Geo-facts   

Geography

Haiti and the Dominican Republic share, sometimes tenuously, the island of Hispaniola, with Haiti occupying the western one-third. In the days of Christopher Columbus, the Spanish settled the island for its gold and sugar cane, and also because Hispaniola lies on a strategic corridor through the Caribbean and into Mexico and Latin America.  Hispaniola is one of the four islands of the Caribbean called the Greater (larger) Antilles, along with nearby Cuba, Jamaica, and Puerto Rico.  The term "West Indies" formerly used for the entire Caribbean region now only refers to the English-speaking countries.

The native Taino-Arawak Amerindian name, Haiti, means "mountainous land." No first-growth trees remain of Haiti's tropical rainforest, which has been harvested in order to convert the land to farming.  The results are serious erosion, loss of the topsoil necessary for crops, and silting of the seashore which is forcing the fishing harvest further offshore, and therefore making fishing both more difficult and more dangerous.

Haiti's climate is tropical, that is, hot, with heavy spring and summer rains which must be collected against the long arid winter.  People become accustomed to the heat: I saw Haitian grounds-keepers wearing jackets on "cool" 75º January mornings.

Population

After nearly 200 years of Spanish colonial rule and language, the French colonists in 1697 imposed French as the one official language.  For the next three centuries, as in all French colonies, French was used exclusively in the government, commerce, and education.  In 1986 Creole, the only language all Haitians speak, became a second official language.

Population density is a serious issue. In this small country the size of Maryland, live over 7.5 million people, a population equivalent to Minnesota's. The majority of the people live in small villages and in the nearly inaccessible mountains. The principal cities are mainly located on the lowlands of the narrow coast and the river valleys. One and a half million live in the capital, Port-au-Prince, called simply “Port” by the locals.  The next two major cities are Cap Haitïen in the north, and Saint Marc, central. Due to the poor condition of the hurricane-beaten roads, access to coastal towns is sometimes easiest by boat.

Haitians are 95% of African descent.  After the revolution the surviving French colonials were forced to leave, and a small (5%) mulatto population, called the "elite," became the dominant social/political group until François Duvalier's promotion of black pride, la négritude, in the 1960's.  Anyone who is not a Haitian is a “blanc,” a surprising status for black Americans and for all visitors who are not “white."

Illiteracy is estimated at 70-80%, and schooling is one of the greatest needs (see section on education).  Unable to reach the majority of this illiterate population with newspapers, creole broadcasts over radio and television are currently the most significant sources of information, and misinformation.

Economy  (See bibliography: US Department of State Background Notes: Haiti, March 1998, for the official US view.)

Haiti is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere and losing ground.  The average income is $2.50 per day in 2001.  The currency is the Haitian gourde (pronounced goo'd).  Haitians also calculate costs in terms of a non-official Haitian "dollar."

Haitians depend upon these sources to support their economy:

•  International government aid: US, Canada, France, Germany & Japan     
• Commerce with the US
•  Aid from NGO's such as churches & the Red Cross  (Non-government organization)
• Haitians who live abroad

Haiti exports clothing, mangos, toys, small electronics, and imports rice, wheat, sugar (all three of which Haiti produces, but at a higher cost than importing), petroleum, machinery and motor vehicles.  Haiti produces coffee, sugar cane, rice, corn, cacao, fruits and vegetables.  Natural resources include bauxite, copper, gold and marble.

Government

The Haitian flag is red and blue and the motto is Liberté ou la Mort.  Haiti was the second nation after the United States to become independent of a European colonial power, and the world’s first black republic (1804).  In spite of an apparent affinity of interests, the young black Haitian republic was early considered with distrust by the slave-owning newly independent US, and the US relationship with Haiti has continued to be dictated by self-interest, to the detriment in many cases of Haitian progress.

The country is divided adminstratively into nine departments.  The diaspora, or over one million  Haitians who live abroad, are called the "Tenth Department." They live principally in the US (especially Boston and Florida), Canada and the Caribbean.

President:  Jean-Bertrand Aristide, former Roman Catholic priest, elected to a five-year term, 2001-2005, Lavalas political party. 

Brief History

1502           Spain begins importing slaves to replace diminishing native work force on plantations.  The slave trade's Golden Triangle:  Africa, Caribbean, Europe.   Native Taino-Arawak Amerindians slowly are annihilated.

1697      Spain cedes western side of island to France; it is now called Saint Domingue. French colonists, former pirates & some farmers,  run plantations with increased importation of slaves who are treated cruelly St Domingue, nicknamed “La perle des Antilles,” is one of the richest 18^th French colonies.  Cap Haitïen, the capital, is called the Paris of the Antilles; Louis XIV's court is said to be envious of the wealth of the plantation owners

1776           American revolution

1789      French revolution

1791-1804 Slaves fight violently for and win freedom from France (and Napoleon), and rename the island "Haiti." Haiti's heroes are the early revolutionary leaders, including Toussaint Louverture (called the Black Napoleon), his general Jean-Jacques Dessalines, Henri Christophe (King Henri I) and Alexandre Pétion for whom the elitist town of Pétionville is named.

1803         Napoleon sells Louisiana Purchase to the United States. Some feel the imminent loss of Haiti discourages plans to expand in the Americas

1820-1956  Autocratic rule, unstable governments,  limited progress in providing basic infrastructure:  roads, schooling, fresh water, improved farming practices

1915-1934   US military occupation

1956-71      President François Duvalier, “Papa Doc,” regime of political violence and repression*. His personal police force, the Volontaires pour la Sécurité nationale (VSN), is nicknamed Tontons macoute, or "bogeymen," by the terrorized population.

1971-86     President Jean-Claude Duvalier, “Baby Doc,” son of Francois Duvalier.  Also repressive government, forced to flee.

1986-91 Military junta assumes provisional government role.  Jean-Bertrand Aristide, a young Roman Catholic priest, leads protests for social change. 

1987     New constitution provides for an elected bicameral parliament, a presidential  term limited to five years (non-sequential), a prime minister and a supreme court.

1991-95       Aristide and his Lavalas (The Flood) party win presidential elections generally considered first in which the people's will is expressed.

1995-2000   Aristide protégé René Preval wins the presidency with 88% of the vote and serves his full five-year term.  Some feel Aristide is "ruling" from exile in Florida.

2001-(05)    President Aristide re-elected, but there are serious complaints of irregularities in the May 2000 parliamentary elections won overwhelmingly by his Lavalas party, and some feel his broad base of public support may be eroding. 

*In 1964 Dr. Duvalier issued a "Cathechism of the Revolution," including this aggressive version of the Lord's Prayer:           "Our Doc, who art in the National Palace for life, hallowed be Thy name by present and future generations.  Thy will be done in Port-au-Prince and in the countryside.  Give us this day our new Haiti, and never forgive the trespasses of those traitors who spit on our country each day.  Lead them into temptation, and poisoned by their own venom, deliver them from no evil..." Amy Wilentz, The Rainy Season

Boldface = photo links in progress 6.26.01