HAITI

HAITI – NORTH (Cap Haitien, Gonaives, Hinche) March 28-30, 2022.

Capital. Port-au-Prince
Language. French, Haitian Creole
Ethnic. 95% Afro-Haitians, 5% mixed and European Haitians
Religion. 86.9% Christianity, 10.6% No religion, 2.2% Folk religions, 0.3% Others
Area. 27,750 km² (10,710 sq mi) (143rd)
Population. 11,439,646 (85th)
Density. 382/km² (989.4/sq mi) (32nd)
GDP (PPP) per capita. $2,962^[8] (174th)
GDP (nominal) per capita. $1,943 (172nd)
Gini. 41.1 medium
Currency. Haitian gourde HTG. Mar 2022: 1US$=106; 1€=116.39; 1CAD=84.5. Euros and CAD are of no value in OCap. 
Calling Code. +509
Make sure to watch the two excellent YouTube videos by Stephan Muller: https://youtu.be/6W47dorKw08 (real Haiti). Super well done with drones only of Cap Haitian and the video of the most beautiful parts here: https://youtu.be/ApyjDPNh4vs

OBSERVATIONS
1. As the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, Haiti’s poverty is glaring. 75% make
their living in the service economy. Everyone is out there eking out a living in some basic way: selling something – the street market in Cape Haitian is gigantic – occupying at least 3 X 10 blocks of streets, all impenetrable to vehicles as the lanes between stalls can only be walked. And the other market occupying a garbage tip on the beach is also large with different goods (used clothing, charcoal and produce). The average income is less than US$2/day. The paper money is filthy.
75% of people don’t have running water in their homes. Electricity is erratic, blackouts daily and generators are a must. Mosquitos are common at night due to all the standing water.
2. People. Virtually everyone is black with few brown people. Shortly after independence in 1804, the president killed all the whites (over 3,000 people). You don’t see anyone who is fat. Most people look healthy but thin. No one smokes.
Begging: non-existent in Cap Haitian, very common in Port-au-Prince.
3. Garbage is devastating in Cap Haitian. I have never seen anything like it. One downtown half street was piled high. Old plastic bottles are black and flattened. The beach and water was covered in plastic. A market exists on a garbage tip on the beach. There is no attempt to clean it up.
In PaP, it is much cleaner and comparable to India. I even saw a large garbage truck with 6 men removing a large pile near the main square. Some of it is smoking as they try to burn it.
4. Safety. Cap Haitian is very safe, PaP is completely unsafe south of a few blocks from the main town square. One can’t drive anywhere there or along the coast to Jacmel (via Carreforre) without a 100% risk of carjacking or kidnapping. There are 160 gangs that control vast areas of south Haiti dealing in drugs, prostitution and kidnapping.
5. Costs. It is cheap on the streets and using moto-taxis and tuk-tuks, but hotels and taxis are relatively expensive. Hotels have to provide their own electricity, water and armed guards to be able to provide security.

I took the Caribe Tours bus from Santo Domingo on March 28 (8 am, 1,750 DR + US$37 departure tax, 7 hours with all the immigration) to Cap Haitian, Haiti, in the north. We crossed the border at Ounaminthe-Dajabon. I stayed at Habitacion Des Lauiers (US$50/night),  a lovely hotel, a short steep walk above downtown. I think it is the best hotel in Cap Haitian as it is well run and has electricity all the time because of its two generators. Screens keep the mosquitos out. The rooms were simple but very adequate. I stayed two nights and had great sleeps and didn’t need a fan. The mosquitos though are particularly well but I opened my door quickly to not let any in.
On the bus, I sat next to a lovely Mexican guy, Jaime who has also traveled extensively. He was a life-saver as he was organized. We had both arranged the same hotel and took a taxi arranged by the hotel, $10 each (very expensive) up to the hotel, even though it was only a 1.9 km walk uphill. 

After a good breakfast, we walked down through town. Cap Haitian (compared to Port au Prince – PaP) is very safe with no kidnapping or crime.
Our Lady of the Assumption Cathedral. This is a nice 3-nave church with wonderful wood ceilings in the nave, cross, and altar. We were shown around by two guys who were exuberant about their church. All the Ways of the Cross had been stolen. We gave them $5 for the great tour. They said there is a tunnel all the way from The Palace to under the altar was used by Henri Cristophe to get to the church. 
We then continued our walk through downtown to the Old Market (Pont Neuf Market), situated on the beach on top of a garbage dump. It is huge with sections devoted to clothes (all used Western clothes), charcoal, and food. The people hate having their photos taken so I only took a few of the wares. 
The garbage in OCap is devastating. An entire half street is full of it. It is everywhere especially on the beach. I have never seen anything remotely close in my previous 149 countries. Open sewers and a lot of standing water contribute to the mosquito problem.

