.<ref name="HammondCanadaHaiti2010">{{cite web|last1=Hammond|first1=Stuart|title=Canada and Haiti: A brief history|url=http://canadahaitiaction.ca/canada-haiti-history|website=Canada Haiti Action Network|accessdate=13 August 2016|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20160202034558/http://canadahaitiaction.ca/canada-haiti-history|archivedate=2 February 2016|date=2010}}</ref><ref name="PBSResourceBank">{{cite web|title=People & Events French West Indian refugees in Philadelphia 1792 - 1800|url=http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part3/3p466.html|website=PBS.org|accessdate=13 August 2016|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304063339/http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part3/3p466.html|archivedate=4 March 2016}}</ref> |
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Haiti's proximity to the United States, and its status as a free black republic in the years before the [[American Civil War]], have contributed to this relationship.{{clarify|reason=sounds WP:OR. What does being "free black republic" have to do with it? Why wouldn't emigrants remain in Haiti?|date=July 2014}} Many influential early American settlers and black freemen, including [[Jean Baptiste Point du Sable]] and [[W. E. B. Du Bois]], were of Haitian origin.<ref name="Kinzie 1856 190">{{Harvnb|Kinzie|1856|p=190}}</ref><ref name="Meehan 1963 445">{{Harvnb|Meehan|1963|p=445}}</ref><ref name="Cohn2009">{{cite book|last=Cohn|first=Scotti|title=It Happened in Chicago|year=2009|publisher=Globe Pequot|isbn=0-7627-5056-1|pages=2–4}}</ref><ref name="Lewis18">Lewis, p. 18.</ref> |
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[[Jean Baptiste Point du Sable]], an immigrant from [[Saint-Domingue]] (now the Republic of Haiti), founded the first nonindigenous settlement in what is now [[Chicago, Illinois]], the third largest city in the United States. The state of Illinois and city of Chicago declared du Sable the founder of Chicago on 26 October 1968.<ref name="Kinzie 1856 190"/><ref name="Meehan 1963 445"/><ref name="Cohn2009"/> |
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===Largest cities=== |
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{{Further information|List of cities in Haiti}} |
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{{Largest cities of Haiti}} |
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==Culture== |
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{{Main article|Culture of Haiti}} |
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{{Culture of Haiti}} |
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Haiti has a unique cultural identity consisting of a large blend of traditional customs of French and African, mixed with sizeable contributions from the Spanish and indigenous Taíno culture.<ref name="Yurnet-Thomas">>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=giQaoQz8N0AC&pg=PA13&lpg=PA13&dq=haiti+is+known+for+their&source=bl&ots=WVVu_pO4t2&sig=TAKVRPsTOyTk_O-oAVWuJfVNMJM&hl=en&sa=X&ei=nk-CVfPgMYKo-QHHo4OYCA&ved=0CDwQ6AEwCQ#v=onepage&q=haiti%20is%20known%20for%20their&f=false |title=A Taste of Haiti |author=Yurnet-Thomas, Mirta |pages=13–15 |year=2002 |isbn=0781809983 |accessdate=18 June 2015}}</ref> The country's customs essentially are a blend of cultural beliefs that derived from the various ethnic groups that inhabited the island of Hispaniola. Haiti's culture is greatly reflected in its paintings, music, and literature. Galleries and museums in the United States and [[France]] have exhibited the works of the better-known artists to have come out of Haiti.<ref name="Haitians">{{cite web|url=http://www.everyculture.com/wc/Germany-to-Jamaica/Haitians.html |title=Haitians |accessdate=2 September 2014}}</ref> |
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===Art=== |
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{{Main article|Haitian art}} |
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Haitian art is [[Haitian art|distinctive]], particularly through its paintings and sculptures, known for its various artistic expressions.<ref name="Yurnet-Thomas" /><ref>{{cite web|url=http://globalfaithinaction.org/haiti-culture-and-sports/ |title=Haiti – Culture And Sports |author=Onofre, Alejandro Guevara |accessdate=2 September 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.pbs.org/newshour/art/haiti/ |title=In Haiti, Art Remains a Solid Cornerstone |author=Legro, Tom |date=11 January 2011}}</ref> Brilliant colors, [[Naïve art|naïve]] perspectives, and sly humor characterize [[Haitian art]]. Frequent subjects in Haitian art include big, delectable foods, lush landscapes, market activities, jungle animals, rituals, dances, and gods. Artists frequently paint in fables. People are disguised as animals and animals are transformed into people. |
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As a result of a deep history and strong African ties, symbols take on great meaning within Haitian society. For example, a rooster often represents Aristide and the red and blue colors of the Haitian flag often represent his Lavalas party. Many artists cluster in 'schools' of painting, such as the Cap-Haïtien school, which features depictions of daily life in the city, the Jacmel School, which reflects the steep mountains and bays of that coastal town, or the Saint-Soleil School, which is characterized by abstracted human forms and is heavily influenced by Vodou symbolism.{{citation needed|date=April 2014}} |
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===Music and dance=== |
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{{Further information|Music of Haiti}} |
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Haitian music combines a wide range of influences drawn from the many people who have settled on this Caribbean island. It reflects French, African rhythms, Spanish elements and others who have inhabited the island of [[Hispaniola]] and minor native [[Taino]] influences. Styles of music unique to the nation of Haiti include music derived from [[Haitian Vodou|Vodou]] ceremonial traditions, [[Rara]] parading music, [[Twoubadou]] ''ballads'', [[Mini-jazz]] rock bands, [[Rasin]] movement, [[Haitian hip hop|Hip hop]] Kreyòl, [[Méringue]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.afropop.org/radio/radio_program/ID/692/Music%20and%20the%20Story%20of%20Haiti|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20071113022326/http://www.afropop.org/radio/radio_program/ID/692/Music%20and%20the%20Story%20of%20Haiti|archivedate= 13 November 2007 |title=Music and the Story of Haiti |publisher=Afropop Worldwide |accessdate=24 July 2013}}</ref> and [[Compas]]. Youth attend parties at nightclubs called ''[[Nightlife|discos]]'', (pronounced "deece-ko"), and attend ''Bal''. This term is the French word for ball, as in a formal dance. |
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''[[Compas]] (konpa)'' (also known as ''compas direct'' in [[French language|French]], or ''konpa dirèk'' in [[Haitian Creole language|creole]])<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.heritagekonpa.com/The%20Haitian%20Music%20Billboard.htm |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20100210081147/http://www.heritagekonpa.com/The%20Haitian%20Music%20Billboard.htm |archivedate=10 February 2010 |title=Haitian music billboard |publisher=Web.archive.org |date=10 February 2010 |accessdate=24 July 2013}}</ref> is a complex, ever-changing music that arose from African rhythms and European ballroom dancing, mixed with Haiti's bourgeois culture. It is a refined music, with [[méringue]] as its basic rhythm. Haiti had no recorded music until 1937 when [[Jazz Guignard]] was recorded non-commercially.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gwEL9mUcVA8C&pg=PA23&lpg=PA23&dq=no+recorded+music+until+1937+when+Jazz+Guignard&source=bl&ots=4clU5Jbs4W&sig=O7jsKo39gKww8rt07Rg2S3vMYmc&hl=en&sa=X&ei=Dpg1VbGhDNXZsAT_7YCQAw&ved=0CCwQ6AEwAg#v=onepage&q=no%20recorded%20music%20until%201937%20when%20Jazz%20Guignard&f=false |title=A Day for the Hunter, a Day for the Prey: Popular Music and Power in Haiti |author=Averill, Gage |year=1997 |page=23 |isbn=0226032914 |accessdate=20 April 2015}}</ref> |
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===Literature=== |
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{{Main article|Haitian literature}} |
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Dating back to the days of its independence, Haiti has always been a literary nation that has produced a number of poetry and plays of international reputation. Despite attempts to write in [[Haitian Creole]] dating back to the eighteenth century due to its unofficial status, French has always been the exclusive literary language of Haiti. With the recognition of Creole as an official language, more and more novels, poems, and plays are being written in Creole. In 1975, the first novel written entirely in Haitian Creole was published entitled ''Dezafi'' written by [[Franketienne]] describing a poetic picture of Haitian life.<ref name="Haitians"/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.haitisupportgroup.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=343:haitian-literature-an-introduction&catid=95:literature&Itemid=239 |title= |
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Haitian Literature – an introduction|accessdate=2 September 2014}}</ref> |
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===Cuisine=== |
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{{Main article|Haitian cuisine}} |
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[[File:Ayiti&DR 2007 085.jpg|thumb|300px|A table set with Haitian cuisine]] |
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[[Haitian cuisine]] originates from several culinary styles from the various historical ethnic groups that populated the western portion of the island of Hispaniola. Haitian cuisine is similar to the rest of the [[Latin-America|Latin-Caribbean]] (the French and the Spanish-speaking countries of the Antilles), however it differs in several ways from its regional counterparts. While the cuisine is unpretentious and simple, the flavors are bold and spicy that demonstrate a primary influence of African culinary aesthetic, paired with a very French sophistication with notable derivatives coming from native [[Taíno people|Taíno]] and [[Spanish cuisine|Spanish]] techniques. Though similar to other cooking styles in the region, it carries a uniqueness native to the country; many visitors to the island have mixed reviews of Haitian cuisine. Haitians often use [[capsicum|peppers]] and other strong flavorings.<ref name=b1/> |
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Dishes tend to be seasoned liberally. Consequently Haitian cuisine is often moderately [[spicy]]. In the country, however, several foreign cuisines have been introduced. These include [[Levantine cuisine|Levantine]] from [[Arab]] migration to Haiti. Rice and beans in several differing ways are eaten throughout the country regardless of location, becoming a sort of national dish. They form the [[staple diet]], which consists of a lot of [[starch]] and is high in [[carbohydrate]]s. Rural areas, with better access to agricultural products, have a larger variety of choices.{{citation needed|date=April 2014}} |
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One such dish is mais moulu (''mayi moulen''), which is comparable to [[grits]] that can be eaten with sauce pois (''sòs pwa''), a [[bean sauce]] made from one of many types of beans such as [[Kidney bean|kidney]], [[pinto bean|pinto]], [[chickpea]]s, or [[pigeon pea]]s (known in some countries as gandules). Mais moulin can be eaten with fish (often [[Lutjanus campechanus|red snapper]]), or alone depending on personal preference. Some of the many plants used in Haitian dishes include tomato, [[oregano]], [[cabbage]], [[avocado]], [[bell pepper]]s. A popular food is banane pesée (''ban-nan'n peze''), flattened [[Plantain (cooking)|plantain]] slices fried in [[cooking oil]] (known as [[tostones]] in the Spanish speaking [[Latin America]]n countries). It is eaten both as a [[snack]] and as part of a meal is, often eaten with ''tassot'' and ''griot'' ([[Deep frying|deep-fried]] goat and pork).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.haitian-recipes.com/recipes/103_griot-fried-pork.html|title=Haitian Recipes ::|work=haitian-recipes.com}}</ref> |
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Traditionally, the food that Haitians eat on the independence day (1 January) is [[soup joumou]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.creolemadeeasy.com/cmejom/free/recipes/127-pumpkin-soup-soup-joumou.html|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140521034622/http://www.creolemadeeasy.com/cmejom/free/recipes/127-pumpkin-soup-soup-joumou.html|archivedate=2014-05-21|title=Pumpkin Soup – Soup Joumou |publisher=Creolemadeeasy.com |accessdate= 22 May 2014}}</ref> |
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<!---if not drunk locally, maybe should be under "Economy"---> |
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Haiti is also known internationally for its rum; [[Rhum Barbancourt]] is the most popular alcoholic beverage in Haiti, and it is regarded highly by international standards.<ref name=b1>{{cite book|author=Chery, Rene |title=Women and Children's Tribulation In Haiti|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=B6XkMTtunh0C&pg=PA55|date= 2011|publisher=Xlibris Corporation|isbn=978-1-4628-8814-6|page=55}}</ref>{{better source|date=August 2015}} |
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===Architecture=== |
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[[File:Sans-Souci Palace, National History Park, Haiti.jpg|thumb|438x438px|Sans-Souci Palace, National History Park, Haiti]] |
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{{See also|List of World Heritage Sites in Haiti}} |
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Monuments include the [[Sans-Souci Palace]] and the [[Citadelle Laferrière]], inscribed as a [[World Heritage site]] in 1982.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/180 |title=National History Park – Citadel, Sans the great Souci, Ramiers |publisher=UNESCO.org |accessdate=23 January 2010}}</ref> Situated in the Northern Massif du Nord, in one of Haiti's National Parks, the structures date from the early 19th century.<ref name="heritage">{{cite web |url=http://whc.unesco.org/en/news/579 |title=Heritage in Haiti |date=20 January 2010 |publisher=UNESCO.org |accessdate=23 January 2010}}</ref> The buildings were among the first built after Haiti's independence from France. |
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<!---needs merger with above paragraph---> |
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The [[Citadelle Laferrière]], is the largest fortress in the Americas, is located in northern Haiti. It was built between 1805 and 1820 and is today referred to by some Haitians as the [[eighth wonder of the world]].<ref name="news.google.com"/> |
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[[Jacmel]], a colonial city that was tentatively accepted as a World Heritage site, was extensively damaged by the [[2010 Haiti earthquake]].<ref name="heritage"/> |
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===Museums=== |
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[[File:Santa Maria Anchor.JPG|thumb|right|120px|Santa María's anchor on display]] |
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The anchor of Christopher Columbus' largest ship, the ''[[Santa María (ship)|Santa María]]'' now rests in the [[Musée du Panthéon National Haïtien]] (MUPANAH), in [[Port-au-Prince]], Haiti.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1468-0033.2011.01744.x/full |title=MUPANAH and the Promotion of Historical and Cultural Values – Paret – 2011 – Museum International – Wiley Online Library |publisher=Onlinelibrary.wiley.com |accessdate=15 July 2014}}</ref> |
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===Folklore and mythology=== |
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{{Main article|Haitian mythology}} |
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Haiti is known for its [[folklore]] traditions.<ref>{{cite book|author= Munro, Martin|title=Exile and Post-1946 Haitian Literature: Alexis, Depestre, Ollivier, Laferrière, Danticat|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JC-m0n2yww8C&pg=PA14|date=2013|publisher=Liverpool University Press|isbn=978-1-84631-854-2|pages=14–}}</ref> The country has tales that are part of the [[Haitian Vodou]] tradition. |
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===National holidays and festivals=== |
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{{Further information|Public holidays in Haiti}} |
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{| class="wikitable" |
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|- |
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! Date !! English name !! Local name (in [[French language|French]]) !! Remarks |
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|- |
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| 1 January || [[New Year's Day]] ''and'' [[Independence Day]] || ''Nouvel an / Jour de l'an / Premier de l'a ''et'' Jour de l'Indépendance'' || [[Haitian Revolution|Act of Independence]] against France |
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|- |
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| 2 January || Ancestry Day || ''Jour des Aieux'' || Commemorates [[ancestor]]s who have died fighting for freedom. |
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|- |
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| 6 January || [[Epiphany (holiday)|Epiphany]] || ''Le Jour des Rois'' || Celebrates the Three Wise Men's visit to see the newborn Christ. |
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|- |
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| ''[[moveable feast|moveable]]'' || [[Haitian Carnival|Carnival]]/[[Mardi Gras]] || ''Carnaval/Mardi Gras'' |
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|- |
