see url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haiti
see full entry...A very interesting and colourful history of the birth
and development of a nation state. The first to have a revolution by
slaves which was victorious and liberated the country from the French
and slavery. It's history since then, like that of South Africa, has
not fared very well, with earthquakes and coups and dictatorships and
interference from foreign states...including the local colonial imperial
power...
*Haiti* (/ˈheɪti/ <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA/English>
(About this sound
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:En-us-Haiti.ogg>listen
<https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bb/En-us-Haiti.ogg>);
Haitian Creole <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haitian_Creole_language>:
/Ayiti/ [ajiti]
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA/Haitian_Creole>); French
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_language>: /Haïti/ [a.iti]
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA/French>; officially the
*Republic of Haiti* (French: /République d'Haïti/; Haitian Creole:
/Repiblik d Ayiti/)^[11]
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haiti#cite_note-11> and formerly known as
*Hayti*,^[note 1] <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haiti#cite_note-17> is
a country located on the island of Hispaniola
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hispaniola> in the Greater Antilles
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greater_Antilles> archipelago of the
Caribbean Sea <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caribbean_Sea>, to the east
of Cuba <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cuba> and Jamaica
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jamaica> and south of The Bahamas
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Bahamas> and the Turks and Caicos
Islands <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turks_and_Caicos_Islands>. It
occupies the western three-eighths of the island which it shares with
the Dominican Republic
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dominican_Republic>.^[17]
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haiti#cite_note-Dardik-18> ^[18]
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haiti#cite_note-Current_Affairs-19> To
its south-west lies the small island of Navassa Island
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Navassa_Island>, which is claimed by
Haiti but is disputed as a United States
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States> territory
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Minor_Outlying_Islands>
under federal administration.^[19]
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haiti#cite_note-CIA_World_Factbook_–_Haiti-20>
^[20]
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haiti#cite_note-Encylopedia_Britannica_-_Haiti-21>
Haiti is 27,750 square kilometers (10,714 sq mi) in size, the third
largest country in the Caribbean
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caribbean> by area, and has an estimated
population of 11.4 million,^[6]
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haiti#cite_note-UN_WPP-6> ^[7]
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haiti#cite_note-UN_WPP_2019-7> making it
the most populous country in the Caribbean.
The island was originally inhabited by the indigenous Taíno
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ta%C3%ADno> people, who originated in
South America.^[21]
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haiti#cite_note-national-geographic-22>
The first Europeans arrived on 5 December 1492 during the first voyage
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christopher_Columbus#First_voyage> of
Christopher Columbus
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christopher_Columbus>, who initially
believed he had found India <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/India> or
China <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/China>.^[22]
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haiti#cite_note-NgCheong-Lum,_Roseline_19-23>
Columbus subsequently founded the first European settlement in the
Americas, La Navidad <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Navidad>, on what
is now the northeastern coast of Haiti.^[23]
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haiti#cite_note-Davies1953-24> ^[24]
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haiti#cite_note-25> ^[25]
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haiti#cite_note-26> ^[26]
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haiti#cite_note-27> The island was
claimed by Spain <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish_Empire> and
named /La Española,/ forming part of the Spanish Empire
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish_Empire> until the early 17th
century. However, competing claims and settlements by the French led to
the western portion of the island being ceded to France
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peace_of_Ryswick> in 1697, which was
subsequently named /Saint-Domingue/. French colonists established
lucrative sugarcane <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sugarcane>
plantations
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sugar_plantations_in_the_Caribbean>,
worked by vast numbers of slaves brought from Africa, which made the
colony one of the richest in the world.
In the midst of the French Revolution
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_Revolution> (1789–99), slaves and
free people of color
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_people_of_color> launched the
Haitian Revolution <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haitian_Revolution>
(1791–1804), led by a former slave and the first black general of the
French Army <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_Army>, Toussaint
Louverture <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toussaint_Louverture>. After
12 years of conflict, Napoleon <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Napoleon>
Bonaparte's forces were defeated by Louverture's successor, Jean-Jacques
Dessalines <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean-Jacques_Dessalines>
(later Emperor Jacques I), who declared Haiti's sovereignty on 1 January
1804—the first independent nation
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nation_state> of Latin America
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Latin_America> and the Caribbean
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caribbean>, the second republic
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republic> in the Americas, the first
country to abolish slavery, and the only state in history established by
a successful slave revolt
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slave_rebellion>.^[27]
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haiti#cite_note-28> ^[28]
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haiti#cite_note-29> Apart from Alexandre
Pétion <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexandre_P%C3%A9tion>, the first
President of the Republic, all of Haiti's first leaders were former
slaves.^[29] <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haiti#cite_note-30> After a
brief period in which the country was split in two, President
Jean-Pierre Boyer <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean-Pierre_Boyer>
united the country and then attempted to bring the whole of Hispaniola
under Haitian control, precipitating a long series of wars that ended in
the 1870s when Haiti formally recognized the independence of the
Dominican Republic.
Haiti's first century of independence was characterized by political
instability, ostracism by the international community and the payment of
a crippling debt to France. Political volatility and foreign economic
influence in the country prompted the U.S.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S.> to occupy the country from 1915 to
1934 <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_occupation_of_Haiti>.
Following a series of short-lived presidencies, François 'Papa Doc'
Duvalier <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fran%C3%A7ois_Duvalier> took
power in 1956, ushering in a long period of autocratic rule that was
continued by his son Jean-Claude 'Baby Doc' Duvalier
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean-Claude_Duvalier> that lasted until
1986; the period was characterized by state-sanctioned violence against
the opposition and civilians, corruption, and economic stagnation. After
1986, Haiti began attempting to establish a more democratic political
system. However, contested elections and unrest led to the assassination
of President Jovenel Moïse
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jovenel_Mo%C3%AFse> in 2021.
Haiti is a founding member of the United Nations
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Nations>, Organization of American
States <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organization_of_American_States>
(OAS),^[30] <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haiti#cite_note-31>
Association of Caribbean States
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Association_of_Caribbean_States>,^[31]
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haiti#cite_note-32> and the International
Francophonie Organisation
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organisation_internationale_de_la_Francophonie>.
In addition to CARICOM <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CARICOM>, it is a
member of the International Monetary Fund
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Monetary_Fund>,^[32]
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haiti#cite_note-33> World Trade
Organization
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Trade_Organization>,^[33]
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haiti#cite_note-34> and the Community of
Latin American and Caribbean States
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Community_of_Latin_American_and_Caribbean_States>.
Historically poor and politically unstable, Haiti has the lowest Human
Development Index
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_Human_Development_Index>
in the Americas. Since the turn of the 21st century, the country has
endured a /coup d'état
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2004_Haitian_coup_d%27%C3%A9tat>,/ which
prompted a U.N. intervention
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Nations_Stabilisation_Mission_in_Haiti>,
as well as a catastrophic earthquake
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2010_Haiti_earthquake> that killed over
250,000.