Citadel, Sans Souci, Ramiers World Heritage Site.
Palace of Sans-Souci was the principal royal residence of Henry I, King of Haiti, better known as Henri Christophe. It is located in the town of Milot, approximately five km northeast of the Citadelle Laferrière, and thirteen km southwest of the Three Bays Protected Area.
The palace’s name, French for “carefree”, is shared with both Sanssouci, Frederick the Great’s palace in Potsdam, Germany, and with Haitian Revolution military leader Jean-Baptiste Sans Souci, who was executed by Henri Christophe in 1803. The palace was built between 1810-1813 by an undetermined number of workers.
The residence accommodated the king, his family, Queen Marie-Louise, and their children, along with their royal staff of advisors. It was the most important of nine palaces commissioned by the king, as well as fifteen châteaux, numerous forts, and sprawling summer homes on his twenty plantations. The nearest airport and large city is Cap-Haïtien.
Before the construction of Sans-Souci, Milot was a French plantation that Christophe managed for a period during the Haitian Revolution. Many of Henri Christophe’s contemporaries noted his ruthlessness, and it is unknown how many laborers died during the palace’s construction. Under his reign, the palace was the site of opulent feasts and dances. It had immense gardens, artificial springs, and a system of waterworks.
Though Sans-Souci is now an empty ruin, at the time its splendor was noted by many foreign visitors. One American physician remarked that it had “the reputation of having been one of the most magnificent edifices of the West Indies.”
Close to the Palace is the renowned mountaintop fortress; the Citadelle Laferrière, built under a decree by Henri Christophe to repel a feared French invasion that never occurred. It is reached by continuing on the trail behind the Palace.
Crippled by a stroke, then King Henri I committed suicide on the grounds of the palace on October 8, 1820. According to Haitian legend, he shot himself with a silver bullet. He was subsequently buried in the Citadelle. The gun is in the National Museum in PaP.
His son and heir, Jacques-Victor Henry, Prince Royal of Haiti was bayoneted to death by revolutionaries at the Palace on October 18, 1820.
A severe earthquake in 1842 destroyed a considerable part of the palace and devastated the nearby city of Cap-Haïtien; the palace was never rebuilt.
The palace shares its name with another Haitian revolutionary leader, Colonel Jean-Baptiste Sans Souci. He was an African slave who may have taken his name from the quartier near the parish of Grande Rivière where he first led troops in guerrilla fighting against the French in 1791. When Henri Christophe and other military leaders split from the French, they asked Sans Souci to join their ranks, but he declined and particularly viewed Christophe as a traitor. About ten years before the construction of his palace, the future Haitian king sent Colonel Sans Souci a conciliatory message inviting him to one of his headquarters at the main Grand Pré plantation, adjacent to the Milot plantation where he would later build the palace. When Sans Souci arrived, Christophe’s guards bayoneted him and his small band of guards to death. Sans Souci Palace was built only a few yards away, or perhaps even exactly over, the place where Sans Souci the man was killed by Christophe.
Some scholars have also asked whether Christophe took part of his inspiration for the palace from the Prussian king Frederick the Great’s palace in Potsdam, Sanssouci, a symbol of European Enlightenment achievement. Other scholars argue, the palace’s architecture is inspired by the Boffrand’s designs for the Château de la Malgrange for Leopold, Duke of Lorraine, near Nancy.
In any event, the palace’ splendor was remarked upon by various visitors, generally acknowledged by many to be the Caribbean equivalent to the Palace of Versailles in France. Proud of its magnificence, the Palace of Sans-Souci was an important step in Henri Christophe’s plan to demonstrate to foreigners, particularly Europeans and Americans, the power and capability of the black race. The African pride in the construction of the king’s palace was captured by the comment of his advisor and architect, Pompée Valentin Vastey (Baron Valentin de Vastey), who said that the palace and its nearby church, “erected by descendants of Africans, show that we have not lost the architectural taste and genius of our ancestors who covered Ethiopia, Egypt, Carthage, and old Spain with their superb monuments.
UNESCO designated it—and the Citadelle—World Heritage Sites in 1982. Described as “one of the most remarkable attractions in the Western Hemisphere”, the Palace of Sans-Souci is “seldom visited by foreigners” due to “decades of political instability and lawlessness” in Haiti.
We had arranged a driver, the entrance, moto and horse at the hotel for $140 for both of us but decided it would be more fun, and much cheaper to do it alone. At the market we found a tuk-tuks to the Citadel and were offered anything from $100 to $20. Frandy Stolen (WatsApp +509 34152699) was a gem of a guy who drove us the 20 km to Milot, waited for us, and drove us back for $20.
The palace is in the town of Milot. We paid $10 each to enter (but in retrospect, I think there is no fee and the charge is for a guide). Jaime is a soft touch. Then the hard bargaining began. Starting at $100, we bargained him down to $40 for the moto, guide, and one horse. 
The palace is a complete ruin. The stone/brick edifice is 3 stories but the floors and roof are all gone. The grounds have several other ruined buildings including a hospital and a pool.
Citadelle Laferrière (Citadelle Henri Christophe, or simply the Citadelle), is a large early 19th-century fortress situated on the Bonnet à l’Evêque mountaintop in Nord, Haiti. The imposing structure is located approximately 27 km south of the city of Cap-Haïtien, 15 km southwest of the Three Bays Protected Area, and 8 km uphill from the town of Milot. Commissioned by Haitian revolutionary Henri Christophe, and built by tens of thousands of former slaves, the Citadelle was the linchpin of the newly independent Haiti’s defensive strategy against potential French incursion.
Including several smaller forts across the country, the stronghold remains the only African-derived military fortification in the New World as well as the first example of African-derived colonial architecture; which it shares with Sans-Souci Palace, also commissioned by Christophe. Designated by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site in 1982—along with the aforementioned Sans-Souci, the fortress is universally regarded as an icon of the Caribbean nation.

Commissioned in 1805 by Henri Christophe and completed in 1820, the fortress was built as part of a system of fortifications designed to thwart potential foreign incursions; notably the French. During the stronghold’s conceptual phase, Christophe was a general in the Haitian army and chief administrator of the country’s northern regions. The ensuing power struggle he had with his rival and fellow revolutionary Alexandre Pétion, would result in his self-declaration as king of Northern Haiti in 1811.
The Citadelle, constructed by over 20,000 ex-slaves, was built several kilometres inland atop the 900-metre (3,000 ft) Bonnet à l’Eveque mountain, as a means of providing the optimal military vantage point. The location enabled Haitian forces to strategically keep watch over a vast distance, from the nearby valleys to the coastline. Cap-Haïtien and the adjoining Atlantic Ocean are visible from the roof of the fortress. It is the largest fortress in Haiti and one of the largest in the New World; it continues to serve as a symbol of Haitian independence.
The Haitians outfitted the fortress with 365 cannons of varying size, assembled from the abandoned munitions left behind by the European forces that formerly occupied the island. The enormous stockpiles of 8,000 cannonballs still sit in pyramidal stacks at the base of the fortress walls. Since its construction, the fortress has withstood numerous earthquakes, though a French attack never came and it was eventually abandoned.
In the event of an invasion, Christophe planned to have his military burn the valuable crops and food stocks along the coast, then retreat to the fortress, setting ambushes along the sole mountain path leading to the Citadelle.
Christophe suffered a stroke in 1820, and some of his troops mutinied. Shortly afterwards, he committed suicide—according to legend, by shooting himself with a silver bullet. Loyal followers covered his body in quicklime and entombed it in one of the Citadelle’s interior courtyards to prevent others from mutilating the corpse.
The colossal physical dimensions of the fortress have made it a Haitian national symbol, featured on currency, stamps, and tourist ministry posters. The fortress walls rise 40 metres (130 ft) from the mountaintop and the entire complex, including cannonball stocks but excluding the surrounding grounds, covers an area of 10,000 square metres (110,000 sq ft). Workers laid the large foundation stones of the fortress directly into the stone of the mountaintop, using a mortar mixture that included quicklime, molasses, and the blood of local cows and goats—and cows hooves that they cooked to a glue and added to the mix to give the mortar added strength and bonding power.
Cannonball stockpiles, viewed from the roof

Citadelle Laferrière aerial view from a US Army UH-60 Black Hawk during Operation Unified Response, after the 2010 Haiti Earthquake
Large cisterns and storehouses in the fortress’s interior were designed to store enough food and water for 5,000 defenders for up to one year. The fortress included palace quarters for the king and his family, in the event that they needed to take refuge within its walls. Other facilities included dungeons, bathing quarters, and bakery ovens. Also visible is the tomb of Christophe’s brother-in-law, killed when the gunpowder room he was in exploded.
The Citadelle’s appearance from the trail leading up to its base has been likened to the prow of a great stone ship, jutting out from the mountainside. The structure is angular and assumes different geometric forms based on the viewer’s orientation. Some of the angles on the Citadelle were intentionally put there by Christophe to deviate cannonballs if attacked and the Epaulette is a great example of using angles to deviate and deflect shots. Though most of the fortress has no roof as such (the interior top is a latticework of stone walkways), some slanted portions are adorned with bright red tiles. The fortress has been repaired and refurnished several times since its construction, including in the 1980s with help from UNESCO and the World Monuments Fund, though little of it has been replaced and its design remains the same.
Tourism. The Citadelle is one of the most popular tourist destinations in Haiti. Directions to and history of the fortress are provided by self-appointed guides from the town of Milot. Near the entrance to Sans-Souci Palace, which is at the start of the trail to the Citadelle, visitors may be asked to pay a small fee. Visitors are also encouraged to rent a horse for the uphill trek. The first portion of the 11 kilometre (7 mi) trail is navigable by 4WD vehicle, although infrequent landslides and construction projects sometimes make this unreliable. Numerous people live along the trail and sell souvenirs or drinks, such as fresh coconut juice, to travelers. Drinks are a necessity in the tropical heat. There were also “bamboo” players (a digerido-like instrument and a flute player.
The trail is paved stone, generally smooth and in good condition. About three-quarters of the way up from the parking lot, visitors must complete the final portion on horseback or on foot. The entire 11-kilometre (7 mi) trail, starting in Milot, is almost completely uphill, but can be walked by experienced hikers who carry plenty of water. Most of the interior of the Citadelle fortress itself is accessible to visitors, who may also climb the numerous staircases to the fortress’s roof, which is free of guardrails. On a clear day, the city of Cap-Haïtien and the Atlantic Ocean can be seen to the north. Because of its elevation the top of the Citadelle is used by United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH) for a Radio repeater, with an antenna on the highest point.
Though the turbulent political situation in Haiti (principally in the central region) has deterred visitors in recent years, the regions of the north and south of the country remain largely peaceful, making travel to the Citadel less challenging or hazardous than travel within the Haitian capital, Port-au-Prince.

