Haiti#20th century

Haiti (also earlier Hayti){{efn|name=Hayti}} comes from the indigenous Taíno language and means "land of high mountains";{{cite book|last1=Haydn|first1=Joseph|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HOE8AAAAYAAJ&pg=PA321|title=A Dictionary of Dates Relating to All Ages and Nations: For Universal Reference Comprehending Remarkable Occurrences, Ancient and Modern, The Foundation, Laws, and Governments of Countries-Their Progress In Civilization, Industry, Arts and Science-Their Achievements In Arms-And Their Civil, Military, And Religious Institutions, And Particularly of the British Empire|last2=Vincent|first2=Benjamin|year=1860|page=321|access-date=12 September 2015|archive-date=15 January 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230115064744/https://books.google.com/books?id=HOE8AAAAYAAJ&pg=PA321|url-status=live}} it was the native name{{efn|1=The Taínos may have used Bohío as another name for the island.{{cite book|last1=Guitar|first1=Lynne|last2=Ferbel-Azcárate|first2=Pedro|last3=Estevez|first3=Jorge|title=Indigenous Resurgence in the Contemporary Caribbean|date=2006|publisher=Peter Lang Publishing|location=New York|isbn=978-0-8204-7488-5|page=41|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qXZeQZMDpgYC&pg=PA41|access-date=10 July 2015|chapter=iii: Ocama-Daca Taíno (Hear me, I am Taíno)|lccn=2005012816|archive-date=17 February 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230217144430/https://books.google.com/books?id=qXZeQZMDpgYC&pg=PA41|url-status=live}}{{cite book|last1=Edmond|first1=Louisket|title=The Tears of Haiti|date=2010|publisher=Xlibris|isbn=978-1-4535-1770-3|page=42|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_1wDXEB1fOUC&pg=PA42|access-date=10 July 2015|lccn=2010908468|archive-date=17 February 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230217144430/https://books.google.com/books?id=_1wDXEB1fOUC&pg=PA42|url-status=live}}{{cite book|last1=Senauth|first1=Frank|title=The Making and Destruction of Haiti|date=2011|publisher=AuthorHouse|location=Bloomington, Indiana, US|isbn=978-1-4567-5384-9|page=1|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QBdccuwnqY8C&pg=PA1|lccn=2011907203|access-date=10 July 2015|archive-date=17 February 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230217144431/https://books.google.com/books?id=QBdccuwnqY8C&pg=PA1|url-status=live}}}} 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.{{cite book|last=Martineau|first=Harriet|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lp54N7g2CYQC&pg=PA12|title=The Hour and the Man: A Fictional Account of the Haitian Revolution and the life of Toussaint L'Ouverture|year=2010|isbn=978-99904-1-167-6|page=12|publisher=Aruba Heritage Foundation|access-date=12 September 2015|archive-date=15 January 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230115071324/https://books.google.com/books?id=lp54N7g2CYQC&pg=PA12|url-status=live}}

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.{{cite book|last=Stein|first=Gail|title=The Complete Idiot's Guide to Learning French|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zaT3kj55aTcC&pg=PA18|year=2003|publisher=Alpha Books|isbn=978-1-59257-055-3|page=18}} (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.{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/legacy/magazinemonitor/2010/01/how_to_say_haiti_and_portaupri.shtml|title=How to Say: Haiti and Port-au-Prince|publisher=BBC|access-date=19 November 2014|archive-date=19 November 2014|archive-url=https://archive.today/20141119070029/http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/legacy/magazinemonitor/2010/01/how_to_say_haiti_and_portaupri.shtml|url-status=dead}} In French, Haiti's nickname means the "Pearl of the Antilles" (La Perle des Antilles) because of both its natural beauty{{cite web|last=Eldin|first=F.|year=1878|title=Haïti, 13 ans de séjour aux Antilles|trans-title=Haiti, 13 years of stay in the Antilles|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3xAIAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA33|access-date=21 July 2015|page=33|language=fr|archive-date=15 January 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230115071326/https://books.google.com/books?id=3xAIAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA33|url-status=live}} and the amount of wealth it accumulated for the Kingdom of France.{{Cite web|year=1797|title=Voyage a Saint-Domingue, pendant les années 1788, 1789 et 1790|trans-title=Travel to Santo Domingo, during the years 1788, 1789 and 1790|url=https://archive.org/details/voyagesaintdomin00wimp|access-date=31 March 2018|language=fr}} In Haitian Creole, it is spelled and pronounced with a y but no H: {{langx|ht|Ayiti|label=none}}.

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), [http://faculty.webster.edu/corbetre/haiti-archive/msg02162.html Ayiti-Tomè] means: "From nowadays this land is our land."{{Citation needed|date=April 2024}}

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).{{Citation needed|date=June 2024}}

{{Main|History of Haiti}}

File:Copia de Cacicazgos de la Hispaniola.pngdoms of Hispaniola at the time of the arrival of Christopher Columbus]]

The island of Hispaniola, of which Haiti occupies the western three-eighths, has been inhabited since around 6,000 years ago by Native Americans who are thought to have arrived from Central or northern South America. These Archaic Age people are thought to have been largely hunter gatherers. During the 1st millennium BC, the Arawakan-speaking ancestors of the Taino people began to migrate into the Caribbean. Unlike the Archaic peoples, they practiced the intensive production of pottery and agriculture. The earliest evidence of the ancestors of the Taino people on Hispaniola is the Ostionoid culture, which dates to around 600 AD.{{Cite journal|last1=Fernandes|first1=Daniel M.|last2=Sirak|first2=Kendra A.|last3=Ringbauer|first3=Harald|last4=Sedig|first4=Jakob|last5=Rohland|first5=Nadin|last6=Cheronet|first6=Olivia|last7=Mah|first7=Matthew|last8=Mallick|first8=Swapan|last9=Olalde|first9=Iñigo |last10=Culleton |first10=Brendan J.|last11=Adamski|first11=Nicole|last12=Bernardos|first12=Rebecca|last13=Bravo|first13=Guillermo|last14=Broomandkhoshbacht|first14=Nasreen|last15=Callan|first15=Kimberly|date=2021-02-04|title=A genetic history of the pre-contact Caribbean|journal=Nature|language=en|volume=590|issue=7844|pages=103–110|bibcode=2021Natur.590..103F|doi=10.1038/s41586-020-03053-2|issn=0028-0836|pmc=7864882|pmid=33361817}} {{Main|Chiefdoms of Hispaniola}}In Taíno society the largest unit of political organization was led by a cacique, or chief, as the Europeans understood them. At the time of European contact, the island of Hispaniola was divided among five 'caciquedoms': the Magua in the northeast, the Marien in the northwest, the Jaragua in the southwest, the Maguana in the central regions of Cibao, and the Higüey in the southeast.{{cite book|last=Cassá|first=Roberto|title=Los Indios de Las Antillas|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oJ-wJ49cNwAC&pg=PA126|year=1992|publisher=Editorial Abya Yala|isbn=978-84-7100-375-1|pages=126–|access-date=27 June 2015|archive-date=11 January 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240111004223/https://books.google.com/books?id=oJ-wJ49cNwAC&pg=PA126#v=onepage&q&f=false|url-status=live}}{{cite book|first=Samuel M.|last=Wilson|year=1990|title=Hispaniola: Caribbean Chiefdoms in the Age of Columbus|publisher=University of Alabama Press|page=110|isbn=978-0-8173-0462-1}}

Taíno cultural artifacts include cave paintings in several locations in the country. These have become national symbols of Haiti and tourist attractions. Modern-day Léogâne, started as a French colonial town in the southwest, is beside the former capital of the caciquedom of Xaragua.{{cite journal|url=http://www.millersville.edu/~columbus/data/ant/ROYAL-01.ANT|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090216092556/http://www.millersville.edu/~columbus/data/ant/ROYAL-01.ANT|archive-date=16 February 2009|title=1492 and Multiculturalism|last=Royal|first=Robert|journal=The Intercollegiate Review|date=Spring 1992|volume=27|issue=2|pages=3–10}}

{{Main|Columbian Viceroyalty|New Spain|Captaincy General of Santo Domingo}}

File:Columbus landing on Hispaniola adj.jpg of Christopher Columbus landing on Hispaniola, engraving by Theodor de Bry]]

Navigator Christopher Columbus landed in Haiti on 6 December 1492, in an area that he named Môle-Saint-Nicolas,{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/cu31924097691590|title=Columbus the Discoverer|editor=Ober, Frederick Albion|page=[https://archive.org/details/cu31924097691590/page/n119 96]|year=1906|publisher=Harper & Brothers Publishers New York and London|access-date=2 December 2015}} and claimed the island for the Crown of Castile. Nineteen days later, his ship the Santa María ran aground near the present site of Cap-Haïtien. Columbus left 39 men on the island, who founded the settlement of La Navidad on 25 December 1492.{{Cite web|url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Haiti|title="Haiti"|access-date=5 September 2019|archive-date=15 September 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230915192813/https://www.britannica.com/place/Haiti|url-status=live}} Relations with the native peoples, initially good, broke down and the settlers were later killed by the Taíno.Clammer, Paul (2016), Bradt Travel Guide – Haiti, p. 10.

The sailors carried endemic Eurasian infectious diseases, causing epidemics that killed a large number of native people.{{cite journal|url=http://www.smithsonianmag.com/people-places/What-Became-of-the-Taino.html|title=What Became of the Taíno?|journal=Smithsonian|date=October 2011|access-date=16 October 2013|archive-date=7 December 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131207130050/http://www.smithsonianmag.com/people-places/What-Became-of-the-Taino.html|url-status=dead}}{{cite book|last=Koplow|first=David A.|title=Smallpox: The Fight to Eradicate a Global Scourge|url=https://archive.org/details/smallpoxfighttoe00kopl|url-access=registration|year=2004|publisher=University of California Press|isbn=978-0-520-24220-3}} The first recorded smallpox epidemic in the Americas erupted on Hispaniola in 1507.{{cite web|url=http://www.dshs.state.tx.us/preparedness/bt_public_history_smallpox.shtm|title=History of Smallpox – Smallpox Through the Ages|publisher=Texas Department of State Health Services|access-date=24 July 2013|archive-date=24 September 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190924141608/https://www.dshs.state.tx.us/preparedness/bt_public_history_smallpox.shtm|url-status=dead}} Their numbers were further reduced by the harshness of the {{lang|es|encomienda}} system, in which the Spanish forced natives to work in gold mines and plantations.{{cite book|last=Graves|first=Kerry A.|title=Haiti|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8b047XP92i4C&pg=PA22|date=2002|publisher=Capstone|isbn=978-0-7368-1078-4|page=22}}

The Spanish passed the Laws of Burgos (1512–1513), which forbade the maltreatment of natives, endorsed their conversion to Catholicism,{{cite web|url=http://faculty.smu.edu/bakewell/BAKEWELL/texts/burgoslaws.html|title=Laws of Burgos, 1512–1513|publisher=Faculty.smu.edu|access-date=24 July 2013|archive-date=6 June 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190606074822/http://faculty.smu.edu/bakewell/bakewell/texts/burgoslaws.html|url-status=dead}} and gave legal framework to {{lang|es|encomiendas}}. The natives were brought to these sites to work in specific plantations or industries.{{cite encyclopedia|url=https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/186567/encomienda|title=Encomienda (Spanish policy)|encyclopedia=Britannica.com|access-date=24 July 2013|archive-date=7 August 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130807173447/http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/186567/encomienda|url-status=live}}

As the Spanish re-focused their colonization efforts on the greater riches of mainland Central and South America, Hispaniola became reduced largely to a trading and refueling post. As a result piracy became widespread, encouraged by European powers hostile to Spain such as France (based on Île de la Tortue) and England. The Spanish largely abandoned the western third of the island, focusing their colonization effort on the eastern two-thirds.Knight, Franklin, The Caribbean: The Genesis of a Fragmented Nationalism, 3rd edn, p. 54, New York, Oxford University Press 1990. The western part of the island was thus gradually settled by French buccaneers; among them was Bertrand d'Ogeron, who succeeded in growing tobacco and recruited many French colonial families from Martinique and Guadeloupe.{{Cite book|author=Ducoin, Jacques|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/849870919|title=Bertrand d'Ogeron, 1613–1676 : fondateur de la colonie de Saint-Domingue et gouverneur des flibustiers|year=2013|isbn=978-2-84833-294-9|publisher=Télégramme|location=Brest|oclc=849870919}} In 1697 France and Spain settled their hostilities on the island by way of the Treaty of Ryswick of 1697, which divided Hispaniola between them.Clammer, Paul (2016), Bradt Travel Guide – Haiti, p. 11.

{{Main|Saint-Domingue|French West Indies}}

France received the western third and subsequently named it Saint-Domingue, the French equivalent of Santo Domingo, the Spanish colony on Hispaniola.{{cite web|url=http://countrystudies.us/dominican-republic/3.htm|title=Dominican Republic – The first colony|access-date=19 June 2006|work=Country Studies|publisher=Library of Congress; Federal Research Division|archive-date=13 December 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101213213711/http://countrystudies.us/dominican-republic/3.htm|url-status=live}} The French set about creating sugar and coffee plantations, worked by vast numbers of those enslaved imported from Africa, and Saint-Domingue grew to become their richest colonial possession, generating 40% of France’s foreign trade and doubling the wealth generation of all of England’s colonies, combined.{{cite book|author1=Walter E. Kretchik|chapter=1. Haitian Culture and Military Power|date=2016|language=en|page=6|publisher=University of Nebraska Press|quote=the French colony’s seven thousand plantations to produce 40 percent of France’s foreign trade, nearly double the production of all British colonies combined|title=Eyewitness to Chaos: Personal Accounts of the Intervention in Haiti, 1994}}

The French settlers were outnumbered by enslaved persons by almost 10 to 1. According to the 1788 Census, Haiti's population consisted of nearly 25,000 Europeans, 22,000 free coloreds and 700,000 Africans in slavery.{{Cite book|last=Coupeau|first=Steeve|title=The History of Haiti|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tA-XfYZFNvkC&pg=PA18|publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group|year=2008|page=18|isbn=978-0-313-34089-5|access-date=7 January 2018|archive-date=28 June 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240628033520/https://books.google.com/books?id=tA-XfYZFNvkC&pg=PA18|url-status=live}} In contrast, by 1763 the white population of French Canada, a far larger territory, had numbered only 65,000.{{cite web|url=http://faculty.marianopolis.edu/c.belanger/QuebecHistory/encyclopedia/ImmigrationHistoryofCanada.htm|title=Immigration History of Canada|publisher=Faculty.marianopolis.edu|access-date=24 July 2013|archive-date=16 December 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071216101207/http://faculty.marianopolis.edu/c.belanger/QuebecHistory/encyclopedia/ImmigrationHistoryofCanada.htm|url-status=live}} In the north of the island, those enslaved were able to retain many ties to African cultures, religion and language; these ties were continually being renewed by newly imported Africans. Some West Africans in slavery held on to their traditional Vodou beliefs by secretly syncretizing it with Catholicism.

The French enacted the Code Noir ("Black Code"), prepared by Jean-Baptiste Colbert and ratified by Louis XIV, which established rules on slave treatment and permissible freedoms.Clammer, Paul (2016), Bradt Travel Guide – Haiti, p. 12. Saint-Domingue has been described as one of the most brutally efficient slave colonies; at the end of the eighteenth century it was supplying two-thirds of Europe's tropical produce while one-third of newly imported Africans died within a few years.{{cite web|last=Farmer|first=Paul|title=Who removed Aristide?|access-date=19 February 2010|date=15 April 2004|url=http://www.lrb.co.uk/v26/n08/farm01_.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080608222428/http://www.lrb.co.uk/v26/n08/farm01_.html|archive-date=8 June 2008}} Many enslaved persons died from diseases such as smallpox and typhoid fever.{{Cite book|last=Kiple|first=Kenneth F.|title=The Caribbean Slave: A Biological History|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=veMLoyrX0BEC|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=2002|page=145|isbn=978-0-521-52470-4|access-date=27 June 2015|archive-date=28 June 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240628033520/https://books.google.com/books?id=veMLoyrX0BEC|url-status=live}} They had low birth rates,{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6K-DocgDY6gC&pg=PA119|title=Sugar Island Slavery in the Age of Enlightenment: The Political Economy of the Caribbean World|author-link1=Arthur Stinchcombe|last=Stinchcombe|first=Arthur L.|date=11 December 1995|publisher=Princeton University Press|isbn=978-1-4008-2200-3|language=en|access-date=23 March 2018|archive-date=28 June 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240628033520/https://books.google.com/books?id=6K-DocgDY6gC&pg=PA119#v=onepage&q&f=false|url-status=live}} and there is evidence that some women aborted fetuses rather than give birth to children within the bonds of slavery.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_z17AAAAMAAJ|title=Journal of Haitian Studies|date=2001|publisher=Haitian Studies Association|pages=67|language=en|access-date=23 March 2018|archive-date=28 June 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240628033540/https://books.google.com/books?id=_z17AAAAMAAJ|url-status=live}} The colony's environment also suffered, as forests were cleared to make way for plantations and the land was overworked so as to extract maximum profit for French plantation owners.

File:Fire in Saint-Domingo 1791, German copper engraving.jpg in 1791]]

As in its Louisiana colony, the French colonial government allowed some rights to free people of color ({{Lang|fr|gens de couleur}}), the mixed-race descendants of European male colonists and African enslaved females (and later, mixed-race women). Over time, many were released from slavery and they established a separate social class. White French Creole fathers frequently sent their mixed-race sons to France for their education. Some men of color were admitted into the military. More of the free people of color lived in the south of the island, near Port-au-Prince, and many intermarried within their community. They frequently worked as artisans and tradesmen, and began to own some property, including enslaved persons of their own. The free people of color petitioned the colonial government to expand their rights.

The brutality of slave life led many people in bondage to escape to mountainous regions, where they set up their own autonomous communities and became known as maroons. One maroon leader, François Mackandal, led a rebellion in the 1750s; however, he was later captured and executed by the French.

{{Main|Haitian Revolution}}

File:Général Toussaint Louverture.jpg

Inspired by the French Revolution of 1789 and principles of the rights of man, the French settlers and free people of color pressed for greater political freedom and more civil rights. Tensions between these two groups led to conflict, as a militia of free-coloreds was set up in 1790 by Vincent Ogé, resulting in his capture, torture and execution. Sensing an opportunity, in August 1791 the first slave armies were established in northern Haiti under the leadership of Toussaint Louverture inspired by the Vodou houngan (priest) Boukman, and backed by the Spanish in Santo Domingo – soon a full-blown slave rebellion had broken out across the entire colony.

In 1792, the French government sent three commissioners with troops to re-establish control; to build an alliance with the gens de couleur and enslaved persons commissioners Léger-Félicité Sonthonax and Étienne Polverel abolished slavery in the colony. Six months later, the National Convention, led by Maximilien de Robespierre and the Jacobins, endorsed abolition and extended it to all the French colonies.{{cite web|url=http://chnm.gmu.edu/revolution/d/291/|title=Decree of the National Convention of 4 February 1794, Abolishing Slavery in all the Colonies|publisher=Chnm.gmu.edu|access-date=24 July 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110603234817/http://chnm.gmu.edu/revolution/d/291/|archive-date=3 June 2011|url-status=dead}}

The United States, which was a new republic itself, oscillated between supporting or not supporting Toussaint Louverture and the emerging country of Haiti, depending on who was President of the US. Washington, who was a slave holder and isolationist, kept the United States neutral, although private US citizens at times provided aid to French planters trying to put down the revolt. John Adams, a vocal opponent of slavery, fully supported the slave revolt by providing diplomatic recognition, financial support, munitions and warships (including the USS Constitution) beginning in 1798. This support ended in 1801 when Jefferson, another slave-holding president, took office and recalled the US Navy.{{cite web|url=https://history.state.gov/milestones/1784-1800/HaitianRev|title=1784–1800 – The United States and the Haitian Revolution|publisher=History.state.gov|access-date=24 July 2013|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130920081517/http://history.state.gov/milestones/1784-1800/HaitianRev|archive-date=20 September 2013}}{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1987/03/22/books/poles-in-haiti.html|title=Poles in Haiti|work=The New York Times|date=22 March 1987|access-date=24 July 2013|last=Joseph|first=Raymond A.|author-link=Raymond Joseph|archive-date=14 September 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220914152856/https://www.nytimes.com/1987/03/22/books/poles-in-haiti.html|url-status=live}}{{cite web|url=https://www.newenglandhistoricalsociety.com/john-adams-supports-toussaint-louverture-horrifies-jefferson/|title=John Adams Supports Toussaint Louverture, Horrifies Jefferson|date=29 March 2017|access-date=25 November 2021|archive-date=21 September 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220921232453/https://www.newenglandhistoricalsociety.com/john-adams-supports-toussaint-louverture-horrifies-jefferson/|url-status=live}}

With slavery abolished, Toussaint Louverture pledged allegiance to France, and he fought off the British and Spanish forces who had taken advantage of the situation and invaded Saint-Domingue.{{cite book|last1=Scheina|first1=Robert L.|title=Latin America's Wars: Volume 1|date=2003|publisher=Potomac Books}}{{cite book|title=Avengers of the New World: The Story of the Haitian Revolution|date=2009|publisher=Harvard University Press|page=182}} The Spanish were later forced to cede their part of the island to France under the terms of the Peace of Basel in 1795, uniting the island under one government. However, an insurgency against French rule broke out in the east, and in the west there was fighting between Louverture's forces and the free people of color led by André Rigaud in the War of the Knives (1799–1800).{{cite web|url=http://www2.webster.edu/~corbetre/haiti/history/revolution/revolution3.htm|title=The Haitian Revolution of 1791–1803|first=Bob|last=Corbett|publisher=Webster University|access-date=19 October 2013|archive-date=10 September 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150910102328/http://www2.webster.edu/~corbetre/haiti/history/revolution/revolution3.htm|url-status=live}}{{cite book|last=Smucker|first=Glenn R.|at=Toussaint Louverture|url=http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/httoc.html|title=A Country Study: Haiti|editor=Richard A. Haggerty|publisher=Library of Congress Federal Research Division|date=December 1989|access-date=2 November 2007|archive-date=2 May 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090502055615/http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/httoc.html|url-status=live}} The United States' support for the blacks in the war contributed to their victory over the mulattoes.{{cite web|title=Haitian Revolution: A YPT Guide|url=https://www.youngpioneertours.com/haitian-revolution-ypt-guide/|website=Young Pioneer Tours|date=7 March 2020|access-date=3 July 2023|archive-date=3 July 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230703155758/https://www.youngpioneertours.com/haitian-revolution-ypt-guide/|url-status=live}} More than 25,000 whites and free blacks left the island as refugees.{{Cite web|author=|title=The History of the United States' First Refugee Crisis|url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/history-united-states-first-refugee-crisis-180957717/|access-date=10 June 2022|website=Smithsonian Magazine|language=en|quote=In spite of all this paranoia, however, South Carolina actually lifted its ban on foreign slaves in 1804, and all those who arrived from Saint-Domingue eventually settled there. According to Dessens, many were even welcomed quite warmly. This was especially true for the 8,000 or so of the 25,000 refugees who shared both skin color and a common religion with their American counterparts.|archive-date=10 June 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220610130041/https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/history-united-states-first-refugee-crisis-180957717/|url-status=live}}

File:Battle for Palm Tree Hill.jpg in French service and the Haitian rebels. The majority of Polish soldiers eventually deserted the French army and fought alongside the Haitians.]]

After Louverture created a separatist constitution and proclaimed himself governor-general for life, Napoléon Bonaparte in 1802 sent an expedition of 20,000 soldiers and as many sailors{{cite book|last=Frasier|first=Flora|title=Venus of Empire:The Life of Pauline Bonaparte|publisher=John Murray|date=2009}} under the command of his brother-in-law, Charles Leclerc, to reassert French control. The French achieved some victories, but within a few months most of their army had died from yellow fever.{{cite web|url=http://entomology.montana.edu/historybug/napoleon/yellow_fever_haiti.htm|title=The Haitian Debacle: Yellow Fever and the Fate of the French|publisher=Montana State University|access-date=24 July 2013|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131207060224/http://entomology.montana.edu/historybug/napoleon/yellow_fever_haiti.htm|archive-date=7 December 2013}} Ultimately more than 50,000 French troops died in an attempt to retake the colony, including 18 generals.{{cite news|author=Adam Hochschild|url=http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2004/05/30/CMGKG6F3UV1.DTL|title=Birth of a Nation / Has the bloody 200-year history of Haiti doomed it to more violence?|work=San Francisco Chronicle|date=30 May 2004|access-date=24 July 2013|archive-date=4 March 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120304221956/http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2004/05/30/CMGKG6F3UV1.DTL|url-status=live}} The French managed to capture Louverture, transporting him to France for trial. He was imprisoned at Fort de Joux, where he died in 1803 of exposure and possibly tuberculosis.Clammer, Paul (2016), Bradt Travel Guide – Haiti, p. 13.

