Haiti Fast Facts
Haiti is located in the southern part of the Caribbean and has a population of 2,141,064 (2011 Est) with 527,038 residing in the capital Port-au-Prince. Haiti is bordered by the Dominican Republic on the east, the Caribbean Sea on the north, and the Atlantic Ocean on the west. The country is divided between two oceans, the Caribbean Sea on the south, and the Gulf of Gonâve on the north. Haiti is the fourth largest country in the Western hemisphere and the tenth in the whole of the world in terms of area (2,858,926 km2). Haiti is considered to be a constitutional republic.
The first president of the Republic, Jean-Claude Duvalier, was a strong, charismatic man who wanted to create an “Empire of the Sun”. The United States (US) and France (French) had declared war on the Duvalier family and had wanted to depose him. He used the police and the army to get rid of them. When he was deposed in 1981, he was in exile in the US. It was during this time that the US started to help Haiti and was a signatory to the United Nations Declaration of Non-Interference, the Haitian Foreign Debt Relief Act and the Law of Armed Neutrality.
Haiti was a colony of France from 1804 to 1934. The colonial era ended when Haiti became independent from France in 1804, on the 2 years of Haitian Revolution, the US backed by France defeated the forces of Haitian president Jean Jacques Marquis de Pierre. The US helped the new government to rebuild the country and became a signatory to the United Nations Declaration of Non-Interference. The US also backed it during the US occupation of Haiti from 1915 till 1937.
Haiti was invaded by the US in 1915, at which time the US backed the French Revolution. The US was in a constant struggle with the French, and the US wanted to end the French domination in Haiti. On 11 June 1915, the US declared war was began on France and Haiti was invaded,