HAITI

officially Republic of Haiti, Haitian Creole Repiblik Dayti, French Rpublique d'Hati island country of the West Indies, the only independent French-speaking republic in the Americas, occupying the western third of the island of Hispaniola and several nearby small islands. It is situated about 600 miles (970 km) southeast of Florida in the Atlantic Ocean and has a total land area of 10,579 square miles (27,400 square km). The capital is Port-au-Prince. The country comprises two peninsulas separated by the Gulf of Gonaves. Haiti is bordered on the north by the Atlantic Ocean, on the east by the Dominican Republic, and on the south and west by the Caribbean Sea. The population in 1990 was estimated to be 5,590,000. officially Republic of Haiti, Haitian Creole Repiblik Dayti, French Rpublique d'Hati, island country of the Caribbean, situated on the western part of the island of Hispaniola. Its area of 10,714 square miles (27,750 square kilometres) occupies slightly more than a third of the island. The country is located 565 miles (910 kilometres) from the U.S. mainland. The coastline is irregular and forms a long, slender peninsula in the south and a shorter one in the north. The two peninsulas are separated by the triangular-shaped Gulf of Gonve, in the middle of which lies Gonve Island. The Windward Passage is a 50-mile-wide corridor between the northwest peninsula and Cuba. The border with the Dominican Republic runs northsouth at a right angle with the main relief structures. The capital is Port-au-Prince. Haiti won its independence from France in 1804, becoming the second country in the Americas, after the United States, to win freedom from colonial rule. It also became the world's first black republic, most Haitians being of African descent. Additional reading Thomas E. Weil et al., Area Handbook for Haiti (1973, reissued as Haiti, a Country Study, 1986), provides a geographic summary. Guy Lasserre, Paul Moral, and Pierre Usselmann (eds.), Atlas d'Haiti (1985), is a collection of maps prepared by an international team of specialists. An important source on the geography of the colony of Saint-Domingue is Mdric-Lois-Elie Moreau de Saint-Mry, A Civilization That Perished: The Last Years of White Colonial Rule in Haiti, ed. by Ivor D. Spencer (1985; originally published in French, 2 vol., 179798). For views of Haitian society, see James G. Leyburn, The Haitian People, rev. ed. (1966, reprinted 1980); Paul Moral, Le Paysan hatien: tude sur la vie rurale en Hati (1961, reprinted 1978); Mats Lundahl, Peasants and Poverty: A Study of Haiti (1979); Andr-Marcel d'Ans, Haiti, paysage et socit (1987); Charles R. Foster and Albert Valdman, Haiti Today and Tomorrow: An Interdisciplinary Study (1984); and David Nicholls, From Dessalines to Duvalier: Race, Colour, and National Independence in Haiti (1979, reissued 1988). Economic conditions in Haiti are analyzed in Mats Lundahl, The Haitian Economy: Man, Land, and Markets (1983); Simon M. Fass, Political Economy in Haiti: The Drama of Survival (1988); and Christian A. Girault, Le Commerce du caf en Hati: habitants, spculateurs et exportateurs (1981), a discussion of the coffee trade. For culture, see Harold Courlander, The Drum and the Hoe: Life and Lore of the Haitian People (1960, reprinted 1985); and J. Michael Dash, Literature and Ideology in Haiti, 19151961 (1981). Administration and social conditions Government A constitution approved by referendum in 1987 incorporated features of the U.S. and French constitutions. It provides for a president who is directly elected by universal adult suffrage for a five-year term. The head of government is the prime minister, appointed by the president from among the members of the majority party of the parliament. The parliament consists of two houses, a Senate and a House of Representatives. Senators are elected for six years and representatives for four. Law is based on the French Napoleonic Code, modified by legislation enacted during Franois Duvalier's presidency. The judiciary consists of four levels: the Court of Cassation, courts of appeal, civil courts, and magistrate's courts. Judges of the Court of Cassation are appointed by the president for 10-year terms. The 1987 constitution provides safeguards against military rule. Military officers are disqualified from becoming candidates for political office, and the military and the police are no longer a combined force. In 1986 the National Security Volunteerspopularly known as the Tontons Macouteswere officially disbanded. Nevertheless, the country remains highly vulnerable to military takeovers, which have played a large role in its history. Education Education is officially compulsory for children between the ages of seven and 13, but, because of a lack of facilities and staff, only about 40 percent of children in this age group attend school. More than 60 percent of the adult population is illiterate; the rate of illiteracy is higher in the countryside. The curriculum is based on the French model. This system has created a small elite, who have made distinguished cultural contributions, while most of the society remains relatively uneducated. In Port-au-Prince there is a small university, the State University of Haiti. Many students attend universities in Europe and North America. Cultural life In contrast with economic difficulties and political instability, Haiti's cultural life displays variety and originality and shows authentic achievements in many areas. Artists have drawn from the vitality of the people and the rich folklife to create internationally recognized works of art. Port-au-Prince is the centre of cultural and intellectual life, and the nation's most important museums, libraries, and entertainment facilities are located there. Visual arts Haitian paintings have received attention since the 1940s, when a school of naive or primitive artists developed in Port-au-Prince and Cap-Hatien. The works of the earlier and more famous artists are exhibited in major galleries in the United States and France. Primitive influence is also evident in such handicrafts as wood carvings and tapestries, which are manufactured in Haiti but sold throughout the Caribbean.