File:Revenge taken by the Black Army for the Cruelties practised on them by the French.png

The enslaved persons, along with free {{Lang|fr|gens de couleur}} and allies, continued their fight for independence, led by generals Jean-Jacques Dessalines, Alexandre Pétion and Henry Christophe. The rebels finally managed to decisively defeat the French troops at the Battle of Vertières on 18 November 1803, establishing the first state ever to successfully gain independence through a slave revolt.{{cite book|last1=Jackson|first1=Maurice|last2=Bacon|first2=Jacqueline|editor1-last=Jackson|editor1-first=Maurice|editor2-last=Bacon|editor2-first=Jacqueline|chapter=Fever and Fret: The Haitian Revolution and African American Responses|date=2010|title=African Americans and the Haitian Revolution: Selected Essays and Historical Documents|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dZDcAAAAQBAJ&q=African%20American%20and%20the%20Haitian%20Revolution&pg=PT14|access-date=10 October 2018|publisher=Routledge|quote=...the momentous struggle that began in 1791 and yielded the first post-colonial independent black nation and the only nation to gain independence through slave rebellion.|isbn=978-1-134-72613-4|archive-date=28 June 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240628033521/https://books.google.com/books?id=dZDcAAAAQBAJ&q=African%20American%20and%20the%20Haitian%20Revolution&pg=PT14#v=snippet&q=African%20American%20and%20the%20Haitian%20Revolution&f=false|url-status=live}} Under the overall command of Dessalines, the Haitian armies avoided open battle, and instead conducted a successful guerrilla campaign against the Napoleonic forces, working with diseases such as yellow fever to reduce the numbers of French soldiers.C.L.R. James, Black Jacobins (London: Seckur & Warburg, 1938) Later that year France withdrew its remaining 7,000 troops from the island and Napoleon gave up his idea of re-establishing a North American empire, selling Louisiana (New France) to the United States, in the Louisiana Purchase.

Throughout the revolution, an estimated 20,000 French troops succumbed to yellow fever, while another 37,000 were killed in action,{{cite web|title=The Haitian Revolution and the Louisiana Purchase|url=https://gazette.com/woodmenedition/jefferson-the-haitian-revolution-and-the-louisiana-purchase-get-out-of-town/article_e5b9a5de-88b2-11ea-9b22-1f1cf7020e1f.amp.html|website=The Gazette|date=10 June 2021|access-date=3 July 2023|archive-date=3 July 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230703173841/https://gazette.com/woodmenedition/jefferson-the-haitian-revolution-and-the-louisiana-purchase-get-out-of-town/article_e5b9a5de-88b2-11ea-9b22-1f1cf7020e1f.amp.html|url-status=live}} exceeding the total French soldiers killed in action across various 19th-century colonial campaigns in Algeria, Mexico, Indochina, Tunisia, and West Africa, which resulted in approximately 10,000 French soldiers killed in action combined.{{cite book|title=Warfare and Armed Conflicts: A Statistical Encyclopedia of Casualty and Other Figures, 1492–2015, 4th ed.|isbn=9780786474707|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8urEDgAAQBAJ&pg=PA199|quote=French losses from 1830–51 were 3,336 killed in battle and 92,329 died of wounds or from all other causes. Between 1830 and 1870, 411 French officers were killed and 1,360 were wounded. The toll for the ranks was an estimated 10,000 killed and 35,000 wounded in all French colonial campaigns. A few thousand from this number died in Mexico or Indochina, but the great bulk met their deaths in Algeria. Disease took an even greater toll. One estimate puts total French and Foreign Legion deaths from battle and disease for the entire century at 110,000.|last1=Clodfelter|first1=Micheal|date=23 May 2017|publisher=McFarland|access-date=18 August 2023|archive-date=28 June 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240628033542/https://books.google.com/books?id=8urEDgAAQBAJ&pg=PA199#v=onepage&q&f=false|url-status=live}} The British sustained 45,000 dead.{{cite book|last1=Scheina|title=Latin America's Wars|publisher=Potomac Books|page=1772}} Additionally, 350,000 ex-enslaved Haitians died.{{cite book|last1=Wilson|first1=Colin|last2=Wilson|first2=Damon|title=An End To Murder: Human beings have always been cruel, savage and murderous. Is all that about to change?|date=2015}} In the process, Dessalines became arguably the most successful military commander in the struggle against Napoleonic France.Christer Petley, White Fury: A Jamaican Slaveholder and the Age of REvolution (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2018), p. 182.

{{main|First Empire of Haiti|1804 Haiti massacre}}

File:Le Serment des Ancêtres, 1823.jpg]]

The independence of Saint-Domingue was proclaimed under the native name 'Haiti' by Jean-Jacques Dessalines on 1 January 1804 in Gonaïves{{cite web|url=http://www.webster.edu/~corbetre/haiti/history/earlyhaiti/dessalines.htm|title="A Brief History of Dessalines", 1825 Missionary Journal|publisher=Webster University|access-date=24 July 2013|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051228150910/http://www.webster.edu/~corbetre/haiti/history/earlyhaiti/dessalines.htm|archive-date=28 December 2005}}Clammer, Paul (2016), Bradt Travel Guide – Haiti, p. 209. and he was proclaimed "Emperor for Life" as Emperor Jacques I by his troops.Constitution of Haiti [{{sic}}] New-York Evening Post 15 July 1805. Dessalines at first offered protection to the white planters and others.{{cite book|title=Monthly Magazine and British Register|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YVEoAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA335|volume=XLVIII|year=1819|publisher=R. Phillips|page=335|access-date=27 June 2015|archive-date=28 June 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240628033521/https://books.google.com/books?id=YVEoAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA335#v=onepage&q&f=false|url-status=live}} However, once in power, he ordered the genocide of nearly all the remaining whites; between January and April 1804, 3,000 to 5,000 whites were killed, including those who had been friendly and sympathetic to the black population.{{cite book|last=Boyce Davies|first=Carole|title=Encyclopedia of the African Diaspora: Origins, Experiences, and Culture. A-C. Volume 1|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mb6SDKfWftYC&pg=PA380|year=2008|publisher=ABC-CLIO|isbn=978-1-85109-700-5|page=380}} Only three categories of white people were selected out as exceptions and spared: Polish soldiers, some of whom had deserted from the French army and fought alongside the Haitian rebels; the small group of German colonists invited to the north-west region; and a group of medical doctors and professionals.{{cite book|last=Popkin|first=Jeremy D.|title=Facing Racial Revolution: Eyewitness Accounts of the Haitian Insurrection|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VSeLGtVm0iIC&pg=PA363|access-date=20 June 2017|date=15 February 2010|publisher=University of Chicago Press|isbn=978-0-226-67585-5|pages=137}} Reportedly, people with connections to officers in the Haitian army were also spared, as well as the women who agreed to marry non-white men.{{cite book|last=Popkin|first=Jeremy D.|title=The Slaves Who Defeated Napoleon: Toussaint Louverture and the Haitian War of Independence, 1801–1804|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=03XSP22p3kgC|access-date=20 June 2017|date=11 February 2011|publisher=University of Alabama Press|isbn=978-0-8173-1732-4|pages=322}}

Fearful of the potential impact the slave rebellion could have in the slave states, U.S. President Thomas Jefferson refused to recognize the new republic. The Southern politicians who were a powerful voting bloc in the American Congress prevented U.S. recognition for decades until they withdrew in 1861 to form the Confederacy.{{Cite web|url=https://history.state.gov/milestones/1784-1800/haitian-rev|title=The United States and the Haitian Revolution, 1791–1804|website=history.state.gov|language=en|access-date=7 February 2017|archive-date=20 February 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210220133250/https://history.state.gov/milestones/1784-1800/haitian-rev|url-status=live}}

The revolution led to a wave of emigration.{{cite web|url=http://www.inmotionaame.org/migrations/topic.cfm;jsessionid=f8303469141230638453792?migration=5&topic=2&bhcp=1|title=From Saint-Domingue to Louisiana, The African-American Migration Experience|publisher=Inmotionaame.org|access-date=24 July 2013|archive-date=25 February 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210225063309/http://www.inmotionaame.org/migrations/topic.cfm;jsessionid=f8303469141230638453792?migration=5&topic=2&bhcp=1|url-status=dead}} In 1809, 9,000 refugees from Saint-Domingue, both white planters and people of color, settled en masse in New Orleans, doubling the city's population, having been expelled from their initial refuge in Cuba by Spanish authorities.{{cite web|url=http://www.thenation.com/article/congo-square-colonial-new-orleans?page=0,1|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180914132009/http://www.thenation.com/article/congo-square-colonial-new-orleans?page=0,1|url-status=dead|archive-date=14 September 2018|title=In Congo Square: Colonial New Orleans|publisher=Thenation.com|date=10 December 2008|access-date=24 July 2013}} In addition, the newly arrived enslaved persons added to the city's African population.{{cite web|url=http://ccet.louisiana.edu/tourism/cultural/The_People/haitian.html|title=Haitians|publisher=Center for Cultural & Eco-Tourism, University of Louisiana|access-date=24 July 2013|archive-date=25 July 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080725115213/http://ccet.louisiana.edu/tourism/cultural/The_People/haitian.html|url-status=live}}

The plantation system was re-established in Haiti, albeit for wages; however, many Haitians were marginalized and resented the heavy-handed manner in which this was enforced in the new nation's politics. The rebel movement splintered, and Dessalines was assassinated by rivals on 17 October 1806.{{cite news|title=News about Haiti, including commentary and archival articles published in The New York Times|url=http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/international/countriesandterritories/haiti/index.html|access-date=24 July 2015|first=Deborah|last=Sontag|work=The New York Times|archive-date=19 February 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160219053844/http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/international/countriesandterritories/haiti/index.html|url-status=live}}{{Deep link needed|date=March 2023}}

{{main|State of Haiti|Kingdom of Haiti}}

File:Citadelle Laferrière Aerial View.jpg, built 1805–1822, is the largest fortress in the Americas, and is considered locally to be an eighth wonder of the world.]]

After Dessalines' death Haiti became split into two, with the Kingdom of Haiti in the north directed by Henri Christophe, later declaring himself Henri I, and a republic in the south centered on Port-au-Prince, directed by Alexandre Pétion, an homme de couleur.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3lPaBA9nMZkC|title=Toussaint L'Ouverture: A Biography|last=Bell|first=Madison Smartt|publisher=New York: Pantheon, 2007 (Vintage Books, 2008)|isbn=978-1-4000-7935-3|date=10 June 2009}}{{cite book|url=http://www.blackpast.org/gah/haitian-revolution-1791-1804|title=Haitian Revolution (1791–1804)|last=Sutherland|first=Claudia E.|date=16 July 2007|access-date=29 September 2014|archive-date=15 December 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181215211607/https://blackpast.org/gah/haitian-revolution-1791-1804|url-status=live}}{{cite journal|jstor=494418|title=Teaching the Haitian Revolution: Its Place in Western and Modern World History|journal=The History Teacher|volume=32|issue=1|pages=33–41|date=Nov 1998|last=Peguero|first=Valentina|doi=10.2307/494418|s2cid=141205471}}{{cite journal|jstor=10.1086/526481|title=Preoccupied with Haiti: The Dream of Diaspora in African American Art, 1915–1942|journal=American Art|volume=21|issue=3|pages=74–97|date=Fall 2007|last=Thompson|first=Krista A|doi=10.1086/526481|s2cid=161805052}} Pétion's republic was less absolutist, and he initiated a series of land reforms which benefited the peasant class. President Pétion also gave military and financial assistance to the revolutionary leader Simón Bolívar, which were critical in enabling him to liberate the Viceroyalty of New Granada.{{cite book|title=Simón Bolívar: essays on the life and legacy of the liberator|editor1=Bushnell, David|editor2=Lester Langley|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield|year=2008|page=5|isbn=978-0-7425-5619-5}} Meanwhile, the French, who had managed to maintain a precarious control of eastern Hispaniola, were defeated by insurgents led by Juan Sánchez Ramírez, with the area returning to Spanish rule in 1809 following the Battle of Palo Hincado.{{cite news|date=29 July 2010 |url=http://www.jmarcano.com/mipais/historia/batallas/phincado.html|title=La Reconquista: Batalla de Palo Hincado (La Reconquista: Battle of Palo Hincado) (In Spanish)|publisher=Mi país: Historia (My Country)|access-date=11 September 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180630145140/http://www.jmarcano.com/mipais/historia/batallas/phincado.html|archive-date=30 June 2018|url-status=dead}}

{{main|Republic of Haiti (1820–1849)|Haitian occupation of Santo Domingo}}

File:President Jean-Pierre Boyer of Haiti (Hispaniola Unification Regime) Portrait.jpg

Beginning in 1821, President Jean-Pierre Boyer, also an homme de couleur and successor to Pétion, reunified the island following the suicide of Henry Christophe.{{cite web|last=Sagás|first=Ernesto|title=An apparent contradiction? Popular perceptions of Haiti and the foreign policy of the Dominican Republic|publisher=Sixth Annual Conference of the Haitian Studies Association|date=14 October 1994|url=http://haitiforever.com/windowsonhaiti/esagas2.shtml|access-date=19 August 2007|archive-date=29 September 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070929072156/http://haitiforever.com/windowsonhaiti/esagas2.shtml|url-status=live}} After Santo Domingo declared its independence from Spain on 30 November 1821, Boyer invaded, seeking to unite the entire island by force and ending slavery in Santo Domingo.{{cite encyclopedia|url=https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/168728/Dominican-Republic/129491/History|title=Dominican Republic – History|encyclopedia=Britannica.com|access-date=24 July 2013|archive-date=29 September 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220929180917/https://www.britannica.com/place/Dominican-Republic|url-status=live}}

Struggling to revive the agricultural economy to produce commodity crops, Boyer passed the Code Rural, which denied peasant laborers the right to leave the land, enter the towns, or start farms or shops of their own, causing much resentment as most peasants wished to have their own farms rather than work on plantations.{{cite encyclopedia|url=https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/76479/Jean-Pierre-Boyer?anchor=ref126082|title=Jean-Pierre Boyer (President of Haiti)|encyclopedia=Britannica.com|access-date=24 July 2013|archive-date=6 October 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141006131451/http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/76479/Jean-Pierre-Boyer?anchor=ref126082|url-status=live}}{{cite web|url=http://www.webster.edu/%7Ecorbetre/haiti/history/earlyhaiti/boyer.htm|title=1820 – 1843: The rule of Jean-Pierre Boyer|last=Corbett|first=Bob|publisher=Webster University|date=July 1995|access-date=24 July 2013|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131221124022/http://www2.webster.edu/~corbetre/haiti/history/earlyhaiti/boyer.htm|archive-date=21 December 2013}}

Starting in September 1824, more than 6,000 African Americans migrated to Haiti, with transportation paid by an American philanthropic group similar in function to the American Colonization Society and its efforts in Liberia.{{cite web|url=http://www.webster.edu/~corbetre/haiti-archive/msg00868.html|title=Haiti And Its Diaspora: New Historical, Cultural And Economic Frontiers, reprint from US Gazette Philadelphia, 1824|last=Firire|first=Girard Alphonse|publisher=Webster.edu|date=27 August 1999|access-date=24 July 2013|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130910113052/http://www2.webster.edu/~corbetre/haiti-archive/msg00868.html|archive-date=10 September 2013}} Many found the conditions too harsh and returned to the United States.{{Citation needed|date=June 2024}}

In July 1825, King Charles X of France, during a period of restoration of the French monarchy, sent a fleet to reconquer Haiti. Under pressure, President Boyer agreed to a treaty by which France formally recognized the independence of the state in exchange for a payment of 150 million francs. By an order of 17 April 1826, the King of France renounced his rights of sovereignty and formally recognized the independence of Haiti.{{cite web|title=La première ambassade française en Haïti|url=https://ht.ambafrance.org/La-premiere-ambassade-francaise-en-Haiti|website=Menu Contenu Plan du siteAmbassade de France à Port-au-Prince|publisher=Government of France|access-date=27 October 2017|language=fr|archive-date=8 April 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220408154957/https://ht.ambafrance.org/La-premiere-ambassade-francaise-en-Haiti|url-status=live}}M. Degros, Création des postes diplomatiques et consulaires, Revue d'histoire diplomatique, 1986; in FrenchJ-F. Brière, Haïti et la France, 1804–1848 : le rêve brisé, Paris, Karthala 2008; in French The enforced payments to France hampered Haiti's economic growth for years, exacerbated by the fact that many Western states continued to refuse formal diplomatic recognition to Haiti; Britain recognized Haitian independence in 1833, and the United States not until 1862. Haiti borrowed heavily from Western banks at extremely high interest rates to repay the debt. Although the amount of the reparations was reduced to 90 million in 1838, by 1900 80% of Haiti's government spending was debt repayment and the country did not finish repaying it until 1947.{{Cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2010/jan/14/haiti-history-earthquake-disaster|title=Haiti: a long descent to hell|last=Henley|first=Jon|date=14 January 2010|website=The Guardian|language=en|access-date=15 October 2018|archive-date=15 July 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150715012830/http://www.theguardian.com/world/2010/jan/14/haiti-history-earthquake-disaster|url-status=live}}

{{main|Dominican War of Independence}}

After losing the support of Haiti's elite, Boyer was ousted in 1843, with Charles Rivière-Hérard replacing him as president. Nationalist Dominican forces in eastern Hispaniola led by Juan Pablo Duarte seized control of Santo Domingo on 27 February 1844. The Haitian forces, unprepared for a significant uprising, capitulated to the rebels, effectively ending Haitian rule of eastern Hispaniola. In March Rivière-Hérard attempted to reimpose his authority, but the Dominicans inflicted heavy losses. Rivière-Hérard was removed from office by the mulatto hierarchy and replaced with the aged general Philippe Guerrier, who assumed the presidency on 3 May 1844.{{Citation needed|date=June 2024}}

Guerrier died in April 1845, and was succeeded by General Jean-Louis Pierrot.{{citation-attribution|1={{cite book|last=Léger|first=Jacques Nicolas|author-link=Jacques Nicolas Léger|title=Haiti: Her History and Her Detractors|year=1907|publisher=Neale Publishing Company|url=http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Haiti:_Her_History_and_Her_Detractors|pages=197–198|access-date=9 February 2018|archive-date=18 December 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221218182403/https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Haiti:_Her_History_and_Her_Detractors|url-status=live}} }} Pierrot's most pressing duty as the new president was to check the incursions of the Dominicans, who were harassing the Haitian troops. Dominican gunboats were also making depredations on Haiti's coasts. President Pierrot decided to open a campaign against the Dominicans, whom he considered merely as insurgents; however, the Haitian offensive of 1845 was stopped on the frontier.{{cite book|last1=Bethell|first1=Leslie|title=The Cambridge History of Latin America: Volume 3|url=https://archive.org/details/cambridgehistory0000beth|url-access=registration|date=1984|publisher=Cambridge University Press|pages=[https://archive.org/details/cambridgehistory0000beth/page/267 267–69]}}

On 1 January 1846 Pierrot announced a fresh campaign to reimpose Haitian suzerainty over eastern Hispaniola, but his officers and men greeted this fresh summons with contempt. Thus, a month later – February 1846 – when Pierrot ordered his troops to march against the Dominicans, the Haitian army mutinied, and its soldiers proclaimed his overthrow as president of the republic. With the war against the Dominicans having become very unpopular in Haiti, it was beyond the power of the new president, General Jean-Baptiste Riché, to stage another invasion.

{{main|Second Empire of Haiti}}

File:Faustin I.jpg, 16 February 1856]]

On 27 February 1847, President Riché died after only a year in power and was replaced by an obscure officer, General Faustin Soulouque. During the first two years of Soulouque's administration the conspiracies and opposition he faced in retaining power were so manifold that the Dominicans were given a further breathing space in which to consolidate their independence. But, when in 1848 France finally recognized the Dominican Republic as a free and independent state and provisionally signed a treaty of peace, friendship, commerce and navigation, Haiti immediately protested, claiming the treaty was an attack upon their own security. Soulouque decided to invade the new Republic before the French Government could ratify the treaty.

On 21 March 1849, Haitian soldiers attacked the Dominican garrison at Las Matas. The demoralized defenders offered almost no resistance before abandoning their weapons. Soulouque pressed on, capturing San Juan. This left only the town of Azua as the remaining Dominican stronghold between the Haitian army and the capital. On 6 April, Azua fell to the 18,000-strong Haitian army, with a 5,000-man Dominican counterattack failing to oust them. The way to Santo Domingo was now clear. But the news of discontent existing at Port-au-Prince, which reached Soulouque, arrested his further progress and caused him to return with the army to his capital.{{citation-attribution|1={{cite book|last=Léger|first=Jacques Nicolas|author-link=Jacques Nicolas Léger|title=Haiti: Her History and Her Detractors|year=1907|publisher=Neale Publishing Company|url=http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Haiti:_Her_History_and_Her_Detractors|pages=202–204|access-date=9 February 2018|archive-date=18 December 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221218182403/https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Haiti:_Her_History_and_Her_Detractors|url-status=live}}}}

Emboldened by the sudden retreat of the Haitian army, the Dominicans counter-attacked. Their flotilla went as far as Dame-Marie on the west coast of Haiti, which they plundered and set on fire. After another Haitian campaign in 1855, Britain and France intervened and obtained an armistice on behalf of the Dominicans, who declared independence as the Dominican Republic.

The sufferings endured by the soldiers during the campaign of 1855, and the losses and sacrifices inflicted on the country without yielding any compensation or any practical results provoked great discontent. In 1858 a revolution began, led by General Fabre Geffrard, Duke of Tabara. In December of that year, Geffrard defeated the Imperial Army and seized control of most of the country. As a result, the Emperor abdicated his throne on 15 January 1859. Faustin was taken into exile and General Geffrard succeeded him as president.{{Citation needed|date=June 2024}}

File:Luders Affair, Germany, Haiti.jpg

The period following Soulouque's overthrow down to the turn of the century was a turbulent one for Haiti, with repeated bouts of political instability. President Geffrard was overthrown in a coup in 1867,{{cite book|first=Jan|last=Rogozinski|year=1999|title=A Brief History of the Caribbean|edition=Revised|publisher=Facts on File, Inc.|location=New York|isbn=0-8160-3811-2|page=[https://archive.org/details/briefhistoryofca00rogo_0/page/220 220]|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/briefhistoryofca00rogo_0/page/220}} as was his successor, Sylvain Salnave, in 1869.{{citation-attribution|1={{Cite book|chapter-url=https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Haiti:_Her_History_and_Her_Detractors/Part_I:_Chapter_XVI|title=Haiti: Her History and Her Detractors|last=Léger|first=Jacques Nicolas|author-link=Jacques Nicolas Léger|chapter=Chapter XVI|date=1907|publisher=Neale Publishing Company|pages=211–216|access-date=8 September 2019|archive-date=9 November 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221109021148/https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Haiti:_Her_History_and_Her_Detractors/Part_I:_Chapter_XVI|url-status=live}} }} Under the Presidency of Michel Domingue (1874–76) relations with the Dominican Republic were dramatically improved by the signing of a treaty, in which both parties acknowledged the independence of the other. Some modernisation of the economy and infrastructure also occurred in this period, especially under the Presidencies of Lysius Salomon (1879–1888) and Florvil Hyppolite (1889–1896).Haiti: Her History and Her Detractors by Jacques Nicolas Léger, University of Michigan, 2006, 235–236

Haiti's relations with outside powers were often strained. In 1889 the United States attempted to force Haiti to permit the building of a naval base at Môle Saint-Nicolas, which was firmly resisted by President Hyppolite.{{citation-attribution|1={{Cite book|chapter-url=https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Haiti:_Her_History_and_Her_Detractors/Part_I:_Chapter_XXII|title=Haiti: Her History and Her Detractors|last=Léger|first=Jacques Nicolas|author-link=Jacques Nicolas Léger|chapter=Chapter XXII|date=1907|publisher=Neale Publishing Company|location=New York; Washington|pages=245–247|access-date=8 September 2019|archive-date=12 November 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221112113317/https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Haiti:_Her_History_and_Her_Detractors/Part_I:_Chapter_XXII|url-status=live}} }} In 1892 the German government supported suppression of the reform movement of Anténor Firmin, and in 1897, the Germans used gunboat diplomacy to intimidate and then humiliate the Haitian government of President Tirésias Simon Sam (1896–1902) during the Lüders Affair.{{cite book|author=Jacques Nicolas Léger|author-link=Jacques Nicolas Léger|title=Haiti, Her History and Her Detractors|url=https://archive.org/details/haitiherhistory00lggoog|year=1907|publisher=Neale Publishing Company|location=New York|page=[https://archive.org/details/haitiherhistory00lggoog/page/n271 249]}}

In the first decades of the 20th century, Haiti experienced great political instability and was heavily in debt to France, Germany and the United States. A series of short lived presidencies came and went: President Pierre Nord Alexis was forced from power in 1908,[https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1908/12/08/104772140.pdf "Hurry Election Of Simon In Haiti; Followers Fear Delay May Cause Disorders And Invite Intervention From United States"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210304034010/https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1908/12/08/104772140.pdf |date=4 March 2021 }} New York Times 8 December 1908[https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1908/12/18/105016384.pdf "Simon Elected President; Following Action by Haitian Congress, He Is Recognized By The United States"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210309073618/https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1908/12/18/105016384.pdf |date=9 March 2021 }}, The New York Times 18 December 1908 as was his successor François C. Antoine Simon in 1911;{{cite news|title=Leconte in Haiti's Capital; Revolutionary Leader Takes Possession of National Palace|date=8 August 1911|url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1911/08/08/104873360.pdf|work=The New York Times|pages=4|access-date=13 January 2010|archive-date=4 March 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210304140706/https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1911/08/08/104873360.pdf|url-status=live}} President Cincinnatus Leconte (1911–12) was killed in a (possibly deliberate) explosion at the National Palace;{{cite journal|last=Hayes|first=Carlton H.|author2=Edward M. Sait|date=December 1912|title=Record of Political Events|journal=Political Science Quarterly|volume=27|issue=4|pages=752|doi=10.2307/2141264|jstor=2141264}} Michel Oreste (1913–14) was ousted in a coup, as was his successor Oreste Zamor in 1914.Kaplan, U.S. Imperialism in Latin America, p. 61.