Aerial view of a nearby gun emplacement
From the Palace, walk a short distance to get a moto taxi. It took 17 minutes to drive to the parking area and 32 minutes for me to walk up to the Citadel itself.
It is one of the most amazing WHS I have seen. It is completely intact. Walk up stairs to the inside galley with 10 beautiful bronze cannons still on their carriages (made from 1746-56 in France) and other galleries with more cannon onto the roof and views in all directions. There are mutlitple rooms and galleries.
We had negotiated a price of $40 for the 5 km moto taxi, guide and a horse for Jaime. The guide was completely useless and I refused to pay for him so Jaime (the soft touch) paid $30 and I paid $15 only for the 5 km moto ride, a fair price as he would normally only have got $10 as part of the original deal. My total cost $35 but $25 possible if entrance not paid).

On return, we were let off at the Old Market, Jaime returned to the hotel, and I walked the entire length of it – produce, charcoal (tons of sellers), and then second-hand clothes. Haitians hate their photo being taken and most refused or put a pan in front of their face. It is a crowded place with hundreds of stalls or places with wares spread on the ground. 
I then walked through the town back to the hotel. The entire downtown area (comprised of ten by three blocks has become an itinerant, pedestrianized market, most centered around the old Marche, a steel-girder market. You can buy anything here in this huge area. The city government has been unable to control the area and it probably continues to grow. It is easily the largest street market in the world.
I had a hot dog on a stick (25 cents) and could not find a bin to throw the stick into, so carried it around for an hour. I could not throw it on the ground despite the garbage everywhere. 

Things I didn’t see:
M@P – Tortuga island
Islands: Tortuga
XL: Presq’ile du Mole
Roads, Road Bridges and Tunnels: Road – 1: Port au Prince-Cap Haitien via Saint Marc
World of Nature: Three Bays Protected Area (marked as Great Inagua Lighthouse)
Rivers: Artibonite River
Festivals
Jacmel Film Festival
Krik? Krak! Festival
Cities of the Americas
DESSALINES
OUANAMINTHE
PETITE RIVIERE de L’ARTBONITE
PORT-de-PAIX
SAINT MARC
CAP HAITIEN 
Museums – Various: Currency Museum
GONALVES
Religious Temples: Gonaives: Cathedral of St. Charles Borromeo

==============================================================

HAITI – SOUTH (Port au Prince, Jérémie, Jacmel, Les Cayes) Mar 26-28, 2022

I wanted to take the bus (Sans-Souci Tours) but there was a demonstration near PaP the day before so the bus was cancelled. As a result, I flew on Sunrise Air to PaP ($127, 30 minutes on a JetStream 21-seat prop plane). I was met at the airport by

PORT au PRINCE 
Musée du Panthéon National Haïtien (National Museum) is a museum featuring the heroes of the independence of Haiti and the Haitian history and culture.
The Musée du Panthéon National Haïtien was opened in 1983. This cultural center is to perpetuate and disseminate the memory of “Fathers of the Nation”. The museum traces Taínos, Spanish, and a section dedicated to the heroes of independence, including the silver gun with which Henri Christophe committed suicide, and the bell used to announce Haitian independence. It also contains slavery chains, torture instruments, sculptures, and temporary exhibitions of paintings. The museum also contains the anchor of the Caravel of Christopher Columbus, the Santa Maria measuring 4 meters high.
Maison Dufort. In the NM House and Biographical Museum series,  it is the first construction site school for the Gingerbread restoration project for the rehabilitation of the houses by creating a workshop school for young masons and carpenters for the dissemination and training in ancient construction techniques. 
Desalines Monument. Jean-Jacques Desalines (1758–1806) initially served as an officer in the French Army, but became a commander in the revolt against France and subsequently the leader of the Haitian Revolution. He defeated the French army in 1803 and declared Haiti an independent nation in 1804. This officially ended the only slave rebellion in world history that successfully resulted in establishing an independent nation. Dessalines was chosen by a council of generals to assume the office of Governor-General. He ordered the 1804 Haiti massacre of the white Haitian minority, resulting in the deaths of between 3,000 and 5,000 people. In 1804, he proclaimed himself Emperor Jacques I of Haiti and ruled in that capacity until being assassinated in 1806. Dessalines is regarded as a founding father of Haiti.
Le Marron Inconnu (The Unknown Maroon”)is a bronze statue of a runaway slave, better known as a maroon, standing in the center of Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Completed on September 22 1967 by Haitian architect Albert Mangonès, the statue is regarded as a symbol of black liberation; commemorating in particular, the rallying cry that sparked the Haitian Revolution and the abolishment of slavery. Situated across from the National Palace,^[8] it is the nation’s most iconic representation of the struggle for freedom.
It measures 3.60 metres long by 2.40 metres high. It depicts in bronze a near-naked fugitive black man, kneeling on one knee, his torso arched, his opposite leg stretched back, and a broken chain on his left ankle. He holds a conch shell at his lips with his left hand, his head tilted upward to blow it, while the other hand holds a machete on the ground by his right ankle.
Mangonès chose a passage from 1 Maccabees 14:3-9 of the Jerusalem Bible to be set in copper letters on one of the two concrete panels that protect the “eternal flame” of freedom in the square surrounding the statue.
Atis Rezistans, In the NM Bizzarium series, on Boulevard Jn J Dessalines set back from the main road behind a muddle of motorbikes and old cars, the wrought iron gate which marks the entrance is presided over by a human skull, red and white Christmas lights poking gaudily from its gaping eye sockets. Beneath the skull, a Latin slogan reads: “E Pluribus Unum”; out of many, one.
The place is a museum, an art collection, and a gallery. No matter what you call it, this courtyard tucked away behind the boulevard seems to defy any standard definition. The open-air space is crammed full of sculptures, ranging from palm-sized figurines through to towering daemonic effigies that hunch menacingly over the heads of visitors.
If there is one uniting theme to this collection, other than the artists’ obvious penchant for the macabre, then it is the notion of salvage and recycling. The founding sculptors of the Haitian collective, André and Celeur, grew up around the area of Grand Rue in Port-au-Prince. Born out of a climate of “junkyard make-do, survivalist recycling, and artistic endeavor,” their self-taught artistic skills reflect the challenges of growing up in such an environment. Theirs is a unique and yet well-defined artistic style, one which prescribes the juxtaposition of metal and flesh, wood and bone. The work of the Grand Rue sculptors is often challenging. Disturbing, even. Children’s dolls appear stitched onto vacuum cleaners, while twisted automobile parts have been joined to human remains to create bizarre and otherworldly totems.
Now working with an expanded team of sculptors and artists, André and Celeur continue to use everyday items to tell new stories. The symbology of their work incorporates powerful themes of death and rebirth; of Vodou, Christianity and occultism; of slavery, of inevitable industrialization and its dystopian sci-fi aftermath.

