Haiti: Map & History

History

The island of Hispaniola, of which Haiti occupies the western three-eighths, has been inhabited since about 6,000 years ago by Indigenous peoples who are thought to have arrived from Central or northern South America. These Archaic Age people are thought to have been largely hunter-gatherers. During the 1st millennium BC, the Arawakan-speaking ancestors of the Taino people began to migrate into the Caribbean. Unlike the Archaic peoples, they practiced the intensive production of pottery and agriculture. The earliest evidence of the ancestors of the Taino people on Hispaniola is the Ostionoid culture, which dates to around 600 AD.

In Taíno society the largest unit of political organization was led by a cacique, or chief, as the Europeans understood them.

Government and politics

The government is a semi-presidential republic, a multiparty system wherein the president of Haiti is head of state and elected directly by popular elections held every five years. A president cannot serve two consecutive terms or more than two terms in total, but can be reelected for a second term after an interval. The prime minister of Haiti acts as head of government and is appointed by the president, chosen from the majority party in the National Assembly. Executive power is exercised by the president and prime minister who together constitute the government. The president is the nominal commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of Haiti and the National Police.

Legislative power is vested in the two chambers of the National Assembly of Haiti, the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies.

Economy

The economy of Haiti declined dramatically after the 2010 earthquake and subsequent outbreak of cholera, with the country's nominal GDP falling by 8% (from US$12.15 billion to US$11.18 billion). Since then it has grown to US$33.55 billion in nominal GDP as of 2025, and during the same time period it grew from $26.88 billion to $38.2 billion in PPP-adjusted GDP. Despite its tourism industry, Haiti is one of the poorest countries in the Americas, with corruption, political instability, poor infrastructure, lack of health care and lack of education cited as the main causes. Haiti ranked 145th of 182 countries in the 2010 United Nations Human Development Index, with 57.3% of the population being deprived in at least three of the HDI's poverty measures.

Culture

Haiti has a lasting and unique cultural identity, blending traditional French and African customs, mixed with sizable acquirements from the Spanish and Indigenous cultures.

The Haitian Carnival has been one of the most popular carnivals in the Caribbean. In 2010, the government decided to stage the event in a different city outside Port-au-Prince every year. The National Carnival follows the popular Jacmel Carnival, which takes place a week earlier in February or March.