{{main|United States occupation of Haiti}}

File:U.S. Marines and guide in search of bandits. Haiti, circa 1919., 1927 - 1981 - NARA - 532584.tif fighters against the U.S. occupation of Haiti, {{circa|1919}}]]

Germany increased its influence in Haiti in this period, with a small community of German settlers wielding disproportionate influence in Haiti's economy.[https://2001-2009.state.gov/r/pa/ho/time/wwi/88275.htm Occupation of Haiti, 1915–34] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211223011822/https://2001-2009.state.gov/r/pa/ho/time/wwi/88275.htm |date=23 December 2021 }}, US Department of State The German influence prompted anxieties in the United States, who had also invested heavily in the country, and whose government defended their right to oppose foreign interference in the Americas under the Monroe Doctrine. In December 1914, the Americans removed $500,000 from the Haitian National Bank, but rather than seize it to help pay the debt, it was removed for safe-keeping in New York, thus giving the United States control of the bank and preventing other powers from doing so. This gave a stable financial base on which to build the economy, and to enable the debt to be repaid.Office of the Historian, U.S. Government. [https://history.state.gov/milestones/1914-1920/haiti U.S. Invasion and Occupation of Haiti, 1915–34] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160104004131/https://history.state.gov/milestones/1914-1920/haiti |date=4 January 2016 }}

In 1915, Haiti's new President Vilbrun Guillaume Sam sought to strengthen his tenuous rule by a mass execution of 167 political prisoners. Outrage at the killings led to riots, and Sam was captured and killed by a lynch mob.Clammer, Paul (2016), Bradt Travel Guide – Haiti, p. 15.{{Cite book|last=Millett|first=Allan Reed|title=Semper Fidelis: The History of the United States Marine Corps|page=185|publisher=Simon and Schuster|location=New York|date=1991|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sgkbAbwcLfAC|isbn=9780029215968|access-date=8 September 2019|archive-date=28 June 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240628034129/https://books.google.com/books?id=sgkbAbwcLfAC|url-status=live}} Fearing possible foreign intervention, or the emergence of a new government led by the anti-American Haitian politician Rosalvo Bobo, President Woodrow Wilson sent U.S. Marines into Haiti in July 1915. The {{USS|Washington|ACR-11|6}}, under Rear Admiral Caperton, arrived in Port-au-Prince in an attempt to restore order and protect U.S. interests. Within days, the Marines had taken control of the capital city and its banks and customs house. The Marines declared martial law and severely censored the press. Within weeks, a new pro-U.S. Haitian president, Philippe Sudré Dartiguenave, was installed and a new constitution written that was favorable to the interests of the United States. The constitution (written by future US President Franklin D. Roosevelt) included a clause that allowed, for the first time, foreign ownership of land in Haiti, which was bitterly opposed by the Haitian legislature and citizenry.{{cite book|last=Schmidt|first=Hans|title=The United States Occupation of Haiti, 1915–1934|publisher=Rutgers University Press|year=1971|isbn=9780813522036|page=99}}

File:Corps de Charlemagne Péralte.jpg gaining Péralte the status of national martyr.]]

The occupation improved some of Haiti's infrastructure and centralized power in Port-au-Prince. 1700 km of roads were made usable, 189 bridges were built, many irrigation canals were rehabilitated, hospitals, schools, and public buildings were constructed, and drinking water was brought to the main cities.{{Citation needed|date=September 2019}} Agricultural education was organized, with a central school of agriculture and 69 farms in the country.{{sfn|Heinl|1996|pp=454–455}}{{incomplete short citation|date=February 2023}} However, many infrastructure projects were built using the corvée system that allowed the government/occupying forces to take people from their homes and farms, at gunpoint if necessary, to build roads, bridges etc. by force, a process that was deeply resented by ordinary Haitians.Danticat, Edwidge (28 July 2015), New Yorker Magazine. Sisal was also introduced to Haiti, and sugarcane and cotton became significant exports, boosting prosperity.Henl, pp. 454–455. Haitian traditionalists, based in rural areas, were highly resistant to U.S.-backed changes, while the urban elites, typically mixed-race, welcomed the growing economy, but wanted more political control. Together they helped secure an end to the occupation in 1934, under the Presidency of Sténio Vincent (1930–1941).{{cite journal|url=http://historicalstudiesineducation.ca/index.php/edu_hse-rhe/article/view/2357|title=Education During the American Occupation of Haiti, 1915–1934|journal=Historical Studies in Education|volume=22|issue=2|pages=1–17|last=Angulo|first=A. J.|year=2010|access-date=24 July 2013|archive-date=22 September 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220922014340/https://historicalstudiesineducation.ca/index.php/edu_hse-rhe/article/view/2357|url-status=live}} The debts were still outstanding, though less due to increased prosperity, and the U.S. financial advisor-general receiver handled the budget until 1941.{{cite journal|last=Munro|first=Dana G.|title=The American Withdrawal from Haiti, 1929–1934|journal=The Hispanic American Historical Review|volume=49|issue=1|pages=1–26|doi=10.2307/2511314|jstor=2511314|year=1969}}

The U.S. Marines were instilled with a special brand of paternalism towards Haitians "expressed in the metaphor of a father's relationship with his children."{{cite book|last1=Renda|first1=Mary|title=Taking Haiti: Military Occupation and the Culture of U.S. Imperialism 1915–1940|url=https://archive.org/details/takinghaiti00mary|url-access=registration|date=2001|publisher=University of North Carolina Press|location=Chapel Hill and London|pages=[https://archive.org/details/takinghaiti00mary/page/15 15]}} Armed opposition to the US presence was led by the cacos under the command of Charlemagne Péralte; his capture and execution in 1919 earned him the status of a national martyr.{{cite magazine|title=An Iconic Image of Haitian Liberty|url=https://www.newyorker.com/culture/photo-booth/haiti-u-s-occupation-charlemagne-peralte|magazine=The New Yorker|date=28 July 2015|access-date=6 January 2017|archive-date=22 September 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220922012747/https://www.newyorker.com/culture/photo-booth/haiti-u-s-occupation-charlemagne-peralte|url-status=live}} During Senate hearings in 1921, the commandant of the Marine Corps reported that, in the 20 months of active unrest, 2,250 Haitians had been killed. However, in a report to the Secretary of the Navy, he reported the death toll as being 3,250.{{harvnb|Schmidt|1971|p=102}} Haitian historians have claimed the true number was much higher, but this is not supported by most historians outside Haiti.{{cite book|first=Paul|last=Farmer|author-link=Paul Farmer|title=The Uses of Haiti|publisher=Common Courage Press|year=2003|page=98}}

After U.S. forces left in 1934, Dominican dictator Rafael Trujillo used anti-Haitian sentiment as a nationalist tool. In 1937, in an event that became known as the Parsley Massacre, he ordered his army to kill Haitians living on the Dominican side of the border.{{cite book|first=Paul|last=Farmer|title=AIDS and Accusation: Haiti and the Geography of Blame|year=2006|publisher=California University Press|isbn=978-0-520-24839-7|pages=180–181}}{{cite web|last=Wucker|first=Michele|title=Why the Cocks Fight: Dominicans, Haitians and the Struggle for Hispaniola|work=Windows on Haiti|url=http://www.ling.upenn.edu/courses/Fall_2003/ling001/wucker.html|access-date=26 December 2007|archive-date=31 August 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180831131817/http://www.ling.upenn.edu/courses/Fall_2003/ling001/wucker.html|url-status=live}} Few bullets were used; instead, 20,000–30,000 Haitians were bludgeoned and bayoneted, then herded into the sea, where sharks finished what Trujillo had begun.{{cite book|title=Decision-making in the UN Security Council: The Case of Haiti, 1990–1997|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wadg8bm9_8oC&pg=PA198|isbn=978-0-19-829483-2|last1=Malone|first1=David|year=1998|publisher=Clarendon Press|access-date=8 February 2018|archive-date=28 June 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240628034131/https://books.google.com/books?id=wadg8bm9_8oC&pg=PA198#v=onepage&q&f=false|url-status=live}} The indiscriminate massacre occurred over a period of five days.

Haitian President Vincent, under U.S. pressure owing to his increasingly dictatorial actions, resigned in 1941 and was replaced by Élie Lescot (1941–46).{{Cite web|title=Antoine Louis Leocardie Elie Lescot|url=https://amhe.org/journal/?page_id=2268|access-date=24 May 2023|language=en-US|archive-date=24 May 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230524094115/https://amhe.org/journal/?page_id=2268|url-status=live}} In 1941, during the Second World War, Lescot declared war on Japan (8 December), Germany (12 December), Italy (12 December), Bulgaria (24 December), Hungary (24 December) and Romania (24 December).Dr Erik Goldstein, Routledge, 2005, Wars and Peace Treaties: 1816 to 1991, p. 217. Out of these six Axis countries, only Romania reciprocated, declaring war on Haiti on the same day (24 December 1941).Dr Erik Goldstein, Routledge, 2005, Wars and Peace Treaties: 1816 to 1991, p. 218. On 27 September 1945,{{cite web|url=https://www.un.org/depts/dhl/unms/founders.shtml|title=Founding Member States|date=28 September 2009 |publisher=United Nations|access-date=28 June 2017|archive-date=21 November 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091121135646/https://www.un.org/depts/dhl/unms/founders.shtml|url-status=live}} Haiti became a founding member of the United Nations (the successor to the League of Nations, of which Haiti was also a founding member).{{cite web|url=http://www.indiana.edu/~league/1thordinaryassemb.htm|title=League of Nations Photo Archive – First Assembly, Geneva, November 15- December 18, 1920|website=indiana.edu|access-date=22 June 2017|archive-date=6 April 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190406025135/http://www.indiana.edu/~league/1thordinaryassemb.htm|url-status=dead}}{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3RbzX4PjxtgC&pg=PA255|title=Historical Dictionary of Haiti|editor=Hall, Michael R.|page=255|year=2012|isbn=978-0-8108-7810-5|publisher=Scarecrow Press|access-date=22 June 2017|archive-date=28 June 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240628034058/https://books.google.com/books?id=3RbzX4PjxtgC&pg=PA255#v=onepage&q&f=false|url-status=live}}

In 1946 Lescot was overthrown by the military, with Dumarsais Estimé later becoming the new president (1946–50). Estimé sought to improve the economy and education, and to boost the role of black Haitians; however, as he sought to consolidate his rule he too was overthrown in a coup led by Paul Magloire, who replaced him as president (1950–56).{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=e6AyDQAAQBAJ|title=Haiti|editor=Clammer, Paul|page=16|year=2016|publisher=Bradt Travel Guides|isbn=9781841629230|access-date=9 September 2019|archive-date=28 June 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240628034059/https://books.google.com/books?id=e6AyDQAAQBAJ|url-status=live}} Firmly anti-Communist, he was supported by the United States; with greater political stability tourists started to visit Haiti.{{cite news|title=Tourism can help Haiti return to its halcyon days|url=https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/poverty-matters/2013/jul/26/haiti-tourism-caribbean-redevelopment|work=guardian.co.uk|access-date=26 July 2013|location=London|first=Prospery|last=Raymond|date=26 July 2013|archive-date=23 September 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220923052338/https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/poverty-matters/2013/jul/26/haiti-tourism-caribbean-redevelopment|url-status=live}} The waterfront area of Port-au-Prince was redeveloped to allow cruise ship passengers to walk to cultural attractions.

{{main|Duvalier dynasty}}

File:Duvalier crop2.jpg in 1968]]

In 1956–57 Haiti underwent severe political turmoil; Magloire was forced to resign and leave the country in 1956 and he was followed by four short-lived presidencies. In the September 1957 election François Duvalier was elected President of Haiti. Known as 'Papa Doc' and initially popular, Duvalier remained President until his death in 1971.Clammer, Paul (2016), Bradt Travel Guide – Haiti, p. 17. He advanced black interests in the public sector, where over time, people of color had predominated as the educated urban elite.{{cite book|last=Bryan|first=Patrick E.|title=The Haitian Revolution and Its Effects|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=q9owdkOc0wgC|year=1984|publisher=Heinemann|isbn=978-0-435-98301-7|access-date=27 June 2015|archive-date=28 June 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240628034059/https://books.google.com/books?id=q9owdkOc0wgC|url-status=live}} Not trusting the army, despite his frequent purges of officers deemed disloyal, Duvalier created a private militia known as Tontons Macoutes ("Bogeymen"), which maintained order by terrorizing the populace and political opponents.{{cite encyclopedia|url=https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/174718/François-Duvalier|title=François Duvalier|encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica}} In 1964 Duvalier proclaimed himself 'President for Life'; an uprising against his rule that year in Jérémie was violently suppressed, with the ringleaders publicly executed and hundreds of mixed-raced citizens in the town killed. The bulk of the educated and professional class began leaving the country, and corruption became widespread. Duvalier sought to create a personality cult, identifying himself with Baron Samedi, one of the loa (or lwa), or spirits, of Haitian Vodou. Despite the well-publicized abuses under his rule, Duvalier's firm anti-Communism earned him the support of the Americans, who furnished the country with aid.{{citation|mode=cs1|title=Biographies: François Duvalier (1907–1971)|last=Štraus|first=Stane|website=PolymerNotes.org|url=http://www.polymernotes.org/biographies/HTI_bio_duvalier.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150711133408/http://www.polymernotes.org/biographies/HTI_bio_duvalier.htm|archive-date=11 July 2015|url-status=dead}}

In 1971, Duvalier died, and he was succeeded by his son Jean-Claude Duvalier, nicknamed 'Baby Doc', who ruled until 1986.{{cite book|last=Shaw|first=Karl|title=Power Mad!|trans-title=Šílenství mocných|year=2005|orig-year=2004|publisher=Metafora|location=Praha|language=cs|isbn=978-80-7359-002-4|page=52}} He largely continued his father's policies, though curbed some of the worst excesses in order to court international respectability. Tourism, which had nosedived in Papa Doc's time, again became a growing industry.{{cite news|url=https://huffingtonpost.com/paul-clammer/haiti-caribbean-destination_b_2593487.html|title=Is Haiti The Caribbean's Best New Destination?|last=Clammer|first=Paul|date=1 February 2014|access-date=3 November 2014|work=The Huffington Post|archive-date=3 November 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141103094114/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/paul-clammer/haiti-caribbean-destination_b_2593487.html|url-status=live}} However, as the economy continued to decline, Baby Doc's grip on power began to weaken. Haiti's pig population was slaughtered following an outbreak of swine fever in the late 1970s, causing hardship to rural communities who used them as an investment.{{Cite journal|last=Abrams|first=Elliott|date=November 2014|title=Getting Rid of Baby Doc|url=https://www.commentarymagazine.com/articles/getting-rid-of-baby-doc/|journal=Commentary|volume=138|pages=27–30|issn=0010-2601|access-date=9 September 2019|archive-date=11 August 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180811200020/https://www.commentarymagazine.com/articles/getting-rid-of-baby-doc/|url-status=dead}} The opposition became more vocal, bolstered by a visit to the country by Pope John Paul II in 1983, who publicly lambasted the president.{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=6tkvAAAAIBAJ&pg=7222,4661909|title='Things in Haiti must change,' pope tells Duvalier|page=15|newspaper=The Spokesman-Review|date=10 March 1983|issn=1064-7317|location=Spokane, Washington|agency=Associated Press|quote=The Roman Catholic pontiff responded with a stern lecture to the island country's tiny moneyed elite, telling the 31-year-old president-for-life of the Western Hemisphere's poorest country, 'Things must change in Haiti.' ... 'I call on all those who have power, riches and culture so that they can understand the serious and urgent responsibility to help their brothers and sisters,' {{bracket|Pope John Paul II}} said.|access-date=9 September 2019|archive-date=20 September 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220920163105/https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=6tkvAAAAIBAJ&pg=7222,4661909|url-status=live}} Demonstrations occurred in Gonaïves in 1985 which then spread across the country; under pressure from the United States, Duvalier left the country in February 1986.{{cite book |last=Trouillot |first=Michel-Rolph |date=1990 |title=Haiti, State Against Nation: The Origins and Legacy of Duvalierism |location=New York |publisher=Monthly Review Press |page=221 |isbn=0853457557 }}

In total, roughly 40,000 to 60,000 Haitians are estimated to have been killed during the reign of the Duvaliers.{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/01/28/AR2011012803142.html|title='Baby Doc' Duvalier missed Haiti. That's why he came back|newspaper=The Washington Post|first=Marjorie|last=Valbrun|date=28 January 2011|access-date=29 December 2017|archive-date=20 July 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190720062039/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/01/28/AR2011012803142.html|url-status=live}} Through the use of his intimidation tactics and executions, many intellectual Haitians had fled, leaving the country with a massive brain-drain from which it has yet to recover.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=l8Nrdxzi-lkC|title=Farewell, Fred Voodoo: A Letter from Haiti|editor=Wilentz, Amy|page=13|year=2013|publisher=Simon and Schuster|isbn=9781451643978|access-date=24 May 2020}}

File:DD-SD-99-03743.jpg returns to Haiti following the U.S.-led invasion in 1994 designed to remove the regime installed by the 1991 Haitian coup d'état]]

Following Duvalier's departure, army leader General Henri Namphy headed a new National Governing Council. Elections scheduled for November 1987 were aborted after dozens of inhabitants were shot in the capital by soldiers and Tontons Macoutes.Whitney, Kathleen Marie (1996), "Sin, Fraph, and the CIA: U.S. Covert Action in Haiti", Southwestern Journal of Law and Trade in the Americas, Vol. 3, Issue 2 (1996), pp. 303–32, esp. p. 319. Fraudulent elections followed in 1988, in which only 4% of the citizenry voted.{{cite web|url=http://www.cartercenter.org/news/documents/doc1379.html|title=Haiti's Election Needs Help|date=30 September 1990|first=Jimmy|last=Carter|author-link=Jimmy Carter|publisher=Carter Center|access-date=10 September 2019|archive-date=20 September 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220920173852/http://www.cartercenter.org/news/documents/doc1379.html|url-status=live}} The newly elected president, Leslie Manigat, was then overthrown some months later in the June 1988 Haitian coup d'état.IACHR, [http://www.iachr.org/countryrep/Haiti88eng/chap.2e.htm Report on the Situation of Human Tights in Haiti] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200728093219/http://www.iachr.org/countryrep/Haiti88eng/chap.2e.htm |date=28 July 2020 }}, OEA/Ser.L/V/II.74 doc. 9 rev. 1, 7 September 1988

Another coup followed in September 1988, after the St. Jean Bosco massacre in which approximately 13 to 50 people attending a mass led by prominent government critic and Catholic priest Jean-Bertrand Aristide were killed.Americas Watch Committee (U.S.), National Coalition for Haitian Refugees, Caribbean Rights (Organization). [https://books.google.com/books?id=YRQPgQr_x04C&q=bosco The More things change-- human rights in Haiti] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240628034101/https://books.google.com/books?id=YRQPgQr_x04C&q=bosco#v=snippet&q=bosco&f=false |date=28 June 2024 }}, Human Rights Watch, 1989. pp. 96–8. General Prosper Avril subsequently led a military regime until March 1990.{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1991/11/15/news/ex-ruler-of-haiti-faces-human-rights-suit-in-us.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180206104600/https://www.nytimes.com/1991/11/15/news/ex-ruler-of-haiti-faces-human-rights-suit-in-us.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=6 February 2018|title=Ex-Ruler of Haiti Faces Human Rights Suit in U.S.|editor=Rohter, Larry|date=15 November 1991|work=The New York Times|access-date=10 September 2019}}Anthony Payne and Paul K. Sutton (1993), Modern Caribbean politics. JHU Press, 1993. p90

Avril transferred power to the army chief of staff, Gen. Hérard Abraham, on 10 March 1990. Abraham gave up power three days later, becoming the only military leader in Haiti during the twentieth century to voluntarily give up power. Abraham later helped to secure the 1990–91 Haitian general election.{{Citation needed|date=June 2024}}

In December 1990, Jean-Bertrand Aristide was elected president in the Haitian general election. However, his ambitious reformist agenda worried the elites, and in September of the following year he was overthrown by the military, led by Raoul Cédras, in the 1991 Haitian coup d'état.Collins, Edward Jr., Cole, Timothy M. (1996), "Regime Legitimation in Instances of Coup-Caused Governments-in-Exile: The Cases of Presidents Makarios and Aristide", Journal of International Law & Practice 5(2), p 220. Amidst the continuing turmoil many Haitians attempted to flee the country.

In September 1994, the United States negotiated the departure of Haiti's military leaders and the peaceful entry of 20,000 US troops under Operation Uphold Democracy. This enabled the restoration of the democratically elected Jean-Bertrand Aristide as president, who returned to Haiti in October to complete his term.{{cite web|publisher=The Carter Center|title=Activities by Country: Haiti|url=http://www.cartercenter.org/countries/haiti.html|access-date=19 February 2010|archive-date=20 September 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220920173124/http://www.cartercenter.org/countries/haiti.html|url-status=live}}{{cite news|last=Manegol|first=Catherine S.|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1994/10/16/world/mission-haiti-scene-for-aristide-s-followers-every-step-dance-every-cheer-song.html|title=For Aristide's Followers, Every Step Is a Dance, Every Cheer a Song|work=The New York Times|date=16 October 1994|access-date=24 July 2013|archive-date=22 September 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220922090800/https://www.nytimes.com/1994/10/16/world/mission-haiti-scene-for-aristide-s-followers-every-step-dance-every-cheer-song.html|url-status=live}} As part of the deal Aristide had to implement free market reforms in an attempt to improve the Haitian economy, with mixed results.{{cite book|last=Bell|first=Beverly|date=2013|title=Fault Lines: Views across Haiti's Divide|location=Ithaca, NY|publisher=Cornell University Press|pages=30–38|isbn=978-0-8014-7769-0}} In November 1994, Hurricane Gordon brushed Haiti, dumping heavy rain and creating flash flooding that triggered mudslides. Gordon killed an estimated 1,122 people, although some estimates go as high as 2,200.{{cite web|title=Hurricane Gordon 1994|publisher=Hurricane Central|url=http://hurricanecentral.freeservers.com/Prelim_Reports/1994_Gordon.htm|access-date=4 October 2016|archive-date=22 September 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220922111011/http://hurricanecentral.freeservers.com/Prelim_Reports/1994_Gordon.htm|url-status=live}}{{cite web|title=Hurricane Gordon 1994|publisher=NOAA|url=http://www.publicaffairs.noaa.gov/gordon94.html|access-date=4 October 2016|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161007062220/http://www.publicaffairs.noaa.gov/gordon94.html|archive-date=7 October 2016}}

Elections were held in 1995 which were won by René Préval, gaining 88% of the popular vote, albeit on a low turnout.[http://www.ipu.org/parline-e/reports/arc/2137_95.htm Haiti: Elections held in 1995] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305135914/http://www.ipu.org/parline-e/reports/arc/2137_95.htm |date=5 March 2016 }} Inter-Parliamentary UnionNohlen, D (2005) Elections in the Americas: A data handbook, Volume I, p392 {{ISBN|978-0-19-928357-6}} Aristide subsequently formed his own party, Fanmi Lavalas, and political deadlock ensued; the November 2000 election returned Aristide to the presidency with 92% of the vote.{{cite book|last=Hallward|first=P.|title=Damming the Flood:Haiti, Aristide, and the Politics of containment|location=London, UK|publisher=Verso Books|year=2007|pages=xiii, 78–79}} The election had been boycotted by the opposition, then organized into the Convergence Démocratique, over a dispute in the May legislative elections. In subsequent years, there was increasing violence between rival political factions and human rights abuses.Clammer, Paul (2016), Bradt Travel Guide – Haiti, p. 19.{{cite book|last1=Buss|first1=Terry F.|last2=Gardner|first2=Adam|title=Haiti in the Balance: Why Foreign Aid Has Failed and What We Can Do about It|url=https://archive.org/details/haitiinbalancewh00buss|url-access=registration|date=2009|publisher=Brookings Institution Press|isbn=978-0-8157-0164-4}} Aristide spent years negotiating with the Convergence Démocratique on new elections, but the Convergence's inability to develop a sufficient electoral base made elections unattractive.{{citation needed|date=September 2019}}

In 2004, an anti-Aristide revolt began in northern Haiti. The rebellion eventually reached the capital, and Aristide was forced into exile. The precise nature of the events are disputed; some, including Aristide and his bodyguard, Franz Gabriel, stated that he was the victim of a "new coup d'état or modern kidnapping" by U.S. forces.{{cite web|url=http://www.globalpolicy.org/component/content/article/186/34344.html|title=Aristide Kidnapped by US Forces?|publisher=Globalpolicy.org|date=1 March 2004|access-date=24 July 2013|archive-date=7 August 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200807130449/https://www.globalpolicy.org/component/content/article/186/34344.html|url-status=live}}{{cite web|url=http://www.democracynow.org/2004/3/16/exclusive_aristide_and_his_bodyguard_describe|title=Exclusive: Aristide and His Bodyguard Describe the U.S. Role In His Ouster|publisher=Democracynow.org|date=16 March 2004|access-date=24 July 2013|archive-date=22 September 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220922093612/https://www.democracynow.org/2004/3/16/exclusive_aristide_and_his_bodyguard_describe|url-status=live}} These charges were denied by the US government.{{cite news|last=Buschschluter|first=Vanessa|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8460185.stm|title=The long history of troubled ties between Haiti and the US|work=BBC News|date=16 January 2010|access-date=24 July 2013|archive-date=1 September 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220901044512/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8460185.stm|url-status=live}} As political violence and crime continued to grow, a United Nations Stabilisation Mission (MINUSTAH) was brought in to maintain order.Clammer, Paul (2016), Bradt Travel Guide – Haiti, p. 20. However, MINUSTAH proved controversial, since their periodically heavy-handed approach to maintaining law and order and several instances of abuses, including the alleged sexual abuse of civilians, provoked resentment and distrust among ordinary Haitians.{{cite news|last=Varner|first=Bill|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=az0cdhHzic3M|title=Haitian Gangs Seek Truce That Would Ease Elections|publisher=Bloomberg.com|date=25 August 2005|access-date=24 July 2013|archive-date=16 September 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150916205622/http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive|url-status=live}}{{cite news|last=Klarreich|first=Kathie|title=Will the United Nations' legacy in Haiti be all about scandal?|url=http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Americas/2012/0613/Will-the-United-Nations-legacy-in-Haiti-be-all-about-scandal|newspaper=The Christian Science Monitor|access-date=10 September 2013|date=13 June 2012|archive-date=21 September 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220921235743/https://www.csmonitor.com/World/Americas/2012/0613/Will-the-United-Nations-legacy-in-Haiti-be-all-about-scandal|url-status=live}}

Boniface Alexandre assumed interim authority until 2006, when René Préval was re-elected President following elections.{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/10/international/10haiti.html|last=Thompson|first=Ginger|title=Candidate of Haiti's Poor Leads in Early Tally With 61% of Vote.|work=The New York Times|date=10 February 2006|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140424203107/http://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/10/international/10haiti.html|archive-date=24 April 2014|url-status=live}}

{{See also|Haitian crisis (2018–present)}}

Amidst the continuing political chaos, a series of natural disasters hit Haiti. In 2004, Tropical Storm Jeanne skimmed the north coast, leaving 3,006 people dead in flooding and mudslides, mostly in the city of Gonaïves.{{cite web|url=http://www.orlandosentinel.com/sfl-0923haitigallery,0,7266223.photogallery|title=Photo Gallery: Jeanne hits Haiti|work=Orlando Sentinel|access-date=16 February 2010|archive-date=5 May 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090505105859/http://www.orlandosentinel.com/sfl-0923haitigallery,0,7266223.photogallery|url-status=dead}} In 2008, Haiti was again struck by tropical storms; Tropical Storm Fay, Hurricane Gustav, Hurricane Hanna and Hurricane Ike all produced heavy winds and rain, resulting in 331 deaths and about 800,000 in need of humanitarian aid.{{cite news|url=https://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2008-09-10-Haiti-floods_N.htm|title=UN seeks almost US$108 million for Haiti floods|work=USA Today|date=10 September 2008|access-date=24 July 2013|archive-date=15 October 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081015233344/http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2008-09-10-Haiti-floods_N.htm|url-status=live}} The state of affairs produced by these storms was intensified by already high food and fuel prices that had caused a food crisis and political unrest in April 2008.{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4718790.stm|work=BBC News|title=Preval declared Haiti poll winner|date=16 February 2006|access-date=4 May 2010|archive-date=25 September 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220925052428/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4718790.stm|url-status=live}}{{cite news|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSN1228245020080413|title=Haiti's government falls after food riots|date=12 April 2008|access-date=16 February 2010|work=Reuters|archive-date=20 September 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220920172406/https://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSN1228245020080413|url-status=live}}

File:Haitian national palace earthquake.jpg, located in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, heavily damaged after the earthquake of 2010. This was originally a two-story structure; the second story completely collapsed.]]

