Haiti

The island was originally inhabited by the Taíno people.^[22] The first Europeans arrived in December 1492 during the first voyage of Christopher Columbus.^[23] Columbus founded the first European settlement in the Americas, La Navidad, on what is now the northeastern coast of Haiti.^{[24][25][26][27]} The island was claimed by Spain, forming part of the Spanish Empire until the early 17th century. Competing claims and settlements led to the west of the island being ceded to France in 1697, which was subsequently named Saint-Domingue. French colonists established sugarcane plantations, worked by enslaved persons brought from Africa, which made the colony one of the world's richest.


In the midst of the French Revolution, enslaved persons, maroons, and free people of color launched the Haitian Revolution (1791–1804), led by a former slave and general of the French Army, Toussaint Louverture. Napoleon's forces were defeated by Louverture's successor, Jean-Jacques Dessalines (later Emperor Jacques I), who declared Haiti's sovereignty on 1 January 1804, leading to a massacre of the French. The country became the first independent nation of the Caribbean, the second republic in the Americas, the first country in the Americas to officially abolish slavery, and only country established by a slave revolt.^[28][29][30] President Jean-Pierre Boyer decided to invade and occupy Santo Domingo in February 1822, which eventually led to the long Haitian–Dominican war. Defeated, Haiti recognized Dominican independence in 1867, following their declaration in 1844. Haiti's first century of independence was characterized by political instability, ostracism by the international community, payment of a crippling debt to France and the vast cost of the war and the occupation of Santo Domingo. Political volatility and foreign economic influence prompted the US to occupy the country between 1915 and 1934. The last contingent of US Marines departed on August 15, 1934, after a formal transfer of authority to the Garde and Haïti regained its independence.^[31] François 'Papa Doc' Duvalier took power in 1957, ushering in a long period of autocratic rule continued by his son, Jean-Claude 'Baby Doc' Duvalier, that lasted until 1986; the period was characterized by state-sanctioned violence against the opposition and civilians, corruption, and economic stagnation. The country endured a 2004 coup d'état, which prompted U.N. intervention, as well as a catastrophic earthquake in 2010 that killed over 250,000 people and a cholera outbreak. Many countries canceled Haiti's debt, including France and the United States. With its deteriorating economic situation,^[32] Haiti has experienced a socioeconomic and political crisis marked by riots and protests, widespread hunger, and increased gang activity.^[33] As of February 2023, Haiti has no remaining elected government officials and has been described as a failed state.^[34][35]


Haiti is a founding member of the United Nations, Organization of American States (OAS),^[36] Association of Caribbean States,^[37] and the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie. In addition to CARICOM, it is a member of the International Monetary Fund,^[38] World Trade Organization,^[39] and Community of Latin American and Caribbean States. Historically poor and politically unstable, Haiti has the lowest Human Development Index in the Americas, as well as widespread slavery.

Etymology

Haiti (also earlier Hayti)^[e] comes from the indigenous Taíno language, and means "land of high mountains";^[40] it was the native name^[f] for the entire island of Hispaniola. The name was restored by Haitian revolutionary Jean-Jacques Dessalines as the official name of independent Saint-Domingue, as a tribute to the Amerindian predecessors.^[44]


In French, the ï in Haïti has a diacritical mark (used to show that the second vowel is pronounced separately, as in the word naïve), while the H is silent.^[45] (In English, this rule for the pronunciation is often disregarded, thus the spelling Haiti is used.) There are different anglicizations for its pronunciation such as HIGH-ti, high-EE-ti and haa-EE-ti, which are still in use, but HAY-ti is the most widespread and best-established.^[46] In French, Haiti's nickname means the "Pearl of the Antilles" (La Perle des Antilles) because of both its natural beauty^[47] and the amount of wealth it accumulated for the Kingdom of France.^[48] In Haitian Creole, it is spelled and pronounced with a y but no H: Ayiti. Another theory on the name Haiti is its origin in African tradition, in Fon language one of the most spoken by the bossales (Haitians born in Africa), Ayiti-Tomè means: From nowadays this land is our land.


In the Haitian community the country has multiple nicknames: Ayiti-Toma (as its origin in Ayiti Tomè), Ayiti-Cheri (Ayiti my Darling), Tè-Desalin (Dessalines' Land) or Lakay (Home).

Government


General information


19°00′N 72°25′W / 19.000°N 72.417°W / 19.000; -72.417