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| 1 May || [[Labour Day|Labour and Agriculture Day]] || ''Fête du Travail / Fête des Travailleurs'' || International holiday |
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|- |
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| 18 May || [[Flag Day|Flag]] and Universities' Day || ''Jour du Drapeau et de l'Université'' || Celebrates the educational system and creation of the [[Flag of Haiti|flag]]. |
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|- |
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| 15 August || [[Assumption of Mary]] || ''L'Assomption de Marie'' || |
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|- |
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| 17 October || Anniversary of the death of [[Jean-Jacques Dessalines|Dessalines]] || ''Anniversaire de la mort de Dessalines'' || commemorates the death of [[Jean-Jacques Dessalines]]. |
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|- |
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| 1 November || [[All Saints Day]] || ''La Toussaint'' || Christian holiday; commemorates the [[saint]]hood. |
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|- |
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| 2 November || [[All Souls' Day]] || ''Jour des Morts'' || Another Christian holiday; commemorates the faithful departed. |
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|- |
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| 18 November || [[Battle of Vertières|Battle of Vertières Day]] || ''Vertières'' || Commemorates the victory over the French in the Battle of Vertières in the year 1803.<ref>{{cite web|title=Origins of the Haitian Flag|url=http://thehaitianflag.com/origins-of-the-haitian-flag/|accessdate=28 June 2013}}</ref> |
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|- |
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| 5 December || [[Discovery Day]] || ''Découverte d'Haïti'' || Commemorates [[Christopher Columbus]]' landing on [[Hispaniola]] in 1492. |
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|- |
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| 25 December || [[Christmas]] || ''Noël'' || Traditional Christmas celebration. |
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|} |
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The most festive time of the year in Haiti is during '''''[[Carnival]]''''' (referred to as ''Kanaval'' in [[Haitian Creole]] or [[Mardi Gras]]) in February.{{citation needed|reason=need to justify "most" adjective|date=October 2014}} There is music, parade floats, and dancing and singing in the streets. Carnival week is traditionally a time of all-night parties. |
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[[Rara]] is a festival celebrated before [[Easter]]. The festival has generated a style of [[Carnival music]].{{citation needed|date=October 2014}} |
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===Sports=== |
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[[File:Haiti national football team training in Port-au-Prince 2004-08-16 2.jpg|thumb|right|[[Haiti national football team]] training in Port-au-Prince, 2004]] |
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[[Association football|Football]] is the most popular sport in Haiti with hundreds of small football clubs competing at the local level. Basketball is growing in popularity.<ref name=sport>{{cite book |title=Haiti in Focus: A Guide to the People, Politics, and Culture |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XCi9jFR6v1oC&pg=PA82 |author=Arthur, Charles |publisher=Interlink Pub Group Inc |pages=82–83 |isbn=978-1-56656-359-8}}</ref> [[Stade Sylvio Cator]] is the [[multi-purpose stadium]] in [[Port-au-Prince]], where it is currently used mostly for [[association football]] matches that fits a capacity of 10,000 people. In 1974, the [[Haiti national football team]] were only the second [[Caribbean]] team to make the [[FIFA World Cup|World Cup]] (after [[Cuba]]'s entry in 1938). They lost in the opening qualifying stages against three of the pre-tournament favorites; [[Italy national football team|Italy]], [[Poland national football team|Poland]], and [[Argentina national football team|Argentina]]. The national team won the [[2007 Caribbean Nations Cup]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.caribbeanandco.com/history-caribbean-teams-fifa-world-cup/ |title=History of Caribbean teams in the FIFA World Cup |accessdate=2 September 2014}}</ref> |
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Haiti has participated in the [[Haiti at the Olympics|Olympic Games]] since the year 1900 and won a number of medals. Haitian footballer [[Joe Gaetjens]] played for the [[United States men's national soccer team|United States national team]] in the [[1950 FIFA World Cup]], scoring the winning goal in the 1–0 upset of [[England national football team|England]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.theguardian.com/football/blog/2010/jun/10/world-cup-2010-usa-1950-england|title=World Cup 2010: How the USA's 1950 amateurs upset England and the odds|author=Ewen MacAskill|work=the Guardian|accessdate=21 October 2014}}</ref> |
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==Notable natives and residents== |
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<!---needs citation to tie notable to Haiti, usually not available in bio either--> |
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{{Main article|List of Haitians}} |
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[[File:WyclefJean.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Wyclef Jean]] ]] |
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{{div col|colwidth=30em}} |
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* [[Comte d'Estaing]]{{spaced ndash}} in command of more than 500 volunteers from Saint-Domingue, fought alongside American colonial troops against the British in the [[Siege of Savannah]], one of the most significant foreign contributions to the American Revolutionary War in 1779.<ref>{{cite journal |doi=10.2307/274860 |volume=41 |issue=4 |pages=356–366 |author=Clark, George P. |title=The Role of the Haitian Volunteers at Savannah in 1779: An Attempt at an Objective View |journal=Phylon |year=1980 |jstor=274860}}</ref> |
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* [[Frankétienne]]{{spaced ndash}} arguably Haiti's greatest author; he was a candidate for the [[Nobel Prize in Literature]] in 2009. |
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* [[Garcelle Beauvais]]{{spaced ndash}} television actress (''[[NYPD Blue]]'', ''[[The Jamie Foxx Show]]''). |
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* [[Jean Baptiste Point du Sable]]{{spaced ndash}} who might have been born in St Marc, Saint-Domingue in 1745 established a [[fur trading]] post at present-day Chicago, Illinois. He is considered one of the city's founders. |
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* [[Jean Lafitte]]{{spaced ndash}} a pirate who operated around [[New Orleans]] and [[Galveston, Texas|Galveston]] on the [[Gulf Coast]] of the United States; was born in Port-au-Prince around 1782.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history-archaeology/neworleans.html |title=Saving New Orleans |author=Winston Groom |publisher=Smithsonianmag.com |date=August 2006 |accessdate=24 July 2013 }}{{dead link|date=June 2016|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref> |
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* [[John James Audubon]]{{spaced ndash}} [[ornithologist]] and painter; born in 1785 in Les Cayes, Saint-Domingue; his parents returned to France, where the boy was educated; he emigrated to the United States as a young man and made a career as he painted, catalogued and described the birds of North America. |
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* [[Jørgen Leth]]{{spaced ndash}} Danish poet and filmmaker.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://politiken.dk/ibyen/nyheder/film/ECE1961749/joergen-leth-jeg-stopper-naar-jeg-styrter/|title=Jørgen Leth: Jeg stopper, når jeg styrter| trans_title=Jørgen Leth: "I stop when I rush"| last=Søresen|first=Dorte Hygum|date=4 May 2013|work=[[Politiken]]|language=Danish|accessdate=20 October 2013}}</ref> |
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* [[Sean Penn]] – American [[Oscar Award]]-winning actor, who currently serves as ''Ambassador-at-large'' for Haiti; the first non-Haitian citizen to hold such a position.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.cbsnews.com/pictures/sean-penns-home-and-life-in-haiti/ |title=Sean Penn's home and life in Haiti |publisher= CBS News |accessdate=3 September 2014}}</ref> |
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* [[Michaëlle Jean]]{{spaced ndash}} current [[Organisation internationale de la Francophonie|Secretary-General of La Francophonie]] and 27th [[Governor General of Canada]]; was born in Port-au-Prince in 1957 and lived in Haiti until 1968. |
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* [[Wyclef Jean]]{{spaced ndash}} [[Grammy Award]]-winning hip-hop recording artist. |
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* [[Sonni Nattestad]]{{spaced ndash}} [[Faroe Islands|Faroese]] professional footballer, born in [[Port-au-Prince]]. |
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{{div col end}} |
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==Education== |
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{{Main article|Education in Haiti}} |
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[[File:Universite henrichristophe.jpg|thumb|300px|The Universite Roi Henri Christophe in [[Limonade]] ]] |
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The educational system of Haiti is based on the [[Education in France|French system]]. Higher education, under the responsibility of the Ministry of Education,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://menfp.gouv.ht/|title=Ministry of Education|publisher=|accessdate=21 October 2014}}</ref><!---not sure cite should be here. ministry is linked above and cite provided at end of sentence--> is provided by universities and other public and private institutions.<ref>{{cite news |title=Education in Haiti; Primary Education |url=http://www.buildingwithbooks.org/intra/Intl_Programs/profile_Haiti.html |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080323105543/http://www.buildingwithbooks.org/intra/Intl_Programs/profile_Haiti.html |archivedate=23 March 2008 |accessdate=15 November 2007}}</ref> |
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More than 80% of primary schools are privately managed by nongovernmental organizations, churches, communities, and for-profit operators, with minimal government oversight.<ref>{{cite news |title=Education: Overview |url=http://www.usaid.gov/Haiti/education |work=United States Agency for International Development |accessdate=30 May 2015}}</ref> According to the 2013 Millennium Development Goals (MDG) Report, Haiti has steadily boosted net enrollment rate in primary education from 47% in 1993 to 88% in 2011, achieving equal participation of boys and girls in education.<ref>{{cite news |title=Haiti boosts health and education in the past decade, says new UNDP report |url=http://www.latinamerica.undp.org/content/rblac/en/home/presscenter/pressreleases/2014/06/25/haiti-makes-progress-towards-reducing-poverty-and-boosts-health-and-education-in-the-past-decade-says-new-undp-report.html |work=United Nations Development Programme |accessdate=30 May 2015}}</ref> Charity organizations, including [[Food for the Poor]] and [[Haitian Health Foundation]], are building schools for children and providing necessary school supplies. |
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According to CIA 2015 [[World Factbook]], Haiti's literacy rate is now 60.7% (est. 2015). |
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The January 2010 earthquake, was a major setback for education reform in Haiti as it diverted limited resources to survival.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.haitiedstories.org/background/ |title=Haiti's Lost Children |publisher=Haitiedstories.org |accessdate=24 July 2013}}{{dead link|date=June 2015}}</ref> |
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Many reformers have advocated the creation of a free, public and universal education system for all primary school-age students in Haiti. The [[Inter-American Development Bank]] estimates that the government will need at least US$3 billion to create an adequately funded system.<ref>{{cite web |author=Paul Franz, for the Pulitzer Center, Port-au-Prince, Haiti |url=http://pulitzercenter.org/blog/untold-stories/improving-access-education-haiti |title=Improving Access to Education in Haiti |publisher=Pulitzercenter.org |date=25 October 2010 |accessdate=24 July 2013}}</ref> |
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Upon successful graduation of secondary school, students may continue into [[higher education]]. The higher education schools in Haiti include the [[University of Haiti]]. There are also [[List of medical schools in the Caribbean|medical schools]] and [[Legal education|law schools]] offered at both the University of Haiti and abroad. Presently, [[Brown University]] is cooperating with L'Hôpital Saint-Damien in Haiti to coordinate a [[pediatrics|pediatric health care]] curriculum.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://brown.edu/initiatives/global-health/haiti/medical-education-and-leadership-development-project-meld|title=Haiti|publisher=|accessdate=21 October 2014}}</ref> |
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==Health== |
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{{Main article|Health in Haiti}} |
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In the past, children's vaccination rates have been low{{spaced ndash}} {{As of|2012|lc=y}}, 60% of the children in Haiti under the age of 10 were [[Vaccine|vaccinated]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ksl.com/?sid=20314561|title=Haiti to vaccinate 95 percent of children under 10 - KSL.com|publisher=|accessdate=21 October 2014}}</ref><ref>[http://www.paho.org/hq/index.php?option=com_docman&task=doc_download&Itemid=270&gid=4175&lang=en ]</ref> compared to rates of childhood vaccination in other countries in the 93–95% range.<ref>[http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm6341a1.htm Vaccination Coverage Among Children in Kindergarten — United States, 2013–14 School Year<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> Recently there have been mass vaccination campaigns claiming to vaccinate as many as 91% of a target population against specific diseases (measles and rubella in this case).<ref>[http://www.cdc.gov/globalhealth/stories/haitian_children.html CDC Global Health – Stories – 5 things CDC has done to help rebuild Haiti’s immunization system since the 2010 earthquake<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> Most people have no transportation or access to [[List of hospitals in Haiti|Haitian hospitals]].<ref>{{cite journal|url=http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-01-14/haiti-survivors-face-outbreaks-of-diarrhea-measles-malaria.html |title=Haiti Survivors Face Outbreaks of Diarrhea |journal=BusinessWeek |date=14 January 2010 }}{{dead link|date=June 2016|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref> |
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The [[World Health Organization]] cites [[diarrhea]]l diseases, [[HIV/AIDS]], [[meningitis]], and respiratory infections as common causes of death in Haiti.<ref>{{cite news |author= Madison Park, CNN |url=http://www.cnn.com/2010/HEALTH/01/13/haiti.earthquake.medical.risks/ |title=Haiti earthquake could trigger possible medical 'perfect storm |publisher=cnn.com |date=13 January 2010 |accessdate=31 July 2014}}</ref> Ninety percent of Haiti's children suffer from [[waterborne disease]]s and [[intestinal parasite]]s.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ipsnews.net/2008/11/environment-haiti-cant-face-more-defeats/ |title=Haiti Can't Face More Defeats |author=Leahy, Stephen |publisher=Ipsnews.net |date=13 November 2008 |accessdate=24 July 2013}}</ref> HIV infection is found in 1.8% of Haiti's population.<ref>[http://caribbean.scielo.org/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0043-31442008000300008&lng=en "The HIV epidemic in the Caribbean: meeting the challenges of achieving universal access to prevention, treatment and care", ''West Indian Medical Journal'', J. P. Figueroa, 57(3), 2008]</ref> The incidence of [[tuberculosis]] (TB) in Haiti is more than ten times as high as in the rest of Latin America.<ref>{{cite web |author=Pike, John |url=http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/haiti/intro.htm |title=Haiti Introduction |publisher=Globalsecurity.org |date=30 July 2003 |accessdate=24 July 2013}}</ref> Approximately 30,000 Haitians fall ill with [[malaria]] each year.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,562682,00.html |title=Haiti and Dominican Republic Look to Eradicate Malaria |publisher=Foxnews.com |date=8 October 2009 |accessdate=24 July 2013}}</ref> |
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Most people living in Haiti are at high risk for major infectious diseases. Food or [[Waterborne diseases|water-borne]] diseases include bacterial and protozoal [[diarrhea]], [[typhoid fever]] and [[hepatitis]] A and E; common [[Vector (epidemiology)|vector]]-borne diseases are [[dengue fever]] and [[malaria]]; water-contact diseases include [[leptospirosis]]. Roughly 75% of Haitian households lack running water. Unsafe water, along with inadequate housing and unsanitary living conditions, contributes to the high incidence of infectious diseases. There is a chronic shortage of health care personnel and hospitals lack resources, a situation that became readily apparent after the January 2010 earthquake.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://handle.dtic.mil/100.2/ADA528274 |title=The Geology of Haiti: An Annotated Bibliography of Haiti's Geology, Geography and Earth Science |author1=Robert Lee Hadden |author2=Steven G. Minson |page=10 |year=2010 |accessdate=24 July 2013}}</ref> The [[infant mortality rate]] in Haiti in 2013 was 55 deaths per 1,000 live births, compared to a rate of 6 per 1,000 in other countries.<ref>[http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.DYN.IMRT.IN Mortality rate, infant (per 1,000 live births) | Data | Table<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> |