On 12 January 2010, at 4:53 pm local time, Haiti was struck by a magnitude-7.0 earthquake. This was the country's most severe earthquake in over 200 years.{{cite web|url=https://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eqinthenews/2010/us2010rja6/|title=Magnitude 7.0 – Haiti Region|access-date=12 January 2010|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100115110510/http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eqinthenews/2010/us2010rja6/|archive-date=15 January 2010}} The earthquake was reported to have left between 160,000 and 300,000 people dead and up to 1.6 million homeless, making it one of the deadliest natural disasters ever recorded.{{cite web|title=Haiti Earthquake Fast Facts|url=http://www.cnn.com/2013/12/12/world/haiti-earthquake-fast-facts/index.html|website=CNN|date=12 December 2013|access-date=12 January 2018|archive-date=25 September 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220925001717/https://www.cnn.com/2013/12/12/world/haiti-earthquake-fast-facts/index.html|url-status=live}}{{cite news|last=Archibold|first=Randal C.|date=13 January 2011|title=Haiti: Quake's Toll Rises to 316,000|newspaper=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/14/world/americas/14briefs-Haiti.html|archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220102/https://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/14/world/americas/14briefs-Haiti.html|archive-date=2 January 2022|url-access=limited|url-status=live|access-date=18 March 2012}}{{cbignore}} It is also one of the deadliest earthquakes ever recorded.{{cite journal|url=https://ourworldindata.org/the-worlds-deadliest-earthquakes|title=What were the world's deadliest earthquakes?|journal=Our World in Data|date=2 February 2024|last1=Ritchie|first1=Hannah|author1-link=Hannah Ritchie|last2=Roser|first2=Max|author2-link=Max Roser|access-date=10 April 2023|archive-date=10 April 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230410172355/https://ourworldindata.org/the-worlds-deadliest-earthquakes|url-status=live}} The situation was exacerbated by a subsequent massive cholera outbreak that was triggered when cholera-infected waste from a United Nations peacekeeping station contaminated the country's main river, the Artibonite.{{cite news|last1=Sontag|first1=Deborah|title=In Haiti, Global Failures on a Cholera Epidemic|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/01/world/americas/haitis-cholera-outraced-the-experts-and-tainted-the-un.|archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220102/https://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/01/world/americas/haitis-cholera-outraced-the-experts-and-tainted-the-un.|archive-date=2 January 2022|url-access=limited|url-status=live|access-date=21 June 2015}}{{cbignore}}{{cite web|url=http://www.oxfam.org/en/pressroom/pressrelease/2011-01-06/year-indecision-leaves-haiti-recovery-standstill|title=A year of indecision leaves Haiti recovery at a standstill|publisher=Oxfam.org|date=6 January 2011|access-date=24 July 2013|archive-date=2 November 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131102155112/http://www.oxfam.org/en/pressroom/pressrelease/2011-01-06/year-indecision-leaves-haiti-recovery-standstill|url-status=live}} In 2017, it was reported that roughly 10,000 Haitians had died and nearly a million had been made ill. After years of denial, the United Nations apologized in 2016, but {{as of|2017|lc=y}}, they have refused to acknowledge fault, thus avoiding financial responsibility.{{cite news|last1=Gladstone|first1=Rick|title=U.N. Brought Cholera to Haiti. Now It Is Fumbling Its Effort to Atone|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/26/world/americas/cholera-haiti-united-nations-peacekeepers-yemen.html|archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220102/https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/26/world/americas/cholera-haiti-united-nations-peacekeepers-yemen.html|archive-date=2 January 2022|url-access=limited|url-status=live|newspaper=The New York Times|date=27 June 2017|access-date=12 January 2018}}{{cbignore}}

General elections had been planned for January 2010 but were postponed due to the earthquake. Elections were held on 28 November 2010 for the senate, the parliament and the first round of the presidential elections. The run-off between Michel Martelly and Mirlande Manigat took place on 20 March 2011, and preliminary results, released on 4 April, named Michel Martelly the winner.Clammer, Paul (2016), Bradt Travel Guide – Haiti, p. 21.{{cite web|url=http://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-2951-haiti-inauguration-michel-martelly-56th-president-of-haiti.html|title=Haiti – Inauguration : Michel Martelly, 56th President of Haiti|publisher=Haitilibre.com|date=14 May 2011|access-date=24 July 2013|archive-date=22 September 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220922004322/https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-2951-haiti-inauguration-michel-martelly-56th-president-of-haiti.html|url-status=live}} In 2011, both former dictator Jean-Claude Duvalier and Jean-Bertrand Aristide returned to Haiti; attempts to try Duvalier for crimes committed under his rule were shelved following his death in 2014.{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/20/world/americas/20haiti.html|archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220102/https://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/20/world/americas/20haiti.html|archive-date=2 January 2022|url-access=limited|url-status=live|work=The New York Times|author=Ginger Thompson|title=Aristide Says He Is Ready to Follow Duvalier Back to Haiti|date=19 January 2011}}{{cbignore}}{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/oct/04/jean-claude-duvalier-baby-doc-haiti-dies|title=Jean-Claude Duvalier, former Haitian dictator, dies aged 63|newspaper=The Guardian|author=|date=4 October 2014|access-date=17 April 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151208082446/http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/oct/04/jean-claude-duvalier-baby-doc-haiti-dies|archive-date=8 December 2015|url-status=live}}{{cite news|first=Jacob|last=Kushner|url=http://www.salon.com/2011/01/17/cb_haiti_ex_dictator_returns/|title=Haiti's 'Baby Doc' in surprise return from exile|work=Salon|agency=Associated Press|date=17 January 2011|archive-date=27 May 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130527224344/http://www.salon.com/2011/01/17/cb_haiti_ex_dictator_returns/|url-status=live}} In 2013, the Haitian government called for European governments to pay reparations for slavery and establish an official commission for the settlement of past wrongdoings.{{cite book|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SofDAgAAQBAJ&pg=PT14|chapter=Formulating the Case for Reparations|last=Gifford|first=Lord Anthony|title=Colonialism, Slavery, Reparations and Trade: Remedying The 'Past'?|publisher=Routledge|year=2012|pages=96|isbn=978-1-136-59792-3|access-date=25 February 2018|archive-date=28 June 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240628034613/https://books.google.com/books?id=SofDAgAAQBAJ&pg=PT14#v=onepage&q&f=false|url-status=live}}{{cite news|url=https://www.economist.com/news/americas/21587236-pressure-grows-compensation-caribbean-trade-blood-money|title=Slavery reparations: Blood money|newspaper=The Economist|date=5 October 2013|access-date=29 August 2017|archive-date=4 December 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171204120133/https://www.economist.com/news/americas/21587236-pressure-grows-compensation-caribbean-trade-blood-money|url-status=live}} Meanwhile, after continuing political wrangling with the opposition and allegations of electoral fraud, Martelly agreed to step down in 2016 without a successor in place.{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/08/world/americas/michel-martelly-haitis-president-departs-without-a-successor.html|archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220102/https://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/08/world/americas/michel-martelly-haitis-president-departs-without-a-successor.html|archive-date=2 January 2022|url-access=limited|url-status=live|title=Michel Martelly, Haiti's President, Departs Without a Successor|date=7 February 2016|work=The New York Times|access-date=7 February 2016|last=Robles|first=Frances}}{{cbignore}} After numerous postponements, partly owing to the effects of devastating Hurricane Matthew, elections were held in November 2016.{{cite news|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-haiti-election-idUSKCN0XM0CC|title=Haiti says election could drag on for months, protests grow|work=Reuters|date=25 April 2016|access-date=26 April 2016|last=Guyler Delva|first=Joseph|archive-date=21 September 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220921213143/https://www.reuters.com/article/us-haiti-election-idUSKCN0XM0CC|url-status=live}}{{cite web|url=http://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-18834-haiti-flash-the-elections-of-october-9-postponed.html|title=Haiti – FLASH : The elections of October 9 postponed|work=Haiti Libre|date=5 October 2016|access-date=6 October 2016|archive-date=22 September 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220922005549/https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-18834-haiti-flash-the-elections-of-october-9-postponed.html|url-status=live}} The victor, Jovenel Moïse of the Haitian Tèt Kale Party, was sworn in as president in 2017.{{cite tweet|user=cep_haiti|number=803456135873363968|date=28 November 2016|title=Résultats préliminaires des élections présidentielles du 20 Novembre 2016 pic.twitter.com/i9GsrkkU8p}}{{cite news|url=http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-haiti-elecion-idUKKBN13O08L|title=Businessman Moise wins Haiti election in first round – provisional results|work=Reuters|date=29 November 2016|access-date=16 November 2017|location=Port-au-Prince|first=Makini|last=Brice|archive-date=7 August 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200807204157/https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-haiti-elecion-idUKKBN13O08L|url-status=dead}} Protests began on 7 July 2018, in response to increased fuel prices. Over time these protests evolved into demands for the resignation of president Moïse.{{Cite web|url=https://www.dw.com/en/haiti-thousands-protest-against-corruption/a-47421473|title=Haiti: Thousands protest against corruption|date=8 February 2019|website=Deutsche Welle|language=en-GB|access-date=19 November 2019|archive-date=9 September 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190909030932/https://www.dw.com/en/haiti-thousands-protest-against-corruption/a-47421473|url-status=live}}

On 7 July 2021, President Moïse was assassinated in an attack on his private residence, and First Lady Martine Moïse was hospitalized.{{Cite web|date=7 July 2021|title=Official: Haiti President Jovenel Moïse assassinated at home|url=https://apnews.com/article/caribbean-haiti-government-and-politics-b56a0f8fec0832028bdc51e8d59c6af2|access-date=7 July 2021|website=AP NEWS|language=en|archive-date=22 September 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220922050149/https://apnews.com/article/caribbean-haiti-government-and-politics-b56a0f8fec0832028bdc51e8d59c6af2|url-status=live}} Amid the political crisis, the government of Haiti installed Ariel Henry as the acting prime minister on 20 July 2021.{{cite web|title=Haiti – Background|url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/haiti/|website=The World Factbook|date=15 June 2022|publisher=CIA|access-date=16 June 2022|archive-date=9 February 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210209014627/https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/haiti/|url-status=live}}{{Cite web|first1=Caitlin|last1=Hu|first2=Natalie|last2=Gallón|first3=Matt|last3=Rivers|first4=Etant|last4=Dupain|title=Haiti's acting prime minister Claude Joseph to step down amid power struggle after president's assassination|url=https://www.cnn.com/2021/07/19/americas/haiti-acting-pm-claude-joseph-to-step-down-intl/index.html|date=19 July 2021|access-date=19 July 2021|website=CNN|archive-date=19 July 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210719150004/https://www.cnn.com/2021/07/19/americas/haiti-acting-pm-claude-joseph-to-step-down-intl/index.html|url-status=live}} On 14 August 2021, Haiti suffered another huge earthquake, with many casualties.{{Cite news|date=14 August 2021|title=Haiti struck by deadly 7.2-magnitude earthquake|language=en-GB|work=BBC News|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-58215631|access-date=15 August 2021|archive-date=14 August 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210814141827/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-58215631|url-status=live}} The earthquake has also damaged Haiti's economic conditions and led to a rise in gang violence which by September 2021 had escalated to a long-lasting full-blown gang war and other violent crimes within the country.{{cite web|url=https://blogs.iadb.org/ideas-matter/en/estimating-the-potential-economic-impact-of-haitis-2021-earthquake/|title=Estimating the Potential Economic Impact of Haiti's 2021 Earthquake|first=Eduardo|last=Cavallo|author2=Laura Giles Álvarez|author3=Andrew Powell|website=IDB|date=28 September 2021|access-date=18 January 2022|archive-date=21 September 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220921215202/https://blogs.iadb.org/ideas-matter/en/estimating-the-potential-economic-impact-of-haitis-2021-earthquake/|url-status=live}}{{cite web|url=https://news.un.org/en/story/2021/10/1102062|title=Haiti facing stalled elections, kidnapping surge, rampant insecurity|website=UN News|publisher=United Nations|date=4 October 2021|access-date=18 January 2022|archive-date=21 September 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220921210751/https://news.un.org/en/story/2021/10/1102062|url-status=live}} As of March 2022, Haiti still had no president, no parliamentary quorum, and a dysfunctional high court due to a lack of judges. In 2022, protests against the government and rising fuel prices intensified.{{cite news|title=Haiti suffers deadly demonstrations against rise in fuel prices|url=https://www.lemonde.fr/en/international/article/2022/09/17/haiti-suffers-deadly-demonstrations-against-rise-in-fuel-prices_5997305_4.html|work=Le Monde|date=17 September 2022|access-date=8 October 2022|archive-date=8 October 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221008194256/https://www.lemonde.fr/en/international/article/2022/09/17/haiti-suffers-deadly-demonstrations-against-rise-in-fuel-prices_5997305_4.html|url-status=live}}{{cite news|title=Haiti reaches a breaking point as the economy tanks and violence soars|url=https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/haiti-reaches-a-breaking-point-as-the-economy-tanks-and-violence-soars|work=PBS|date=4 October 2022|access-date=8 October 2022|archive-date=8 October 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221008194256/https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/haiti-reaches-a-breaking-point-as-the-economy-tanks-and-violence-soars|url-status=live}}

In 2023, kidnapping jumped 72% from the first quarter of the previous year.{{cite news|last=Phillips|first=Tom|title=UN calls for foreign intervention in Haiti as violence surges|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/mar/21/haiti-un-international-specialized-support-force|access-date=26 April 2023|work=The Guardian|date=21 March 2023|archive-date=28 March 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230328164710/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/mar/21/haiti-un-international-specialized-support-force|url-status=live}} Doctors, lawyers, and other wealthy members of society were kidnapped and held for ransom.{{cite news|last=Wilentz|first=Amy|title=Haiti, April 2023: Soon There Will Be No One Left to Kidnap|url=https://www.thenation.com/article/world/haiti-gangs-ariel-henry-biden/|access-date=26 April 2023|agency=The Nation|date=17 April 2023|archive-date=26 April 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230426135431/https://www.thenation.com/article/world/haiti-gangs-ariel-henry-biden/|url-status=live}} Many victims were killed when ransom demands were not met, leading those with the means to do so to flee the country, further hampering efforts to pull the country out of the crisis. It is estimated that amidst the crisis up to 20% of qualified medical staff had left Haiti by the end of 2023.{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/17/world/americas/haiti-gang-violence-health.html|title=Haiti's Hospitals Survived Cholera and Covid. Gangs Are Closing Them.|last1=David C.|first1=Adams|first2=Frances|last2=Robles|work=New York Times|date=2024-03-17|access-date=19 March 2024|archive-date=17 March 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240317162256/https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/17/world/americas/haiti-gang-violence-health.html|url-status=live}}

In March 2024, Ariel Henry was prevented by gangs from returning to Haiti, following a visit to Kenya.{{Cite web|url=https://apnews.com/article/haiti-prime-minister-gangs-resign-e583a191a2f800bc63752220a47dec0d|title=Haiti's prime minister is locked out of his country and faces pressure to resign|website=Associated Press News|date=6 March 2024|access-date=7 March 2024|archive-date=6 March 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240306214053/https://apnews.com/article/haiti-prime-minister-gangs-resign-e583a191a2f800bc63752220a47dec0d|url-status=live}} Henry agreed to resign once a transitional government had been formed. As of that month, nearly half of Haiti's population was living under acute food insecurity, according to the World Food Programme. On 25 April 2024, the Transitional Presidential Council took over the Governance of Haiti and is scheduled to stay in power until 2026.{{cite news|newspaper=Le Nouvelliste|last=Robenson|first=Geffrard|date=25 April 2024|title=Les membres du Conseil présidentiel de transition ont prêté serment, tôt jeudi 25 avril 2024, au Palais national|url=https://lenouvelliste.com/article/247858/les-membres-du-conseil-presidentiel-de-transition-ont-prete-serment-tot-jeudi-25-avril-2024-au-palais-national|language=fr|access-date=1 May 2024|archive-date=26 April 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240426122820/https://lenouvelliste.com/article/247858/les-membres-du-conseil-presidentiel-de-transition-ont-prete-serment-tot-jeudi-25-avril-2024-au-palais-national|url-status=live}} Michel Patrick Boisvert was named interim prime minister. On 3 June 2024, the council swore in Garry Conille as acting prime minister.{{cite news |title=New Haitian Prime Minister Sworn In |url=https://www.barrons.com/news/new-haitian-prime-minister-sworn-in-7717df19 |access-date=29 November 2024 |agency=Agence France Presse |work=Barron's |date=3 June 2024}} On 10 November 2024, Alix Didier Fils-Aimé replaced Conille as acting prime minister.{{cite news |title=Le nouveau Premier ministre haïtien Alix Didier Fils-Aimé a prêté serment |date=11 November 2024 |url=https://www.rfi.fr/fr/am%C3%A9riques/20241111-qui-est-alix-didier-fils-aim%C3%A9-nomm%C3%A9-premier-ministre-en-ha%C3%AFti |access-date=29 November 2024 |work=Radio France Internationale |language=fr}}

{{Main|Geography of Haiti}}

File:Haiti topographic map-fr.svg

Haiti forms the western three-eighths of Hispaniola, the second largest island in the Greater Antilles. At {{convert|27750|km2|sqmi|abbr=on}} Haiti is the third largest country in the Caribbean behind Cuba and the Dominican Republic, the latter sharing a {{convert|360|km|mi|0|adj=on|sp=us}} border with Haiti. The country has a roughly horseshoe shape and because of this it has a disproportionately long coastline, second in length ({{convert|1771|km|mi|0|abbr=on|disp=or}}) behind Cuba in the Greater Antilles.{{cite web|url=https://www.loc.gov/today/placesinthenews/archive/2010arch/20100114_haiti.html|title=Geography: Haiti|website=Library of Congress|access-date=29 September 2014|archive-date=9 August 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220809172231/https://www.loc.gov/today/placesinthenews/archive/2010arch/20100114_haiti.html|url-status=live}}{{cite web|url=http://www.worldatlas.com/webimage/countrys/namerica/caribb/haiti/htland.htm|title=Geography: Haiti|access-date=29 September 2014|archive-date=29 September 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220929181413/https://www.worldatlas.com/maps/haiti|url-status=live}}

Haiti is the most mountainous country in the Caribbean, its terrain consists of mountains interspersed with small coastal plains and river valleys.{{cite web|url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/haiti/|title=CIA World Factbook – Haiti|access-date=3 September 2019|archive-date=9 February 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210209014627/https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/haiti/|url-status=live}} The climate is tropical, with some variation depending on altitude. The highest point is Pic la Selle, at {{convert|2680|m|ft|0||sp=us}}.{{cite book |last=NgCheong-Lum |first=Roseline |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FUSD2v4EQE8C |title=Haiti (Cultures of the World) |publisher=Times Editions |year=2005 |isbn=978-0-7614-1968-6 |location=New York |page=19 |access-date=29 September 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230217144429/https://books.google.com/books?id=FUSD2v4EQE8C |archive-date=17 February 2023 |url-status=live}}

The northern region or Marien Region consists of the Massif du Nord (Northern Massif) and the Plaine du Nord (Northern Plain). The Massif du Nord is an extension of the Cordillera Central in the Dominican Republic. It begins at Haiti's eastern border, north of the Guayamouc River, and extends to the northwest through the northern peninsula. The lowlands of the Plaine du Nord lie along the northern border with the Dominican Republic, between the Massif du Nord and the North Atlantic Ocean.

The central region or Artibonite Region consists of two plains and two sets of mountain ranges. The Plateau Central (Central Plateau) extends along both sides of the Guayamouc River, south of the Massif du Nord. It runs from the southeast to the northwest. To the southwest of the Plateau Central are the Montagnes Noires, whose most northwestern part merges with the Massif du Nord. Haiti's most important valley in terms of crops is the Plaine de l'Artibonite, which lies between the Montagnes Noires and the Chaîne des Matheux. This region supports the country's longest river, the Riviere l'Artibonite, which begins in the western region of the Dominican Republic and continues for most of its length through central Haiti, where it then empties into the Golfe de la Gonâve. Also in this valley lies Haiti's second largest lake, Lac de Péligre, formed as a result of the construction of the Péligre Dam in the mid-1950s.Jennifer Wells, [https://www.thestar.com/news/world/2010/11/21/a_dam_for_the_people_and_a_people_damned.html "A dam for the people, and A people damned"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190903191441/https://www.thestar.com/news/world/2010/11/21/a_dam_for_the_people_and_a_people_damned.html |date=3 September 2019 }}, Toronto Star, 21 November 2010

File:Aerial 2.jpeg]]

The southern region or Xaragua Region consists of the Plaine du Cul-de-Sac (the southeast) and the mountainous southern peninsula (the Tiburon Peninsula). The Plaine du Cul-de-Sac is a natural depression that harbors the country's saline lakes, such as Trou Caïman and Haiti's largest lake, Étang Saumatre. The Chaîne de la Selle mountain range – an extension of the southern mountain chain of the Dominican Republic (the Sierra de Baoruco) – extends from the Massif de la Selle in the east to the Massif de la Hotte in the west.

Haiti also includes several offshore islands. The island of Tortuga is located off the coast of northern Haiti. The arrondissement of La Gonâve is located on the island of the same name, in the Golfe de la Gonâve; Haiti's largest island, Gonâve is moderately populated by rural villagers. Île à Vache is located off the southwest coast; also part of Haiti are the Cayemites, located in the Gulf of Gonâve north of Pestel. Navassa Island, located {{convert|40|nmi|mi km}} west of Jérémie on the south west peninsula of Haiti,{{cite web|url=http://www.latinamericanstudies.org/haiti/rock.htm|title=Whose Rock Is It? Yes, the Haitians Care|author=Larry Rohter|date=19 October 1998|work=Port-au-Prince Journal (reprinted in New York Times)|access-date=28 January 2012|archive-date=8 April 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220408000212/http://www.latinamericanstudies.org/haiti/rock.htm|url-status=live}} is subject to an ongoing territorial dispute with the United States, who currently administer the island.{{cite web|author=|date=August 2000|publisher=US Geological Survey|title=Navassa Island: A Photographic Tour (1998–1999)|access-date=18 November 2012|url=http://coastal.er.usgs.gov/navassa|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121119101317/http://coastal.er.usgs.gov/navassa/|archive-date=19 November 2012}}

File:Haiti Köppen.svg

Haiti's climate is tropical with some variation depending on altitude. Port-au-Prince ranges in January from an average minimum of {{convert|23|°C|1}} to an average maximum of {{convert|31|°C|1}}; in July, from {{convert|25|–|35|°C|°F}}. The rainfall pattern is varied, with rain heavier in some of the lowlands and the northern and eastern slopes of the mountains. Haiti's dry season occurs from November to January.

Port-au-Prince receives an average annual rainfall of {{convert|1370|mm|in|1|abbr=on}}. There are two rainy seasons, April–June and October–November. Haiti is subject to periodic droughts and floods, made more severe by deforestation. Hurricanes are a menace, and the country is also prone to flooding and earthquakes.

