Haiti (
i/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 country in the western hemisphere,[9] and is located on the island of Hispaniola, in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean. It occupies the smaller 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 third-most populous country in the Caribbean as a whole.
i/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 country in the western hemisphere,[9] and is located on the island of Hispaniola, in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean. It occupies the smaller 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 third-most populous country in the Caribbean as a whole.
Originally inhabited by the indigenous Taíno people, the island was first discovered[note 1] by Christopher Columbus during his first voyage across the Atlantic in 1492. On December 5, when Columbus first landed in Haiti of that year, he had thought he had found India or Asia.[12] Deciding to establish the first settlement in the area, a contingent of men were left at an outpost christened La Navidad because of the wreck to their sunken flagship, the Santa Maria, that occurred at Christmas, north of what is now Limonade.[13][14][15][16] The island was named Hispaniola 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 sugar cane plantations, worked by slaves imported from Africa, led to the colony being among the most lucrative in the world.[17]
In the midst of the French Revolution, slaves and free people of colour revolted, culminating in the abolishment of slavery and the defeat of Napoleon Bonaparte's army at the Battle of Vertières established the sovereign "Republic of Haiti" on January 1, 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 Europeansuperpowers (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 begun 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 the 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 theAfrican 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 current president, was elected in the 2011 general election.
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