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==See also== |
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{{Wikipedia books|Haiti}} |
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* [[Index of Haiti-related articles]] |
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* [[Outline of Haiti]] |
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{{portal bar|Haiti|Caribbean|Latin America|Caribbean Community}} |
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==Notes== |
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{{reflist|group=note|30em}} |
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==References== |
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{{Reflist|colwidth=30em}} |
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==Further reading== |
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{{Wikisource1911Enc|Haiti}} |
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* Prichard, Hesketh. ''Where Black Rules White: A Journey Across and About Hayti''. These are exact reproductions of a book published before 1923: (Nabu Press, ISBN 978-1-146-67652-6, 5 March 2010); (Wermod and Wermod Publishing Group, ISBN 978-0-9561835-8-3, 15 October 2012). |
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* Arthur, Charles. ''Haiti in Focus: A Guide to the People, Politics, and Culture''. Interlink Publishing Group (2002). ISBN 1-56656-359-3. |
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* Dayan, Colin. ''Haiti, History, and the Gods''. University of California Press (1998). |
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* Ferrer, Ada. ''Freedom's Mirror: Cuba and Haiti in the Age of Revolution.'' New York: Cambridge University Press, 2014. |
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* Girard, Philippe. Haiti: The Tumultuous History (New York: Palgrave, Sept. 2010). |
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* Hadden, Robert Lee and Steven G. Minson. 2010. [http://handle.dtic.mil/100.2/ADA528274 The Geology of Haiti: An Annotated Bibliography of Haiti's Geology, Geography and Earth Science]. US Army Corps of Engineers, Army Geospatial Center. July 2010. |
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* Heinl, Robert Debs & Nancy Gordon Heinl. ''Written in Blood: The Story of the Haitian People 1492–1995''. University Press of America (2005). ISBN 0-7618-3177-0. |
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* [[Kovats-Bernat, J. Christopher]]. ''Sleeping Rough in Port-au-Prince: An Ethnography of Street Children and Violence in Haiti''. University Press of Florida (2008). ISBN 978-0-8130-3302-0. |
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* Robinson, Randall. ''[[An Unbroken Agony: Haiti, From Revolution to the Kidnapping of a President]]''. Basic Civitas (2007). ISBN 0-465-07050-7. |
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* Wilentz, Amy. ''The Rainy Season: Haiti Since Duvalier''. Simon & Schuster (1990). ISBN 0-671-70628-4. |
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* Marquis, John. ''Papa Doc: Portrait of a Haitian Tyrant'' (LMH Publishing 2007) |
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==External links== |
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{{Sister project links|voy=Haiti}} |
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; Government |
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* {{fr icon}} {{ht icon}} {{Official website|http://www.presidence.ht/|name=President of Haiti}} |
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* {{fr icon}} [http://primature.gouv.ht/ Prime Minister of Haiti] |
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* {{fr icon}} [http://www.parlementhaitien.ht/ Parliament of Haiti] |
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; General information |
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* {{dmoz|Regional/Caribbean/Haiti}} |
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* [https://web.archive.org/web/20060621022610/http://www.britannica.com/nations/Haiti Haiti] at [[Encyclopædia Britannica]]. |
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* {{CIA World Factbook link|ha|Haiti}} |
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* [http://ucblibraries.colorado.edu/govpubs/for/haiti.htm Haiti] at ''UCB Libraries GovPubs''. |
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* [http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/httoc.html A Country Study: Haiti] from the US [[Library of Congress]] (December 1989). |
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* {{Wikiatlas|Haiti}} |
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* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/country_profiles/1202772.stm Haiti profile] from the [[BBC News]]. |
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* [http://www.newint.org/columns/country/2011/06/01/haiti/ Country Profile] at [[New Internationalist]]. |
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* [http://www.gvsu.edu/haitiwater Web Site about Safe and Sustainable Water Solutions for Haiti] |
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; Maps |
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* [http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/haiti.html Collection of maps] from the [[Perry-Castañeda Library]] at the [[University of Texas at Austin]]. |
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* [http://www.un.org/Depts/Cartographic/map/profile/haiti.pdf Map of Haiti] from the United Nations. |
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; History |
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* [http://www.potomitan.info/vedrine/bibliography.html A Bibliography of Theses and Dissertations Related to Haiti – 20th Century] |
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* [http://sites.duke.edu/haitilab/english/nineteenth-century/ Haiti Digital Library – a Project of Duke University] |
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* Irving, Washington. ''The life and voyages of Christopher Colombus; together with the voyages of his companions'', Vol. 1, London, John Murray, 1849. [http://www.manioc.org/patrimon/HASH2cabbb39c250663de04713 Manioc] |
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* Irving, Washington. ''The life and voyages of Christopher Colombus; together with the voyages of his companions'', Vol. 2, London, John Murray, 1849. [http://www.manioc.org/patrimon/HASH01e2102939980928ba16e7a3 Manioc] |
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* Saint John, Spencer Buckingham. ''Hayti or the black Republic'', London, Smith Elder, 1884. [http://www.manioc.org/patrimon/PAP11090 Manioc] |
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* Harvey, William Woodis. ''Sketches of Hayti; from the expulsion of the french, to the death of Christophe'', London, L. B. Seeley and son, 1827. [http://www.manioc.org/patrimon/SCH13286 Manioc] |
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* Mackenzie, Charles. ''Notes on Haïti, made during a residence in that Republic, Vol. 1, London, Henry Colburn and Richard Bentley, 1830. [http://www.manioc.org/patrimon/SCH13081 Manioc] |
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* Mackenzie, Charles. ''Notes on Haïti, made during a residence in that Republic, Vol. 2, London, Henry Colburn and Richard Bentley, 1830. [http://www.manioc.org/patrimon/SCH13082 Manioc] |
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* Edwards, Bryan. ''An historical survey of the french colony in the island of St. Domingo ...'', London, John Stockdale, 1797. [http://www.manioc.org/patrimon/SCH13117 Manioc] |
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* Hazard, Samuel. ''Santo Domingo : past and present with a glance at Hayti'', [s. l.], 1872. [http://www.manioc.org/patrimon/HASH015cec1d83692f3063aead21 Manioc] |
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; Relief organizations |
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* [http://www.icrc.org/eng/where-we-work/americas/haiti/ The ICRC in Haiti] (International Committee of the Red Cross). |
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* [http://www.hope-for-haiti.org/ Hope for Haiti], education and grassroots development in rural Haiti. |
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* [http://www.nouvelleviehaiti.org/ Haiti volunteer youth corps], training leaders in trauma relief, community empowerment and sustainable agriculture. |
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* [http://www.iddi.org/ Instituto Dominicano de Desarrollo Integral], the Dominican parent of the Haitian Institute of Integral Development. |
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{{Haiti topics}} |
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Revision as of 19:51, 18 October 2016
19°00′N 72°25′W / 19.000°N 72.417°W
Republic of Haiti
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Motto: Motto on traditional coat of arms: "L'union fait la force" (French) "Union makes strength" | |
Anthem: La Dessalinienne (French) The Dessalines Song | |
![]() | |
![]() | |
Capital and largest city | Port-au-Prince |
Official languages | |
Ethnic groups | 95% Black 5% Mulatto, White[2] |
Demonym(s) | Haitian |
Government | Unitary semi-presidential republic |
Jocelerme Privert (Acting) | |
Enex Jean-Charles | |
Legislature | Parliament |
Senate | |
Chamber of Deputies | |
Independence from France | |
Area | |
• Total | 27,750 km2 (10,710 sq mi) (140th) |
• Water (%) | 0.7 |
Population | |
• 2015 estimate | 10,604,000[3] (85th) |
• Density | 382/km2 (989.4/sq mi) (32nd) |
GDP (PPP) | 2016 estimate |
• Total | US$19.871 billion[4] |
• Per capita | US$1,849[4] |
GDP (nominal) | 2016 estimate |
• Total | US$8.924 billion[4] |
• Per capita | US$830[4] |
Gini (2012) | 60.8[5] very high inequality |
HDI (2014) | ![]() low (163th) |
Currency | Haitian gourde (G) (HTG) |
Time zone | UTC−5 (EST) |
Drives on | right |
Calling code | +509 |
ISO 3166 code | HT |
Internet TLD | .ht .gouv.ht .edu.ht[7] |
Haiti (/ˈheɪti/ ; French: Haïti [a.iti]; Haitian Creole: Ayiti [ajiti]), officially the Republic of Haiti (French: République d'Haïti; Haitian Creole: Repiblik Ayiti),[8] is a sovereign state in the Western Hemisphere (North America).[9] The country is located on the island of Hispaniola, in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean. It occupies the western three-eighths of the island, which it shares with the Dominican Republic.[10][11] Haiti is 27,750 square kilometres (10,714 sq mi) in size and has an estimated 10.6 million people,[3] making it the most populous country in the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) and the second-most populous country in the Caribbean as a whole.
The region was originally inhabited by the indigenous Taíno people. Spain first discovered the island on 5 December 1492 during the first voyage of Christopher Columbus across the Atlantic. When Columbus initially landed in Haiti, he had thought he had found India or Asia.[12] On Christmas Day 1492, Columbus' flagship the Santa Maria, ran aground north of what is now Limonade.[13][14][15][16] As a consequence, Columbus ordered his men to salvage what they could from the ship, and he created the first European settlement in the Americas, naming it La Navidad after the day the ship was destroyed.
The island was named La Española and claimed by Spain, which ruled until the early 17th century. Competing claims and settlements by the French led to the western portion of the island being ceded to France, which named it Saint-Domingue. The development of sugarcane plantations, worked by slaves brought from Africa, led to the colony being among the most lucrative in the world.[17]
In the midst of the French Revolution (1789–1799), slaves and free people of colour revolted in the Haitian Revolution (1791–1804), culminating in the abolition of slavery and the defeat of Napoleon Bonaparte's army at the Battle of Vertières. Afterward the sovereign nation of Haiti was established on 1 January 1804 – the first independent nation of Latin America and the Caribbean, the second republic in the Americas, the only nation in the western hemisphere to have defeated three European superpowers (Britain, France and Spain), and the only nation in the world established as a result of a successful slave revolt.[18][19] The rebellion that began in 1791 was led by a former slave and the first black general of the French Army, Toussaint Louverture, whose military genius and political acumen transformed an entire society of slaves into an independent country. Upon his death in a prison in France, he was succeeded by his lieutenant, Jean-Jacques Dessalines, who declared Haiti's sovereignty and later became the first Emperor of Haiti, Jacques I.[20][21][22][23] The Haitian Revolution lasted nearly a decade; and apart from Alexandre Pétion, the first President of the Republic, all the first leaders of government were former slaves.[24] The Citadelle Laferrière is the largest fortress in the Americas. Henri Christophe – former slave and first king of Haiti, Henri I – built it to withstand a possible foreign attack.[25][26]
In addition to CARICOM, Haiti is a member of the Latin Union, the Organization of American States, and the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States; it is also seeking associate membership status in the African Union.[27] It has the lowest Human Development Index in the Americas. Most recently, in February 2004, a coup d'état originating in the north of the country forced the resignation and exile of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide. A provisional government took control with security provided by the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH). Michel Martelly, the previous president, was elected in the 2011 general election.
Etymology
The name Haïti (or Hayti) comes from the indigenous Taíno language which was the native name[note 1] given to the entire island of Hispaniola to mean, "land of high mountains."[31] The h is silent in French and the ï in Haïti, is a diacritical mark used to show that the second vowel is pronounced separately, as in the word naïve.[32] In English, the rules for the pronunciation is often disregarded, thus the spelling Haiti is used and pronounced as "Hay-ti".[33]
The name Haïti was restored by Haitian revolutionary Jean-Jacques Dessalines as the official name of independent Saint-Domingue, as a tribute to the Amerindian predecessors.[34]
In French, Haiti's nickname is the Pearl of the Antilles (La Perle des Antilles) because of both its natural beauty,[35] and the amount of wealth it accumulated for the Kingdom of France, as it was considered the richest colony owned by any of the European powers at the time.[36]
History
Pre-European history
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/8d/Copia_de_Cacicazgos_de_la_Hispaniola.png/350px-Copia_de_Cacicazgos_de_la_Hispaniola.png)
At the time of European encounter, the island of Hispaniola, of which Haiti occupies the western three-eighths,[10][37] was one of many Caribbean islands inhabited by the Taíno Indians, speakers of an Arawakan language called Taino, which has been preserved in the Haitian Creole language. The Taíno name for the entire island was Haiti. The people had migrated over centuries into the Caribbean islands from South America. Genetic studies show they were related to the Yanomami of the Amazon Basin. They also originated in Central and South America. After migrating to Caribbean islands, in the 15th century, the Taíno were pushed into the northeast Caribbean islands by the Caribs.[38]
In the Taíno societies of the Caribbean islands, the largest unit of political organization was led by a cacique, or chief, as the Europeans understood them. The island of Haiti was divided among five Caciquats: the Magua in the north east, the Marien in the north west, the Xaragua in the south west, the Maguana in the center region of Cibao and the Higuey in the south east.[39][40] The caciquedoms were tributary kingdoms, with payment consisting of harvests.
Taíno cultural artifacts include cave paintings in several locations in the country. These have become national symbols of Haiti and tourist attractions. Modern-day Léogane started as a French colonial town in the southwest, is beside the former capital of the caciquedom of Xaragua.[38]
Spanish rule (1492–1625)
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/bb/Piktograf1.png/220px-Piktograf1.png)
Navigator Christopher Columbus landed in Haiti on 5 December 1492, in an area that he named Môle Saint-Nicolas,[41] and claimed the island for the Crown of Castile. Nineteen days later, his ship the Santa María ran aground near the present site of Cap-Haïtien. Columbus left 39 men on the island, who founded the settlement of La Navidad.
The sailors carried endemic Eurasian infectious diseases. The natives lacked immunity to these new diseases and died in great numbers in epidemics.[42][43] The first recorded smallpox epidemic in the Americas erupted on Hispaniola in 1507.[44] The encomienda system forced natives to work in gold mines and plantations.[45]
The Spanish passed the Laws of Burgos, 1512–13, which forbade the maltreatment of natives, endorsed their conversion to Catholicism,[46] and gave legal framework to encomiendas. The natives were brought to these sites to work in specific plantations or industries.[47]
As a gateway to the Caribbean, Hispaniola became a haven for pirates during the early colonial period. The western part of the island was settled by French buccaneers. Among them was Bertrand d'Ogeron, who succeeded in growing tobacco. He recruited many French colonial families from Martinique and Guadeloupe. European nations were competing for control in the New World, in the Caribbean as well as in North America. France and Spain settled their hostilities on the island, by way of the Treaty of Ryswick of 1697, and divided Hispaniola between them.