File:Haiti Saut-d'Eau.JPG waterfall]]

There are blind thrust faults associated with the Enriquillo-Plantain Garden fault system over which Haiti lies.{{cite web|url=https://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eqinthenews/2010/us2010rja6/#summary|title="Magnitude 7.0 – HAITI REGION Tectonic Summary" United States Geological Survey, 12 January 2010|publisher=Earthquake.usgs.gov|access-date=11 January 2014|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100115110510/http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eqinthenews/2010/us2010rja6/|archive-date=15 January 2010}} After the earthquake of 2010, there was no evidence of surface rupture and geologists' findings were based on seismological, geological and ground deformation data.{{cite journal|last=Hayes|first=G.P.|author2=Briggs R.W.|author3=Sladen A.|author4=Fielding E.J.|author5=Prentice C.|author6=Hudnut K.|author7=Mann P.|author8=Taylor F.W.|author9=Crone A.J. |author10=Gold R.|author11=Ito T.|author12=Simons M.|year=2010|title=Complex rupture during the 12 January 2010 Haiti earthquake|journal=Nature Geoscience|doi=10.1038/ngeo977|volume=3|issue=11|pages=800–805|bibcode=2010NatGe...3..800H|url=https://authors.library.caltech.edu/21200/2/ngeo977-s1.pdf|access-date=13 July 2019|archive-date=2 December 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171202124109/https://authors.library.caltech.edu/21200/2/ngeo977-s1.pdf|url-status=live}}

The northern boundary of the fault is where the Caribbean tectonic plate shifts eastwards by about {{convert|20|mm|in|abbr=in}} per year in relation to the North American Plate. The strike-slip fault system in the region has two branches in Haiti, the Septentrional-Oriente fault in the north and the Enriquillo-Plantain Garden fault in the south.{{Citation needed|date=June 2024}}

A 2007 earthquake hazard study, noted that the Enriquillo-Plantain Garden fault zone could be at the end of its seismic cycle and concluded that a worst-case forecast would involve a 7.2 M_w earthquake, similar in size to the 1692 Jamaica earthquake.{{cite journal|last=DeMets|first=C.|author2=Wiggins-Grandison W.|year=2007|title=Deformation of Jamaica and motion of the Gonâve microplate from GPS and seismic data|journal=Geophysical Journal International|volume=168|issue=1|pages=362–378|doi=10.1111/j.1365-246X.2006.03236.x|bibcode=2007GeoJI.168..362D|doi-access=free}} A study team performing a hazard assessment of the fault system recommended "high priority" historical geologic rupture studies, as the fault was fully locked and had recorded few earthquakes in the preceding 40 years.{{cite web|url=http://www.ig.utexas.edu/jsg/18_cgg/Mann3.htm|title=Entiquillo-Plantain Garden Strike-Slip Fault Zone: A Major Seismic Hazard Affecting Dominican Republic, Haiti and Jamaica|publisher=18th Caribbean Geological Conference|last1=Mann|first1=Paul|last2=Calais|first2=Eric|last3=Demets|first3=Chuck|last4=Prentice|first4=Carol S|last5=Wiggins-Grandison|first5=Margaret|date=March 2008|access-date=13 January 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100116160020/http://www.ig.utexas.edu/jsg/18_cgg/Mann3.htm|archive-date=16 January 2010|url-status=dead}} The magnitude 7.0 2010 Haiti earthquake happened on this fault zone on 12 January 2010.{{Cite web|date=2021-10-06|title=3 Questions: Understanding the Haiti earthquakes|url=https://news.mit.edu/2021/3-questions-camilla-cattania-william-frank-haiti-earthquakes-1006|access-date=2024-06-01|website=MIT News {{!}} Massachusetts Institute of Technology|language=en|archive-date=1 June 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240601090904/https://news.mit.edu/2021/3-questions-camilla-cattania-william-frank-haiti-earthquakes-1006|url-status=live}}

Haiti also has rare elements such as gold, which can be found at The Mont Organisé gold mine.[http://www.ute.gouv.ht/caracol/images/stories/docs/environmental%20assessment%20of%20the%20usaidhaiti%20north%20park%20power%20project.pdf ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT OF THE USAID/HAITI NORTH PARK POWER PROJECT] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220805102537/http://www.ute.gouv.ht/caracol/images/stories/docs/environmental%20assessment%20of%20the%20usaidhaiti%20north%20park%20power%20project.pdf |date=5 August 2022 }}. United States Agency for International Development. ute.gouv.ht. June 2011

Haiti has no currently active volcanoes. "In the Terre-Neuve Mountains, about 12 kilometers from the Eaux Boynes, small intrusions at least as late as Oligocene and probably of Miocene age are known. No other volcanic activity of as late a date is known near any of the other warm springs."{{cite journal|last=Brown|first=John S.|title=The Hot Springs of the Republic of Haiti|journal=The Journal of Geology|publisher=University of Chicago Press|volume=32|issue=5|year=1924|url=https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/pdf/10.1086/623111|issn=0022-1376|doi=10.1086/623111|pages=384–399|bibcode=1924JG.....32..384B|s2cid=128421492|access-date=25 July 2022|archive-date=22 August 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220822165823/https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/pdf/10.1086/623111|url-status=live}}

{{Main|Environment of Haiti|Deforestation in Haiti}}

File:Haiti deforestation.jpg in 2002, showing the extent of deforestation on the Haitian side (left)]]

The soil erosion released from the upper catchments and deforestation have caused periodic and severe flooding, as experienced, for example, on 17 September 2004. Earlier in May that year, floods had killed over 3,000 people on Haiti's southern border with the Dominican Republic.{{cite news|url=https://www.usatoday.com/weather/hurricane/2004-09-23-haiti-deforest_x.htm|title=Deforestation Exacerbates Haiti Floods|work=USA Today|date=23 September 2004|access-date=24 July 2013|archive-date=23 December 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111223200050/http://www.usatoday.com/weather/hurricane/2004-09-23-haiti-deforest_x.htm|url-status=dead}}

Haiti's forests covered 60% of the country as recently as 50 years ago, but that has been halved to a current estimate of 30% tree cover. This estimate poses a stark difference from the erroneous figure of 2% which has been oft-cited in discourse concerning the country's environmental condition.{{cite web|url=http://www.envirosociety.org/2016/05/haiti-is-covered-with-trees/|title=Haiti Is Covered with Trees|website=EnviroSociety|last=Tarter|first=Andrew|date=19 May 2016|access-date=19 May 2016|archive-date=16 November 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171116104040/http://www.envirosociety.org/2016/05/haiti-is-covered-with-trees/|url-status=live}} Haiti had a 2019 Forest Landscape Integrity Index mean score of 4.01/10, ranking it 137th globally out of 172 countries.{{cite journal|last1=Grantham|first1=H. S.|last2=Duncan|first2=A.|last3=Evans|first3=T. D.|last4=Jones|first4=K. R.|last5=Beyer|first5=H. L.|last6=Schuster|first6=R.|last7=Walston|first7=J.|last8=Ray|first8=J. C.|last9=Robinson|first9=J. G.|last10=Callow|first10=M.|last11=Clements|first11=T.|last12=Costa|first12=H. M.|last13=DeGemmis|first13=A.|last14=Elsen|first14=P. R.|last15=Ervin|first15=J.|last16=Franco|first16=P.|last17=Goldman|first17=E.|last18=Goetz|first18=S.|last19=Hansen|first19=A.|last20=Hofsvang|first20=E.|last21=Jantz|first21=P.|last22=Jupiter|first22=S.|last23=Kang|first23=A.|last24=Langhammer|first24=P.|last25=Laurance|first25=W. F.|last26=Lieberman|first26=S.|last27=Linkie|first27=M.|last28=Malhi|first28=Y.|last29=Maxwell|first29=S.|last30=Mendez|first30=M.|last31=Mittermeier|first31=R.|last32=Murray|first32=N. J.|last33=Possingham|first33=H.|last34=Radachowsky|first34=J.|last35=Saatchi|first35=S.|last36=Samper|first36=C.|last37=Silverman|first37=J.|last38=Shapiro|first38=A.|last39=Strassburg|first39=B.|last40=Stevens|first40=T.|last41=Stokes|first41=E.|last42=Taylor|first42=R.|last43=Tear|first43=T.|last44=Tizard|first44=R.|last45=Venter|first45=O.|last46=Visconti|first46=P.|last47=Wang|first47=S.|last48=Watson|first48=J. E. M.|title=Anthropogenic modification of forests means only 40% of remaining forests have high ecosystem integrity – Supplementary Material|journal=Nature Communications|volume=11|issue=1|year=2020|page=5978|issn=2041-1723|doi=10.1038/s41467-020-19493-3|pmid=33293507|pmc=7723057|bibcode=2020NatCo..11.5978G}}

Scientists at the Columbia University's Center for International Earth Science Information Network and the United Nations Environment Programme are working on the Haiti Regenerative Initiative, an initiative aiming to reduce poverty and natural disaster vulnerability through ecosystem restoration and sustainable resource management.{{Cite web|url=http://haiti.ciesin.columbia.edu/|title=Haiti GeoPortal at CIESIN|year=2012|publisher=Columbia University|location=New York|access-date=6 December 2016|archive-date=11 September 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220911115349/http://haiti.ciesin.columbia.edu/|url-status=dead}}

{{Main|Wildlife of Haiti}}

File:Hispaniolan Solenodon crop.jpg

Haiti is home to four ecoregions: Hispaniolan moist forests, Hispaniolan dry forests, Hispaniolan pine forests, and Greater Antilles mangroves.{{cite journal|last1=Dinerstein|first1=Eric|last2=Olson|first2=David|last3=Joshi|first3=Anup|last4=Vynne|first4=Carly|last5=Burgess|first5=Neil D.|last6=Wikramanayake|first6=Eric|last7=Hahn|first7=Nathan|last8=Palminteri|first8=Suzanne|last9=Hedao|first9=Prashant|last10=Noss|first10=Reed|last11=Hansen|first11=Matt|last12=Locke|first12=Harvey|last13=Ellis|first13=Erle C|last14=Jones|first14=Benjamin|last15=Barber|first15=Charles Victor|last16=Hayes|first16=Randy|last17=Kormos|first17=Cyril|last18=Martin|first18=Vance|last19=Crist|first19=Eileen|last20=Sechrest|first20=Wes|last21=Price|first21=Lori|last22=Baillie|first22=Jonathan E. M.|last23=Weeden|first23=Don|last24=Suckling|first24=Kierán|last25=Davis|first25=Crystal|last26=Sizer|first26=Nigel|last27=Moore|first27=Rebecca|last28=Thau|first28=David|last29=Birch|first29=Tanya|last30=Potapov|first30=Peter|last31=Turubanova|first31=Svetlana|last32=Tyukavina|first32=Alexandra|last33=de Souza|first33=Nadia|last34=Pintea|first34=Lilian|last35=Brito|first35=José C.|last36=Llewellyn|first36=Othman A.|last37=Miller|first37=Anthony G.|last38=Patzelt|first38=Annette|last39=Ghazanfar|first39=Shahina A.|last40=Timberlake|first40=Jonathan|last41=Klöser|first41=Heinz|last42=Shennan-Farpón|first42=Yara|last43=Kindt|first43=Roeland|last44=Lillesø|first44=Jens-Peter Barnekow|last45=van Breugel|first45=Paulo|last46=Graudal|first46=Lars|last47=Voge|first47=Maianna|last48=Al-Shammari|first48=Khalaf F.|last49=Saleem|first49=Muhammad|title=An Ecoregion-Based Approach to Protecting Half the Terrestrial Realm|journal=BioScience|volume=67|issue=6|year=2017|pages=534–545|issn=0006-3568|doi=10.1093/biosci/bix014|pmid=28608869|pmc=5451287}}

Despite its small size, Haiti's mountainous terrain and resultant multiple climatic zones has resulted in a wide variety of plant life.Clammer, Paul (2016), Bradt Travel Guide – Haiti, p. 6. Notable tree species include the breadfruit tree, mango tree, acacia, mahogany, coconut palm, royal palm and West Indian cedar. The forests were formerly much more extensive, but have been subject to severe deforestation.

Most mammal species are not native, having been brought to the island since colonial times. However, there are various native bat species, as well as the endemic Hispaniolan hutia and Hispaniolan solenodon. Whale and dolphin species can also be found off Haiti's coast.

There are over 260 species of birds, 31 endemic to Hispaniola.Clammer, Paul (2016), Bradt Travel Guide – Haiti, p. 4. Notable endemic species include the Hispaniolan trogon, Hispaniolan parakeet, grey-crowned tanager and the Hispaniolan Amazon. There are also several raptors, as well as pelicans, ibis, hummingbirds and ducks.

Reptiles are common, with species such as the rhinoceros iguana, Haitian boa, American crocodile and gecko.Clammer, Paul (2016), Bradt Travel Guide – Haiti, p. 5

{{Main|Politics of Haiti}}

File:Jovenel Moise.jpg was the 43rd president of Haiti from 7 February 2017 until his assassination on 7 July 2021.]]

The government of Haiti is a semi-presidential republic, a multiparty system wherein the president of Haiti is head of state and elected directly by popular elections held every five years.{{cite web|title=1987 Constitution of the Republic of Haiti|url=http://pdba.georgetown.edu/constitutions/haiti/haiti1987.html|publisher=Georgetown University|access-date=9 July 2011|at=Article 134|archive-date=1 September 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220901061334/https://pdba.georgetown.edu/Constitutions/Haiti/haiti1987.html|url-status=live}} The prime minister of Haiti acts as head of government and is appointed by the president, chosen from the majority party in the National Assembly. Executive power is exercised by the president and prime minister who together constitute the government.{{Cite web|author=|date=2009-08-01|title=OEA - Organización de los Estados Americanos: Democracia para la paz, la seguridad y el desarrollo|url=https://www.oas.org/es/sap/deco/moe/haiti2011/ficha.asp|access-date=2024-06-01|website=www.oas.org|language=es|archive-date=1 June 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240601091443/https://www.oas.org/es/sap/deco/moe/haiti2011/ficha.asp|url-status=live}}

Legislative power is vested in both the government and the two chambers of the National Assembly of Haiti, the Senate (Sénat) and the Chamber of Deputies (Chambre des Députés). The government is organized unitarily, thus the central government delegates powers to the departments without a constitutional need for consent. The current structure of Haiti's political system was set forth in the Constitution of Haiti on 29 March 1987.

Haitian politics have been contentious: since independence, Haiti has suffered 32 coups.{{cite news|url=https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1741707&ps=rs|title=Haiti Starts Over, Once Again|author=Michele Kelemen|newspaper=Npr.org|date=2 March 2004|access-date=24 July 2013|archive-date=27 October 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211027003735/https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1741707|url-status=live}} Haiti is the only country in the Western Hemisphere to undergo a successful slave revolution; however, a long history of oppression by dictators such as François Duvalier and his son Jean-Claude Duvalier has markedly affected the republic's governance and society. Since the end of the Duvalier era Haiti has been transitioning to a democratic system.

{{Main|Administrative divisions of Haiti}}

Administratively, Haiti is divided into ten departments. The departments are listed below, with the departmental capital cities in parentheses.

File:Haiti, administrative divisions - Nmbrs - colored.svg

1. Nord-Ouest (Port-de-Paix)
2. Nord (Cap-Haïtien)
3. Nord-Est (Fort-Liberté)
4. Artibonite (Gonaïves)
5. Centre (Hinche)
6. Ouest (Port-au-Prince)
7. Grand'Anse (Jérémie)
8. Nippes (Miragoâne)
9. Sud (Les Cayes)
10. Sud-Est (Jacmel)

The departments are further divided into 42 arrondissements, 145 communes and 571 communal sections. These serve as, respectively, second- and third-level administrative divisions.{{cite web|url=http://lenouvelliste.com/lenouvelliste/article/148647/Creation-de-cinq-nouvelles-communes-par-decret-presidentiel|title=Création de cinq nouvelles communes par décret présidentiel|editor=Olivier, Louis-Joseph|date=14 August 2015|work=Le Nouvelliste|access-date=17 March 2016|language=fr|archive-date=23 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160323033146/http://lenouvelliste.com/lenouvelliste/article/148647/Creation-de-cinq-nouvelles-communes-par-decret-presidentiel|url-status=dead}}{{cite web|url=http://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-14858-haiti-politic-5-new-communes-in-haiti.html|title=Haïti – Politique: 5 nouvelles communes en Haïti|date=16 August 2015|work=Haiti Libre|access-date=17 March 2016|archive-date=28 October 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211028102215/https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-14858-haiti-politic-5-new-communes-in-haiti.html|url-status=live}}{{cite web|url=http://haiti-reference.com/pages/plan/geographie-et-tourisme/divisions-territoriales/|title=7300.- Divisions territoriales|date=17 August 2015|publisher=Haiti-Référence|access-date=17 March 2016|language=fr|archive-date=22 March 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220322033652/https://www.haiti-reference.com/pages/plan/geographie-et-tourisme/divisions-territoriales/|url-status=live}}

{{Main|Foreign relations of Haiti}}

Haiti is a member of a wide range of international and regional organizations, such as the United Nations, CARICOM, Community of Latin American and Caribbean States, International Monetary Fund, Organisation of American States, {{Lang|fr|Organisation internationale de la Francophonie|italic=no}}, OPANAL and the World Trade Organization.

In February 2012, Haiti signaled it would seek to upgrade its observer status to full associate member status of the African Union (AU).{{cite web|url=http://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-4863-haiti-diplomacy-haiti-becomes-a-member-of-the-african-union.html|title=Haiti becomes a member of the African Union|publisher=Haitilibre.com|date=2 February 2012|access-date=24 July 2013|archive-date=23 August 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220823052924/https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-4863-haiti-diplomacy-haiti-becomes-a-member-of-the-african-union.html|url-status=live}} The AU was reported to be planning to upgrade Haiti's status from observer to associate at its June 2013 summit{{cite web|url=http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Americas/Latin-America-Monitor/2012/0229/Long-distance-relationship-Haiti-s-bid-to-join-the-African-Union|title=Long distance relationship: Haiti's bid to join the African Union|last=Sampson|first=Ovetta|work=The Christian Science Monitor|date=29 February 2012|access-date=1 March 2012|archive-date=11 September 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220911115357/https://www.csmonitor.com/World/Americas/Latin-America-Monitor/2012/0229/Long-distance-relationship-Haiti-s-bid-to-join-the-African-Union|url-status=live}} but the application had still not been ratified by May 2016.{{Cite news|url=https://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/despite-reports-haiti-not-joining-the-african-union/|title=Despite reports, Haiti not joining the African Union|work=PBS NewsHour|access-date=5 April 2017|language=en-US|archive-date=17 October 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171017235643/http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/despite-reports-haiti-not-joining-the-african-union/|url-status=live}}

{{Main|Armed Forces of Haiti}}

Haiti has a strong military history dating to the pre-independence struggle. The Indigenous Army is essential in the construction of the state the management of land and public finances. Up to the 20th century, every Haitian president was an officer in the army. During the US intervention, the army was remodeled as Gendarmerie d'Haiti and later on as Force Armée d'Haiti (FAdH). In the early 1990s, the army was unconstitutionally decommissioned and replaced by the Haitian National Police (PNH). In 2018, Président Jovenel Moise reactivated the FAdH.{{Citation needed|date=June 2024}}

Haiti's Ministry of Defense is the main body of the armed forces.{{cite web|url=http://www.md.gouv.ht/mission.php|title=Missions et Attributions du Ministère de la Défense|publisher=Ministere de la Defense|access-date=21 October 2014|archive-date=17 November 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211117025602/https://www.md.gouv.ht/mission.php|url-status=dead}} The former Haitian Armed Forces were demobilized in 1995; however, efforts to reconstitute it are currently underway.{{cite news|url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2013/09/16/haiti-army-again/2822823/|title=Haiti a step closer to having army again|newspaper=USA Today|access-date=29 January 2014|date=16 September 2013|archive-date=21 September 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220921192227/https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2013/09/16/haiti-army-again/2822823/|url-status=live}} The current defense force for Haiti is the Haitian National Police, which has a highly trained SWAT team, and works alongside the Haitian Coast Guard. In 2010, the Haitian National Police force numbered 7,000.{{cite news|last=Sadowski|first=Dennis|title=Hope and struggles remain in Haiti six months after earthquake|newspaper=Florida Catholic|location=Orlando, Florida|pages=A7|date=6–19 August 2010}}

As of 2023, the Haitian army includes one infantry battalion that is in the process of being formed, with 700 personnel.{{Cite book|author=|date=2023|title=The Military Balance 2023|publisher=International Institute for Strategic Studies|page=402}}

{{Main|Haitian National Police|Crime in Haiti}}

File:Members of the Haitian National Police Force marching band stand at parade.jpg

The legal system is based on a modified version of the Napoleonic Code.{{cite web|url=http://jurist.law.pitt.edu/world/haiti.htm|title=Haitian Law|publisher=Jurist.law.pitt.edu|access-date=24 July 2013|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130630063029/http://jurist.law.pitt.edu/world/haiti.htm|archive-date=30 June 2013}}

Haiti has consistently ranked among the most corrupt countries in the world on the Corruption Perceptions Index.{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/6120522.stm|title=Haiti tops world corruption table|work=BBC News|date=6 November 2006|access-date=24 July 2013|archive-date=28 July 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130728134841/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/6120522.stm|url-status=live}} According to a 2006 report by the Corruption Perceptions Index, there is a strong correlation between corruption and poverty in Haiti. The republic ranked first of all countries surveyed for levels of perceived domestic corruption.{{cite web|url=http://transparency.ie/content/2006-corruption-perceptions-index-reinforces-link-between-poverty-and-corruption-and-shows-w|title=2006 Corruption Perceptions Index reinforces link between poverty and corruption|publisher=Transparency International|date=6 November 2006|access-date=15 January 2009|archive-date=12 May 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130512214417/http://transparency.ie/content/2006-corruption-perceptions-index-reinforces-link-between-poverty-and-corruption-and-shows-w|url-status=live}} It is estimated that President "Baby Doc" Duvalier, his wife Michele, and their agents stole US $504 million from the treasury between 1971 and 1986.{{cite web|url=https://www.pbs.org/frontlineworld/stories/bribe/2009/05/haiti-the-long-road-to-recovery.html|title=Haiti: The Long Road to Recovery, Public Broadcasting Service|author=Siri Schubert|publisher=Pbs.org|date=22 May 2009|access-date=24 July 2013|archive-date=1 September 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130901041909/http://www.pbs.org/frontlineworld/stories/bribe/2009/05/haiti-the-long-road-to-recovery.html|url-status=live}} Similarly, after the Haitian Army folded in 1995, the Haitian National Police (HNP) gained sole power of authority on the Haitian citizens. Many Haitians as well as observers believe that this monopolized power could have given way to a corrupt police force.{{cite web|url=http://www.gsdrc.org/document-library/haiti-police-and-law-enforcement/|title=Haiti: Police and Law Enforcement|date=2010|access-date=18 June 2017|publisher=GSDRC|archive-date=8 June 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170608090305/http://www.gsdrc.org/document-library/haiti-police-and-law-enforcement|url-status=dead}} Some media outlets alleged that millions were stolen by former president Jean-Bertrand Aristide.{{cite journal|title=Aristide Development|journal=American Spectator|volume=27|issue=7|date=1 July 1994}}{{cite web|url=http://www.radiokiskeya.com/RapportUCREF.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060501062854/http://www.radiokiskeya.com/RapportUCREF.pdf|archive-date=1 May 2006|title=Rapport UCREF|access-date=24 July 2013}}{{cite web|url=http://www.dominicantoday.com/dr/world/2005/10/31/6524/Probe-of-Aristide-administration-finds-evidence-of-embezzlement|title=Probe of Aristide administration finds evidence of embezzlement|work=Dominican Today|date=31 October 2005|access-date=5 February 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304200037/http://www.dominicantoday.com/dr/world/2005/10/31/6524/Probe-of-Aristide-administration-finds-evidence-of-embezzlement|archive-date=4 March 2016|url-status=dead}}{{cite news|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB117124344952105351|title=The Haiti File|author=Mary Anastasia O'Grady|publisher=Online.wsj.com|date=12 February 2007|access-date=24 July 2013|archive-date=15 October 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151015232318/http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB117124344952105351|url-status=live}} The BBC also described pyramid schemes, in which Haitians lost hundreds of millions in 2002, as the "only real economic initiative" of the Aristide years.{{cite news|last=Schifferes|first=Steve|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/3522155.stm|title=Haiti: An economic basket-case|work=BBC News|date=1 March 2004|access-date=24 July 2013|archive-date=28 July 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130728143315/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/3522155.stm|url-status=live}}

Conversely, according to the 2013 United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) report, murder rates (10.2 per 100,000) are far below the regional average (26 per 100,000); less than {{sfrac|1|4}} that of Jamaica (39.3 per 100,000) and nearly {{sfrac|1|2}} that of the Dominican Republic (22.1 per 100,000), making it among the safer countries in the region.{{cite web|url=http://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/press/releases/2014/April/some-437000-people-murdered-worldwide-in-2012-according-to-new-unodc-study.html|title=Some 437,000 people murdered worldwide in 2012, according to new UNODC study|access-date=12 April 2015|archive-date=17 April 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150417184608/http://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/press/releases/2014/April/some-437000-people-murdered-worldwide-in-2012-according-to-new-unodc-study.html|url-status=live}}{{cite web|url=http://www.unodc.org/documents/gsh/pdfs/2014_GLOBAL_HOMICIDE_BOOK_web.pdf|title=Global Study on Homicide|year=2013|publisher=UNODC|access-date=20 April 2015|archive-date=22 July 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230722011654/https://www.unodc.org/documents/gsh/pdfs/2014_GLOBAL_HOMICIDE_BOOK_web.pdf|url-status=live}} In large part, this is due to the country's ability to fulfil a pledge by increasing its national police yearly by 50%, a four-year initiative that was started in 2012. In addition to the yearly recruits, the Haitian National Police (HNP) has been using innovative technologies to crack down on crime. A notable bust in recent years{{When|date=March 2017}} led to the dismantlement of the largest kidnapping ring in the country with the use of an advanced software program developed by a West Point-trained Haitian official that proved to be so effective that it has led to its foreign advisers to make inquiries.{{cite web|url=http://www.caribbeannewsnow.com/headline-Haiti-among-safest-destinations-in-the-Americas%252C-say-recent-studies-14006.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130111101726/http://www.caribbeannewsnow.com/headline-Haiti-among-safest-destinations-in-the-Americas%2C-say-recent-studies-14006.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=11 January 2013|title=Haiti among safest destinations in the Americas, say recent studies|work=Caribbean News Now|date=7 January 2013|access-date=20 April 2015}}{{cite web|url=http://baltimorepostexaminer.com/haiti-earthquake-fails-to-deter-hotel-boom/2013/06/22|title=Haiti earthquake fails to deter hotel boom|editor=Luxner, Larry|work=Baltimore Post-Examiner|date=22 June 2013|access-date=20 April 2015|archive-date=27 April 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150427111441/http://baltimorepostexaminer.com/haiti-earthquake-fails-to-deter-hotel-boom/2013/06/22|url-status=live}}

In 2010, the New York City Police Department (NYPD) sent a team of officers to Haiti to assist in the rebuilding of its police force with special training in investigative techniques, anti-kidnapping strategies and community outreach. It has also helped the HNP set up a police unit in Delmas, a neighborhood of Port-au-Prince.{{cite news|url=https://www.usatoday.com/videos/news/nation/2014/11/17/19200343/|agency=Associated Press|title=NYPD officers train Haitian police|work=USA Today|date=17 November 2014|access-date=20 April 2015|archive-date=3 September 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150903230526/http://www.usatoday.com/videos/news/nation/2014/11/17/19200343/|url-status=live}}{{cite web|url=http://www.usaid.gov/haiti/governance-rule-law-and-security|title=Haiti: governance, Rule of Law, and Security|publisher=USAID|access-date=20 April 2015|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150426002122/http://www.usaid.gov/haiti/governance-rule-law-and-security|archive-date=26 April 2015}}{{cite news|first1=Sean|last1=Gardiner|access-date=28 July 2021|title=NYPD Set to Aid Haitian Cops|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052748704271804575405632390017998|newspaper=The Wall Street Journal|date=3 August 2010|issn=0099-9660|via=wsj.com|archive-date=28 July 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210728231626/https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052748704271804575405632390017998|url-status=live}}{{cite web|access-date=28 July 2021|title=NYPD Answering Calls for Help in Haiti|date=5 April 2014|url=https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/nypd-officers-training-police-port-au-prince-haiti-earthquake-devastation-violence/1021929/|archive-date=28 July 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210728231628/https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/nypd-officers-training-police-port-au-prince-haiti-earthquake-devastation-violence/1021929/|url-status=live}}

In 2012 and 2013, 150 HNP officers received specialized training funded by the US government, which also contributed to the infrastructure and communications support by upgrading radio capacity and constructing new police stations from the most violent-prone neighborhoods of Cité Soleil and Grande Ravine in Port-au-Prince to the new northern industrial park at Caracol.

