Caribbean Weekly: 10 Barely Known Haitian Facts
At Buzzebly, our aim is to live up to our mantra “Share the Caribbean”. So, we feature several key aspects of each country’s culture in an exciting way. That’s really fantastic, but how about giving a little extra? Let’s really explore the key information about each nation that makes our corner of the world unique. For the next few weeks, Buzzebly will handpick a country from the region and showcase specific details that will give you even more reasons to love the Caribbean.
Beneath the international media portrayal of chaos of this gem of the Caribbean, Haitishines brightly. This nation sings a song of brilliant, trendsetting history and hope for years to come, fueled by the faith of the people and their love for this beautiful land. Come with us as we explore Haiti, where unity makes strength.
Haiti is the third largest territory in the Caribbean after Cuba and the Dominica Republic, a country which it shares a border with on the island of Hispaniola. Located on the western part of the island, Haiti has a total area of 10,714 square miles.
Haiti is also the most mountainous nation in the Caribbean and features the region’s third highest peak, Pic la Selle, which tops out at a height of 2,680 metres (8,793 feet) above sea level. Actually the word “Haiti” originates from the Tainos, who were first recorded settlers on the land, and means land of high mountains.
Haiti is known around the world as the first independent black nation. Its existence as a sovereign state was established on the 1st of January, 1804. This is a direct result of the Haitian Revolution, which began in 1791 and ended with the proclamation of the independence of Saint-Domingue (the then name of the French colony on Hispaniola) by Jean-Jacques Dessalines, a leader of the Haitian Revolution and the first ruler of an independent Haiti.
In the 17th and the 18th century, Haiti was responsible for 60% of the world’s supply of coffee. The economic history of Haiti is relatively simple. The original economic basis for the Spanish colonies on Hispaniola were sugar plantations. The French continued the sugar economy and introduced coffee. There were other plantation crops grown such as cotton and cacao for chocolate, but sugar and coffee were the most important. By the time of the French Revolution, Haiti accounted for 40% of France’s foreign trade at a time when France was the dominant economy of Europe.
Haiti has an estimated 20 billion worth of minerals located in the north of the country. Recently, the Haitian government had contacted the World Bank to assist in drafting a new mining law that would put potential investor’s minds at ease for future exploration.
Located on a remote beach on the island of Ile-a-Vache, off of the Southern Coast of Haiti, Abaka Bay Beach was once ranked as the 57th rated beach on CNN’s World’s 100 best beaches report and serves as the crown jewel in Haiti’s ever growing tourism sector.
Haitian culture was defined by 1940s art movement. American painter DeWitt Peters, who arrived in the country in the early 1940s, established the Centre d’Art in Port-au Prince. For more than half a century, the center symbolized
the heart of Haiti’s world-famous art. It was here that artists in the 1940s were nurtured and eventually commercialized as perhaps the most successful ever Haitian export.Haitian oils and watercolors grace public and private collections the world over.
Haiti issued visas to 70 Jewish families during the Holocaust, saving around 300 lives. This was although the Haitian government has traditionally frowned on white immigration, asylum was granted to refugees. Until 1938 immigration laws were benign, the only prerequisite being the possession of $100; as of that year the sum was raised to $1,000 and a government permit was required in addition.
Women in Haiti were allowed to vote in 1957. One of the first established feminist organizations in Haiti was called the Ligue Féminine d’Action Sociale (Feminine League for Social Action) and was created in 1934. The league’s goals were supported by the political left and included: more schools for girls, equality for women in family law, equal pay for equal work, voting rights for women, free labor unions and a labor ministry with a women’s bureau. The league was re-established when it agreed to study its goals instead of immediately implementing them. The league is credited for the granting of voting rights for women in 1957.
The Haiti Invasion of Dominican Republic was the military invasion and ensuing 22 years occupation of the newly founded Dominican Republic on the eastern side of Hispaniola by Haiti, from February 9, 1822 until February 27, 1844. In 1844, the Dominicans took advantage of the fall of President Boyer of Haiti, and regained their independence. The rebellion was carried out by the Trinitaria movement, founded by Juan Pablo Duarte in 1838. The Haitians repeatedly tried to invade the new nation; their last attempt only ended in 1855. A boundary agreement was finally signed between the two nations in 1936, establishing the definitive border between the Dominican Republic and Haiti.
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