French rule (1625–1804)
France received the western third and subsequently named it Saint-Domingue, the French equivalent of Santo Domingo, the Spanish colony of Hispaniola and the name of its patron saint, Saint Dominic.[48]
To develop it into sugarcane plantations, the French imported thousands of slaves from Africa. Sugar was a lucrative commodity crop throughout the 18th century. By 1789, approximately 40,000 white colonists lived in Saint-Domingue. In contrast, by 1763 the white population of French Canada, a vast territory, had numbered 65,000.[49] The whites were vastly outnumbered by the tens of thousands of African slaves they had imported to work on their plantations, which were primarily devoted to the production of sugarcane. In the north of the island, slaves were able to retain many ties to African cultures, religion and language; these ties were continually being renewed by newly imported Africans. Blacks outnumbered whites by about ten-to-one.
The French-enacted Code Noir ("Black Code"), prepared by Jean-Baptiste Colbert and ratified by Louis XIV, had established rules on slave treatment and permissible freedoms. Saint-Domingue has been described as one of the most brutally efficient slave colonies; one-third of newly imported Africans died within a few years.[50] Many slaves died from diseases such as smallpox and typhoid fever.[51] They had low birth rates, and there is evidence that some women aborted foetuses rather than give birth to children within the bonds of slavery. [citation needed]
As in its Louisiana colony, the French colonial government allowed some rights to free people of color: the mixed-race descendants of white male colonists and black female slaves (and later, mixed-race women). Over time, many were released from slavery. They established a separate social class. White French Creole fathers frequently sent their mixed-race sons to France for their education. Some men of color were admitted into the military. More of the free people of color lived in the south of the island, near Port-au-Prince, and many intermarried within their community. They frequently worked as artisans and tradesmen, and began to own some property. Some became slave holders. The free people of color petitioned the colonial government to expand their rights.
Haitian Revolution (1791–1804)
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5e/Frontispiece_from_the_book_Saint-Domingue%2C_ou_Histoire_de_Ses_R%C3%A9volutions._ca._1815_%28colorcopy%29.jpg/220px-Frontispiece_from_the_book_Saint-Domingue%2C_ou_Histoire_de_Ses_R%C3%A9volutions._ca._1815_%28colorcopy%29.jpg)
Inspired by the French Revolution of 1789 and principles of the rights of man, free people of color and slaves in Saint-Domingue and the French West Indies pressed for freedom and more civil rights. Most important was the revolution of the slaves in Saint-Domingue, starting in the northern plains in 1791, where Africans greatly outnumbered the whites.
In 1792, the French government sent three commissioners with troops to re-establish control. To build an alliance with the gens de couleur and slaves, the French commissioners Sonthonax and Polverel abolished slavery in the colony. Six months later, the National Convention, led by Robespierre and the Jacobins, endorsed abolition and extended it to all the French colonies.[52]
Political leaders in the United States, which was a new republic itself, reacted with ambivalence, at times providing aid to enable planters to put down the revolt. Later in the revolution, the US provided support to black Haitian military forces, with the goal of reducing French influence in North America and the Caribbean.[53]
Toussaint Louverture, a former slave and leader in the slave revolt, drove out the Spanish (from Santo Domingo) and the British invaders who threatened the colony. In the uncertain years of revolution, the United States played both sides off against each other, with its traders supplying both the French and the rebels.[54] The struggle within Haiti between the free people of color led by André Rigaud and the black Haitians led by Louverture devolved into the War of the Knives in 1799 and 1800.[55][56] Many surviving free people of color left the island as refugees.
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/fe/Battle_for_Palm_Tree_Hill.jpg/220px-Battle_for_Palm_Tree_Hill.jpg)
After Louverture created a separatist constitution, Napoléon Bonaparte in 1802 sent an expedition of 20,000 soldiers and as many sailors[57] under the command of his brother-in-law, General Charles Leclerc, to retake the island. The French achieved some victories, but within a few months, most of the French had died from yellow fever.[58] More than 50,000 French troops died in an attempt to retake the colony, including 18 generals.[59] The French captured Louverture, transporting him to France for trial. He was imprisoned at Fort de Joux, where he died in 1803 of exposure and possibly tuberculosis.[50]
The slaves, along with free gens de couleur and allies, continued their fight for independence. Jean-Jacques Dessalines defeated French troops at the Battle of Vertières on 18 November 1803, leading the first ever successful slave army revolution. In late 1803, France withdrew its remaining 7,000 troops from the island and Napoleon gave up his idea of re-establishing a North American empire. With the war going badly, he sold Louisiana (New France) to the United States, in the Louisiana Purchase.
Early post-independence
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f4/Le_Serment_des_Anc%C3%AAtres%2C_1823.jpg/220px-Le_Serment_des_Anc%C3%AAtres%2C_1823.jpg)
The independence of Saint-Domingue was proclaimed by Dessalines on 1 January 1804.[60] The exact number of deaths due to the Haitian revolution is unknown. Slaves that made it to Haiti from the trans-Atlantic journey and slaves born in Haiti were first documented in Haiti's archives and transferred to France's Ministry of Defense and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. As of 2015[update], these records are in The National Archives of France. According to the 1788 Census, Haiti's population consisted of nearly 25,000 whites, 22,000 free coloureds and 700,000 slaves.[citation needed]
Dessalines was proclaimed "Emperor for Life" by his troops.[61] Dessalines at first offered protection to the white planters and others.[62] Once in power, he ordered the massacre of most whites. Without regard to age or gender, those who did not swear allegiance to him were slain.[63] In the continuing competition for power, he was assassinated by rivals on 17 October 1806.[64]
Only three categories of white people were selected out as exceptions and spared: the Polish soldiers, the majority of whom deserted from the French army and fought alongside the Haitian rebels; the little group of German colonists invited to Nord-Ouest (North-West) Haiti before the revolution; and a group of medical doctors and professionals. Reportedly, people with connections to officers in the Haitian army were also spared, as well as the women who agreed to marry non-white men.[citation needed]
Fearful of the influence of the slaves' revolution, US President Thomas Jefferson refused to recognize the new republic, as did most European nations. The US did not officially recognize Haiti for decades until after the American Civil War. Haiti's new government was not supported by other republics.[citation needed]
The revolution led to a wave of emigration.[65] In 1809, nearly 10,000 refugees from Saint-Domingue settled en masse in New Orleans.[66] They doubled the city's population. In addition, the newly arrived slaves added to the city's African population.[67]
Saint-Domingue was divided between the Kingdom of Haiti in the north, directed by Henri Christophe, who declared himself Henri I, and a republic in the south, directed by Alexandre Pétion, an homme de couleur. Henri Christophe established a semi-feudal corvée system, with a rigid education and economic code.[68][unreliable source?]
President Pétion gave military and financial assistance to the revolutionary leader Simón Bolívar, which were critical in enabling him to liberate the Viceroyalty of New Granada.[69] He was instrumental in aiding countries in South America achieve independence from Spain.
Beginning in 1821, President Jean-Pierre Boyer, also an homme de couleur and successor to Pétion, reunified the two parts of Haiti and extended control over the entire western portion of the island.[70] In addition, after Santo Domingo declared its independence from Spain on 30 November 1821, Boyer sent forces in to take control. Boyer ruled the entire island with iron rule, ending slavery in Santo Domingo.[71] After Santo Domingo achieved independence from Haiti, it established a separate national identity.
Struggling to revive the agricultural economy to produce commodity crops, Boyer passed the Code Rural, which denied peasant laborers the right to leave the land, enter the towns, or start farms or shops of their own. Following the Revolution, many peasants wanted to have their own farms rather than work on plantations.[72][73]
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d4/Citadelle_Laferri%C3%A8re_Aerial_View.jpg/220px-Citadelle_Laferri%C3%A8re_Aerial_View.jpg)
The American Colonization Society (ACS) encouraged free blacks in the United States to emigrate to Haiti. Starting in September 1824, more than 6,000 African Americans migrated to Haiti, with transportation paid by the ACS.[74] Many found the conditions too harsh and returned to the United States.
In July 1825, King Charles X of France, during a period of "restoration" for the monarchy, sent a fleet to reconquer the island. Under pressure, President Boyer agreed to a treaty by which France formally recognized the independence of the nation in exchange for a payment of 150 million francs (reduced to 90 million in 1838). After losing the support of Haiti's elite, Boyer was ousted in 1843. A long succession of coups followed his departure to exile.[citation needed]
The enforced payment to France reduced Haiti's economy for years. Western nations did not give Haiti formal diplomatic recognition. Both of these problems kept the Haitian economy and society isolated. Expatriates bankrolled and armed opposing groups.[75] In 1892, the German government supported suppression of the reform movement of Anténor Firmin and in 1897 the Germans used gun boat diplomacy to intimidate and then humiliate the Haitian government during the Luders Affair.
20th century
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/de/U.S._Marines_and_guide_in_search_of_bandits._Haiti%2C_circa_1919.%2C_1927_-_1981_-_NARA_-_532584.tif/lossy-page1-235px-U.S._Marines_and_guide_in_search_of_bandits._Haiti%2C_circa_1919.%2C_1927_-_1981_-_NARA_-_532584.tif.jpg)
In January 1914, British, German and US military forces entered Haiti, ostensibly to protect their citizens from civil unrest at the time.[75] In an expression of the Theodore Roosevelt Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine, the United States occupied the island in 1915. U.S. Marines were stationed in the country until 1934, a period of nineteen years.
Sisal was introduced to Haiti, and sugarcane and cotton became significant exports.[76] Haitian traditionalists, based in rural areas, were highly resistant to American-backed changes, while the urban elites wanted more control. Together they helped secure an end to the occupation in 1934.[77] The debts were still outstanding and the American financial advisor-general receiver handled the budget until 1941.[78]
Recognition of the distinctive traditionalism of the Haitian people had an influence on United States writers, including Eugene O'Neill, James Weldon Johnson, Langston Hughes, Zora Neale Hurston and Orson Welles.[79]
After US forces left in 1934, Dominican dictator Rafael Trujillo used anti-Haitian sentiment as a nationalist tool. In an event that became known as the Parsley Massacre, he ordered his Army to kill Haitians living on the Dominican side of the border.[80][81] Between 10,000 and 20,000 Haitians were killed.[80] One-quarter Haitian, Trujillo continued policies against the neighboring population for some time.
American and European tourists started to visit Haiti in the 1950s.[82]
The waterfront area of Port-au-Prince was redeveloped to allow cruise ship passengers to walk from the docks to cultural attractions. Among these attractions were the Moorish-styled Iron Market, where fine Haitian art and mahogany were sold. In the evenings entrepreneurs provided dancing, casino gambling and Voodoo shows. Truman Capote and Noël Coward visited the Hotel Oloffson, a 19th-century Gothic gingerbread mansion set in a tropical garden, which was even portrayed in the Graham Greene novel, The Comedians.[83]
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/98/Duvalier_crop2.jpg/170px-Duvalier_crop2.jpg)
After a period of disorder, in September 1957 Dr. François Duvalier was elected President of Haiti. Known as "Papa Doc" and initially popular, Duvalier was President until his death in 1971. He advanced black interests in the public sector, where over time people of color had predominated as the educated urban elite.[84] He stayed in power by enlisting an organization known as Tontons Macoutes ("Bogeymen"), which maintained order by terrorizing the populace and political opponents.[85]
Haiti's brief tourism boom was wiped out by the rule of Francois "Papa Doc" Duvalier and his unstable government. When his son Jean-Claude "Baby Doc" Duvalier succeeded him as President for Life, tourism returned in the 1970s.[83] Vive la différence has long been Haiti's national tourism slogan[86] and its proximity to the United States, made Haiti a hot attraction until the Duvalier regime was ousted in 1986.[83]
Papa Doc's son Jean-Claude Duvalier – also known as "Baby Doc" – led the country from 1971 until his ouster in 1986, when protests led him to seek exile in France. Army leader General Henri Namphy headed a new National Governing Council.[87][failed verification] General elections in November were aborted after dozens of inhabitants were shot in the capital by soldiers and Tontons Macoutes. Fraudulent elections followed. The elected President, Leslie Manigat, was overthrown some months later in the June 1988 Haitian coup d'état. The September 1988 Haitian coup d'état, which followed the St Jean Bosco massacre, revealed the increasing prominence of former Tontons Macoutes. General Prosper Avril led a military regime until March 1990.
In December 1990, a former Catholic priest, Jean-Bertrand Aristide was elected President in the Haitian general election. In September of the following year, Aristide was overthrown by the military in the 1991 Haitian coup d'état. In 1994, an American team negotiated the departure of Haiti's military leaders and the peaceful entry of US forces under Operation Uphold Democracy. This enabled the restoration of the democratically elected Jean-Bertrand Aristide as president.[88] In October 1994, Aristide returned to Haiti to complete his term in office.[89] Aristide vacated the presidency in February 1996. In the 1995 election, René Préval was elected as president for a five-year term, winning 88% of the popular vote.
In November 1994, Hurricane Gordon brushed Haiti, dumping heavy rain and creating flash flooding that triggered mudslides. Gordon killed an estimated 1,122 people, although some estimates go as high as 2,200.[90][91]
21st century
The November 2000 election returned Aristide to the presidency with 92% of the vote.[92] The election had been boycotted by the opposition, then organized into the Convergence Démocratique, over a dispute in the May legislative elections. In subsequent years, there was increasing violence and human rights abuses. Aristide supporters attacked the opposition.[93] Aristide spent years negotiating with the Convergence Démocratique on new elections, but the Convergence's inability to develop a sufficient electoral base made elections unattractive.
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/ce/Haitian_national_palace_earthquake.jpg/300px-Haitian_national_palace_earthquake.jpg)
In 2004, a revolt began in northern Haiti. The rebellion eventually reached the capital; and Aristide was forced into exile, whereupon the United Nations stationed peacekeepers in Haiti. Some including Aristide and his bodyguard, Franz Gabriel, stated that he was the victim of a "new coup d'état or modern kidnapping" by U.S. forces. Mrs. Aristide stated that the kidnappers wore US Special Forces uniforms, but changed into civilian clothes upon boarding the aircraft that was used to remove Aristide from Haiti.[94][95] The United Nations Stabilisation Mission (MINUSTAH) was establishing after the 2004 coup d'état and remains in the country to the present day.