According to the UN Haiti faces a worsening crisis marked by extreme violence, political instability, and a deepening humanitarian emergency. UN Special Representative Virginia Gamba condemned the use of children by armed gangs, highlighting sexual violence as a weapon of war. The removal of interim Prime Minister Garry Conille has further destabilized governance. Armed groups have targeted schools and hospitals, displacing thousands and leaving 300,000 children without education. The UN calls for urgent humanitarian aid, enhanced security efforts, and political unity to address the crisis, as over 2.7 million people live under gang control.{{Cite web |date=2024-11-11 |title=Children face unprecedented crisis amid rising violence in Haiti {{!}} UN News |url=https://news.un.org/en/story/2024/11/1156826 |access-date=2025-02-07 |website=news.un.org |language=en}}{{Cite web |title=Almost one in eight children internally displaced in Haiti as armed violence continues – UNICEF |url=https://www.unicef.org/press-releases/almost-one-eight-children-internally-displaced-haiti-armed-violence-continues-unicef |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250126163751/https://www.unicef.org/press-releases/almost-one-eight-children-internally-displaced-haiti-armed-violence-continues-unicef |archive-date=26 January 2025 |access-date=2025-02-07 |website=www.unicef.org |language=en |url-status=live }}

Port-au-Prince penitentiary is home to half of Haiti's prisoners. The prison has a capacity of 1,200 detainees but {{as of|2017|November|lc=y}} the penitentiary was obliged to keep 4,359 detainees, a 363% occupancy level.{{Cite news|url=https://apnews.com/a43ce17acfd0425cb2af90a1133a8418|title=Malnutrition killing inmates in Haiti jails|work=apnews.com|first=David|last=McFadden|date=20 February 2017|access-date=2 January 2020|archive-date=2 January 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200102124056/https://apnews.com/a43ce17acfd0425cb2af90a1133a8418|url-status=live}} The inability to receive sufficient funds has caused deadly cases of malnutrition, combined with the tight living conditions, increases the risk of infectious diseases such as tuberculosis.

Haitian law states that once arrested, one must go before a judge within 48 hours; however, this is very rare.{{Cite web |title=Custom Report Excerpts: The Bahamas |url=https://2021-2025.state.gov/report/custom/da7d4d248e/ |access-date=2025-02-15 |website=United States Department of State |language=en-US}} Unless families are able to provide the necessary funds for inmates to appear before a judge, there is a very slim chance the inmate would have a trial, on average, within 10 years.{{Cite news|url=https://www.foxnews.com/world/living-hell-officials-alarmed-by-upsurge-of-inmates-dying-in-haiti-prisons/|title=Living hell: Officials alarmed by upsurge of inmates dying in Haiti prisons|date=20 February 2017|work=Fox News|access-date=30 March 2018|language=en-US|archive-date=31 March 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180331035837/http://www.foxnews.com/world/2017/02/20/living-hell-officials-alarmed-by-upsurge-inmates-dying-in-haiti-prisons.html|url-status=live}}

In confined living spaces for 22–23 hours a day, inmates are not provided with latrines and are forced to defecate into plastic bags. These conditions were considered inhumane by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights in 2008.{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-39034992|title=Haitian prison rife with malnutrition|date=21 February 2017|work=BBC News|access-date=30 March 2018|language=en-GB|archive-date=4 May 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180504000600/http://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-39034992|url-status=live}}

On 3 March 2024, armed gangs stormed the main prison in Port-au-Prince and around 3700 inmates escaped, while 12 people were killed.{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-68462851|title=Haiti violence: Haiti gangs demand PM resign after mass jailbreak|work=BBC News|date=3 March 2024|access-date=11 March 2024|archive-date=12 March 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240312034751/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-68462851|url-status=live}}

{{Main|Economy of Haiti}}

File:GDP per capita develoment of Haiti.svg

Haiti's per capita GDP is $1,800 and its GDP is $19.97 billion (2017 estimates). The country uses the Haitian gourde as its currency. Despite its tourism industry, Haiti is one of the poorest countries in the Americas, with corruption, political instability, poor infrastructure, lack of health care and lack of education cited as the main causes. Unemployment is high and many Haitians seek to emigrate. Trade declined dramatically after the 2010 earthquake and subsequent outbreak of cholera, with the country's purchasing power parity GDP falling by 8% (from US$12.15 billion to US$11.18 billion).{{cite web|publisher=Central Intelligence Agency|work=The World Factbook|title=Haiti|date=22 September 2021|url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/haiti/|access-date=24 January 2021|archive-date=9 February 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210209014627/https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/haiti/|url-status=live}} Haiti ranked 145th of 182 countries in the 2010 United Nations Human Development Index, with 57.3% of the population being deprived in at least three of the HDI's poverty measures.{{cite web|publisher=United Nations Development Programme|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110423024550/http://hdrstats.undp.org/en/countries/profiles/HTI.html|archive-date=23 April 2011|url=http://hdrstats.undp.org/en/countries/profiles/HTI.html|title=International Human Development Indicators: Haiti|year=2010|url-status=dead}}

Following the disputed 2000 election and accusations about President Aristide's rule,{{cite web|url=http://www.wow509.com/news/jean-bertrand-aristide-net-worth/|archive-url=https://archive.today/20141016002417/http://www.wow509.com/news/jean-bertrand-aristide-net-worth/|url-status=dead|archive-date=16 October 2014|title=Jean Bertrand Aristide net worth|work=WOW509|access-date=16 October 2014}} US aid to the Haitian government was cut off between 2001 and 2004.{{cite news|url=https://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2004/03/07/before_fall_of_aristide_haiti_hit_by_aid_cutoff/|title=Before fall of Aristide, Haiti hit by aid cutoff by|author=Farah Stockman|publisher=Boston.com|date=7 March 2004|access-date=24 July 2013|archive-date=4 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304061421/http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2004/03/07/before_fall_of_aristide_haiti_hit_by_aid_cutoff/|url-status=live}} After Aristide's departure in 2004, aid was restored and the Brazilian army led a United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti peacekeeping operation. After almost four years of recession, the economy grew by 1.5% in 2005.{{cite web|url=https://globaledge.msu.edu/countries/haiti/economy/|title=Haiti: Economy|publisher=Michigan State University|access-date=16 January 2010|archive-date=7 April 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220407044532/https://globaledge.msu.edu/countries/haiti/economy/|url-status=live}} In September 2009, Haiti met the conditions set out by the IMF and World Bank's Heavily Indebted Poor Countries program to qualify for cancellation of its external debt.{{cite web|url=http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/scr/2009/cr09288.pdf|title=Haiti: Enhanced Initiative for Heavily Indebted Poor Countries|publisher=International Monetary Fund|date=September 2009|access-date=24 July 2013|archive-date=21 June 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220621015540/https://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/scr/2009/cr09288.pdf|url-status=live}}

In 2015, more than 90 percent of the government's budget came from an agreement with Petrocaribe, a Venezuela-led oil alliance.{{cite web|url=http://www.heritage.org/index/pdf/2015/countries/haiti.pdf|title=Haiti Economy|access-date=11 April 2015|archive-date=2 January 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230102170139/https://www.heritage.org/index/pdf/2015/countries/haiti.pdf|url-status=unfit}}

{{Further|Foreign aid to Haiti}}

Haiti received more than US$4 billion in aid from 1990 to 2003, including US$1.5 billion from the United States.{{cite web|publisher=Thomson Reuters Foundation|url=http://www.trust.org/item/20090928173400-eslm0/|title=Haiti's aid controversy|author=Anastasia Moloney|date=28 September 2009|access-date=24 July 2013|archive-date=22 July 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150722215735/http://www.trust.org/item/20090928173400-eslm0/|url-status=dead}} The largest donor is the US, followed by Canada and the European Union.{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2004/07/21/world/1-billion-is-pledged-to-help-haiti-rebuild-topping-request.html|title=$1 Billion Is Pledged to Help Haiti Rebuild, Topping Request|author=Christopher Marquis|work=The New York Times|date=21 July 2004|access-date=24 July 2013|archive-date=12 September 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220912080404/https://www.nytimes.com/2004/07/21/world/1-billion-is-pledged-to-help-haiti-rebuild-topping-request.html|url-status=live}} In January 2010, following the earthquake, US President Barack Obama promised US$1.15 billion in assistance.{{cite news|first=Jonathan M.|last=Katz|url=http://www.foxnews.com/world/2010/04/11/haitis-police-struggle-control-ravaged-capital/|title=Haiti's police struggle to control ravaged capital|agency=Associated Press|date=11 April 2010|work=Fox News|access-date=14 December 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151015232317/http://www.foxnews.com/world/2010/04/11/haitis-police-struggle-control-ravaged-capital/|archive-date=15 October 2015|url-status=dead}} The European Union pledged more than €400 million (US$616 million).{{cite news|url=http://uk.news.yahoo.com/18/20100118/twl-haiti-fears-grows-despite-surge-in-r-4bdc673.html|title=Haiti fears grows despite surge in relief effort|work=Yahoo! News|date=18 January 2009}}{{dead link|date=June 2016|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}} Neighboring Dominican Republic has also provided extensive humanitarian aid to Haiti, including the funding and construction of a public university,{{cite news|url=http://elnuevodiario.com.do/app/article.aspx?id=272087|title=Universidad de Haití donada por RD se llamará ahora 'Roi Henry I'|work=El Nuevo Diario|access-date=20 July 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160806181826/http://elnuevodiario.com.do/app/article.aspx?id=272087|archive-date=6 August 2016|url-status=dead}} human capital, free healthcare services in the border region, and logistical support after the 2010 earthquake.{{cite news|url=https://es.globalvoices.org/2010/01/16/republica-dominicana-ayuda-a-su-vecino-haiti-despues-del-terremoto/|title=República Dominicana: Ayuda a su vecino Haití después del terremoto|access-date=20 July 2016|archive-date=12 September 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220912080411/https://es.globalvoices.org/2010/01/16/republica-dominicana-ayuda-a-su-vecino-haiti-despues-del-terremoto/|url-status=live}}

The United Nations states that US$13.34 billion has been earmarked for post-earthquake reconstruction through 2020, though two years after the 2010 quake, less than half of that amount had actually been released. {{As of|2015}}, the US government has allocated US$4 billion, US$3 billion has already been spent, and the rest is dedicated to longer-term projects.{{cite web|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/news/investigations/what-does-haiti-have-show-13-billion-earthquake-aid-n281661|title=What does Haiti have to show for the US$13 billion in earthquake aid?-NBC News.com|website=NBC News|date=January 2015|access-date=7 October 2019|archive-date=4 July 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220704074958/https://www.nbcnews.com/news/investigations/what-does-haiti-have-show-13-billion-earthquake-aid-n281661|url-status=live}}

According to the 2015 CIA World Factbook, Haiti's main import partners are: Dominican Republic 35%, US 26.8%, Netherlands Antilles 8.7%, China 7% (est. 2013). Haiti's main export partner is the US 83.5% (est. 2013).{{cite web|url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/haiti/|title=The World Factbook|work=cia.gov|access-date=24 May 2015|archive-date=9 February 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210209014627/https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/haiti/|url-status=live}} Haiti had a trade deficit of US$3 billion in 2011, or 41% of GDP.{{cite web|last=Watkins|first=Tate|title=How Haiti's Future Depends on American Markets|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2013/05/how-haitis-future-depends-on-american-markets/275682/|work=The Atlantic|date=8 May 2013|access-date=24 July 2013}}

{{Main|Electricity sector in Haiti}}

File:Haiti electricity production.svg

Haiti relies heavily on an oil alliance with Petrocaribe for much of its energy requirements. In recent years, hydroelectric, solar and wind energy have been explored as possible sustainable energy sources.{{Cite web|url=https://www.clintonfoundation.org/our-work/clinton-foundation-haiti/programs/powering-haiti-clean-energy|title=Powering Haiti with Clean Energy|work=Clinton Foundation |access-date=1 September 2023}}

File:Power plant in Port-au-Prince.JPEG

As of 2017, among all the countries in the Americas, Haiti is producing the least energy. Less than a quarter of the country has electric coverage.{{Cite journal|date=May 2017|title=The Haiti Sustainable Energy Programme|url=https://postconflict.unep.ch/publications/UNEP_Haiti_sustainable_energy.pdf|journal=UNEP|access-date=14 December 2018|archive-date=12 September 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220912080359/https://postconflict.unep.ch/publications/UNEP_Haiti_sustainable_energy.pdf|url-status=dead}} Most regions of Haiti that do have energy are powered by generators. These generators are often expensive and produce a lot of pollution. The areas that do get electricity experience power cuts on a daily basis, and some areas are limited to 12 hours of electricity a day. Electricity is provided by a small number of independent companies: Sogener, E-power, and Haytrac.{{Cite journal|last=Pauyo|first=Jean|date=March 2017|title=Transmitting and Distributing Electricity in Haiti|url=https://www.copenhagenconsensus.com/sites/default/files/electricity_grid_pauyo_english.pdf|journal=Copenhagen Consensus Center|access-date=18 February 2019|archive-date=12 September 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220912080409/https://www.copenhagenconsensus.com/sites/default/files/electricity_grid_pauyo_english.pdf|url-status=dead}} There is no national electricity grid.Matthew Lucky, Katie Auth, Alexander Ochs, et al., Haiti Sustainable Energy Roadmap: Harnessing Domestic Energy Resources to Build an Affordable, Reliable, and Climate-Compatible Electricity System (Washington, DC: Worldwatch Institute, 2014). The most common source of energy is wood, along with charcoal. About 4 million metric tons of wood products are consumed yearly.{{Cite web|url=https://www.usaid.gov/haiti/energy|title=Energy|date=16 August 2018|publisher=U.S. Agency for International Development|access-date=5 January 2019|archive-date=12 September 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220912080412/https://www.usaid.gov/haiti/energy|url-status=dead}} Like charcoal and wood, petroleum is also an important source of energy. Since Haiti cannot produce its own fuel, all fuel is imported. Yearly, around 691,000 tons of oil is imported into the country.

In 2018, a 24-hour electricity project was announced; for this purpose 236 MW needs to installed in Port-au-Prince alone, with an additional 75 MW needed in all other regions. Presently only 27.5% of the population has access to electricity; moreover, the national energy agency l'Électricité d'Haïti (Ed'H) is only able to meet 62% of overall electricity demand.{{Cite news|url=https://www.vantbefinfo.com/energie-le-projet-delectrification-24-24-presente-aux-citoyens-haitiens/|title=Vant Bèf Info Énergie : le projet d'électrification 24/24 présenté aux Citoyens haïtiens -|date=31 October 2018|work=Vant Bèf Info|access-date=4 November 2018|language=fr-FR|archive-date=5 November 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181105012118/https://www.vantbefinfo.com/energie-le-projet-delectrification-24-24-presente-aux-citoyens-haitiens/|url-status=dead}}

File:CapHaitienMarche.jpg]]

Haiti suffers from a shortage of skilled labor, widespread unemployment, and underemployment. Most Haitians in the labor force have informal jobs. Three-quarters of the population lives on US$2 or less per day.{{Cite web|url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/haiti/|title=The World Factbook — Central Intelligence Agency|website=cia.gov|access-date=12 December 2016}}

Remittances from Haitians living abroad are the primary source of foreign exchange, equaling one-fifth (20%) of GDP and more than five times the earnings from exports as of 2012.{{cite web|title=The World Factbook|url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/haiti/|work=cia.gov|access-date=24 May 2015}} In 2004, 80% or more of college graduates from Haiti were living abroad.{{cite web|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110423034022/http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/NEWS/0,,contentMDK:21109448~pagePK:64257043~piPK:437376~theSitePK:4607,00.html?cid=3001|archive-date=23 April 2011|url=http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/NEWS/0,,contentMDK:21109448~pagePK:64257043~piPK:437376~theSitePK:4607,00.html?cid=3001|publisher=World Bank|title=Latin America Shouldn't Bet Everything On Remittances|date=31 October 2006|url-status=live}}

Occasionally, families who are unable to care for children may send them to live with a wealthier family as a restavek, or house servant. In return the family are supposed to ensure that the child is educated and provided with food and shelter; however, the system is open to abuse and has proved controversial, with some likening it to child slavery.{{Cite journal|doi=10.1353/hrq.2014.0059|title=Toward Effective Intervention for Haiti's Former Child Slaves|journal=Human Rights Quarterly|volume=36|issue=4|pages=756–778|year=2014|last1=Kennedy|first1=C. L.|s2cid=144412249}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.haiti-now.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/Report-Haiti-Child-Domestic-Workers-31072015.pdf|title=Child Domestic Workers in Haiti 2014|last=Sommerfelt|first=Tone|date=October 2014|website=haiti-now.org}}{{dead link|date=April 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}

In rural areas, people often live in wooden huts with corrugated iron roofs. Outhouses are located in back of the huts. In Port-au-Prince, colorful shantytowns surround the central city and go up the mountainsides.{{Cite news|first=Nathalie|last=Gagnon-Joseph|title=On sports, treasure hunting, and life|url=https://bartonchronicle.com/a-week-in-haiti-on-sports-treasure-hunting-and-life/|newspaper=The Chronicle|location=Barton, Vermont|pages=28A, 29A|date=22 December 2015|access-date=29 December 2015|archive-date=1 January 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160101024149/https://bartonchronicle.com/a-week-in-haiti-on-sports-treasure-hunting-and-life/|url-status=dead}}

The middle and upper classes live in suburbs, or in the central part of the bigger cities in apartments, where there is urban planning. Many of the houses they live in are like miniature fortresses, located behind walls embedded with metal spikes, barbed wire, broken glass, and sometimes all three. The houses have backup generators, because the electrical grid is unreliable. Some even have rooftop reservoirs for water.

{{Further|Agriculture in Haiti}}

File:Amid rows of cabbage, Haiti.jpg

Haiti is the world's leading producer of vetiver, a root plant used to make luxury perfumes, essential oils and fragrances, providing for half the world's supply.{{cite web|url=http://www.tradeforum.org/Frager-Haiti-shortening-the-perfume-chain-to-become-world-number-one/|title=Frager, Haiti: shortening the perfume chain to become world number one|publisher=International Trade Centre|author=|access-date=12 April 2015|archive-date=12 September 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220912133256/https://www.tradeforum.org/Frager-Haiti-shortening-the-perfume-chain-to-become-world-number-one/|url-status=dead}}{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/business/2014/mar/04/chanel-perfume-legislation-guerlain-loreal|title=Perfume manufacturers must cope with the scarcity of precious supplies|work=The Guardian|date=4 March 2014|access-date=12 April 2015}}{{cite news|url=http://www.fida-pch.org/index.php?p=stories.View&story=11|title=FEATURE-Perfumers promote fair trade for Haiti's 'super-crop'|last=Adams|first=David|date=24 April 2014|work=Reuters UK|access-date=12 April 2015|archive-date=12 September 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220912111603/https://fida-pch.org/?p=stories.View&story=11|url-status=dead}} Roughly 40–50% of Haitians work in the agricultural sector. However, according to soil surveys by the United States Department of Agriculture in the early 1980s, only 11.3 percent of the land was highly suitable for crops. Haiti relies upon imports for half its food needs and 80% of its rice.{{cite news|title=Feeding Haiti: A new menu|url=https://www.economist.com/news/americas/21579875-government-tries-load-up-plates-poorest-people-americas-new-menu|newspaper=The Economist|access-date=24 July 2013|date=22 June 2013}}

Haiti exports crops such as mangoes, cacao, coffee, papayas, mahogany nuts, spinach, and watercress.{{cite web|url=http://www.ute.gouv.ht/caracol/images/stories/docs/environmental%20assessment%20of%20the%20usaidhaiti%20north%20park%20power%20project.pdf|title=Environmental Accessment of the USAID/Haiti North Park Power Project|page=23|publisher=USAID|year=2011|access-date=20 April 2015}} Agricultural products constitute 6% of all exports. In addition, local agricultural products include maize, beans, cassava, sweet potato, peanuts, pistachios, bananas, millet, pigeon peas, sugarcane, rice, sorghum, and wood.{{cite web|url=http://www.indexmundi.com/haiti/economy_profile.html|title=Haiti Economy Profile 2016|access-date=14 December 2016}}

{{Main|Haitian gourde}}

The Haitian gourde (HTG) is the national currency. The "Haitian dollar" equates to 5 gourdes (goud).{{citation needed|date=November 2024}} The vast majority of the business sector and individuals will also accept US dollars, though at the outdoor markets gourdes may be preferred. Locals may refer to the USD as "dollar américain" (dola ameriken) or "dollar US" (pronounced oo-es).{{cite web|url=http://www.haitihub.com/download/Money-Matters-in-Haiti.pdf|title=All About Money: Gourdes, Dollars and Sense for Work and Life in Haiti|publisher=haitihub.com|access-date=16 February 2014}}

{{Main|Tourism in Haiti}}

File:Labadee.jpg, a cruise ship destination]]

The tourism market in Haiti is undeveloped and the government is heavily promoting this sector. Haiti has many of the features that attract tourists to other Caribbean destinations, such as white sand beaches, mountainous scenery and a year-round warm climate. However, the country's poor image overseas, at times exaggerated, has hampered the development of this sector. In 2014, the country received 1,250,000 tourists (mostly from cruise ships), and the industry generated US$200 million in 2014.{{citation needed|date=September 2019}}

Several hotels were opened in 2014, including an upscale Best Western Premier,{{cite web|url=http://www.traveldailynews.com/news/article/52973/best-western-international-targets-120|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130125201322/http://www.traveldailynews.com/news/article/52973/best-western-international-targets-120|url-status=dead|archive-date=25 January 2013|title=Best Western International targets 120 new hotel projects in 2013|publisher=Traveldailynews.com|access-date=24 July 2015}}{{cite news|url=https://www.travelpulse.com/news/destinations/dispatch-good-times-in-haiti.html|title=Dispatch: Good Times in Haiti|last=Major|first=Brian|work=TravelPulse|date=9 December 2014}} a five-star Royal Oasis hotel by Occidental Hotel and Resorts in Pétion-Ville,{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/destinations/caribbean/articles/Haiti-returns-to-the-tourist-map/|archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220110/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/destinations/caribbean/articles/Haiti-returns-to-the-tourist-map/|archive-date=10 January 2022|url-access=subscription|url-status=live|title=Haiti returns to the tourist map|editor=Thomson, Ian|date=27 July 2014|work=The Telegraph|access-date=13 February 2017}}{{cbignore}}{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/26/travel/haiti-an-unlikely-location-for-luxury.html|archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220102/https://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/26/travel/haiti-an-unlikely-location-for-luxury.html|archive-date=2 January 2022|url-access=limited|url-status=live|title=An Unlikely Location for Luxury|editor=Lall, Gay Nagle|date=22 May 2013|work=The New York Times|access-date=13 February 2017}}{{cbignore}}{{cite web|url=http://www.travelweekly.com/Caribbean-Travel/Tourism-minister-plan-is-to-reveal-hidden-beauty-of-Haiti|title=Tourism minister's plan aims to reveal Haiti's 'hidden beauty'|editor=Myers, Gay Nagle|date=21 May 2013|work=Travel Weekly|access-date=13 February 2017}} a four-star Marriott Hotel in the Turgeau area of Port-au-Prince{{cite news|author=Barbara De Lollis|url=http://travel.usatoday.com/hotels/post/2011/11/marriott-announces-first-hotel-in-haiti-port-au-prince/574010/1|title=Marriott announces first hotel in Haiti|publisher=Travel.usatoday.com|date=29 November 2011|access-date=24 July 2013|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120626145655/http://travel.usatoday.com/hotels/post/2011/11/marriott-announces-first-hotel-in-haiti-port-au-prince/574010/1|archive-date=26 June 2012}} and other new hotel developments in Port-au-Prince, Les Cayes, Cap-Haïtien and Jacmel.{{citation needed|date=March 2014}}

On 21 October 2012, Haitian President Michel Martelly, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Bill Clinton, Richard Branson, Ben Stiller and Sean Penn inaugurated the {{convert|600|acre|ha|adj=on|order=flip|sigfig=2}} Caracol industrial park, the largest in the Caribbean.{{cite news|url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2012/10/22/clinton-haiti-earthquake/1650763/|title=Clintons land in Haiti to showcase industrial park|work=USA Today|date=22 October 2012|access-date=11 January 2014}} The project cost US$300 million and included a 10-megawatt power plant, a water-treatment plant and worker housing. The plan for the park pre-dated the 2010 earthquake but was fast-tracked as part of US foreign aid strategy to help Haiti recover.{{cite news|url=https://www.bostonreview.net/articles/jake-johnston-haiti-earthquake-aid-caracol/|title=Outsourcing Haiti|work=Boston Review|date=16 January 2014|access-date=24 March 2024}} The park was part of a "master plan" for Haiti's North and North-East departments, including the expansion of the Cap-Haïtien International Airport to accommodate large international flights, the construction of an international seaport in Fort-Liberté and the opening of the $50 million Roi Henri Christophe Campus of a new university in Limonade (near Cap-Haïtien) on 12 January 2012.{{cite news|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/haiti-clinton-caracol-idUSL1E8LM3BF20121022|title=Clintons preside at star-studded opening of Haitian industrial park|publisher=Reuters.com|date=22 October 2012|access-date=24 July 2013|archive-date=19 June 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130619104102/http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/10/22/haiti-clinton-caracol-idUSL1E8LM3BF20121022|url-status=live}}

In 2012, USAID believed the park had the potential to create as many as 65,000 jobs once fully developed.{{cite web|url=http://www.uspolicy.be/headline/state-dept-fact-sheet-haitis-caracol-industrial-park|archive-url=https://archive.today/20150421070053/http://www.uspolicy.be/headline/state-dept-fact-sheet-haitis-caracol-industrial-park|url-status=dead|archive-date=21 April 2015|title=State Dept. Fact Sheet on Haiti's Caracol Industrial Park|publisher=US Policy|date=22 October 2012|access-date=20 April 2015}}{{cite web|url=http://www.usaid.gov/haiti/caracol-industrial-park|title=Caracol Industrial Park|publisher=USAID|year=2014|access-date=20 April 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150219063300/http://www.usaid.gov/haiti/caracol-industrial-park|archive-date=19 February 2015|url-status=dead}} South Korean clothing manufacturer Sae-A Trading Co. Ltd, the park's only major tenant, created 5,000 permanent jobs out of the 20,000 it had projected and promised to build 5,000 houses yet only 750 homes had been built near Caracol by 2014.

