HAITI, HISTORY OF

history of the island from the time of the landing of Christopher Columbus, in 1492, to the present. Christopher Columbus sighted the island that now includes Haiti and the Dominican Republic on Dec. 6, 1492, and named it La Isla Espaola. By the end of the 16th century, most of the island's original Arawak Indian population had disappeared from conquest or warfare or by being worked to death or killed by disease. Spanish settlement was thin and restricted mainly to the eastern end of the island; French pirates, based in Tortuga and other islands, had an almost unimpeded run of the western end. The pirates began to establish plantations there; in 1664 they founded Port-de-Paix in the northwest, and the French West India Company took possession. Additional reading Rayford W. Logan, Haiti and the Dominican Republic (1968), is a standard history; Brian Weinstein and Aaron Segal, Haiti: Political Failures, Cultural Successes (1984), covers the developments of the 1970s; and Alex Dupuy, Haiti in the World Economy: Class, Race, and Underdevelopment Since 1700 (1989), is a perceptive political history with an economic focus. The economy Haiti is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. The limited resource base has been depleted, first through intensive colonial exploitation and later through unplanned development and corruption. Both the private sector and the state share responsibility for this state of affairs. A few multinational corporations are active in the country. Resources Gold and copper are found in the north of the country. Extraction of bauxite by Reynolds Metals Company at Miragone in the southern peninsula was discontinued in 1983. Drilling of sedimentary formations in the Gulf of Gonve has not been followed by oil discoveries. Haiti is heavily dependent on energy imports. Hydroelectricity is not sufficient to satisfy current needs. The land Relief, drainage, and soils Haiti is mountainous and rugged. The native American Indian inhabitants called the island Ayti, meaning Mountainous Land. Plains, which are quite limited in extent, are the most productive agricultural lands and the most densely populated areas. Rivers are numerous but short and most are not navigable. The seas around Haiti are noted for their striking coral reefs. The shores are generally rocky, rimmed with cliffs, and indented by a number of excellent natural harbours. The backbone of the island of Hispaniola consists of four mountain ranges that extend in a west-northwesteast-southeast direction. In Haiti the most northern range occurs only on Tortuga Island (Turtle Island), which is shaped like a turtle shell. This island has an area of 69 square miles and in the 17th century was a stronghold of privateers and pirates from various nations. Farther south the Dominican Cordillera Central becomes the Massif du Nord, a series of massive parallel ranges. On the top of one of its peaks, overlooking the city of Cap-Hatien and the narrow coastal plain, stands the Citadelle Laferrire fortress built by King Henry Christophe at the beginning of the 19th century. An interior basin, known as the San Juan Valley in the Dominican Republic and the Central Plateau in Haiti, occupies the centre of the island, south of the Massif du Nord. This plateau has an average elevation of 1,000 feet (300 metres), and access to it is difficult through winding roads. Through the basin and across a cut flows the Artibonite River, the longest river of the island. At Pligre a dam was built in the 1950s for the regulation of floods. A hydroelectric power plant began operation at Pligre in 1971. At the end of its course and before its delta mouth in the Gulf of Gonve the Artibonite is used for partial irrigation of the triangular Artibonite Plain. The third range, known as the Sierra de Neiba in the Dominican Republic and the Trou d'Eau Mountains (Chane du Trou d'Eau) in Haiti, towers over the narrow Cul-de-Sac Plain, which is immediately adjacent to Port-au-Prince and is occupied by the brackish Lake Saumtre on the Dominican border. South of the Cul-de-Sac the fourth mountain range is called Sierra de Bahoruco in the Dominican Republic and Massif de la Selle in Haiti. It reaches its highest point at the Mount la Selle (8,773 feet). The prolongation of the range, the Massif de la Hotte (Massif du Sud), tops off at Macaya Peak (7,700 feet) farther west. Small plains lie north and south of these ranges. Generally the mountains of Haiti are calcareous, although some volcanic formations can be found, particularly in the Massif du Nord. Karstic features (caves, grottoes, and subterranean rivers) are present in many parts of the country. Stairlike terraces on headlands are evidence of the correlative movements of the land and sea. A long fault line crosses the southern peninsula and passes just south of Port-au-Prince. Haiti is subject to periodic seismic activity, and Port-au-Prince and Cap-Hatien were destroyed by earthquakes in 1751 and 1842, respectively. The soils in the mountains are thin, and they lose fertility quickly when cultivated. The lesser hills have red clay and loam. Alluvial soils are found in the plains and valleys. Deforestation has caused much soil erosion. Climate Haiti has a warm, humid tropical climate characterized by daily variations of temperature that are greater than the annual variations. Average temperatures range from 75 F (24 C) in January and February to 83 F (28 C) in July and August. Temperatures vary with altitude. The village of Kenscoff at an elevation of 4,700 feet has an average temperature of 60 F (16 C), while Port-au-Prince, at sea level, has an average of 79 F (26 C). In winter frost can occur at high altitudes and mists are common. Haiti is located on the leeward side of the island, which means that the influence of humid trade winds is not as great as in the Dominican Republic. The more humid districts are the windward northern and eastern slopes of the mountains. The leeward districts are drier, and some portions of the island receive less than 28 inches (700 millimetres) of rainfall per year. The northwest peninsula and Gonve Island are particularly dry. There are two rainy seasons, lasting from April to June and from August to October. Some regions have only one rainy season, from May to November. Annual variations of rainfall can be large, causing droughts and famine. The southern peninsula is the part of the country that is most vulnerable to hurricanes. Hurricanes Allen (1980) and Gilbert (1988) were particularly destructive. The people Ethnic composition About 95 percent of Haiti's population is black; mulattoes account for most of the remainder, and whites make up a very small percentage. Because of its unique history, Haiti is different ethnically and culturally from other Latin-American countries and from the Spanish-speaking Caribbean nations. It shares with Guadeloupe, Dominica, Martinique, and Saint Lucia elements of a Creole culture, which is a mixture of Western and African influences. Linguistic composition Haitian Creole and French are the official languages. Creole is spoken by all Haitians and, with French, is used in drama, music, radio, television, politics, and religion. But written Creole is not widely accepted because the school system retains French as the main language of instruction. Creole is normally used in daily life, and Frenchmastered by perhaps 10 percent of the peopleis used in more formal circumstances. Most of the vocabulary of Haitian Creole is derived from French, but its syntax is similar to that of some African languages and resembles the syntax of other creole languages of the Caribbean and the Indian Ocean.