Boniface Alexandre assumed interim authority. René Préval was elected President in February 2006, following elections marked by uncertainties and popular demonstrations. The United States led an international campaign to prevent Aristide from returning to his country while he was exiled in South Africa. Released Wikileaks cables show that high-level US and UN officials coordinated activity against Aristide to prevent him from "gaining more traction with the Haitian population and returning to Haiti." The United States and its allies allegedly poured tens of millions of dollars into unsuccessful efforts to slander Aristide as a drug trafficker, human rights violator, and heretical practitioner of Vodou.[96]
In 2004, Tropical Storm Jeanne skimmed the north coast of Haiti, leaving 3,006 people dead in flooding and mudslides, mostly in the city of Gonaïves.[97] In 2008 Haiti was again struck by tropical storms; Tropical Storm Fay, Hurricane Gustav, Hurricane Hanna and Hurricane Ike all produced heavy winds and rain. There were 331 dead and about 800,000 in need of humanitarian aid.[98] The state of affairs produced by these storms was intensified by already high food and fuel prices that had caused a food crisis and political unrest in April 2008.[99]
On 12 January 2010, at 4:53pm local time, Haiti was struck by a magnitude-7.0 earthquake. This was the country's most severe earthquake in over 200 years.[100] The 2010 Haiti earthquake was reported to have left up to 316,000 people dead and 1.6 million homeless,[101] though later reports found these numbers to have been grossly inflated, and put the death toll between 46,000 and 85,000.[102] The country has yet to recover from the 2010 earthquake and a subsequent and massive Haiti cholera outbreak that was triggered when cholera-infected waste from a MINUSTAH peacekeeping station contaminated the country's main river, the Artibonite.[103] The country has yet to fully recover, due to both the severity of the damage Haiti endured in 2010, as well as a government that was ineffective well before the earthquake.[104]
General elections had been planned for January 2010, but were postponed due to the earthquake. The elections were held on 28 November 2010 for the senate, the parliament and the first round of the presidential elections. The run-off between Michel Martelly and Mirlande Manigat took place on 20 March 2011, and preliminary results, released on 4 April, named Michel Martelly the winner.[105] On 7 February 2016, Michel Martelly stepped down as president without a successor, but only after a deal was reached for a provisional government and leaving Prime Minister Evans Paul in power "until an interim president is chosen by both chambers of Parliament."[106]
In 2013, Haiti called for European nations to pay reparations for slavery and establish an official commission for the settlement of past wrong-doings. Attempting to sidestep the difficulty of evaluating the impact of the past in the present, the Economist wrote, "Any assistance to the region should be carefully targeted; and should surely stem from today's needs, not the wrongs of the past." [107] The topic, however, has more than a passing reference for a country that, as Lord Anthony Gifford wrote, "was forced to pay compensation to the government of France."[108]
On 4 October 2016, Hurricane Matthew made landfall near Les Anglais, making it the worst hurricane to strike the nation since Hurricane Cleo in 1964.
Geography
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/99/Haiti_topographic_map-fr.svg/600px-Haiti_topographic_map-fr.svg.png)
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b1/Labadee%2C_Haiti_from_Freedom_of_the_Seas_%2813107276383%29_%282%29.jpg/438px-Labadee%2C_Haiti_from_Freedom_of_the_Seas_%2813107276383%29_%282%29.jpg)
Haiti is on the western part of Hispaniola, the second largest island in the Greater Antilles. Haiti is the third largest country in the Caribbean behind Cuba and the Dominican Republic (the latter shares a 360-kilometre (224 mi) border with Haiti). Haiti at its closest point is about 45 nautical miles (83 km; 52 mi) away from Cuba and comprises the horseshoe-shape peninsula and because of this, it has a disproportionately long coastline and is second in length (1,771 km or 1,100 mi) in the Greater Antilles. Cuba has the longest.[109][110]
Haiti's terrain consists mainly of rugged mountains interspersed with small coastal plains and river valleys. The climate is tropical, with some variation depending on altitude. Haiti is the most mountainous nation in the Caribbean and its highest point is Pic la Selle, at 2,680 metres (8,793 ft).[12]
The northern region consists of the Massif du Nord (Northern Massif) and the Plaine du Nord (Northern Plain). The Massif du Nord is an extension of the Cordillera Central in the Dominican Republic. It begins at Haiti's eastern border, north of the Guayamouc River, and extends to the northwest through the northern peninsula. The lowlands of the Plaine du Nord lie along the northern border with the Dominican Republic, between the Massif du Nord and the North Atlantic Ocean.
The central region consists of two plains and two sets of mountain ranges. The Plateau Central (Central Plateau) extends along both sides of the Guayamouc River, south of the Massif du Nord. It runs from the southeast to the northwest. To the southwest of the Plateau Central are the Montagnes Noires, whose most northwestern part merges with the Massif du Nord. Its westernmost point is known as Cap Carcasse.
The southern region consists of the Plaine du Cul-de-Sac (the southeast) and the mountainous southern peninsula (also known as the Tiburon Peninsula). The Plaine du Cul-de-Sac is a natural depression that harbors the country's saline lakes, such as Trou Caïman and Haiti's largest lake, Étang Saumatre. The Chaîne de la Selle mountain range – an extension of the southern mountain chain of the Dominican Republic (the Sierra de Baoruco) – extends from the Massif de la Selle in the east to the Massif de la Hotte in the west. This mountain range harbors Pic la Selle, the highest point in Haiti at 2,680 metres (8,793 ft).[111][failed verification]
Haiti's most important valley in terms of crops is the Plaine de l'Artibonite, which is oriented south of the Montagnes Noires. This region supports the country's (also Hispaniola's) longest river, the Riviere l'Artibonite, which begins in the western region of the Dominican Republic and continues most of its length through central Haiti and onward where it empties into the Golfe de la Gonâve. The eastern and central region of the island is a large elevated plateau.
Haiti also includes various offshore islands. The island of Tortuga (Île de la Tortue) is located off the coast of northern Haiti. The arrondissement of La Gonâve is located on the island of the same name, in the Golfe de la Gonâve. Gonâve Island is moderately populated by rural villagers. Île à Vache (Cow Island), a lush island with many beautiful sights, is located off the tip of southwestern Haiti. Also part of Haiti are the Cayemites and Île d' Anacaona. La Navasse located 40 nautical miles (46 mi; 74 km) west of Jérémie on the south west peninsula of Haiti,[112] is subject to an ongoing territorial dispute with the United States.
Climate
Haiti's climate is tropical with some variation depending on altitude. Port-au-Prince ranges in January from an average minimum of 23 °C (73.4 °F) to an average maximum of 31 °C (87.8 °F); in July, from 25–35 °C (77–95 °F). The rainfall pattern is varied, with rain heavier in some of the lowlands and the northern and eastern slopes of the mountains. Haiti's dry season occurs from November to January.
Port-au-Prince receives an average annual rainfall of 1,370 mm (53.9 in). There are two rainy seasons, April–June and October–November. Haiti is subject to periodic droughts and floods, made more severe by deforestation. Hurricanes are also a menace. In summary, Haiti is generally a hot and humid tropical climate.
Geology
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/86/Haiti_relief_location_map.jpg/350px-Haiti_relief_location_map.jpg)
There are blind thrust faults associated with the Enriquillo-Plantain Garden fault system over which Haiti lies.[113] After the earthquake of 2010, there was no evidence of surface rupture and based on seismological, geological and ground deformation data.[114]
The northern boundary of the fault is where the Caribbean tectonic plate shifts eastwards by about 20 mm (0.79 inches) per year in relation to the North American plate. The strike-slip fault system in the region has two branches in Haiti, the Septentrional-Oriente fault in the north and the Enriquillo-Plantain Garden fault in the south.
A 2007 earthquake hazard study, noted that the Enriquillo-Plantain Garden fault zone could be at the end of its seismic cycle and concluded that a worst-case forecast would involve a 7.2 Mw earthquake, similar in size to the 1692 Jamaica earthquake.[115] A study team presented a hazard assessment of the Enriquillo-Plantain Garden fault system to the 18th Caribbean Geologic Conference in March 2008, noting the large strain. The team recommended "high priority" historical geologic rupture studies, as the fault was fully locked and had recorded few earthquakes in the preceding 40 years.[116] An article published in Haiti's Le Matin newspaper in September 2008 cited comments by geologist Patrick Charles to the effect that there was a high risk of major seismic activity in Port-au-Prince.[117]
Haiti also has rare elements such as Gold, which can be found at The Mont Organisé gold mine.[118]
Environment
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/15/Haiti_deforestation.jpg/300px-Haiti_deforestation.jpg)
The soil erosion and deforestation have caused periodic and severe flooding in Haiti, as experienced, for example, on 17 September 2004. Earlier in May that year, floods had killed over 3,000 people on Haiti's southern border with the Dominican Republic.[119]
There has been little marine, coastal, and river basin management. Forest cover in the steep hills surrounds Haiti's river basin retains soil, which in turn retains water from rainfall, reducing river flood peaks and conserving flows in the dry season. Haiti's forests covered 60 percent of the country as recently as fifty years ago, but today less than one percent of Haiti remains forested.[120]
Deforestation has resulted in much of the soil being released from the upper catchments. Many of Haiti's rivers are now highly unstable, changing rapidly from destructive flooding to inadequate flows.[121] Scientists at the Columbia University's Center for International Earth Science Information Network (CIESIN) and the United Nations Environment Programme are working on the Haiti Regenerative Initiative an initiative aiming to reduce poverty and natural disaster vulnerability in Haiti through ecosystem restoration and sustainable resource management.
Flora
In 1925[citation needed], Haiti was lush, with 60% of its original forest covering the lands and mountainous regions. In 1988 only 2% percent of land had tree cover. Haiti's residents have cut down forest cover for use as firewood, destroying soils and contributing to desertification and droughts.[122]
Government and politics
The government of Haiti is a semi-presidential republic, a multiparty system wherein the President of Haiti is head of state elected directly by popular elections.[123] The Prime Minister acts as head of government and is appointed by the President, chosen from the majority party in the National Assembly. Executive power is exercised by the President and Prime Minister who together constitute the government. In 2013, the annual budget was US$1 billion.[124]
Legislative power is vested in both the government and the two chambers of the National Assembly of Haiti. The government is organized unitarily, thus the central government delegates powers to the departments without a constitutional need for consent. The current structure of Haiti's political system was set forth in the Constitution of Haiti on 29 March 1987.
Haitian politics have been contentious: since independence, Haiti has suffered 32 coups.[125] Haiti is the only country in the Western Hemisphere to undergo a successful slave revolution, but a long history of oppression by dictators – including François Duvalier and his son Jean-Claude Duvalier – has markedly affected the nation. France, the United States and other Western countries have repeatedly intervened in Haitian politics since the country's founding, sometimes at the request of one party or another. Along with international financial institutions, they have imposed large quantities of debt – so much that foreign debt payments have rivaled the available government budget for social sector spending. There have been criticisms of financial institutions for enforcing trade policies on Haiti that are considered by some to be detrimental to local industry.[126]
According to a Corruption Perceptions Index report in 2006, there is a strong correlation between corruption and poverty and Haiti ranked first of all countries surveyed for of levels of perceived domestic corruption.[127] The International Red Cross reports that seven out of ten Haitians live on less than US$2 a day, however, stated below "such statistical estimations should be looked upon very skeptically because of the fact that the average Haitian and Haitian family has to and does spend a lot more than that daily. The disconnect likely lies in the fact that these are estimates based on surveys conducted by asking individuals what their incomes are; in the Haitian culture it is very unlikely that one will receive a truthful and accurate answer to such a personal question. For various reasons individuals will not tell the truth on such a private matter. For some it is because "it's none of your business," for others, they will simply exaggerate their poor situation in hopes that some type of financial aide will be gained or rendered to them".[128]
Cité Soleil in Port-au-Prince, one of the biggest slums in the Northern Hemisphere, has been called "the most dangerous place on Earth" by the United Nations.[129] Many residents are supporters of former Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide,[130] who, according to the BBC, "accused the US of forcing him out – an accusation the US rejected as 'absurd'".[131]
Jean-Bertrand Aristide was initially denied access to Haiti by Haitian immigration authorities, despite issuing appeals for entrance to his supporters and international observers. The world's most prominent governments did not overtly oppose such appeals, nor did they support them; an unnamed analyst "close to the Haitian government" quoted in several media sources – including The New York Times – is reported to have said: "Aristide could have 15 passports and he's still not going to come back to Haiti ... France and the United States are standing in the way." However, Aristide finally returned to Haiti on 18 March 2011, days before the 2011 presidential election.[132]
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f3/U.S._Marines_in_Bel_Air%2C_Haiti%2C_2004.jpg/220px-U.S._Marines_in_Bel_Air%2C_Haiti%2C_2004.jpg)
The first round of the 2010 general election was held in December. Mirlande Manigat and Jude Celestin qualified for the second round of the presidential election, but its results were contested. Some people said that the first round was a fraud and that Michel Martelly should replace Jude Celestin, René Préval's chosen successor. There was some violence between the contending parties.[133] On 4 April 2011, the Provisional Electoral Council announced preliminary results indicating that Martelly had won the presidential election.[134]
After the U.S. funded $33 million[135] to legislative and presidential elections in August and October 2015, a special verification panel - implemented by interim President Joceleme Privert - declared the results "tainted by significant fraud".[136] Jovenel Moïse, the supposed winner of the October 25, 2015 election, had been had-picked by former President Michel Martelly. The month-long examination in May 2016 was created after the elections were condemned as fraudulent to restore credibility to the process.[137] The commission recommended completely redoing the vote after auditing a random sample of about 13,000 ballots.[136]
In February 2012, Haiti signaled it would seek to upgrade its observer status to full associate member status of the African Union (AU).[138] At its next summit in June 2013, the AU plans to upgrade Haiti's status from observer to associate.[139]
In 2010, the Haitian National Police force numbered 7,000.[140] The legal system for torts is based on a version of the Napoleonic Code.[141]
The Institute for the Protection of National Heritage has preserved 33 historical monuments and the historic center of Cap-Haïtien.[142]
Cabinet
The executive function is divided into ministries, each led by a Minister appointed by the Prime Minister and confirmed by Parliament:[143][144][145]
Ministry | Minister | Address |
---|---|---|
Ministry of Planning and External Cooperation | Yves Germain Joseph | 347, Ave John Brown (Bourdon), Port-au-Prince, Haiti |
Ministry of the Environment | Jean-Marie Claude Germain | Delmas 31, Rue Jacques 1 # 11, Port-au-Prince, Haiti |
Ministry of Defense, Foreign Affairs and Worship | Lener Renauld | Port-au-Prince, Haiti |
Ministry of Commerce and Industry | Hervey Day | 6 Rue Legitimate, Port-au-Prince, Haiti HT-00116 |
Ministry of Education and Professionals | Nesmy Manigat | 5, Ave Jean-Paul II, Port-au-Prince, Haiti |
Ministry of Economy and Finance | Marie Carmelle Jean-Marie | 22 Avenue Charles Summer, Port-au-Prince, Haiti |
Ministry of Justice and Public Security | Pierre Richard Casmir | 19 Charles Sumner Avenue, Port-au-Prince, Hait |
Ministry of Communication | Rotchild François Jr. | Port-au-Prince, Haiti |
Ministry of Tourism | Stéphanie Villedrouin | 8, Rue Legitimate (Champs-de-Mars), Port-au-Prince, Haiti |
Ministry of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Rural Development | Fresner Dorcin | Route Nationale No. 1, Damien, Port-au-Prince, Haiti |
Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor | Victor Benoit | |
Ministry of Interior and Territorial Communities | Ariel Henry | Palais des Ministeres, Champs de Mars, Port-au-Prince, Haiti |
Ministry of Health | Florence Duperval Guillaume | 111, Rue Saint-Honore, Port-au-Prince, Haiti |
Ministry of Foreign Affairs | Duly Brutus | Boulevard Harry Truman, Cité de l'Exposition, Port-au-Prince, Haiti |
Ministry of Public Works, Transport and Communications (Haiti) | Jacques Rousseau | Palais des Ministeres, Rue Monseigneur Guilloux, B.P. 2002, Port-au-Prince, Haiti |
Ministry of The Youth & of Sports | Jimmy Albert | Port-au-Prince, Haiti |
Ministry of Culture | Dithny Joan Raton | Port-au-Prince, Haiti |
Ministry of the Feminine Condition & the rights of Women | Yves Rose Morquette | Port-au-Prince, Haiti |
Ministry of Haitians Living as Foreigners | Robert Labrousse | Rue Prosper No. 8, Bourdon, Musseau, Port-au-Prince, Haiti, HT6140 |
Minister Delegated to the Prime Minister in charge of social programs and projects of the Government | Edouard Jules | Port-au-Prince, Haiti |
Military
Haiti's Ministry of Defense is the main body of their armed forces.[146] The former Haitian Armed Forces were demobilized in 1995, however, efforts to reconstitute it are currently underway.[147] The current defense force for Haiti is the Haitian National Police, which has a highly trained SWAT team, and works alongside the Haitian Coast Guard.