Ten years later, the park was considered to have failed to uphold its promise to deliver the transformation the Clintons had promised.{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/oct/11/haiti-and-the-failed-promise-of-us-aid|title=Haiti and the failed promise of US aid|work=The Guardian|date=11 October 2019|access-date=24 March 2024}} The US invested tens of millions of dollars into the port project but eventually abandoned it. In order to establish the park, hundreds of families of small farmers had to be removed from the land, approximately 3,500 people overall.{{cite news|url=https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/karlazabludovsky/haiti-industrial-park-caracol|title=These Haitians Were Children When A US-Funded Project Evicted Them|work=Buzzfeed|date=15 June 2022|access-date=24 March 2024}} An audit by the United States Government Accountability Office uncovered that the port project lacked "staff with technical expertise in planning, construction, and oversight of a port" and revealed that USAid hadn't constructed a port anywhere since the 1970s. A USAid feasibility study in 2015 found that "a new port was not viable for a variety of technical, environmental and economic reasons", that the US was short US$72m in funds to cover the majority of the projected costs, and that private companies USAid had wanted to attract "had no interest in supporting the construction of a new port in northern Haiti".

{{Main|Transport in Haiti}}

File:Haiti rail map 1925.jpg

Haiti has two main highways that run from one end of the country to the other. The northern highway, Route Nationale No. 1 (National Highway One), originates in Port-au-Prince, winding through the coastal towns of Montrouis and Gonaïves, before reaching its terminus at the northern port Cap-Haïtien. The southern highway, Route Nationale No. 2, links Port-au-Prince with Les Cayes via Léogâne and Petit-Goâve. The state of Haiti's roads are generally poor, many being potholed and becoming impassable in rough weather.

The port at Port-au-Prince, Port international de Port-au-Prince, has more registered shipping than any of the other dozen ports in the country. The port's facilities include cranes, large berths, and warehouses, but these facilities are not in good condition. The port is underused, possibly due to the substantially high port fees. The port of Saint-Marc is currently the preferred port of entry for consumer goods.{{citation needed|date=September 2019}}

In the past, Haiti used rail transport; however, the rail infrastructure was poorly maintained when in use and cost of rehabilitation is beyond the means of the Haitian economy. In 2018 the Regional Development Council of the Dominican Republic proposed a "trans-Hispaniola" railway between both countries.{{cite web|url=https://www.dreamintv.com/single-post/2018/02/20/CRD-Wants-to-Build-Railway-that-Runs-Through-Haiti|title=CRD Wants to Build Railway that Runs Through Haiti|website=dreamintv.com|date=20 February 2018|access-date=17 November 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191117222328/https://www.dreamintv.com/single-post/2018/02/20/CRD-Wants-to-Build-Railway-that-Runs-Through-Haiti|archive-date=17 November 2019|url-status=dead}}

File:Toussaint Louverture International Airport.jpg

{{Main|List of airports in Haiti}}

Toussaint Louverture International Airport, located {{convert|10|km|mi|0|abbr=off|spell=on|sp=us}} north-northeast of Port-au-Prince proper in the commune of Tabarre, is the primary hub for entry and exit into the country. It has Haiti's main jetway, and along with Cap-Haïtien International Airport handles the vast majority of the country's international flights. Cities such as Jacmel, Jérémie, Les Cayes, and Port-de-Paix have smaller, less accessible airports that are serviced by regional airlines and private aircraft.{{citation needed|date=September 2019}}

In 2013, plans for the development of an international airport on Île-à-Vache were introduced by the prime minister.{{cite web|url=http://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-9270-haiti-tourism-official-launch-of-project-tourist-destination-ile-a-vache.html|title=Haiti – Tourism : Official launch of project "Tourist destination Ile-à-Vache" – HaitiLibre.com : Haiti news 7/7|work=HaitiLibre.com}}

In May 2024, the airport reopened following three months closure following violence, and is expected to help ease a shortage of medications and basic supplies.{{Cite web|date=2024-05-20|title=Haiti's main international airport reopens nearly three months after gang violence forced it closed|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/haitis-international-airport-reopens-rcna153117|access-date=2024-05-26|website=NBC News|language=en}}{{Cite web|title=Port-au-Prince: Haiti's main airport reopens after weeks of gang violence|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cndd394p7n2o|access-date=2024-05-26|website=www.bbc.com|date=21 May 2024 |language=en-GB}}

File:Tap tap public transportation Haiti.jpg]]

Tap tap buses are colorfully painted buses or pick-up trucks that serve as shared taxis. The "tap tap" name comes from the sound of passengers tapping on the metal bus body to indicate they want off.{{cite web|url=http://www.jansochor.com/photo-blog.aspx?id=tap-tap-haiti|title=Tap-Tap|access-date=29 January 2014}} These vehicles for hire are often privately owned and extensively decorated. They follow fixed routes, do not leave until filled with passengers, and riders can usually disembark at any point. The decorations are a typically Haitian form of art.{{cite web|url=http://www.unv.org/en/news-resources/news/doc/un-volunteer-takes-part.html|title=UN Volunteer takes part in art exhibition in Germany|access-date=29 January 2014|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140202105103/http://www.unv.org/en/news-resources/news/doc/un-volunteer-takes-part.html|archive-date=2 February 2014}}

{{Main|Telecommunications in Haiti|Television in Haiti}}

In Haiti, communications include the radio, television, fixed and mobile telephones, and the Internet. Haiti ranked last among North American countries in the World Economic Forum's Network Readiness Index (NRI){{snd}} an indicator for determining the development level of a country's information and communication technologies. Haiti ranked number 143 out of 148 overall in the 2014 NRI ranking, down from 141 in 2013.{{cite web|url=http://www3.weforum.org/docs/GITR/2014/GITR_OverallRanking_2014.pdf|title=NRI Overall Ranking 2014|publisher=World Economic Forum|access-date=28 June 2014}}

{{Main|Water supply and sanitation in Haiti}}

Haiti faces key challenges in the water supply and sanitation

sector. Notably, access to public services is very low, their quality is inadequate and public institutions remain very weak despite foreign aid and the government's declared intent to strengthen the sector's institutions. Foreign and Haitian NGOs play an important role in the sector, especially in rural and urban slum areas.{{citation needed|date=September 2019}}

{{Main|Demographics of Haiti}}

File:Haiti-demographie.png

In 2018, Haiti's population was estimated to be about 10,788,000. In 2006, half of the population was younger than age 20.{{cite web|url=http://www.unfpa.org/public/global/pid/227|title=New Haiti Census Shows Drastic Lack of Jobs, Education, Maternal Health Services|publisher=United Nations Population Fund|date=10 May 2006|access-date=24 July 2013|archive-date=14 May 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130514113013/http://www.unfpa.org/public/global/pid/227|url-status=dead}} In 1950, the first formal census gave a total population of 3.1 million.{{cite web|url=http://countrystudies.us/haiti/21.htm|title=Haiti – Population|publisher=Library of Congress Country Studies|access-date=24 July 2013}} Haiti averages approximately {{convert|350|/km2|/mi2|disp=preunit|people |people|sp=us}}, with its population concentrated most heavily in urban areas, coastal plains, and valleys.

File:EscombrosBelAir7.jpg]]

Millions of Haitian descent live abroad in the United States, Dominican Republic, Cuba, Canada (primarily Montreal), the Bahamas, France, the French Antilles, the Turks and Caicos, Jamaica, Puerto Rico, Venezuela, Brazil, Suriname and French Guiana. There were an estimated 881,500 people of Haitian ancestry in the United States in 2015,{{cite web|url=http://factfinder.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?pid=ACS_10_1YR_B04003&prodType=table|archive-url=https://archive.today/20150118121537/http://factfinder.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?pid=ACS_10_1YR_B04003&prodType=table|url-status=dead|archive-date=18 January 2015|title=American FactFinder – Results|publisher=U.S. Census Bureau|access-date=14 December 2016}} while in the Dominican Republic there were an estimated 800,000 in 2007.{{cite web|url=http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=37018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090215084725/http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=37018|archive-date=15 February 2009|title=DOMINICAN REPUBLIC: Deport Thy (Darker-Skinned) Neighbour|access-date=14 October 2008|last=Pina|first=Diógenes|publisher=Inter Press Service (IPS)|date=21 March 2007}} There were 300,000 in Cuba in 2013,[http://www.afrocubaweb.com/haiticuba.htm Haiti in Cuba] Retrieved 30 December 2013. 100,000 in Canada in 2006,{{cite web|url=http://www12.statcan.ca/english/census06/data/highlights/ethnic/pages/Page.cfm?Lang=E&Geo=PR&Code=01&Table=2&Data=Count&StartRec=1&Sort=3&Display=All|title=Ethnic origins, 2006 counts, for Canada, provinces and territories – 20% sample data|access-date=26 April 2009|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081205060008/http://www12.statcan.ca/english/census06/data/highlights/ethnic/pages/Page.cfm?Lang=E&Geo=PR&Code=01&Table=2&Data=Count&StartRec=1&Sort=3&Display=All|archive-date=5 December 2008}}, Statistics Canada (2006). 80,000 in Metropolitan France (2010),{{cite news|url=http://gulfnews.com/news/world/other-world/france-suspends-expulsions-of-illegal-haitians-1.567985|title=France Suspends Expulsions Of Illegal Haitians|newspaper=Gulfnews.com|date=14 January 2010|access-date=24 July 2013}} and up to 80,000 in the Bahamas (2009).{{cite news|last=Davis|first=Nick|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8257660.stm|title=Bahamas outlook clouds for Haitians|work=BBC News|date=20 September 2009|access-date=24 July 2013}}

In 2018, the life expectancy at birth was 63.66 years.{{Cite web|title=Life expectancy at birth, total (years) – Haiti {{!}} Data|url=https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.DYN.LE00.IN?locations=HT|access-date=22 December 2020|website=data.worldbank.org}}

{{Main|Gens de couleur}}

Under colonial rule, Haitian mulattoes were generally privileged above the black majority, though they possessed fewer rights than the white population. Following the country's independence, they became the nation's social elite. Numerous leaders throughout Haiti's history have been mulattoes. During this time, the enslaved persons and the affranchis were given limited opportunities toward education, income, and occupations, but even after gaining independence, the social structure remains a legacy today as the disparity between the upper and lower classes have not been reformed significantly since the colonial days.{{cite journal|jstor=2574763|title=Class Structure and Class Conflict in Haitian Society|first1=Roland|last1=Wingfield|first2=Vernon J.|last2=Parenton|date=1965|journal=Social Forces|volume=43|issue=3|pages=338–347|doi=10.2307/2574763}} Making up 5% of the nation's population, mulattoes have retained their preeminence, evident in the political, economic, social and cultural hierarchy in Haiti.{{cite web|last=Smucker|first=Glenn R|url=http://lcweb2.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?frd/cstdy:@field%28DOCID+ht0033%29|title=A Country Study: Haiti; The Upper Class|editor=Haggerty, Richard A.|publisher=Library of Congress Federal Research Division|date=December 1989}} As a result, the elite class today consists of a small group of influential people who are generally light in color.{{cite journal|jstor=2769747|title=Caste and Class in Haiti|first=John|last=Lobb|date=2018|journal=American Journal of Sociology|volume=46|issue=1|pages=23–34|doi=10.1086/218523|s2cid=144100302}}

{{Main|Religion in Haiti}}

{{Pie chart

|thumb = right

|caption = Religion in Haiti according to the Pew Research Center (2010){{cite web|url=http://www.globalreligiousfutures.org/countries/haiti#/?affiliations_religion_id=11&affiliations_year=2010®ion_name=All%20Countries+Countries&restrictions_year=2015|title=Religions in Haiti – PEW-GRF|website=globalreligiousfutures.org|access-date=25 February 2018|archive-date=29 September 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220929181606/http://www.globalreligiousfutures.org/countries/haiti#/?affiliations_religion_id=11&affiliations_year=2010®ion_name=All%20Countries+Countries&restrictions_year=2015|url-status=dead}}

|label1 = Catholicism

|value1 = 56.8

|color1 = purple

|label2 = Protestantism

|value2 = 29.6

|color2 = Blue

|label3 = Unaffiliated

|value3 = 10.6

|color3 = gray

|label4 = Other

|value4 = 3

|color4 = Red

}}

The 2018 CIA World Factbook reported that 55% of Haitians were Catholics and 29% were Protestants (Baptist 15.4%, Pentecostal 7.9%, Seventh-day Adventist 3%, Methodist 1.5%, other 0.7%). Other sources put the Protestant population higher, suggesting that it might have formed one-third of the population in 2001.{{cite book|last1=Rey|first1=Terry|last2=Stepick|first2=Alex|title=Crossing the Water and Keeping the Faith: Haitian Religion in Miami|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=40SIdXeUEhUC&pg=PA6|year=2013|publisher=NYU Press|isbn=978-1-4798-2077-1|page=6|quote=With no indications of any subsequent decline in Protestant affiliation either in Port-au-Prince or the countryside, one could reasonably estimate that today Haiti is already more than one-third Protestant}} Like other countries in Latin America, Haiti has witnessed a general Protestant expansion, which is largely Evangelical and Pentecostal in nature.{{Cite web|url=https://www.christianitytoday.com/news/2014/november/sorry-pope-francis-protestants-catholics-latin-america-pew.html|title=Sorry, Pope Francis: Protestants Are Converting Catholics Across Latin America|first=Morgan|last=Lee|website=News & Reporting|date=13 November 2014}}{{cite web|url=http://www.pewforum.org/2014/11/13/religion-in-latin-america/|title=Religion in Latin America|date=13 November 2014}}{{cite web|url=http://www.pewforum.org/2006/10/05/overview-pentecostalism-in-latin-america/|title=Overview: Pentecostalism in Latin America|date=5 October 2006}}

Haitian Cardinal Chibly Langlois is president of the National Bishops Conference of the Catholic Church.{{citation needed|date=September 2019}}

Vodou, a religion with West African roots similar to those of Cuba and Brazil, is formally practiced by 2.1% of the population; however, it is estimated that 50-80% of Haitians incorporate some elements of Vodou belief or practices into their religion, particularly with Catholicism. This reflect Vodou's colonial origins, when enslaved persons were obliged to disguise their traditional loa (lwa), or spirits, as Catholic saints, as part of a process called syncretism. As such, it is difficult to estimate the number of Vodouists in Haiti,{{cite book|last=Blier|first=Suzanne Preston|editor-first=Cosentino|editor-last=Donald J.|title=Sacred Arts of Haitian Vodou|publisher=Los Angeles: UCLA Fowler Museum of Cultural History|year=1995|pages=61–87|chapter=Vodun: West African Roots of Vodou|isbn=978-0-930741-47-1}}{{cite book|chapter-url=https://digitalcollections.wesleyan.edu/object/relifp-46|chapter=The Madonna of 115th St. Revisited: Vodou and Haitian Catholicism in the Age of Transnationalism|last=McAlister|first=Elizabeth|editor1-first=S.|editor1-last=Warner|title=Gatherings in Diaspora|location=Philadelphia|publisher=Temple Univ. Press|isbn=978-1-56639-614-1|year=1998}} especially given the legacy of historic persecution and misrepresentation in popular media and culture, as well as modern stigmatization among segments of the growing Protestant population. Nonetheless, Vodou was officially recognized by the Haitian government in 2003.

Reflecting the ubiquity of Vodou culture and beliefs, while many Catholics and Protestants in Haiti denounce Vodou as devil worship, they do not deny the power or existence of its spirits; rather, they are regarded as "evil" and "satanic" adversaries that require intervention through Christian prayer. Protestants view Catholic veneration of saints as idol worship, and some Protestants would often destroy statues and other Catholic paraphernalia.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UT0nAAAAQBAJ|title=Crossing the Water and Keeping the Faith Haitian Religion in Miami|editor=Rey, Terry|editor2=Stepick, Alex|page=197|year=2013|publisher=NYU Press|isbn=9780814777084|access-date=16 April 2021}}

Minority religions in Haiti include Islam, Bahá'í Faith, Judaism, and Buddhism.

The two official languages of Haiti are French and Haitian Creole. French is the principal written and administratively authorized language (as well as the main language of the press) and is spoken by 42% of Haitians.{{cite book|title=La langue française dans le monde 2014|date=2014|publisher=Nathan|isbn=978-2-09-882654-0|url=http://www.francophonie.org/Langue-Francaise-2014/projet/Rapport-OIF-2014.pdf|access-date=20 May 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150412002239/http://www.francophonie.org/Langue-Francaise-2014/projet/Rapport-OIF-2014.pdf|archive-date=12 April 2015|url-status=dead}}À ce propos, voir l'essai Prétendus Créolismes : le couteau dans l'igname, Jean-Robert Léonidas, Cidihca, Montréal 1995 It is spoken by all educated Haitians, is the medium of instruction in most schools, and is used in the business sector. It is also used in ceremonial events such as weddings, graduations and church Masses. Haiti is one of two independent nations in the Americas (along with Canada) to designate French as an official language; the other French-speaking areas are all overseas départements, or collectivités, of France, such as French Guiana. Haitian Creole is spoken by nearly all of the Haitian population. French, the base language for Haitian Creole, is popular among the Haitian elite and upper classes. French is also popular in the business sector, and to a far lesser degree, English due to American influence. Spanish is spoken by some Haitians who live along the Haitian-Dominican border.{{Cite web|url=https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/what-languages-are-spoken-in-haiti.html|title=What Languages Are Spoken in Haiti?|date=29 July 2019}} English and Spanish may also be spoken by Haitian deportees from the United States and various Latin American countries. Overall, about 90–95% of Haitians only speak Haitian Creole and French fluently, with over half only knowing Creole.{{Cite web|url=https://globalpressjournal.com/americas/haiti/schools-teaching-creole-instead-french-rise-haiti/|title=Schools Teaching in Creole Instead of French on the Rise in Haiti|date=13 November 2019}}

Haitian Creole,{{cite journal|url=http://www.indiana.edu/~creole/creolenatllangofhaiti.html|title=Creole: The National Language of Haiti|last=Valdman|first=Albert|journal=Footsteps|volume=2|issue=4|pages=36–39|publisher=Indiana University Creole Institute|access-date=6 August 2008|archive-date=26 June 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150626233455/http://www.indiana.edu/~creole/creolenatllangofhaiti.html|url-status=dead}} locally called Kreyòl,{{Cite web|title=Haitian Creole|url=https://celt.indiana.edu/portal/haitian-creole/index.html|access-date=4 October 2022|website=Indiana University – Center for Language Technology|language=en-US}} has recently undergone standardization and is spoken by virtually the entire population.{{cite web|url=http://www.indiana.edu/~creole/creolenatllangofhaiti.html|title=Creole: National Language of Haiti|last=Valdman|first=Albert|publisher=Indiana University|access-date=11 January 2014|archive-date=26 June 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150626233455/http://www.indiana.edu/~creole/creolenatllangofhaiti.html|url-status=dead}} One of the French-based creole languages, Haitian Creole has a vocabulary overwhelmingly derived from French, but its grammar resembles that of some West African languages. It also has influences from Taino, Spanish, and Portuguese.{{cite web|last=Bonenfant|first=Jacques L.|title=History of Haitian-Creole: From Pidgin to Lingua Franca and English Influence on the Language|url=http://www.fmuniv.edu/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/History_of_haitian_review_of_higher_education.pdf|editor=Haggerty, Richard A.|publisher=Library of Congress Federal Research Division|date=December 1989|access-date=1 January 2014|archive-date=24 September 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924014030/http://www.fmuniv.edu/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/History_of_haitian_review_of_higher_education.pdf|url-status=dead}} Haitian Creole is related to the other French creoles, and in particular to the Antillean and Louisiana Creole variants.{{citation needed|date=September 2019}}

{{Main|Haitian diaspora}}

There is a large Haitian diaspora community, predominantly based in the US and Canada, France, and the wealthier Caribbean islands.{{citation needed|date=September 2019}}

Emigrants from Haiti have constituted a segment of American and Canadian society since before the independence of Haiti from France in 1804.{{cite web|last1=Hammond|first1=Stuart|title=Canada and Haiti: A brief history|url=http://canadahaitiaction.ca/canada-haiti-history|website=Canada Haiti Action Network|access-date=13 August 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160202034558/http://canadahaitiaction.ca/canada-haiti-history|archive-date=2 February 2016|date=2010}}{{cite web|title=People & Events French West Indian refugees in Philadelphia 1792 – 1800|url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part3/3p466.html|website=PBS.org|access-date=13 August 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304063339/https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part3/3p466.html|archive-date=4 March 2016}} Many influential early American settlers and black freemen, including Jean Baptiste Point du Sable and W. E. B. Du Bois, were of Haitian origin.{{Harvnb|Kinzie|1856|p=190}}{{Harvnb|Meehan|1963|p=445}}{{cite book|last=Cohn|first=Scotti|title=It Happened in Chicago|year=2009|isbn=978-0-7627-5056-6|pages=2–4|publisher=Globe Pequot Press}}Lewis, p. 18.{{incomplete short citation|date=February 2023}}

{{Main|Education in Haiti}}

File:Universite henrichristophe.jpg]]

The educational system of Haiti is based on the French system. Higher education, under the responsibility of the Ministry of Education,{{cite web|url=http://menfp.gouv.ht/|title=Ministry of Education|access-date=21 October 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181022224755/http://menfp.gouv.ht/|archive-date=22 October 2018|url-status=dead}} is provided by universities and other public and private institutions.{{cite news|title=Education in Haiti; Primary Education|url=http://www.buildingwithbooks.org/intra/Intl_Programs/profile_Haiti.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080323105543/http://www.buildingwithbooks.org/intra/Intl_Programs/profile_Haiti.html|archive-date=23 March 2008|access-date=15 November 2007}}

More than 80% of primary schools are privately managed by nongovernmental organizations, churches, communities, and for-profit operators, with minimal government oversight.{{cite news|title=Education: Overview|url=http://www.usaid.gov/Haiti/education|work=United States Agency for International Development|access-date=30 May 2015|archive-date=12 September 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220912080417/https://www.usaid.gov/haiti/education|url-status=dead}} According to the 2013 Millennium Development Goals Report, Haiti has steadily boosted net enrollment rate in primary education from 47% in 1993 to 88% in 2011, achieving equal participation of boys and girls in education.{{cite news|title=Haiti boosts health and education in the past decade, says new UNDP report|url=http://www.latinamerica.undp.org/content/rblac/en/home/presscenter/pressreleases/2014/06/25/haiti-makes-progress-towards-reducing-poverty-and-boosts-health-and-education-in-the-past-decade-says-new-undp-report.html|work=United Nations Development Programme|access-date=30 May 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150531031932/http://www.latinamerica.undp.org/content/rblac/en/home/presscenter/pressreleases/2014/06/25/haiti-makes-progress-towards-reducing-poverty-and-boosts-health-and-education-in-the-past-decade-says-new-undp-report.html|archive-date=31 May 2015|url-status=dead}} Charity organizations, including Food for the Poor and Haitian Health Foundation, are building schools for children and providing necessary school supplies.