From Debjeet Sen’s excellent trip report on FB Every Passport Stamp.
It is possible to have a safe and interesting visit to Haiti, if you go with the correct people and are aware of the security situation. Having a guide for Port-au-Prince was especially essential. The security situation in town is fluid and can be very bad in places. For example, the neighborhood near the ruined cathedral was blockaded by gangs, and the closer one gets to the water.
Moreover, there are several interesting sights that are difficult to find on your own, as they are tucked into rough and/or obscure neighborhoods.
An excellent guide, Claude (many thanks to Suhas for the tip) to take me around town. He calls himself a “man of the street” and it shows. We walked around downtown and took moto-taxis to travel around some of the rougher neighborhoods and tap-tap’s to/from Petionville. I did not get the feeling it was safe to walk around much of downtown Port-au-Prince—even without taking photos—although short walks to the supermarket to pick up stuff and exchange money and to get food from a restaurant seemed fine. Claude’s can be easily engaged via Philip, the owner of Park Hotel, where I stayed. WhatsApp: +509 32 64 6351. Philip is excellent to help plan the trip.
Philip also connected me to a taxi driver Gustana (WhatsApp: +509 37 50 0578) who also took me to Fort Jacques and Fort Alexandre in the mountains high above Port-au-Prince. The forts have obviously seen better days, but you come here for the dizzying views over Port-au-Prince.

JACMEL
Centre historique de Jacmel Tentative WHS: (21/09/2004). 
Bassin-Bleu Waterfall
Bassin Bleu (lake)
Jacmel and Bassin Bleu. Gustana also took me to Jacmel and Bassin Bleu. The road to Jacmel seemed safe. We left Port-au-Prince early in the morning to avoid traffic and congestion in the Carrefour area (a previous flashpoint for violence) and returned early as well to avoid afternoon traffic. The drive to Jacmel is absolutely stunning and crosses the mountainous spine of southern Haiti.
The road to Bassin Bleu had a few rough sections that would have been difficult for a sedan, but were not an issue for Gustana’s SUV—and would not have been an issue for a moto taxi either. Local guides on site can take you to the third waterfall in Bassin Bleu (which requires a short rappel) for a small tip. Jacmel was peaceful and calm and I walked around on my own without any issues.

M@P
Gonave island
Grande and Petite Cayemite
Île à Vache
Lake Azuei southeastern shore (accessible only by boat)
Islands
Gonave
Hispaniola
Ile a Vache
XL
Etang Saumatre eastern shore (pene-exclave)
Grand’Anse department (extreme southwest)
Grand-Boucan
Lakes: Etang Saumâtre
Roads, Road Bridges and Tunnels
Road – 1: Port au Prince-Cap Haitien via Saint Marc
Road – 2: Port au Prince-Les Cayes
World of Nature
Deux Mamelles NP
Grand Bois NP
Grande Colline NP
Île-à-Vache NP
La Visite NP
Morne Grand Bois Nature Reserve
Pic Macaya NP
Pine Forest NP
Waterfalls: Saut-Mathurine
Caves and Sinkholes
Bellony Cave
Grotte Marie Jeanne
Lakes: Etang Saumâtre
Rivers: Grande-Anse River
Festivals: Haiti Carnival
Beaches
Abaka Bay Beach
Gelee Beach
Grann Do Beach
Kokoye Beach
Port-Salut
Cities of the Americas
PETITE GOAVE
JEREMIE
Religious Temples: Jeremie: St. Louis King of France Cathedral
LES CAYES
Religious Temples: Les Cayes: Our Lady of the Assumption Cathedral
Botanical Gardens: Cayes Botanical Garden

I used several trip reports from FB Every Passport Stamp.
Debjeet Sen. May 2021
I flew into Port-au-Prince, traveled to Jacmel and Bassin Bleu by road, flew to Cap-Haïtien by air, and visited Palais Sans-Souci and La Citadelle by road from Cap-Haïtien.
Port-au-Prince. In general, I felt that it is possible to have a safe and interesting visit to Haiti, if you go with the correct people and are aware of the security situation. I thought that having a guide for Port-au-Prince was especially essential. The security situation in town is fluid and can be very bad in places. For example, the neighborhood near the ruined cathedral was blockaded by gangs. Moreover, there are several interesting sights that are difficult to find on your own, as they are tucked into rough and/or obscure neighborhoods.
An excellent guide, Claude (many thanks to Suhas for the tip) to take me around town. He calls himself a “man of the street” and it shows. We walked around downtown and took moto taxis to travel around some of the rougher neighborhoods and tap-tap’s to/from Petionville. I did not get the feeling it was safe to walk around much of downtown Port-au-Prince—even without taking photos—although short walks to the supermarket to pick up stuff and exchange money and to get food from a restaurant seemed fine. Claude’s can be easily engaged via Philip, the owner of Park Hotel, where I stayed. WhatsApp: +509 32 64 6351. Philip is excellent to help plan the trip.
Jacmel and Bassin Bleu. Philip also connected me to a taxi driver Gustana (WhatsApp: +509 37 50 0578) who took me to Jacmel and Bassin Bleu. The road to Jacmel seemed safe. We left Port-au-Prince early in the morning to avoid traffic and congestion in the Carrefour area (a previous flashpoint for violence) and returned early as well to avoid afternoon traffic. The drive to Jacmel is absolutely stunning and crosses the mountainous spine of southern Haiti.
The road to Bassin Bleu had a few rough sections that would have been difficult for a sedan, but were not an issue for Gustana’s SUV—and would not have been an issue for a moto taxi either. Local guides on site can take you to the third waterfall in Bassin Bleu (which requires a short rappel) for a small tip. Jacmel was peaceful and calm and I walked around on my own without any issues.
Gustana also took me to Fort Jacques and Fort Alexandre in the mountains high above Port-au-Prince. The forts have obviously seen better days, but you come here for the dizzying views over Port-au-Prince. As is usually the case, there are a few local boys who will show you around in exchange for a small tip.
From Port-au-Prince, I flew on Sunrise Airways to Cap-Haïtien. The 20-minute flight avoids the 6–12-hour drive. In Cap-Haïtien, I stayed at Habitation des Lauriers (WhatsApp: +509 38 36 0885).
Palais Sans-Souci and La Citadelle. It is perfectly straightforward to organize this day trip on public transport (tap-tap to Milot followed by moto taxi). The car dropped me at the upper parking lot, from where any reasonably fit person can hike to the Citadelle in 30–45 minutes. Lots of people will offer guiding services and a horse ride, but neither are needed in my opinion. The Citadelle is one of the coolest places I have visited—an absolute wonder. I saw Palais Sans-Souci on the way back—again avoiding any “guides.”
Cap-Haïtien is very walkable, although there are powercuts at night and it may be a good idea to get a taxi after dark. I crossed over to the Dominican Republic on Caribe Tours’ daily bus service to Santiago/Santo Domingo. The bus leaves Cap-Haïtien daily at 8am.