Law enforcement and crime
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/3b/Fiat_Siena_DDO_--_08-11-06.jpg/220px-Fiat_Siena_DDO_--_08-11-06.jpg)
Haiti has consistently ranked among the most corrupt countries in the world on the Corruption Perceptions Index.[149] It is estimated that President "Baby Doc" Duvalier, his wife Michelle, and their agents stole US $504 million from the country's treasury between 1971 and 1986.[150]
Similarly, some media outlets alleged that millions were stolen by former president Jean-Bertrand Aristide.[151][152][153][154] In March 2004, at the time of Aristide's being kidnapped, a BBC article wrote that the Bush administration State Department stated that Aristide had been involved in drug trafficking.[155] The BBC also described pyramid schemes, in which Haitians lost hundreds of millions in 2002, as the "only real economic initiative" of the Aristide years.[156]
Conversely, according to the 2013 United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) report, murder rates in Haiti (10.2 per 100,000) are far below the regional average (26 per 100,000); less than ¼ that of Jamaica (39.3 per 100,000) and nearly ½ that of the Dominican Republic (22.1 per 100,000), making it among the safer countries in the region.[157][158] In large part, this is due to the country's ability to fulfill a pledge by increasing its national police yearly by 50%, a four-year initiative that was started in 2012. In addition to the yearly recruits, the Haitian National Police (HNP) has been using innovative technologies to crackdown on crime. A notable bust in recent years, led to the dismantlement of the largest kidnapping ring in the country with the use of an advanced software program developed by a Westpoint-trained Haitian official that proved to be so effective that it has led to its foreign advisers to make inquiries.[159][160]
In 2010, the New York City Police Department (NYPD) has sent a team of veteran officers to Haiti to assist in the rebuilding of its police force with special training in investigative techniques, strategies to improve the anti-kidnapping personnel and community outreach to build stronger relationships with the public especially among the youth. It has also helped the HNP set up a police unit in the center of Delmas, a neighborhood of Port-au-Prince.[161][162][163]
In 2012 and 2013, 150 HNP officers received specialized training funded by the US government, which also contributed to the infrastructure and communications support by upgrading radio capacity and constructing new police stations from the most violent-prone neighborhoods of Cité Soleil and Grande Ravine in Port-au-Prince to the new northern industrial park at Caracol.[163]
Administrative divisions
Administratively, Haiti is divided into ten departments. The departments are listed below, with the departmental capital cities in parentheses.
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/11/Haiti%2C_administrative_divisions_-_Nmbrs_-_colored.svg/300px-Haiti%2C_administrative_divisions_-_Nmbrs_-_colored.svg.png)
- Nord-Ouest (Port-de-Paix)
- Nord (Cap-Haïtien)
- Nord-Est (Fort-Liberté)
- Artibonite (Gonaïves)
- Centre (Hinche)
- Ouest (Port-au-Prince)
- Grand'Anse (Jérémie)
- Nippes (Miragoâne)
- Sud (Les Cayes)
- Sud-Est (Jacmel)
The departments are further divided into 42 arrondissements, 145 communes and 571 communal sections. These serve as, respectively, second- and third-level administrative divisions.[164][165][166]
Economy
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/bb/Haiti_Export_Treemap.jpg/350px-Haiti_Export_Treemap.jpg)
Haiti's purchasing power parity GDP fell 8% in 2010 (from US$12.15 billion to US$11.18 billion) and the GDP per capita remained unchanged at PPP US$1,200.[2] Despite having a viable tourist industry, Haiti is one of the world's poorest countries and the poorest in the Americas region, with poverty, corruption, poor infrastructure, lack of health care and lack of education cited as the main sources. The economy receded due to the 2010 earthquake and subsequent outbreak of Cholera. Haiti ranked 145 of 182 countries in the 2010 United Nations Human Development Index, with 57.3% of the population being deprived in at least three of the HDI's poverty measures.[167]
Following the disputed 2000 election and accusations about President Aristide's rule,[168] US aid to the Haitian government was cut off between 2001 and 2004.[169] After Aristide's departure in 2004, aid was restored and the Brazilian army led a United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti peacekeeping operation. After almost four years of recession, the economy grew by 1.5% in 2005.[170] In September 2009, Haiti met the conditions set out by the IMF and World Bank's Heavily Indebted Poor Countries program to qualify for cancellation of its external debt.[171]
More than 90 percent of the government’s budget comes from an agreement with Petrocaribe, a Venezuela-led oil alliance.[172]
Foreign aid
Foreign aid is indispensable to Haiti. Haiti received more than US$4 billion in aid from 1990 to 2003, including US$1.5 billion from the United States.[173]
The largest donor is the US, followed by Canada and the European Union.[174] In January 2010, following the earthquake, US President Barack Obama promised US$1.15 billion in assistance.[175] European Union nations pledged more than €400 million (US$616 million).[176]
Neighboring Dominican Republic has also provided extensive humanitarian aid to Haiti, including the funding and construction of a public university,[177] human capital, free healthcare services in the border region, and logistical support after the 2010 earthquake.[178]
According to the UN Office of the Special Envoy for Haiti, as of March 2012, of Humanitarian funding committed or disbursed by bilateral and multilateral donors in 2010 and 2011, only 1% has been pledged to the Haitian Government[179]
According to the 2013 CIA World Factbook, the 2010 Haiti earthquake inflicted an estimated US$7.8 billion in damage and caused the country's GDP to contract.[180]
The United Nations states that in total US$13.34 billion has been earmarked for the crisis through 2020, though two years after the 2010 quake, less than half of that amount had actually been released, according to UN documents. As of 2015[update], the US government has allocated US$4 billion; US$3 billion has already been spent, and the rest is dedicated to longer-term projects.[181]
Former US President Bill Clinton's foundation contributed US$250,000 to a recycling initiative for a sister-program of "Ranmase Lajan" or "Picking Up Money" by use of reverse vending machines.[182]
Trade
According to the 2015 CIA World Factbook, Haiti's main import partners are: Dominican Republic 35%, US 26.8%, Netherlands Antilles 8.7%, China 7% (est. 2013). Haiti's main export partner is the US 83.5% (est. 2013).[183]
Haiti had a trade deficit of US$3 billion in 2011, or 41% of GDP.[184]
Energy
Haiti relies heavily on an oil alliance with Petrocaribe for much of its energy requirements. In recent years, hydroelectric, solar and wind energy have been explored as possible sustainable energy sources.[185]
Personal income
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c8/CapHaitienMarche.jpg/300px-CapHaitienMarche.jpg)
The World Factbook reports a shortage of skilled labor, widespread unemployment and underemployment, saying "more than two-thirds of the labor force do not have formal jobs." It is also often stated that three-quarters of the population lives on US$2 or less per day.[citation needed] Such statistical estimations could be viewed with skepticism because the average Haitian and Haitian family spends more than that daily.[citation needed]
The World Factbook also states that "remittances are the primary source of foreign exchange, equaling one-fifth (20%) of GDP and representing more than five times the earnings from exports in 2012".[186] This implies that remittances are the life-blood of the Haitian economy.
The World Bank estimates that over 80% of college graduates from Haiti were living abroad in 2004.[187]
Haiti continues to exhibit the greatest income inequality in the continent, and is one of the most unequal countries in the world. The richest 20% of households earn 64% of the country’s total income, while the poorest 20% makes do with just 1%.[188]
Between 2000 and 2012, the percentage of people living in extreme poverty – with one dollar or less a day – dropped from 31% to 24% at the national level, and from 20% to 5% in Port-au-Prince. More than 200,000 people have climbed out of poverty. There is a growing gap between Port-au-Prince and the rest of the country. More than 80% of those living in extreme poverty do so in rural areas. Families in the north and southwest of the country work hard to grow food, but they fail to earn enough. Extreme climatic events, lack of fertilizers, pesticides and seeds, and limited market access are just some of the impediments they face.[188]
Haiti's economy was severely impacted by the 2010 Haiti earthquake which occurred on 12 January 2010, killing over 300,000 and displacing 1.5 million residents.[189]
Real estate
In rural areas, people often live in wooden huts with corrugated iron roofs. Outhouses are located in back of the huts. In Port-au-Prince, colorful shantytowns surround the central city and go up the mountainsides.[190]
The middle and upper classes live in Suburbs, or in the central part of the bigger cities in apartments, where there is urban planning. Many of the houses they live in are like miniature fortresses, located behind walls embedded with metal spikes, barbed wire, broken glass, and sometimes all three. The gates to these houses are barred at night, the house is locked; guard dogs patrol the yard. These houses are often self-sufficient as well. The houses have backup generators, because the electrical grid in Haiti is unreliable. Some even have rooftop reservoirs for water, as the water supply is also unreliable.[190]
Agriculture
Haiti is the world's leading producer of vetiver, a root plant used to make luxury perfumes, essential oils and fragrances, providing for half the world's supply.[191][192][193] Half of all Haitians work in the agricultural sector.[194] Haiti relies upon imports for half its food needs and 80% of its rice.[194]
Haiti exports crops such as mangoes, cacao, coffee, papayas, mahogany nuts, spinach, and watercress.[195] Agricultural products comprise 6% of all exports.[184] In addition, local agricultural products include corn, beans, cassava, sweet potato, peanuts, pistachios, bananas, millet, pigeon peas, sugarcane, rice, sorghum, and wood.[195][196]
Currency
The Haitian gourde (HTG) is the national currency. The "Haitian dollar" equates to 5 gourdes (goud), which is a fixed exchange rate that exists in concept only, but are commonly used as informal prices.
The vast majority of the business sector and individuals in Haiti will also accept US dollars, though at the outdoor markets gourdes may be preferred. Locals may refer to the USD as "dollar américain" (dola ameriken) or "dollar US" (pronounced oos).[197]
Tourism
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f0/Labadee.jpg/300px-Labadee.jpg)
In 2014, the country received 1,250,000 tourists (mostly from cruise ships), and the industry generated US$200 million in 2014.[124] In December 2014, the US State Department issued a travel warning about the country, noting that while thousands of American citizens safely visit Haiti each year, a few foreign tourists had been victims of burglary, predominantly in the Port-au-Prince area.[198]
Several hotels were opened in 2014, including an upscale Best Western Premier,[199][200] a five-star Royal Oasis hotel by Occidental Hotel and Resorts in Pétionville,[201] a four-star Marriott hotel in the Turgeau area of Port-au-Prince[202] and other new hotel developments in Port-au-Prince, Les Cayes, Cap-Haïtien and Jacmel.[citation needed] Other tourist destinations include Île-à-Vache, Camp-Perrin, Pic Macaya.[citation needed]
The Haitian Carnival has been one of the most popular carnivals in the Caribbean. In 2010, the government decided to stage the event in a different city outside Port-au-Prince every year in an attempt to decentralize the country.[203][204] The National Carnival – usually held in one of the country's largest cities (i.e., Port-au-Prince, Cap-Haïtien or Les Cayes) – follows the also very popular Jacmel Carnival, which takes place a week earlier in February or March.[203]
Caracol Industrial Park
On 21 October 2012, Haitian President Michel Martelly, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Bill Clinton, Richard Branson, Ben Stiller and Sean Penn inaugurated the 600 acres (240 ha) Caracol industrial park, the largest in the Caribbean.[205] Costing US$300 million, the project, which includes a 10-megawatt power plant, a water-treatment plant and worker housing, is intended to transform the northern part of the country by creating 65,000 jobs.[205]
The park is part of a "master plan" for Haiti's North and North-East departments, including the expansion of the Cap-Haitien International Airport to accommodate large international flights, the construction of an international Seaport in Fort-Liberté and the opening of the $50 million Roi Henri Christophe Campus of a new university in Limonade (near Cap-Haitien) on 12 January 2012.[206]
South Korean clothing manufacturer Sae-A Trading Co. Ltd, one of the park's main tenants, has created 5,000 permanent jobs out of the 20,000 projected and has built 8,600 houses in the surrounding area for its workers. The industrial park ultimately has the potential to create as many as 65,000 jobs once fully developed.[207][208]
Infrastructure
Transportation
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/0b/Haiti_rail_map_1925.jpg/300px-Haiti_rail_map_1925.jpg)
Haiti has two main highways that run from one end of the country to the other. The northern highway, Route Nationale No. 1 (National Highway One), originates in Port-au-Prince, winding through the coastal towns of Montrouis and Gonaïves, before reaching its terminus at the northern port Cap-Haïtien. The southern highway, Route Nationale No. 2, links Port-au-Prince with Les Cayes via Léogâne and Petit-Goâve.
According to the Washington Post, "Officials from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said Saturday [23 January 2010] that they assessed the damage from the [12 January] quake in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, and found that many of the roads aren't any worse than they were before because they've always been in poor condition."[209]
The port at Port-au-Prince, Port international de Port-au-Prince, has more registered shipping than any of the other dozen ports in the country. The port's facilities include cranes, large berths, and warehouses, but these facilities are not in good condition. The port is underused, possibly due to the substantially high port fees. The port of Saint-Marc is currently the preferred port of entry for consumer goods coming into Haiti. Reasons for this may include its location away from volatile and congested Port-au-Prince, as well as its central location relative to numerous Haitian cities.
During the 2010 earthquake, the Port-au-Prince port suffered widespread damage, impeding aid to the victims. The main pier caved in and fell into the water. One of the main cranes also collapsed in the water. Port access roads were severely damaged as well.
