Location: Caribbean, western one-third of the island of Hispaniola, between the Caribbean
Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean, west of the Dominican Republic
Population: 8,4 millions
Capital: Port-au-Prince (2,4 millions)
Official Languages: French and Creole
Ethnic Groups: 95% Blacks, 5% Mulattos and whites
Political System: Republic
Religion: Catholic (majority), Protestant, Baptist, Adventist, Pentecostal, Vodou
Resources: Agriculture (sugarcane, bananas, coffee, mangoes); fishing, animal breeding; bauxite, copper, calcium carbonate, gold, marble, hydropower, beaches, tourism, light assembly industries based on imported parts
Currency: Gourde (As of May 1, 2010)
1 Haitian Gourde =
0.02469
US Dollar
(USD)
1 US Dollar (USD) =
38.9960
Haitian Gourde
(HTG)
1 Haitian Gourde (HTG) =
0.01857
Euro
(EUR)
1 Euro (EUR) =
51.8460
Haitian Gourde
(HTG)
1 Haitian Gourde (HTG) =
0.02490
Canadian
Dollar (CAD)
1 Canadian Dollar =
38.6478
Haitian Gourde
(HTG)
1 Haitian Gourde (HTG) =
0.90244
Dominican R. Peso
(DOP)
1 Dominican R. Peso =
1.05297
Haitian Gourde
(HTG)
Historical Data
Originally, the island of Haiti was inhabited by the Arawaks (or Tainos) and Caribs. The first inhabitants named their island, according to the case, Ayiti, meaning “High mountains”, Quisqueya or Bohio. When Christopher Columbus first noticed the island, the land got probably some 100,000 people.
In fact, Christopher Columbus made an emergency landing on the Northwestern part of the island in 1492 and named it Española (the Spanish land) which was confused by cartographers as Hispaniola (the Spanish isle). The island of Hispaniola was organized in colony by Bartolomeo Colomb – the brother of Christopher Columbus – who founded, in 1496, la Nueva Isabela (New Isabel, from the name of the Castille's queen), which later became Santo Domingo (Saint Domingue). The Spaniards enslaved the Arawaks and the Caribs in order to excavate gold from mines. In less than 25 years, the indigenous populations of Saint-Domingue were completely decimated. Consequently, the Spanishs imported slaves from Africa to replace the Indians. Coming from diverse ethnic groups, the black slaves spoke different African languages. Throughout the 16th century, Saint-Domingue became the metropolis of the Spanish colonies of the New World. When the island started to run out of gold, the Spanishs showed less interest on the Western part (now Haiti). Around 1545, the Spanishs concentrated their efforts on the Eastern side of the island, which contained much more gold.
General Situation
Haiti is a country located in the western part of the island of Hispaniola, which it shares with the Dominican Republic to the East. It is the second largest island in the Greater Antilles after Cuba.
Haiti is bounded to the east by the Dominican Republic but bounded on all sides by the Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea. The country occupies 36% of the island's surface, which is roughly 27,750 sq km on the western part. One notices also that Haiti is composed of two peninsulas separated by “La Gonave” gulf.
Within “La Gonave” gulf is the Island of La Gonave, the largest offshore island in Haiti. The other islands are: Tortuga Island in the Northwestern part of the country (off the city of Port-de-Paix), Ile-a-Vache (Cow Island) in the Southwest (off the city of Les Cayes), and “Grande and Small Cayemites islands (off the Grande-Anse area).