Stephan Muller. 25th September – 30th September 2021
Bus from Santo Domingo to Cap-Haitian for 37$ one way (Caribe Tours). No Covid test or return ticket required. Cap-Haitian is much better, relatively safe and incredible interesting. Don’t worry about kidnappings and assaults in that region. However, I was very lucky to find a nice and caring Couchsurfing host who assigned his friends to take me around and protect me. I posted their contact info in the video description (link below).
The journey was a bit inconvenient since the city is suffering under a almost permanent blackout and gas shortage. Most people use generators, but due to the gas shortage even those are problematic. I first stayed with my couchsurfing host for 2 nights (which were the best days I’ve had). Since he is the general manager of a good hotel he lives in a back building and has permanent access to their electricity and expensive hotels use power nearly 24h, so I didn’t even realize that the city has a power problem. However, as he had friends coming from Port au Prince, I had to move and the cheapest private place I could find, which was an Airbnb for 40$. There’s also a hostel for 20$/night. However, my Airbnb host rarely used the generator so I moved to a hotel with AC (50$), but also the hotel was stingy with the gas and I only had electricity from 11pm-4am. And that was the biggest problem, because I could not sleep well if I don’t even have a fan at 30C+.
See my trip summary here: https://youtu.be/6W47dorKw08 (real Haiti)
and the video of the most beautiful parts here: https://youtu.be/ApyjDPNh4vs

Orest Zub
Travel independently. Spent 4 nights in total. During this time I visited Port-at-Prince, Cap Haitien, Citadel and a bit of countryside in between. It is absolutely doable on your own. I recommend one small backpack.
Get in.
Ounaminthe-Dajabon border crossing in the north
AirCentury flies every other day or so from Santo Domingo to PaP ~400 USD return for 30 min flight. AirAmerica and JetBlue.
Immigration is easy and straightforward. Foreigners pay some kind of fee – 10 USD.
Get Around
By car. Traffic is really bad. Once you get into the car you’re stuck forever. Don’t rent a car.
From airport. Walk outside the airport 100 meter to the nearest petrol station for a motor taxi. 500 gourde (8 USD)
Taxi airport pickup is 25 USD. 20 km from city. 50 USD/day hire for a day.
By plane. Fly from PaP to Cap with Sunrise air. 100 USD, 20 min.
By bus. Cap Haitian to PaP. Sans-Sousis operator, 20 USD, 5 hours, AC
By moto. Useful everywhere. Most drivers are honest and I didn’t have to bargain hard for a ride. 100-200 gourde (1-3 USD) is normal for a couple km rides.
Accommodation
Port au Prince. Park Hostel, actually a hotel in historical building with a nice hostel section in it. 17 USD/night. Situated on the central square of PaP inside large quite garden. Owner, Philip, super helpful
Just next to the hotel there is a modern supermarket with all the goods and secure currency exchange office. Nearby there is also a lively bar area where you can eat properly, drink beer and hang out with locals. No problem with it. Once a bunch of guys didn’t even permit me to pay my bill.
Cap Haitien. Habitation des Lauriers, middle range hotel with fantastic views over the city. 50 USD for a budget room with breakfast. Don’t be afraid to walk up the slum towards hotel. Locals are fine with travelers there.
See
PaP. Central area around Park Hotel with some admin buildings. I was advised not to move closer toward the sea into a slum. And didn’t do so reaching just the edge of it.
Petionville. Little of interest. However, cross it anyway towards the surrounding mountains.
Fort Jacques. great views over the city.
L’Observatoire de Boutilliers. Food is overpriced and service was not good. Tips are not included into the bill.
The rest of town is absolute mess. Think of Conakry or Monrovia. Probably even worse.
Cap Haitien. Nice easy going town (only on the center) with a lot of preserved colonial architecture.
Citadel. The largest military structure in Western Hemisphere and really a stunning UNESCO place. Take a moto from outside Cap Airport just after arrival which is 20 km away. 1000 gourde return with waiting. Entry ticket is 10 USD. Bike up and down the mountain (6-7 km one way) another 10 USD with local guys.
People/Safety. Everybody in Dominican Republic assured me it’s impossible to move around without security and guides. However I assure you it’s absolutely the opposite.
During the entire 5 days I never felt unsafe or experienced any kind of hostility from locals. Everybody is super friendly, polite and honest. Even when people usually can take advantage of situations (e.g. drivers, night time, touristic spots) nobody used this chance or pushed hard.
The only not very comfortable situation was the following. Once we approached village Milot (below Citadel) with my moto driver local guys started to follow us on bikes shouting to stop.
My driver got a bit nervous but I calmly clap him on a shoulder and told not to stop. Once we reached ticket gates and stopped to buy a ticket locals explained that there is some kind of local tourist association in village.
Since I’ve heard a lot of stories like this around the world we carried on with a drive uphill. However it’s get quite steep and my driver started to feel uncomfortable on the road. Eventually I decided to let him wait near the gate and took another local guy to drive me up for 10 USD (6-7 km). It’s always good to leave something in the community. Meanwhile their guiding offers and horse rides where not pushy at all.
Inconveniences. The most challenging in Haiti is probably finding proper food. Selection is not great and very expensive. A bowl of rice with questionable chicken on a bus stop – 7 USD. Simple Hamburger in high end restaurant – 13 USD. Pizza – 17 USD.
I don’t understand how locals handle it since there are no tourists. I was always the only “le blanc” (white) around. Even fruits are not easy to get. The bar area near Park Hotel in PaP is a real gem.
Always use your chance to grab a normal bite. Have breakfast in hotels and don’t mind stopping if you see something okay-ish.

HAITI – GENERAL INFO
Haiti officially the Republic of Haiti is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean Sea, to the east of Cuba and Jamaica and south of The Bahamas and the Turks and Caicos Islands. It occupies the western three-eighths of the island which it shares with the Dominican Republic. To its south-west lies the small Navassa Island, which is claimed by Haiti but is disputed as a United States territory under federal administration. Haiti is 27,750 km² (10,714 sq mi) in size, the third largest country in the Caribbean by area, and has an estimated population of 11.4 million, making it the most populous country in the Caribbean. The capital is Port-au-Prince.
The island was originally inhabited by the indigenous Taíno people, who originated in South America. The first Europeans arrived on 5 December 1492 during the first voyage of Christopher Columbus, who initially believed he had found India or China. Columbus subsequently founded the first European settlement in the Americas, La Navidad, on what is now the northeastern coast of Haiti. The island was claimed by Spain and named La Española, forming part of the Spanish Empire until the early 17th century. However, competing claims and settlements by the French-led to the western portion of the island being ceded to France in 1697, which was subsequently named Saint-Domingue. French colonists established lucrative sugarcane plantations, worked by vast numbers of slaves brought from Africa, which made the colony one of the richest in the world.
In the midst of the French Revolution (1789–99), slaves and free people of color launched the Haitian Revolution (1791–1804), led by a former slave and the first black general of the French Army, Toussaint Louverture. After 12 years of conflict, Napoleon Bonaparte’s forces were defeated by Louverture’s successor, Jean-Jacques Dessalines (later Emperor Jacques I), who declared Haiti’s sovereignty on 1 January 1804—the first independent nation of Latin America and the Caribbean, the second republic in the Americas, the first country in the Americas to abolish slavery, and the only state in history established by a successful slave revolt. Apart from Alexandre Pétion, the first President of the Republic, all of Haiti’s first leaders were former slaves. After a brief period in which the country was split in two, President Jean-Pierre Boyer united the country and then attempted to bring the whole of Hispaniola under Haitian control, precipitating a long series of wars that ended in the 1870s when Haiti formally recognized the independence of the Dominican Republic.
Haiti’s first century of independence was characterized by political instability, ostracism by the international community, and the payment of crippling debt to France. Political volatility and foreign economic influence in the country prompted the U.S. to occupy the country from 1915 to 1934. Following a series of short-lived presidencies, François ‘Papa Doc’ Duvalier took power in 1956, ushering in a long period of autocratic rule continued by his son, Jean-Claude ‘Baby Doc’ Duvalier, that lasted until 1986; the period was characterized by state-sanctioned violence against the opposition and civilians, corruption, and economic stagnation. After 1986, Haiti began attempting to establish a more democratic political system.
Historically poor and politically unstable, Haiti has the lowest Human Development Index in the Americas. Since the turn of the 21st century, the country has endured a coup d’état, which prompted U.N. intervention, as well as a catastrophic earthquake that killed over 250,000 people.