In the past, Haiti used rail transport, however the rail infrastructure was poorly maintained when in use and cost of rehabilitation is beyond the means of the Haitian economy.
Airports
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/af/Toussaint_Louverture_International_Airport.jpg/220px-Toussaint_Louverture_International_Airport.jpg)
Toussaint Louverture International Airport is located 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) North/North East of Port-au-Prince. It has Haiti's main jetway, and along with Hugo Chavez International Airport located near Cap-Haïtien, handles the vast majority of the country's international flights. To travel on from the international airport at Port-au-Prince to other Haitian cities requires boarding a smaller plane. Cities such as Jacmel, Jérémie, Les Cayes, and Port-de-Paix have airports that are accessible by smaller aircraft. Companies that fly to these airports include: Caribintair, Sunrise Airways and Tortug' Air.
In 2013, plans for the development of an international airport on Île-à-Vache were introduced by the Prime Minister.[210]
Bus service
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/33/Tap_tap_public_transportation_Haiti.jpg/220px-Tap_tap_public_transportation_Haiti.jpg)
Tap tap buses are colorfully painted buses or pick-up trucks that serve as share taxis. The "tap tap" name comes from the sound of passengers tapping on the metal bus body to indicate they want off.[211] These vehicles for hire are often privately owned and extensively decorated. They follow fixed routes, do not leave until filled with passengers, and riders can usually disembark at any point. The decorations are a typically Haitian form of art.[212]
In August 2013, the first coach bus prototype was made in Haiti.[213]
Communications
In Haiti, communications include the radio, television, fixed and mobile telephones, and the Internet. Haiti ranked last among North American countries in the World Economic Forum's Network Readiness Index (NRI) – an indicator for determining the development level of a country's information and communication technologies. Haiti ranked number 143 out of 148 overall in the 2014 NRI ranking, down from 141 in 2013.[214]
Water supply and sanitation
Haiti faces key challenges in the water supply and sanitation sector: Notably, access to public services is very low, their quality is inadequate and public institutions remain very weak despite foreign aid and the government's declared intent to strengthen the sector's institutions. Foreign and Haitian NGOs play an important role in the sector, especially in rural and urban slum areas.
Demographics
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/8e/Haiti-demographie.png/450px-Haiti-demographie.png)
Haiti's population was about 10.1 million according to UN 2011 estimates,[215] with half of the population younger than age 20.[216] In 1950 the first formal census gave a total population of 3.1 million.[217] Haiti averages approximately 350 people per square kilometer (~900 per sq mi.), with its population is concentrated most heavily in urban areas, coastal plains, and valleys.
Most modern Haitians are descendants of former black African slaves, including Mulattoes who are of multiracial admixture. The remainder are of European descent and Arab Haitians,[218][219] the descendants of settlers (colonial remnants and contemporary immigration during WWI and WWII). Haitians of East Asian descent or East Indian origin number approximately 400+.
Millions of Haitians live abroad in the United States, Dominican Republic, Cuba, Canada (primarily Montreal), Bahamas, France, French Antilles, the Turks and Caicos, Jamaica, Puerto Rico, Venezuela, Brazil and French Guiana. There are an estimated 881,500 in the United States,[220] 800,000 in the Dominican Republic,[221] 300,000 in Cuba,[222] 100,000 in Canada,[223] 80,000 in France,[224] and up to 80,000 in the Bahamas.[225] But there are also smaller Haitian communities in many other countries, including Chile, Switzerland, Japan and Australia.
In 2015, the life expectancy at birth was 63 years.[226]
Population genetics
Autosomal DNA
The gene pool of Haiti is about 95.5% Sub-Saharan African, 4.3% European, with the rest showing some traces of East Asian genes;[227] according to a 2010 autosomal genealogical DNA testing.
Y-chromosome and Mitochondrial DNA
This section needs expansion with: information about Human mitochondrial DNA haplogroups, which assesses the DNA inherited by matriline. You can help by adding to it. (June 2015) |
A 2012 genetic study on Haitian and Jamaican Y-chromosomal ancestry, has revealed that both populations "exhibit a predominantly Sub-Saharan paternal component, with haplogroups A1b-V152, A3-M32, B2-M182, E1a-M33, E1b1a-M2, E2b-M98, and R1b2-V88" comprising (77.2%) of the Haitian and (66.7%) of Jamaican paternal gene pools.[228] Y Chromosomes indicative of European ancestry "(i.e., haplogroups G2a*-P15, I-M258, R1b1b-M269, and T-M184) were detected at commensurate levels in Haiti (20.3%) and Jamaica (18.9%)".[228] This corresponds to approximately 1 in every 5 Paternal ancestors, hailing from Europe. While, Y-haplogroups indicative of Chinese O-M175 (3.8%) and Indian H-M69 (0.6%) and L-M20 (0.6%) ancestry were found at significant levels in Jamaica,[228] Levantine Y-haplogroups were found in Haiti.
Duffy antigens
According to a 2008 study examining the frequency of the Duffy antigen receptor for Chemokines (DARC) Single Nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), (75%) of Haitian women sampled exhibited the CC genotype (absent among women of European ancestry) at levels comparable to US African-Americans (73%), but more than Jamaican females (63%).[229][230]
Casta discrimination
Due to the racial caste system instituted in colonial Haiti, Haitian mulattoes became the nation's social elite and racially privileged. Numerous leaders throughout Haiti's history have been mulattoes. Comprising 5% of the nation's population, mulattoes have retained their preeminence, evident in the political, economic, social and cultural hierarchy in Haiti.[231] Alexandre Pétion, born to a Haitian mother and a wealthy French father, was the first President of the Republic of Haiti.
Religion
The 2015 CIA Factbook, reported that around 80% of Haitians profess to being Catholics while Protestants made up about 16% of the population (Baptist 10%, Pentecostal 4%, Adventist 1%, other 1%). Other sources put the Protestant population higher than this, suggesting that it might have formed one-third of the population in 2001.[232] Haitian Cardinal Chibly Langlois is president of the National Bishops Conference of the Catholic Church.
Vodou, a religion with African roots similar to those of Cuba and Brazil, originated during colonial times in which slaves were obliged to disguise their loa or spirits as Roman Catholic saints, an element of a process called syncretism and is still practiced by some Haitians today. Since the religious syncretism between Catholicism and Vodou, it is difficult to estimate the number of Vodouists in Haiti.[233][234]
Minority religions in Haiti include Islam, Bahá'í Faith, Judaism, and Buddhism.[2]
Languages
The two official languages of Haiti are French and Haitian Creole. French is the principal written and administratively authorized language (as well as the main language of the press) and is spoken by 42% of Haitians.[235][236] It is spoken by all educated Haitians, is the medium of instruction in most schools, and is used in the business sector. It is also used in ceremonial events such as weddings, graduations and church masses.
Haiti is one of two independent nations in the Americas (along with Canada) to designate French as an official language; the other French-speaking areas are all overseas départements, or collectivités, of France. Haitian Creole,[237] which has recently undergone a standardization, is spoken by virtually the entire population of Haiti.[238] Haitian Creole is one of the French-based creole languages. Its vocabulary is 90% derived from French, but its grammar and influences are from some West African, Taino, Spanish, and Portuguese languages.[239] Haitian Creole is related to the other French creoles, but most closely to Antillean Creole and Louisiana Creole variants.
Emigration
Emigrants from Haiti have constituted a segment of American and Canadian society since before the independence of Haiti from France in 1804.[240][241]
Haiti's proximity to the United States, and its status as a free black republic in the years before the American Civil War, have contributed to this relationship.[clarification needed] Many influential early American settlers and black freemen, including Jean Baptiste Point du Sable and W. E. B. Du Bois, were of Haitian origin.[242][243][244][245]
Jean Baptiste Point du Sable, an immigrant from Saint-Domingue (now the Republic of Haiti), founded the first nonindigenous settlement in what is now Chicago, Illinois, the third largest city in the United States. The state of Illinois and city of Chicago declared du Sable the founder of Chicago on 26 October 1968.[242][243][244]
Largest cities
Template:Largest cities of Haiti
Culture
Part of a series on the |
Culture of Haiti |
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People |
Cuisine |
Religion |
Art |
Literature |
Music |
Sport |
Haiti has a unique cultural identity consisting of a large blend of traditional customs of French and African, mixed with sizeable contributions from the Spanish and indigenous Taíno culture.[246] The country's customs essentially are a blend of cultural beliefs that derived from the various ethnic groups that inhabited the island of Hispaniola. Haiti's culture is greatly reflected in its paintings, music, and literature. Galleries and museums in the United States and France have exhibited the works of the better-known artists to have come out of Haiti.[247]
Art
Haitian art is distinctive, particularly through its paintings and sculptures, known for its various artistic expressions.[246][248][249] Brilliant colors, naïve perspectives, and sly humor characterize Haitian art. Frequent subjects in Haitian art include big, delectable foods, lush landscapes, market activities, jungle animals, rituals, dances, and gods. Artists frequently paint in fables. People are disguised as animals and animals are transformed into people.
As a result of a deep history and strong African ties, symbols take on great meaning within Haitian society. For example, a rooster often represents Aristide and the red and blue colors of the Haitian flag often represent his Lavalas party. Many artists cluster in 'schools' of painting, such as the Cap-Haïtien school, which features depictions of daily life in the city, the Jacmel School, which reflects the steep mountains and bays of that coastal town, or the Saint-Soleil School, which is characterized by abstracted human forms and is heavily influenced by Vodou symbolism.[citation needed]
Music and dance
Haitian music combines a wide range of influences drawn from the many people who have settled on this Caribbean island. It reflects French, African rhythms, Spanish elements and others who have inhabited the island of Hispaniola and minor native Taino influences. Styles of music unique to the nation of Haiti include music derived from Vodou ceremonial traditions, Rara parading music, Twoubadou ballads, Mini-jazz rock bands, Rasin movement, Hip hop Kreyòl, Méringue,[250] and Compas. Youth attend parties at nightclubs called discos, (pronounced "deece-ko"), and attend Bal. This term is the French word for ball, as in a formal dance.
Compas (konpa) (also known as compas direct in French, or konpa dirèk in creole)[251] is a complex, ever-changing music that arose from African rhythms and European ballroom dancing, mixed with Haiti's bourgeois culture. It is a refined music, with méringue as its basic rhythm. Haiti had no recorded music until 1937 when Jazz Guignard was recorded non-commercially.[252]
Literature
Dating back to the days of its independence, Haiti has always been a literary nation that has produced a number of poetry and plays of international reputation. Despite attempts to write in Haitian Creole dating back to the eighteenth century due to its unofficial status, French has always been the exclusive literary language of Haiti. With the recognition of Creole as an official language, more and more novels, poems, and plays are being written in Creole. In 1975, the first novel written entirely in Haitian Creole was published entitled Dezafi written by Franketienne describing a poetic picture of Haitian life.[247][253]
Cuisine
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/ee/Ayiti%26DR_2007_085.jpg/300px-Ayiti%26DR_2007_085.jpg)
Haitian cuisine originates from several culinary styles from the various historical ethnic groups that populated the western portion of the island of Hispaniola. Haitian cuisine is similar to the rest of the Latin-Caribbean (the French and the Spanish-speaking countries of the Antilles), however it differs in several ways from its regional counterparts. While the cuisine is unpretentious and simple, the flavors are bold and spicy that demonstrate a primary influence of African culinary aesthetic, paired with a very French sophistication with notable derivatives coming from native Taíno and Spanish techniques. Though similar to other cooking styles in the region, it carries a uniqueness native to the country; many visitors to the island have mixed reviews of Haitian cuisine. Haitians often use peppers and other strong flavorings.[254]
Dishes tend to be seasoned liberally. Consequently Haitian cuisine is often moderately spicy. In the country, however, several foreign cuisines have been introduced. These include Levantine from Arab migration to Haiti. Rice and beans in several differing ways are eaten throughout the country regardless of location, becoming a sort of national dish. They form the staple diet, which consists of a lot of starch and is high in carbohydrates. Rural areas, with better access to agricultural products, have a larger variety of choices.[citation needed]
One such dish is mais moulu (mayi moulen), which is comparable to grits that can be eaten with sauce pois (sòs pwa), a bean sauce made from one of many types of beans such as kidney, pinto, chickpeas, or pigeon peas (known in some countries as gandules). Mais moulin can be eaten with fish (often red snapper), or alone depending on personal preference. Some of the many plants used in Haitian dishes include tomato, oregano, cabbage, avocado, bell peppers. A popular food is banane pesée (ban-nan'n peze), flattened plantain slices fried in cooking oil (known as tostones in the Spanish speaking Latin American countries). It is eaten both as a snack and as part of a meal is, often eaten with tassot and griot (deep-fried goat and pork).[255]
Traditionally, the food that Haitians eat on the independence day (1 January) is soup joumou.[256] Haiti is also known internationally for its rum; Rhum Barbancourt is the most popular alcoholic beverage in Haiti, and it is regarded highly by international standards.[254][better source needed]
Architecture
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/23/Sans-Souci_Palace%2C_National_History_Park%2C_Haiti.jpg/438px-Sans-Souci_Palace%2C_National_History_Park%2C_Haiti.jpg)
Monuments include the Sans-Souci Palace and the Citadelle Laferrière, inscribed as a World Heritage site in 1982.[257] Situated in the Northern Massif du Nord, in one of Haiti's National Parks, the structures date from the early 19th century.[258] The buildings were among the first built after Haiti's independence from France. The Citadelle Laferrière, is the largest fortress in the Americas, is located in northern Haiti. It was built between 1805 and 1820 and is today referred to by some Haitians as the eighth wonder of the world.[26]
Jacmel, a colonial city that was tentatively accepted as a World Heritage site, was extensively damaged by the 2010 Haiti earthquake.[258]
Museums
The anchor of Christopher Columbus' largest ship, the Santa María now rests in the Musée du Panthéon National Haïtien (MUPANAH), in Port-au-Prince, Haiti.[259]
Folklore and mythology
Haiti is known for its folklore traditions.[260] The country has tales that are part of the Haitian Vodou tradition.
National holidays and festivals
Date | English name | Local name (in French) | Remarks |
---|---|---|---|
1 January | New Year's Day and Independence Day | Nouvel an / Jour de l'an / Premier de l'a et Jour de l'Indépendance | Act of Independence against France |
2 January | Ancestry Day | Jour des Aieux | Commemorates ancestors who have died fighting for freedom. |
6 January | Epiphany | Le Jour des Rois | Celebrates the Three Wise Men's visit to see the newborn Christ. |
moveable | Carnival/Mardi Gras | Carnaval/Mardi Gras | |
1 May | Labour and Agriculture Day | Fête du Travail / Fête des Travailleurs | International holiday |
18 May | Flag and Universities' Day | Jour du Drapeau et de l'Université | Celebrates the educational system and creation of the flag. |
15 August | Assumption of Mary | L'Assomption de Marie | |
17 October | Anniversary of the death of Dessalines | Anniversaire de la mort de Dessalines | commemorates the death of Jean-Jacques Dessalines. |
1 November | All Saints Day | La Toussaint | Christian holiday; commemorates the sainthood. |
2 November | All Souls' Day | Jour des Morts | Another Christian holiday; commemorates the faithful departed. |
18 November | Battle of Vertières Day | Vertières | Commemorates the victory over the French in the Battle of Vertières in the year 1803.[261] |
5 December | Discovery Day | Découverte d'Haïti | Commemorates Christopher Columbus' landing on Hispaniola in 1492. |
25 December | Christmas | Noël | Traditional Christmas celebration. |
The most festive time of the year in Haiti is during Carnival (referred to as Kanaval in Haitian Creole or Mardi Gras) in February.[citation needed] There is music, parade floats, and dancing and singing in the streets. Carnival week is traditionally a time of all-night parties.
