History of Haiti

In the early 17th century, the French established a presence on the island of Hispaniola, held until that time by Spain. In 1697, Spain ceded to the French the western third of the island. The French colony, based on forestry and sugar-related industries, became one of the wealthiest in the Caribbean, but only through the massive introduction of African slaves, and considerable environmental degradation. In the late 18th century, nearly half-million slaves revolted under Toussaint L’Ouverture, and after a prolonged struggle, Haiti declared its independence in 1804, naming Port-Au-Prince the country’s capital city.

Haiti has experienced political instability and natural disasters for most of its history. In January 2010, a massive, magnitude 7.0 earthquake struck Haiti. Estimates are that over 300,000 people were killed and some 1.5 million left homeless. Prior to the earthquake, Haiti had 380,000 orphans—after the earthquake, one million or 10% of the country’s population are orphans.

For more information on Haiti, read the following Country Snapshot.

Country Snapshot

Geography

About the size of the State of Maryland, and 700 miles from Miami, Haiti shares the western side of the Caribbean island of Hispaniola with the Dominican Republic.

Population, Language, and Religion

Education¹

¹ USAID, World Bank, UNICEF, CIA—The World Factbook

Economics

² One-third of Haiti’s college graduates have left the country after the 2010 earthquake—United Nations Conference on Trade and Development.

³ United Nations Development program which measures and integrates life expectancy, literacy, education, standards of living, and quality of life to create its index.