Haiti (also earlier Hayti) comes from the indigenous Taíno language, in which it means “land of high mountains” and named 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.
In French, Haiti’s nickname means the “Pearl of the Antilles” (La Perle des Antilles) because of both its natural beauty and the amount of wealth it accumulated for the Kingdom of France. During the 18th century the colony was the world’s leading producer of sugar and coffee.

HISTORY 
Pre-Columbian history

The five caciquedoms 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 about 5000 BC by groups of Native Americans thought to have arrived from Central or South America. Genetic studies show that some of these groups were related to the Yanomami of the Amazon Basin. Amongst these early settlers were the Ciboney peoples, followed by the Taíno, speakers of an Arawakan language, elements of which have been preserved in Haitian Creole. The Taíno name for the entire island was Haiti, or alternatively Quisqeya.
In Taíno society the largest unit of political organization was led by a cacique, or chief, as the Europeans understood them. The island of Hispaniola was divided into 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.
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.
Colonial era
Spanish rule (1492–1625). Navigator Christopher Columbus landed in Haiti on 6 December 1492, in an area that he named Môle-Saint-Nicolas,^[48] 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. Relations with the native peoples, initially good, broke down and the settlers were later killed by the Taíno.
The sailors carried endemic Eurasian infectious diseases to which the native peoples lacked immunity, causing them to die in great numbers in epidemics. The first recorded smallpox epidemic in the Americas erupted on Hispaniola in 1507. Their numbers were further reduced by the harshness of the encomienda system, in which the Spanish forced natives to work in gold mines and plantations.
The Spanish passed the Laws of Burgos (1512–1513), which forbade the maltreatment of natives, endorsed their conversion to Catholicism, and gave legal framework to encomiendas. The natives were brought to these sites to work in specific plantations or industries.
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. 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. 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.
French rule (1625–1804). France received the western third and subsequently named it Saint-Domingue, the French equivalent of Santo Domingo, the Spanish colony on Hispaniola. The French set about creating sugar and coffee plantations, worked by vast numbers of slaves imported from Africa, and Saint-Domingue grew to become their richest colonial possession.
The French settlers were outnumbered by slaves by almost 10 to 1.^[58] According to the 1788 Census, Haiti’s population consisted of nearly 25,000 Europeans, 22,000 free coloreds and 700,000 African slaves. In contrast, by 1763 the white population of French Canada, a far larger territory, had numbered only 65,000. In the north of the island, slaves were able to retain many ties to African cultures, religion, and language; these ties were continually being renewed by newly imported Africans. Some West African slaves held on to their traditional Vodou beliefs by secretly syncretizing them 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. Saint-Domingue has been described as one of the most brutally efficient slave colonies; one-third of newly imported Africans died within a few years. Many slaves died from diseases such as smallpox and typhoid fever. They had low birth rates, and there is evidence that some women aborted fetuses rather than give birth to children within the bonds of slavery. 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.
As in its Louisiana colony, the French colonial government allowed some rights to free people of color (gens de couleur), the mixed-race descendants of European male colonists and African female slaves (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 slaves of their own. The free people of color petitioned the colonial government to expand their rights.
The brutality of slave life led many slaves 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.
Haitian Revolution (1791–1804). 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 slaves 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.
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.
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. 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). Many surviving free people of color left the island as refugees.
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^[75] 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. Ultimately more than 50,000 French troops died in an attempt to retake the colony, including 18 generals. 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.
The slaves, along with free 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 nation ever to successfully gain independence through a slave revolt. 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. 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. It has been estimated that between 24,000 and 100,000 Europeans, and between 100,000 and 350,000 Haitian ex-slaves, died in the revolution. In the process, Dessalines became arguably the most successful military commander in the struggle against Napoleonic France.
Independent Haiti
First Empire (1804–1806). The independence of Saint-Domingue was proclaimed under the native name ‘Haiti’ by Jean-Jacques Dessalines on 1 January 1804 in Gonaïves and he was proclaimed “Emperor for Life” as Emperor Jacques I by his troops.^[85] Dessalines at first offered protection to the white planters and others. However, once in power, he ordered the massacre of nearly all the remaining white men, women, children; 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. Only three categories of white people were selected out as exceptions and spared: Polish soldiers, the majority 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. 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.
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.
The revolution led to a wave of emigration. 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. In addition, the newly arrived slaves added to the city’s African population.
The plantation system was reestablished 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.
State of Haiti, Kingdom of Haiti and the Republic (1806–1820)
Citadelle Laferrière, built 1805–22, is the largest fortress in the Americas, and is considered locally to be the 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. Christophe established a semi-feudal corvée system, with a rigid education and economic code. 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. 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.
Unification of Hispaniola (1821–1844). 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. 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.
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.
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. Many found the conditions too harsh and returned to the United States.
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 nation 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.
The enforced payments to France hampered Haiti’s economic growth for years, exacerbated by the fact that many Western nations 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.
Loss of the Spanish portion of the island. 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 put up stiff opposition and 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.
Guerrier died in April 1845, and was succeeded by General Jean-Louis Pierrot. 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.
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.^[113] 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.^[113] 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.
Second Empire (1849–1859). On 27 February 1847, President Riché died after only a year in power and was replaced by an obscure officer, General Faustin Soulouque.^[20] 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.^[113] 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.
Emboldened by the sudden retreat of the Haitian army, the Dominicans counter-attacked. Their flotilla went as far as Dame-Marie, which they plundered and set on fire.^[115] Soulouque, now self-proclaimed as Emperor Faustin I, decided to start a new campaign against them. In 1855, he again invaded the territory of the Dominican Republic. But owing to insufficient preparation, the army was soon in want of victuals and ammunition. In spite of the bravery of the soldiers, the Emperor had once more to give up the idea of a unified island under Haitian control. After this campaign, 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.^[115] 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. Refused aid by the French Legation, Faustin was taken into exile aboard a British warship on 22 January 1859, and General Geffrard succeeded him as president.
Late 19th century–early 20th century. 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, as was his successor, Sylvain Salnave, in 1869. 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, bringing an end to Haitian dreams of bringing the entirety of Hispaniola under their control. Some modernisation of the economy and infrastructure also occurred in this period, especially under the Presidencies of Lysius Salomon (1879–88) and Florvil Hyppolite (1889–96).
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. 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.
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, as was his successor François C. Antoine Simon in 1911; President Cincinnatus Leconte (1911–12) was killed in a (possibly deliberate) explosion at the National Palace; Michel Oreste (1913–14) was ousted in a coup, as was his successor Oreste Zamor in 1914.
United States occupation (1915–1934). Germany increased its influence in Haiti in this period, with a small community of German settlers wielding disproportionate influence in Haiti’s economy. 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 so enable the debt to be repaid.
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. 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, 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.
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. Port-au-Prince became the first Caribbean city to have a phone service with automatic dialling. Agricultural education was organized, with a central school of agriculture and 69 farms in the country. 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. Sisal was also introduced to Haiti, and sugarcane and cotton became significant exports, boosting prosperity. 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 (1930–41). The debts were still outstanding, though less due to increased prosperity, and the U.S. financial advisor-general receiver handled the budget until 1941.
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.” 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. 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. Haitian historians have claimed the true number was much higher, but this is not supported by most historians outside Haiti. Recognition of the distinctive traditionalism of the Haitian people had an influence on American writers, including Eugene O’Neill, James Weldon Johnson, Langston Hughes, Zora Neale Hurston and Orson Welles.
Post-occupation era (1934–1957). After US forces left in 1934, Dominican dictator Rafael Trujillo used anti-Haitian sentiment as a nationalist tool. 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.^[141][142] 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. Congressman Hamilton Fish, ranking member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, called the Parsley Massacre “the most outrageous atrocity that has ever been perpetrated on the American continent.”President Vincent became increasingly dictatorial, and resigned under US pressure in 1941, being replaced by Élie Lescot (1941–46). 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). Out of these six Axis countries, only Romania reciprocated, declaring war on Haiti on the same day (24 December 1941). On 27 September 1945, Haiti became a founding member of the United Nations (the successor to the League of Nations, of which Haiti was also a founding member).
In 1946 Lescot was overthrown by the military, with Dumarsais Estimé later becoming the new president (1946–50).^[20] He 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).
Firmly anti-Communist, he was supported by the United States; with greater political stability tourists started to visit Haiti. The waterfront area of Port-au-Prince was redeveloped to allow cruise ship passengers to walk from the docks to cultural attractions. Celebrities such as Truman Capote and Noël Coward visited Haiti; the era is captured in Graham Greene’s 1966 novel The Comedians.
Duvalier dynasty (1957–1986). 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 Dr. François Duvalier was elected President of Haiti. Known as ‘Papa Doc’ and initially popular, Duvalier remained President until his death in 1971. He advanced black interests in the public sector, where over time, people of color had predominated as the educated urban elite. 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. 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.
In 1971 Duvalier died, and he was succeeded by his son Jean-Claude Duvalier, nicknamed ‘Baby Doc’, who ruled until 1986. 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. 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. The opposition became more vocal, bolstered by a visit to the country by Pope John Paul II in 1983, who publicly lambasted the president. Demonstrations occurred in Gonaïves in 1985 which then spread across the country; under pressure from the United States, Duvalier left the country for France in February 1986.
In total, roughly 40,000 to 60,000 Haitians are estimated to have been killed during the reign of the Duvaliers. Through the use of his intimidation tactics and executions, many intellectual Haitians had fled, leaving the country with a massive brain-drain that it has yet to recover from.
Post-Duvalier era (1986–2004). 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. Fraudulent elections followed in 1988, in which only 4% of the citizenry voted. The newly elected president, Leslie Manigat, was then overthrown some months later in the June 1988 Haitian coup d’état. Another coup followed in September 1988, after the St. Jean Bosco massacre in which 13–50 people (estimates vary) attending a mass led by prominent government critic and Catholic priest Jean-Bertrand Aristide were killed. General Prosper Avril subsequently led a military regime until March 1990.
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.^[20][169] 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. As part of the deal Aristide had to implement free market reforms in an attempt to improve the Haitian economy, with mixed results, some sources stating that these reforms had a negative impact on native Haitian industry.^[172][20] 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.
Elections were held in 1995 which were won by René Préval, gaining 88% of the popular vote, albeit on a low turnout. 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. 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. 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.
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. Mrs. Aristide stated that the kidnappers wore U.S. Special Forces uniforms, but changed into civilian clothes upon boarding the aircraft that was used to remove Aristide from Haiti. These charges were denied by the US government. As political violence and crime continued to grow, a United Nations Stabilisation Mission (MINUSTAH) was brought in to maintain order. However MINUSTAH proved controversial, as their at times heavy-handed approach to maintaining law and order and several instances of abuses, including the alleged sexual abuse of civilians, provoked resentment and distrust amongst ordinary Haitian. Boniface Alexandre assumed interim authority until 2006, when René Préval was re-elected President following elections.
Post-Aristide era (2004–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. 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. 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.
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.^[191] The earthquake was reported to have left between 220,000 and 300,000 people dead and up to 1.6 million homeless.^[192][193] 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. 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, they have refused to acknowledge fault, thus avoiding financial responsibility.
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. 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. In 2013, Haiti called for European nations to pay reparations for slavery and establish an official commission for the settlement of past wrongdoings. 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. An interim president, Jocelerme Privert, then took office. After numerous postponements, partly owing to the effects of devastating Hurricane Matthew, elections were eventually held in November 2016. The victor, Jovenel Moïse of the Haitian Tèt Kale Party, was subsequently sworn in as president in 2017. The 2018–2021 Haitian protests are demonstrations in cities throughout Haiti that began on 7 July 2018, in response to increased fuel prices. Over time these protests evolved into demands for the resignation of president Moïse.
On 7 July 2021, President Moïse was assassinated in an attack on his private residence, and First Lady Martine Moïse was hospitalized following the overnight attack. The United Nations special envoy for Haiti, Helen La Lime, said on 8 July 2021 that interim Prime Minister Claude Joseph, as Acting President, will lead Haiti until an election is held later in the year, urging all parties to set aside differences. Claude Joseph’s presidency is disputed with Senate Leader Joseph Lambert. The United Nations recognized Claude Joseph as the legitimate Acting President. Haitian officials have asked the United States to send troops to help stabilize the country and protect vital infrastructure.
On 19 July 2021, Claude Joseph stepped down as Acting President, transferring the power to rival Ariel Henry.
In August 2021, Haiti suffered a huge earthquake, with many casualties. The earthquake has also damaged Haiti’s economic conditions and led to a rise in violent crimes in the country.