According to the 2015 World Factbook, Haiti's literacy rate is 60.7%.{{citation needed|date=September 2019}}

Many reformers have advocated the creation of a free, public and universal education system for all primary school-age students in Haiti. The Inter-American Development Bank estimates that the government will need at least US$3 billion to create an adequately funded system.{{cite web|first=Paul|last=Franz|url=http://pulitzercenter.org/blog/untold-stories/improving-access-education-haiti|title=Improving Access to Education in Haiti|publisher=Pulitzercenter.org|date=25 October 2010|access-date=24 July 2013|archive-date=14 September 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130914013009/http://pulitzercenter.org/blog/untold-stories/improving-access-education-haiti|url-status=dead}}

Upon successful graduation of secondary school, students may continue into higher education. The higher education schools in Haiti include the University of Haiti. There are also medical schools and law schools offered at both the University of Haiti and abroad. Brown University is cooperating with L'Hôpital Saint-Damien in Haiti to coordinate a pediatric health care curriculum.{{cite web|url=https://brown.edu/initiatives/global-health/haiti/medical-education-and-leadership-development-project-meld|title=Haiti|access-date=21 October 2014}}

{{Main|Health in Haiti}}

{{As of|2012}}, 60% of children in Haiti under the age of 10 were vaccinated,{{cite web|url=http://www.ksl.com/?sid=20314561|title=Haiti to vaccinate 95 percent of children under 10|website=KSL.com|access-date=21 October 2014}}{{Cite web|url=http://www.paho.org/hq/index.php?option=com_docman&task=doc_download&Itemid=270&gid=4175&lang=en|title=Haiti – Pan American Health Organization}} compared to 93–95% in other countries.{{cite web|url=https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm6341a1.htm|title=Vaccination Coverage Among Children in Kindergarten — United States, 2013–14 School Year|access-date=14 December 2016}} Recently there have been mass vaccination campaigns claiming to vaccinate as many as 91% of a target population against specific diseases (measles and rubella in this case).{{cite web|url=https://www.cdc.gov/globalhealth/stories/haitian_children.html|title=CDC Global Health – Stories – 5 things CDC has done to help rebuild Haiti's immunization system since the 2010 earthquake|access-date=14 December 2016}} Most people have no transportation or access to Haitian hospitals.{{cite journal|url=http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-01-14/haiti-survivors-face-outbreaks-of-diarrhea-measles-malaria.html|title=Haiti Survivors Face Outbreaks of Diarrhea|journal=BusinessWeek|date=14 January 2010}}{{dead link|date=April 2023|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}

The World Health Organization cites diarrheal diseases, HIV/AIDS, meningitis, and respiratory infections as common causes of death in Haiti.{{cite news|first=Madison|last=Park|url=http://www.cnn.com/2010/HEALTH/01/13/haiti.earthquake.medical.risks/|title=Haiti earthquake could trigger possible medical 'perfect storm|publisher=cnn.com|date=13 January 2010|access-date=31 July 2014}} Ninety percent of Haiti's children suffer from waterborne diseases and intestinal parasites.{{cite web|url=http://www.ipsnews.net/2008/11/environment-haiti-cant-face-more-defeats/|title=Haiti Can't Face More Defeats|last=Leahy|first=Stephen|publisher=Ipsnews.net|date=13 November 2008|access-date=24 July 2013}} HIV infection is found in 1.71% of Haiti's population (est. 2015).{{cite web|url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/haiti/|title=The World Factbook: HAITI. Central Intelligence Agency. Central Intelligence Agency, 12 Jan. 2017. Web. 20 Feb. 2017. — Central Intelligence Agency|website=cia.gov|date=22 September 2021}} Per a 2017 report, incidence of tuberculosis (TB) in Haiti is the highest in the region with an estimated 200 cases per 100,000 people.{{Cite journal|last1=Masurand|first1=Jack|last2=Koenig|first2=Serena|last3=Julma|first3=Pierrot|last4=Ocheretina|first4=Oksana|last5=Durán-Mendicuti|first5=Maria|last6=Fitzgerald|first6=Daniel|last7=Pape|first7=Jean|date=30 May 2017|title=Active Tuberculosis Case Finding in Haiti|journal=The American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene|volume=97|issue=2|pages=433–435|doi=10.4269/ajtmh.16-0674|pmid=28722608|pmc=5544073}} Approximately 30,000 Haitians fall ill with malaria each year.{{cite news|url=https://www.foxnews.com/story/haiti-and-dominican-republic-look-to-eradicate-malaria|title=Haiti and Dominican Republic Look to Eradicate Malaria|publisher=Foxnews.com|date=8 October 2009|access-date=24 July 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111118082049/http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,562682,00.html|archive-date=18 November 2011|url-status=live}}

Roughly 75% of Haitian households lack running water. Unsafe water, along with inadequate housing and unsanitary living conditions, contributes to the high incidence of infectious diseases. There is a chronic shortage of health care personnel and hospitals lack resources, a situation that became readily apparent after the January 2010 earthquake.{{cite web|url=http://handle.dtic.mil/100.2/ADA528274|title=The Geology of Haiti: An Annotated Bibliography of Haiti's Geology, Geography and Earth Science|author1=Robert Lee Hadden|author2=Steven G. Minson|page=10|year=2010|access-date=24 July 2013|archive-date=11 January 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200111034200/https://apps.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/a528274.pdf|url-status=dead}} The infant mortality rate in Haiti in 2019 was 48.2 deaths per 1,000 live births, compared to 5.6 per 1,000 in the United States.{{Cite web|title=Mortality rate, infant (per 1,000 live births) – Haiti, United States {{!}} Data|url=https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.DYN.IMRT.IN?locations=HT-US|access-date=26 April 2021|website=data.worldbank.org}}

After the 2010 earthquake, Partners In Health founded the Hôpital Universitaire de Mirebalais, the largest solar-powered hospital in the world.{{cite web|url=http://www.pih.org/blog/solar-powered-hospital-in-haiti-yields-sustainable-savings|title=Solar-Powered Hospital in Haiti Yields Sustainable Savings|access-date=21 February 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170210114940/http://www.pih.org/blog/solar-powered-hospital-in-haiti-yields-sustainable-savings|archive-date=10 February 2017|url-status=dead}}{{cite web|url=http://www.engineering.com/ElectronicsDesign/ElectronicsDesignArticles/ArticleID/5883/Solar-Powered-Hospital.aspx|title=Solar Powered Hospital|editor=Lombardo, Tom|publisher=Engineering.com|date=23 June 2013|access-date=18 April 2015|archive-date=7 August 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200807112157/https://www.engineering.com/ElectronicsDesign/ElectronicsDesignArticles/ArticleID/5883/Solar-Powered-Hospital.aspx|url-status=dead}}

{{Further|List of cities in Haiti}}

{{Largest cities

| country = Haiti

| stat_ref = [http://www.geonames.org/HT/largest-cities-in-haiti.html geonames.org]

| list_by_pop =

| div_name = Department

| div_link =

| city_1 = Port-au-Prince|div_1 = Ouest (department){{!}}Ouest|pop_1 = 1,234,742|img_1 = US Navy 100221-N-5787K-002 An aerial view of the logistical area near the port in Port-au-Prince (cropped).jpg

| city_2 = Cap-Haïtien|div_2 = Nord (Haitian department){{!}}Nord|pop_2 = 534,815|img_2 = View of Cap-Haitien.jpg

| city_3 = Carrefour, Ouest{{!}}Carrefour ({{abbr|in Metro P.P.|The city is located inside the Port-au-Prince's metropolitan area}})|div_3 = Ouest (department){{!}}Ouest|pop_3 = 442,156|img_3 = Carrefour, Haiti.jpg

| city_4 = Delmas, Ouest{{!}}Delmas ({{abbr|in Metro P.P.|The city is located inside the Port-au-Prince's metropolitan area}})|div_4 = Ouest (department){{!}}Ouest|pop_4 = 382,920|img_4 = Delmas 48 Haiti.jpg

| city_5 = Pétion-Ville{{!}}Pétion-Ville ({{abbr|in Metro P.P.|The city is located inside the Port-au-Prince's metropolitan area}})|div_5 = Ouest (department){{!}}Ouest|pop_5 = 283,052

| city_6 = Port-de-Paix|div_6 = Nord-Ouest (department){{!}}Nord-Ouest|pop_6 = 250,000

| city_7 = Croix-des-Bouquets{{!}}Croix des Bouquets ({{abbr|in Metro P.P.|The city is located inside the Port-au-Prince's metropolitan area}})|div_7 = Ouest (department){{!}}Ouest|pop_7 = 229,127

| city_8 = Jacmel|div_8 = Sud-Est (department){{!}}Sud-Est|pop_8 = 137,966

| city_9 = Léogâne|div_9 = Ouest (department){{!}}Ouest|pop_9 = 134,190

| city_10 = Les Cayes|div_10 = Sud (department){{!}}Sud|pop_10 = 125,799

}}

{{Main|Culture of Haiti}}

Haiti has a lasting and unique cultural identity, blending traditional French and African customs, mixed with sizable acquirements from the Spanish and indigenous Taíno cultures.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=giQaoQz8N0AC&pg=PA13|title=A Taste of Haiti|last=Yurnet-Thomas|first=Mirta|pages=13–15|year=2002|publisher=Hippocrene Books|isbn=978-0-7818-0998-6|access-date=18 June 2015}}

{{Main|Haitian art}}

File:Swearing-in ceremony of Diaspora GwètòDe by Konfederasyon Nasyonal Vodou Ayisyen 09.jpg

Haitian art is distinctive, particularly through its paintings and sculptures.{{cite web|url=http://globalfaithinaction.org/haiti-culture-and-sports/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120427211956/http://globalfaithinaction.org/haiti-culture-and-sports/|url-status=dead|archive-date=27 April 2012|title=Haiti – Culture And Sports|last=Onofre|first=Alejandro Guevara|access-date=2 September 2014}}{{cite web|url=https://www.pbs.org/newshour/art/haiti/|title=In Haiti, Art Remains a Solid Cornerstone|last=Legro|first=Tom|publisher=PBS|date=11 January 2011}} Brilliant colors, naïve perspectives, and sly humor characterize Haitian art. Frequent subjects in Haitian art include big, foods, landscapes, market activities, jungle animals, rituals, dances, and gods. As a result of a deep history and strong African ties, symbols take on great meaning within Haitian society. Many artists cluster in 'schools' of painting, such as the Cap-Haïtien school, which features depictions of daily life in the city, the Jacmel School, which reflects the steep mountains and bays of that coastal town, or the Saint-Soleil School, which is characterized by abstracted human forms and is heavily influenced by Vodou symbolism.{{citation needed|date=April 2014}}

In the 1920s the indigéniste movement gained international acclaim, with its expressionist paintings inspired by Haiti's culture and African roots. Notable painters of this movement include Hector Hyppolite, Philomé Oban and Préfète Duffaut.Clammer, Paul (2016), Bradt Travel Guide – Haiti, p. 36. Some notable artists of more recent times include Edouard Duval-Carrié, Frantz Zéphirin, Leroy Exil, Prosper Pierre Louis and Louisiane Saint Fleurant. Sculpture is also practiced in Haiti; noted artists in this form include George Liautaud and Serge Jolimeau.Clammer, Paul (2016), Bradt Travel Guide – Haiti, p. 37.

{{Further|Music of Haiti}}

Haitian music combines a wide range of influences drawn from the many people who have settled here. It reflects French, African and Spanish elements and others who have inhabited the island of Hispaniola, and minor native Taino influences. Styles of music unique to Haitian culture include music derived from Vodou ceremonial traditions, Rara parading music, Twoubadou ballads, mini-jazz rock bands, Rasin movement, Hip hop kreyòl, méringue,{{cite web|url=http://www.afropop.org/radio/radio_program/ID/692/Music%20and%20the%20Story%20of%20Haiti|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071113022326/http://www.afropop.org/radio/radio_program/ID/692/Music%20and%20the%20Story%20of%20Haiti|archive-date=13 November 2007|title=Music and the Story of Haiti|work=Afropop Worldwide }} and compas. Youth attend parties at nightclubs called discos, and attend Bal (ball, as in a formal dance).

Compas (konpa){{cite web|url=http://www.heritagekonpa.com/The%20Haitian%20Music%20Billboard.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100210081147/http://www.heritagekonpa.com/The%20Haitian%20Music%20Billboard.htm|archive-date=10 February 2010|title=Haitian music billboard|date=10 February 2010|access-date=24 July 2013}} is a complex, ever-changing music that arose from African rhythms and European ballroom dancing, mixed with Haiti's bourgeois culture. It is a refined music, with méringue as its basic rhythm. Haiti had no recorded music until 1937 when Jazz Guignard was recorded non-commercially.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gwEL9mUcVA8C&pg=PA23|title=A Day for the Hunter, a Day for the Prey: Popular Music and Power in Haiti|last=Averill|first=Gage|year=1997|page=23|publisher=University of Chicago Press|isbn=978-0-226-03291-7|access-date=20 April 2015}}

{{Main|Haitian literature}}

Haiti has always been a literary nation that has produced poetry, novels, and plays of international recognition. The French colonial experience established the French language as the venue of culture and prestige, and since then it has dominated the literary circles and the literary production. However, since the 18th century there has been a sustained effort to write in Haitian Creole. The recognition of Creole as an official language has led to an expansion of novels, poems, and plays in Creole.{{Cite book|last=Nzengou-Tayo|first=Marie-José|chapter=Chapter 7: Creole and French in Haitian Literature|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4xbGzLuBvWwC&pg=PA153|title=The Haitian Creole Language: History, Structure, Use, and Education|editor1-first=Arthur K.|editor1-last=Spears|editor2-first=Carole M.|editor2-last=Berotte Joseph|language=en|publisher=Lexington Books|pages=153–176|isbn=978-0-7391-7221-6|date=2012}} In 1975, Franketienne was the first to break with the French tradition in fiction with the publication of Dezafi, the first novel written entirely in Haitian Creole.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ewyPMi4WZPAC|title=Frankétienne and Rewriting: A Work in Progress|last=Douglas|first=Rachel|publisher=Lexington Books|year=2009|isbn=978-0-7391-3635-5|pages=50–60}} Other well known Haitian authors include Jean Price-Mars, Jacques Roumain, Jacques Stephen Alexis, Marie Vieux-Chauvet, Pierre Clitandre, René Depestre, Edwidge Danticat, Lyonel Trouillot and Dany Laferrière.

Haiti has a small though growing cinema industry. Well-known directors working primarily in documentary film-making include Raoul Peck and Arnold Antonin. Directors producing fictional films include Patricia Benoît, Wilkenson Bruna and Richard Senecal.

{{Main|Haitian cuisine}}

Haiti is famous for its creole cuisine (related to Cajun cuisine), and its soup joumou.{{cite web|url=http://www.creolemadeeasy.com/cmejom/free/recipes/127-pumpkin-soup-soup-joumou.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140521034622/http://www.creolemadeeasy.com/cmejom/free/recipes/127-pumpkin-soup-soup-joumou.html|archive-date=21 May 2014|title=Pumpkin Soup – Soup Joumou|publisher=Creolemadeeasy.com|access-date=22 May 2014}}

File:Sans-Souci Palace, National History Park, Haiti.jpg

{{See also|List of World Heritage Sites in the Caribbean}}

Monuments include the Sans-Souci Palace and the Citadelle Laferrière, inscribed as a World Heritage Site in 1982.{{cite web|url=https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/180|title=National History Park – Citadel, Sans the great Souci, Ramiers|publisher=UNESCO|access-date=23 January 2010}} Situated in the Northern Massif du Nord, in the National History Park, the structures date from the early 19th century.{{cite web|url=https://whc.unesco.org/en/news/579|title=Heritage in Haiti|date=20 January 2010|publisher=UNESCO|access-date=23 January 2010}} The buildings were among the first built after Haiti's independence from France.

The Citadelle Laferrière, the largest fortress in the Americas, is located in northern Haiti. It was built between 1805 and 1820 and is today referred to by some Haitians as the eighth wonder of the world.{{cite web|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1955&dat=19780129&id=BN4hAAAAIBAJ&pg=5745,4456684|title=Haiti's Citadelle Described As 8th Wonder of the World|publisher=United Press International|page=40|date=29 January 1978|via=Reading Eagle|access-date=21 October 2014}}

The Institute for the Protection of National Heritage has preserved 33 historical monuments and the historic center of Cap-Haïtien.{{cite web|url=http://www.haiti.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=121&Itemid=90|title=Institut de Sauvegarde du Patrimoine National|publisher=Haiti.org|access-date=24 July 2013}}

Jacmel, a colonial city that was tentatively accepted as a World Heritage Site, was extensively damaged by the 2010 earthquake.

File:Santa Maria Anchor.JPG

The anchor of Christopher Columbus's largest ship, the Santa María rests in the Musée du Panthéon National Haïtien (MUPANAH), in Port-au-Prince.{{cite journal|title=MUPANAH and the Promotion of Historical and Cultural Values|doi=10.1111/j.1468-0033.2011.01744.x|volume=62|issue=4|journal=Museum International|pages=39–45|year=2010|last1=Paret|first1=Robert|s2cid=142632278}}

{{Main|Haitian mythology}}

Haiti is known for its folklore traditions.{{cite book|last=Munro|first=Martin|title=Exile and Post-1946 Haitian Literature: Alexis, Depestre, Ollivier, Laferrière, Danticat|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JC-m0n2yww8C&pg=PA14|date=2013|publisher=Liverpool University Press|isbn=978-1-84631-854-2|pages=14–}} Much of this is rooted in Haitian Vodou tradition. Belief in zombies is also common.Clammer, Paul (2016), Bradt Travel Guide - Haiti, p. 35. Other folkloric creatures include the lougarou.

{{Further|Public holidays in Haiti}}

The Haitian Carnival has been one of the most popular carnivals in the Caribbean. In 2010, the government decided to stage the event in a different city outside Port-au-Prince every year.{{cite web|url=http://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-5009-haiti-culture-more-than-300-000-people-celebrated-the-carnival-2012-in-les-cayes.html|title=More than 300,000 people celebrated the Carnival 2012 in Les Cayes|publisher=Haitilibre.com|date=22 February 2012|access-date=24 July 2013}}{{cite web|url=http://magazine.nd.edu/news/47009-global-doc-kanaval/|title=Global Doc: Kanaval|last=DeGennaro|first=Vincent|date=19 March 2014|access-date=23 November 2014}} The National Carnival follows the popular Jacmel Carnival, which takes place a week earlier in February or March.

Rara is a festival celebrated before Easter. The festival has generated a style of Carnival music.{{cite web|title=Rara {{!}} Haitian Music|url=http://www.haitianmusic.net/haitian-folk-music/rara|website=Haitian Music|date=17 April 2012|access-date=17 November 2017|archive-date=17 November 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171117122814/http://www.haitianmusic.net/haitian-folk-music/rara|url-status=dead}}{{Cite web|url=https://music.si.edu/story/rara-vodou-power-and-performance|title=Rara: Vodou, Power, and Performance|date=8 March 2016|website=Smithsonian Music|language=en|access-date=14 April 2020}}

{{Main|Culture of Haiti#Sports}}

File:Haiti national football team training in Port-au-Prince 2004-08-16 2.jpg training in Port-au-Prince, 2004]]

Football (soccer) is the most popular sport in Haiti with hundreds of small clubs competing at the local level. Basketball and baseball are growing in popularity.{{Cite web|url=https://www.mlb.com/news/blue-jays-helping-bring-baseball-to-haiti/c-31222026|title=Blue Jays helping bring baseball to Haiti|first=Chris|last=Toman|date=13 May 2012|publisher=Major League Baseball}}{{cite book|title=Haiti in Focus: A Guide to the People, Politics, and Culture|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XCi9jFR6v1oC&pg=PA82|last=Arthur|first=Charles|publisher=Interlink Pub Group Inc|pages=82–83|isbn=978-1-56656-359-8|year=2002}} Stade Sylvio Cator is the multi-purpose stadium in Port-au-Prince, currently used mostly for association football matches. In 1974, the Haiti national football team were only the second Caribbean team to make the World Cup. The national team won the 2007 Caribbean Nations Cup.{{cite web|url=http://www.caribbeanandco.com/history-caribbean-teams-fifa-world-cup/|title=History of Caribbean teams in the FIFA World Cup|access-date=2 September 2014}}

Haiti has participated in the Olympic Games since the year 1900 and won a number of medals. Haitian footballer Joe Gaetjens played for the United States national team in the 1950 FIFA World Cup, scoring the winning goal in the 1–0 upset of England.{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/football/blog/2010/jun/10/world-cup-2010-usa-1950-england|title=World Cup 2010: How the USA's 1950 amateurs upset England and the odds|author=Ewen MacAskill|newspaper=The Guardian|date=10 June 2010}}

• Index of Haiti-related articles
• Madan Sara
• Outline of Haiti

{{Portal bar|Haiti|Caribbean|Latin America|Caribbean}}

{{notelist|45em}}

{{Reflist}}

{{EB1911 poster|Haiti}}

• Arthur, Charles. Haiti in Focus: A Guide to the People, Politics, and Culture. Interlink Publishing Group (2002). {{ISBN|1-56656-359-3}}.
• Dayan, Colin. Haiti, History, and the Gods. University of California Press (1998).
• Ferrer, Ada. Freedom's Mirror: Cuba and Haiti in the Age of Revolution. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2014.
• {{Cite journal|last=Geggus|first=David|date=1997|title=The Naming of Haiti|journal=NWIG: New West Indian Guide / Nieuwe West-Indische Gids|volume=71|issue=1/2|pages=43–68|doi=10.1163/13822373-90002615|jstor=41849817|issn=1382-2373|doi-access=free|ref=none}}
• Girard, Philippe. Haiti: The Tumultuous History (New York: Palgrave, September 2010).
• Hadden, Robert Lee and Steven G. Minson. 2010. [http://handle.dtic.mil/100.2/ADA528274 The Geology of Haiti: An Annotated Bibliography of Haiti's Geology, Geography and Earth Science] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200111034200/https://apps.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/a528274.pdf |date=11 January 2020 }}. US Army Corps of Engineers, Army Geospatial Center. July 2010.
• {{cite book|last=Heinl|first=Robert|title=Written in Blood: The History of the Haitian People|url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780761802303|url-access=registration|publisher=University Press of America|location=Lantham, Md.|year=1996}}
• {{cite book|last=Kinzie|first=Juliette|title=Wau-Bun, the "Early Day" in the North-West|year=1856|publisher=Derby and Jackson|author-link=Juliette Augusta Magill Kinzie|url=https://archive.org/details/waubunearlydayin00kinz|access-date=25 August 2010}}
• Kovats-Bernat, J. Christopher. Sleeping Rough in Port-au-Prince: An Ethnography of Street Children and Violence in Haiti. University Press of Florida (2008). {{ISBN|978-0-8130-3302-0}}.
• {{cite journal|last=Meehan|first=Thomas A.|title=Jean Baptiste Point du Sable, the First Chicagoan|journal=Journal of the Illinois State Historical Society|year=1963|volume=56|issue=3|pages=439–453|jstor=40190620}}
• Prichard, Hesketh. Where Black Rules White: A Journey Across and About Hayti. These are exact reproductions of a book published before 1923: (Nabu Press, {{ISBN|978-1-146-67652-6}}, 5 March 2010); (Wermod and Wermod Publishing Group, {{ISBN|978-0-9561835-8-3}}, 15 October 2012).
• Robinson, Randall. An Unbroken Agony: Haiti, From Revolution to the Kidnapping of a President. Basic Civitas (2007). {{ISBN|0-465-07050-7}}.
• Wilentz, Amy. The Rainy Season: Haiti Since Duvalier. Simon & Schuster (1990). {{ISBN|0-671-70628-4}}.
• Marquis, John. Papa Doc: Portrait of a Haitian Tyrant (LMH Publishing, 2007)

{{Sister project links|voy=Haiti}}

Government

• {{in lang|fr}} [http://primature.gouv.ht/ Prime Minister of Haiti] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150417051738/http://primature.gouv.ht/ |date=17 April 2015 }}
• {{in lang|fr}} [https://web.archive.org/web/20180808161437/http://parlementhaitien.ht/ Haitian Parliament] (archived 8 August 2018)
• {{in lang|fr}} [https://www.mspp.gouv.ht/ Ministère de la Santé Publique et de la Population]

General information

• [https://visithaiti.com/ Visit Haiti] Official Tourism Website
• {{cite EB9 |wstitle = Hayti |volume= XI |last= Champlin |first= John Denison |author-link= John Denison Champlin Jr. | pages=543–546 |short=1}}
• {{Cite EB1911 |wstitle= Haiti |volume = 12 |last= |first= |author-link= |pages=824–827 |short=1}}
• [https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/haiti/ Haiti]. The World Factbook. Central Intelligence Agency.
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20080607084933/http://ucblibraries.colorado.edu/govpubs/for/haiti.htm Haiti] at UCB Libraries GovPubs (archived 7 June 2008)
• [https://www.loc.gov/item/2001023524/ A Country Study: Haiti] from the US Library of Congress (December 1989).
• {{Wikiatlas}}
• [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/country_profiles/1202772.stm Haiti profile] from the BBC News.
• [https://newint.org/columns/country/2011/06/01/haiti/ Country Profile] at New Internationalist.
• [http://www.gvsu.edu/haitiwater Web Site about Safe and Sustainable Water Solutions for Haiti]

{{Haiti topics}}

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