Rara is a festival celebrated before Easter. The festival has generated a style of Carnival music.[citation needed]
Sports
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c8/Haiti_national_football_team_training_in_Port-au-Prince_2004-08-16_2.jpg/220px-Haiti_national_football_team_training_in_Port-au-Prince_2004-08-16_2.jpg)
Football is the most popular sport in Haiti with hundreds of small football clubs competing at the local level. Basketball is growing in popularity.[262] Stade Sylvio Cator is the multi-purpose stadium in Port-au-Prince, where it is currently used mostly for association football matches that fits a capacity of 10,000 people. In 1974, the Haiti national football team were only the second Caribbean team to make the World Cup (after Cuba's entry in 1938). They lost in the opening qualifying stages against three of the pre-tournament favorites; Italy, Poland, and Argentina. The national team won the 2007 Caribbean Nations Cup.[263]
Haiti has participated in the Olympic Games since the year 1900 and won a number of medals. Haitian footballer Joe Gaetjens played for the United States national team in the 1950 FIFA World Cup, scoring the winning goal in the 1–0 upset of England.[264]
Notable natives and residents
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a6/WyclefJean.jpg/170px-WyclefJean.jpg)
- Comte d'Estaing – in command of more than 500 volunteers from Saint-Domingue, fought alongside American colonial troops against the British in the Siege of Savannah, one of the most significant foreign contributions to the American Revolutionary War in 1779.[265]
- Frankétienne – arguably Haiti's greatest author; he was a candidate for the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2009.
- Garcelle Beauvais – television actress (NYPD Blue, The Jamie Foxx Show).
- Jean Baptiste Point du Sable – who might have been born in St Marc, Saint-Domingue in 1745 established a fur trading post at present-day Chicago, Illinois. He is considered one of the city's founders.
- Jean Lafitte – a pirate who operated around New Orleans and Galveston on the Gulf Coast of the United States; was born in Port-au-Prince around 1782.[266]
- John James Audubon – ornithologist and painter; born in 1785 in Les Cayes, Saint-Domingue; his parents returned to France, where the boy was educated; he emigrated to the United States as a young man and made a career as he painted, catalogued and described the birds of North America.
- Jørgen Leth – Danish poet and filmmaker.[267]
- Sean Penn – American Oscar Award-winning actor, who currently serves as Ambassador-at-large for Haiti; the first non-Haitian citizen to hold such a position.[268]
- Michaëlle Jean – current Secretary-General of La Francophonie and 27th Governor General of Canada; was born in Port-au-Prince in 1957 and lived in Haiti until 1968.
- Wyclef Jean – Grammy Award-winning hip-hop recording artist.
- Sonni Nattestad – Faroese professional footballer, born in Port-au-Prince.
Education
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/db/Universite_henrichristophe.jpg/300px-Universite_henrichristophe.jpg)
The educational system of Haiti is based on the French system. Higher education, under the responsibility of the Ministry of Education,[269] is provided by universities and other public and private institutions.[270]
More than 80% of primary schools are privately managed by nongovernmental organizations, churches, communities, and for-profit operators, with minimal government oversight.[271] According to the 2013 Millennium Development Goals (MDG) Report, Haiti has steadily boosted net enrollment rate in primary education from 47% in 1993 to 88% in 2011, achieving equal participation of boys and girls in education.[272] Charity organizations, including Food for the Poor and Haitian Health Foundation, are building schools for children and providing necessary school supplies. According to CIA 2015 World Factbook, Haiti's literacy rate is now 60.7% (est. 2015).
The January 2010 earthquake, was a major setback for education reform in Haiti as it diverted limited resources to survival.[273]
Many reformers have advocated the creation of a free, public and universal education system for all primary school-age students in Haiti. The Inter-American Development Bank estimates that the government will need at least US$3 billion to create an adequately funded system.[274]
Upon successful graduation of secondary school, students may continue into higher education. The higher education schools in Haiti include the University of Haiti. There are also medical schools and law schools offered at both the University of Haiti and abroad. Presently, Brown University is cooperating with L'Hôpital Saint-Damien in Haiti to coordinate a pediatric health care curriculum.[275]
Health
In the past, children's vaccination rates have been low – as of 2012[update], 60% of the children in Haiti under the age of 10 were vaccinated,[276][277] compared to rates of childhood vaccination in other countries in the 93–95% range.[278] Recently there have been mass vaccination campaigns claiming to vaccinate as many as 91% of a target population against specific diseases (measles and rubella in this case).[279] Most people have no transportation or access to Haitian hospitals.[280]
The World Health Organization cites diarrheal diseases, HIV/AIDS, meningitis, and respiratory infections as common causes of death in Haiti.[281] Ninety percent of Haiti's children suffer from waterborne diseases and intestinal parasites.[282] HIV infection is found in 1.8% of Haiti's population.[283] The incidence of tuberculosis (TB) in Haiti is more than ten times as high as in the rest of Latin America.[284] Approximately 30,000 Haitians fall ill with malaria each year.[285]
Most people living in Haiti are at high risk for major infectious diseases. Food or water-borne diseases include bacterial and protozoal diarrhea, typhoid fever and hepatitis A and E; common vector-borne diseases are dengue fever and malaria; water-contact diseases include leptospirosis. Roughly 75% of Haitian households lack running water. Unsafe water, along with inadequate housing and unsanitary living conditions, contributes to the high incidence of infectious diseases. There is a chronic shortage of health care personnel and hospitals lack resources, a situation that became readily apparent after the January 2010 earthquake.[286] The infant mortality rate in Haiti in 2013 was 55 deaths per 1,000 live births, compared to a rate of 6 per 1,000 in other countries.[287]
See also
Notes
References
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With no indications of any subsequent decline in Protestant affiliation either in Port-au-Prince or the countryside, one could reasonably estimate that today Haiti is already more than one-third Protestant
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- ^ "MUPANAH and the Promotion of Historical and Cultural Values – Paret – 2011 – Museum International – Wiley Online Library". Onlinelibrary.wiley.com. Retrieved 15 July 2014.
- ^ Munro, Martin (2013). Exile and Post-1946 Haitian Literature: Alexis, Depestre, Ollivier, Laferrière, Danticat. Liverpool University Press. pp. 14–. ISBN 978-1-84631-854-2.
- ^ "Origins of the Haitian Flag". Retrieved 28 June 2013.
- ^ Arthur, Charles. Haiti in Focus: A Guide to the People, Politics, and Culture. Interlink Pub Group Inc. pp. 82–83. ISBN 978-1-56656-359-8.
- ^ "History of Caribbean teams in the FIFA World Cup". Retrieved 2 September 2014.
- ^ Ewen MacAskill. "World Cup 2010: How the USA's 1950 amateurs upset England and the odds". the Guardian. Retrieved 21 October 2014.
- ^ Clark, George P. (1980). "The Role of the Haitian Volunteers at Savannah in 1779: An Attempt at an Objective View". Phylon. 41 (4): 356–366. doi:10.2307/274860. JSTOR 274860.
- ^ Winston Groom (August 2006). "Saving New Orleans". Smithsonianmag.com. Retrieved 24 July 2013.[dead link]
- ^ Søresen, Dorte Hygum (4 May 2013). "Jørgen Leth: Jeg stopper, når jeg styrter". Politiken (in Danish). Retrieved 20 October 2013.
{{cite news}}
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suggested) (help) - ^ "Sean Penn's home and life in Haiti". CBS News. Retrieved 3 September 2014.
- ^ "Ministry of Education". Retrieved 21 October 2014.
- ^ "Education in Haiti; Primary Education". Archived from the original on 23 March 2008. Retrieved 15 November 2007.
- ^ "Education: Overview". United States Agency for International Development. Retrieved 30 May 2015.
- ^ "Haiti boosts health and education in the past decade, says new UNDP report". United Nations Development Programme. Retrieved 30 May 2015.
- ^ "Haiti's Lost Children". Haitiedstories.org. Retrieved 24 July 2013.[dead link]
- ^ Paul Franz, for the Pulitzer Center, Port-au-Prince, Haiti (25 October 2010). "Improving Access to Education in Haiti". Pulitzercenter.org. Retrieved 24 July 2013.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ "Haiti". Retrieved 21 October 2014.
- ^ "Haiti to vaccinate 95 percent of children under 10 - KSL.com". Retrieved 21 October 2014.
- ^ [2]
- ^ Vaccination Coverage Among Children in Kindergarten — United States, 2013–14 School Year
- ^ CDC Global Health – Stories – 5 things CDC has done to help rebuild Haiti’s immunization system since the 2010 earthquake
- ^ "Haiti Survivors Face Outbreaks of Diarrhea". BusinessWeek. 14 January 2010.[dead link]
- ^ Madison Park, CNN (13 January 2010). "Haiti earthquake could trigger possible medical 'perfect storm". cnn.com. Retrieved 31 July 2014.
{{cite news}}
:|author=
has generic name (help) - ^ Leahy, Stephen (13 November 2008). "Haiti Can't Face More Defeats". Ipsnews.net. Retrieved 24 July 2013.
- ^ "The HIV epidemic in the Caribbean: meeting the challenges of achieving universal access to prevention, treatment and care", West Indian Medical Journal, J. P. Figueroa, 57(3), 2008
- ^ Pike, John (30 July 2003). "Haiti Introduction". Globalsecurity.org. Retrieved 24 July 2013.
- ^ "Haiti and Dominican Republic Look to Eradicate Malaria". Foxnews.com. 8 October 2009. Retrieved 24 July 2013.
- ^ Robert Lee Hadden; Steven G. Minson (2010). "The Geology of Haiti: An Annotated Bibliography of Haiti's Geology, Geography and Earth Science". p. 10. Retrieved 24 July 2013.
- ^ Mortality rate, infant (per 1,000 live births) | Data | Table
Further reading
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4c/Wikisource-logo.svg/38px-Wikisource-logo.svg.png)
- Prichard, Hesketh. Where Black Rules White: A Journey Across and About Hayti. These are exact reproductions of a book published before 1923: (Nabu Press, ISBN 978-1-146-67652-6, 5 March 2010); (Wermod and Wermod Publishing Group, ISBN 978-0-9561835-8-3, 15 October 2012).
- Arthur, Charles. Haiti in Focus: A Guide to the People, Politics, and Culture. Interlink Publishing Group (2002). ISBN 1-56656-359-3.
- Dayan, Colin. Haiti, History, and the Gods. University of California Press (1998).
- Ferrer, Ada. Freedom's Mirror: Cuba and Haiti in the Age of Revolution. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2014.
- Girard, Philippe. Haiti: The Tumultuous History (New York: Palgrave, Sept. 2010).
- Hadden, Robert Lee and Steven G. Minson. 2010. The Geology of Haiti: An Annotated Bibliography of Haiti's Geology, Geography and Earth Science. US Army Corps of Engineers, Army Geospatial Center. July 2010.
- Heinl, Robert Debs & Nancy Gordon Heinl. Written in Blood: The Story of the Haitian People 1492–1995. University Press of America (2005). ISBN 0-7618-3177-0.
- Kovats-Bernat, J. Christopher. Sleeping Rough in Port-au-Prince: An Ethnography of Street Children and Violence in Haiti. University Press of Florida (2008). ISBN 978-0-8130-3302-0.
- Robinson, Randall. An Unbroken Agony: Haiti, From Revolution to the Kidnapping of a President. Basic Civitas (2007). ISBN 0-465-07050-7.
- Wilentz, Amy. The Rainy Season: Haiti Since Duvalier. Simon & Schuster (1990). ISBN 0-671-70628-4.
- Marquis, John. Papa Doc: Portrait of a Haitian Tyrant (LMH Publishing 2007)
External links
- Government
- Template:Fr icon Template:Ht icon President of Haiti
- Template:Fr icon Prime Minister of Haiti
- Template:Fr icon Parliament of Haiti
- General information
- Haiti at Curlie
- Haiti at Encyclopædia Britannica.
- "Haiti". The World Factbook (2024 ed.). Central Intelligence Agency.
- Haiti at UCB Libraries GovPubs.
- A Country Study: Haiti from the US Library of Congress (December 1989).
Wikimedia Atlas of Haiti
- Haiti profile from the BBC News.
- Country Profile at New Internationalist.
- Web Site about Safe and Sustainable Water Solutions for Haiti
- Maps
- Collection of maps from the Perry-Castañeda Library at the University of Texas at Austin.
- Map of Haiti from the United Nations.
- History
- A Bibliography of Theses and Dissertations Related to Haiti – 20th Century
- Haiti Digital Library – a Project of Duke University
- Irving, Washington. The life and voyages of Christopher Colombus; together with the voyages of his companions, Vol. 1, London, John Murray, 1849. Manioc
- Irving, Washington. The life and voyages of Christopher Colombus; together with the voyages of his companions, Vol. 2, London, John Murray, 1849. Manioc
- Saint John, Spencer Buckingham. Hayti or the black Republic, London, Smith Elder, 1884. Manioc
- Harvey, William Woodis. Sketches of Hayti; from the expulsion of the french, to the death of Christophe, London, L. B. Seeley and son, 1827. Manioc
- Mackenzie, Charles. Notes on Haïti, made during a residence in that Republic, Vol. 1, London, Henry Colburn and Richard Bentley, 1830. Manioc
- Mackenzie, Charles. Notes on Haïti, made during a residence in that Republic, Vol. 2, London, Henry Colburn and Richard Bentley, 1830. Manioc
- Edwards, Bryan. An historical survey of the french colony in the island of St. Domingo ..., London, John Stockdale, 1797. Manioc
- Hazard, Samuel. Santo Domingo : past and present with a glance at Hayti, [s. l.], 1872. Manioc
- Relief organizations
- The ICRC in Haiti (International Committee of the Red Cross).
- Hope for Haiti, education and grassroots development in rural Haiti.
- Haiti volunteer youth corps, training leaders in trauma relief, community empowerment and sustainable agriculture.
- Instituto Dominicano de Desarrollo Integral, the Dominican parent of the Haitian Institute of Integral Development.
- Haiti
- Countries in the Caribbean
- Former Spanish colonies
- Former French colonies
- French Caribbean
- French-speaking countries and territories
- Greater Antilles
- Island countries
- Latin America
- Least developed countries
- Member states of the Caribbean Community
- Member states of the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie
- Member states of the United Nations
- Republics
- States and territories established in 1804
- Small Island Developing States
- 1804 establishments in North America