GEOGRAPHY

Haiti forms the western three-eighths of Hispaniola, the second largest island in the Greater Antilles. At 27,750 sq km Haiti is the third largest country in the Caribbean behind Cuba and the Dominican Republic, the latter sharing a 360-kilometer (224 mi) border with Haiti. The country has a roughly horseshoe shape and because of this it has a disproportionately long coastline, second in length (1,771 km or 1,100 mi) behind Cuba in the Greater Antilles.
Haiti is the most mountainous nation in the Caribbean, its terrain consists of mountains interspersed with small coastal plains and river valleys. The climate is tropical, with some variation depending on altitude. The highest point is Pic la Selle, at 2,680 meters (8,793 ft).
The northern 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.^[20] 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 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.^[20] This region supports the country’s (also Hispaniola’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.^[20] 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.
The southern region consists of the Plaine du Cul-de-Sac (the southeast) and the mountainous southern peninsula (also known as 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 (Île de la Tortue) 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 (Cow Island) is located off the southwest coast; also part of Haiti are the Cayemites, located in the Gulf of Gonâve north of Pestel. La Navasse (Navassa Island), located 40 nautical miles (46 mi; 74 km) west of Jérémie on the south west peninsula of Haiti,^[222] is subject to an ongoing territorial dispute with the United States, who currently administer the island via the United States Fish and Wildlife Service.
Climate

