• Capital: Port-au-Prince
• Population: 8 900 000
• Area: 10 700 sq mi
• Language: French and Creole

Discovered by Columbus in 1492, he named it Hispaniola. The native Arawaks called it Hayti – ‘land of mountains’—more descriptive as four-fifths of the country’s terrain is mountainous.

 French buccaneers settled on the northern coast around the island of Tortuga and in 1697 France obtained Haiti by treaty.  Spain received the eastern two-thirds of the island, now the Dominican Republic. A plantation economy dependent on slave labor was established and Haiti soon became one of the richest spots in the world through it cultivation of sugar and spices. In the 1700’s half of the world’s sugar was grown here. Actors and musicians from Paris brought the latest in fashion, music, and theater to the colony. All of this abruptly ended with the massive slave revolts in the late 1700’s. An army of 45 000 sent by Napolean to crush the revolt was decimated by yellow fever and malaria and in 1804 the world’s first Black Republic was born.

 This exotic land has much to offer to the visitor – beaches, diving, and spectacular scenery. An absolute must is the Citadelle in the north built in 1817 by Emperor Christophe – a fortress to house 20 000 troops with a suite of 40 luxurious rooms. 

 Today Haiti is waiting for the present political instability to pass so that it can resume its place as one of the most exotic and interesting tourist destinations in the Caribbean.