Haiti’s climate is tropical with some variation depending on altitude.^[19] Port-au-Prince ranges in January from an average minimum of 23 °C (73.4 °F) to an average maximum of 31 °C (87.8 °F); in July, from 25–35 °C (77–95 °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 1,370 mm (53.9 in). 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.
Geology. There are blind thrust faults associated with the Enriquillo-Plantain Garden fault system over which Haiti lies. After the earthquake of 2010, there was no evidence of surface rupture and geologists’ findings were based on seismological, geological and ground deformation data.
The northern boundary of the fault is where the Caribbean tectonic plate shifts eastwards by about 20 mm (0.79 inches) 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.
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.^[226] A study team presented a hazard assessment of the Enriquillo-Plantain Garden fault system to the 18th Caribbean Geologic Conference in March 2008, noting the large strain. The team recommended “high priority” historical geologic rupture studies, as the fault was fully locked and had recorded few earthquakes in the preceding 40 years. An article published in Haiti’s Le Matin newspaper in September 2008 cited comments by geologist Patrick Charles to the effect that there was a high risk of major seismic activity in Port-au-Prince, and duly the magnitude 7.0 2010 Haiti earthquake happened in this fault zone on 12 January 2010.
Haiti also has rare elements such as gold, which can be found at The Mont Organisé gold mine.
Environment

Haiti’s border with the Dominican Republic in 2002, showing the extent of deforestation on the Haitian side (left)
The soil erosion released from the upper catchments and deforestation has caused periodic and severe flooding in Haiti, 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.
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, according to a more recent environmental analysis. 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. Haiti had a 2019 Forest Landscape Integrity Index mean score of 4.01/10, ranking it 137th globally out of 172 countries.
Scientists at Columbia University’s Center for International Earth Science Information Network (CIESIN) and the United Nations Environment Programme are working on the Haiti Regenerative Initiative an initiative aiming to reduce poverty and natural disaster vulnerability in Haiti through ecosystem restoration and sustainable resource management.
Biodiversity. Haiti is home to four ecoregions: Hispaniolan moist forests, Hispaniolan dry forests, Hispaniolan pine forests, and Greater Antilles mangroves.^[234]
Despite its small size, Haiti’s mountainous terrain and resultant multiple climatic zones has resulted in a wide variety of plant life. 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. Various whale and dolphin species can also be found off Haiti’s coast.
There are over 260 species of bird, 31 of these being endemic to Hispaniola. Notable endemic species include the Hispaniolan trogon, Hispaniolan parakeet, grey-crowned tanager and the Hispaniolan Amazon.^[236] There are also several raptor species, as well as pelicans, ibis, hummingbirds, and ducks.
Reptiles are common, with species such as the rhinoceros iguana, Haitian boa, American crocodile, and gecko.
Law enforcement and crime. The legal system is based on a modified version of the Napoleonic Code.
Haiti has consistently ranked among the most corrupt countries in the world on the Corruption Perceptions Index. According to a 2006 report by the Corruption Perceptions Index, there is a strong correlation between corruption and poverty in Haiti. The nation ranked first of all countries surveyed for levels of perceived domestic corruption. It is estimated that President “Baby Doc” Duvalier, his wife Michelle, and their agents stole US $504 million from the country’s treasury between 1971 and 1986. Similarly, after the Haitian Army folded in 1995, the Haitian National Police (HNP) gained sole power of authority over the Haitian citizens. Many Haitians as well as observers of Haitian society believe that this monopolized power could have given way to a corrupt police force.
Similarly, some media outlets alleged that millions were stolen by former president Jean-Bertrand Aristide. In March 2004, at the time of Aristide’s kidnapping, a BBC article wrote that the Bush administration’s State Department stated that Aristide had been involved in drug trafficking. 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.
Conversely, according to the 2013 United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) report, murder rates in Haiti (10.2 per 100,000) are far below the regional average (26 per 100,000); less than 1/4 that of Jamaica (39.3 per 100,000) and nearly 1/2 that of the Dominican Republic (22.1 per 100,000), making it among the safer countries in the region. In large part, this is due to the country’s ability to fulfill 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 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.
In 2010, the New York City Police Department (NYPD) sent a team of veteran officers to Haiti to assist in the rebuilding of its police force with special training in investigative techniques, strategies to improve the anti-kidnapping personnel, and community outreach to build stronger relationships with the public, especially among the youth. It has also helped the HNP set up a police unit in the center of Delmas, a neighborhood of Port-au-Prince.
Haitian penitentiary system. Port-au-Prince penitentiary is home to half of Haiti’s prisoners. The prison has a capacity of 1,200 detainees but as of November 2017, the penitentiary was obliged to keep 4,359 detainees, a 454% occupancy level.^[268] This leads to severe consequences for the inmates.
One cell could hold up to 60 inmates which was originally designed for only 18, therefore creating tight and uncomfortable living conditions. The inmates are forced to create makeshift hammocks from the wall and ceilings. The men are on a 22/23-hour lock up in the cells so the risk of diseases is very high.^[268] The inability to receive sufficient funds from the government as Haiti endures severe natural disasters which take up their attention and resources, such as the 2010 earthquake, has caused deadly cases of malnutrition, combined with the tight living conditions, increases the risk of infectious diseases such as tuberculosis which has led to 21 deaths in January 2017 alone at the Port-au-Prince penitentiary.
Haitian law states that once arrested, one must go before a judge within 48 hours; however, this is very rare. In an interview with Unreported World, the prison governor stated that around 529 detainees were never sentenced, there are 3,830 detainees who are in prolonged detained trial detention. Therefore, 80% are not convicted.^[269]
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. Brian Concannon, the director of the non-profit Institute for Justice and Democracy in Haiti, claims that without a substantial bribe to persuade judges, prosecutors, and lawyers to undergo their case, there is no prospect of getting a trial for years.^[270]
Families may send food to the penitentiary; however, most inmates depend on the meals served twice a day. However, the majority of the meals consist of ration supplies of rice, oats or cornmeal, which has led to deadly cases of malnutrition-related ailments such as beriberi and anemia. Prisoners too weak are crammed in the penitentiary infirmary.^[271]
In confined living spaces for 22–23 hours a day, inmates are not provided with latrines and are forced to defecate into plastic bags and leave them outside their cells. These conditions were considered inhumane by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights in 2008.

ECONOMY 

INFRASTRUCTURE
Transportation. 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.
According to the Washington Post, “Officials from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said Saturday [23 January 2010] that they assessed the damage from the [12 January] quake in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, and found that many of the roads aren’t any worse than they were before because they’ve always been in poor condition.”

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 coming into Haiti. Reasons for this may include its location away from volatile and congested Port-au-Prince, as well as its central location relative to numerous Haitian cities.
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.
Airports. Toussaint Louverture International Airport, located ten kilometers (six miles) north-northeast of Port-au-Prince proper in the commune of Tabarre, is the primary transportation hub regarding entry and exit into the country. It has Haiti’s main jetway, and along with Cap-Haïtien International Airport located near the northern city of Cap-Haïtien, 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. Such companies include: Caribintair (defunct), Sunrise Airways and Tortug’ Air (defunct).
In 2013, plans for the development of an international airport on Île-à-Vache were introduced by the Prime Minister.
Bus service

A “Tap tap” bus in Port-Salut
Tap tap buses are colorfully painted buses or pick-up trucks that serve as share taxis. The “tap tap” name comes from the sound of passengers tapping on the metal bus body to indicate they want off.^[322] 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.
In August 2013, the first coach bus prototype was made in Haiti.
Communications. 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) – 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.
Water supply and sanitation
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.

DEMOGRAPHICS