Today, Wednesday, July 7, 2021, the world woke up to the news of the assassination of Haitian President Jovenel Moise in his home by an armed group including foreigners, according to what the transitional Prime Minister Claude Joseph announced.

What do you know about the country of Haiti, which witnessed the first slave revolution in the world, and is classified as the poorest country in the Americas and suffers from security turmoil, a growing humanitarian crisis and food shortages?

Republic of Haiti

Hispaniola Island (Haiti) is a name derived from an Indian word meaning high land. It is one of the Caribbean countries in Latin America that Christopher Columbus arrived in 1492, and established there a Spanish colony, which France occupied in 1626, and Spain recognized this occupation in 1679.

The French developed the new colony, and called it "San Domingo", and made it the richest colony in the Caribbean, and brought in large numbers of Africans, to work on the coffee and spice plantations.

By 1788, the number of Africans was over half a million, eight times the size of the French colonists themselves.

In 1791, during the outbreak of the French Revolution, Africans revolted against the French, destroying farms and cities, and Toussaint Louverture - one of the African leaders - seized power.

After Napoleon I took power in France in 1799, he sent an army to Haiti, to restore French rule again. The army arrested Toussaint, imprisoned him, and then sent to France.

However, many members of the French army fell ill with yellow fever, so the revolutionaries managed to defeat the army in 1803, and in early January 1804, the country's independence was declared, and a state called "Haiti", the only country that became independent after a revolution led by slaves, was declared.

Ongoing conflicts

Since independence, Haiti has been mired in constant wars and political conflicts, as it was ruled by 32 rulers, from 1844 to 1915.

Haiti, which came under the protection of the United States between 1905 and 1934, is one of the poorest countries in the Western Hemisphere.

After nearly 3 decades of dictatorial and military rule, Jean-Bertrand Aristide, a former priest, was elected President of the Republic in 1990, but the military soon seized power again.

In 1994, Aristide was able to return to power again, after a violent crisis swept the country, and the direct intervention of the United States of America.

Haiti, which became independent 192 years ago, witnessed the first peaceful transfer of power on February 7, 1996, as Aristide succeeded Rene Preville, who returned to power for the third time in 2001, and continued until 2004, following the outbreak of an armed rebellion that resulted in his resignation and exile outside the country in February 2004.

After an era of armed conflict in Haiti, the United Nations established in early June 2004 a multinational mission to establish security and stability in the country that does not have a national army until today.

Also in 2004, a transitional government was formed that took power and worked to organize new elections under the supervision of the "United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti".

The continued violence caused the postponement of the elections until 2006, as President René Preval was elected in May 2006, to return to rule the country for a second time and continued until 2011, after which Michel Martelly took over, who stepped down in February 2017, to be followed by Jovenel Moise, who was He works in the field of banana export before turning to politics and was assassinated today, Wednesday, July 7, 2021.

Hurricane Matthew

In 2010, a devastating earthquake struck Haiti, measuring 7 on the Richter scale, flattening many parts of the capital.

About 6 years later, Hurricane Matthew swept through Haiti on the 4th of October 2016, killing about a thousand people and leaving more than 1.4 million others in need of humanitarian aid, including 175,000 displaced.

Days after the hurricane, on October 15, 2016, hungry and sick Haitians had to pounce on United Nations trucks during a short visit by then-UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.

The torrential rains that accompanied the cyclone caused a new wave of cholera cases, and several scientific studies concluded that the emergence of cholera in Haiti is due to a base in Mirpalais used by Nepalese peacekeepers, about an hour away from the capital, and that the cholera strain matches a chronic strain in Nepal.

geography

Haiti is located in the western part of the island of Haiti (or Hispaniola) which it shares with the Dominican Republic (east), and is the second island in the area of ​​the Greater Antilles after Cuba.

Area: 27.750 km2.

Climate: tropical dry.

Capital: Port-au-Prince.

Population: According to statistics in 2021, it is estimated at 11,402,528 people, most of whom (about 95%) are Africans, who were brought to Haiti under slavery during the 17th and 18th centuries.

Most of the Haitians live in the countryside, most of their dwellings are huts, the income level is low, and the health level is deteriorating due to the spread of diseases.

Administrative division

Haiti is divided into 10 provinces, the capital is Port-au-Prince, which is the largest city in the country (1.1 million inhabitants), located in the Gulf of Genova, and the most important cities are Port Papex ​​and Cape Habitan. The highlands make up more than 3 quarters of the territory of Haiti.

Languages: French and Haitian Creole.

Currency: gord.

Religion: 80% are Catholic Christians, about 16% are Protestant, and the rest practice the Voodoo religion, in addition to a Muslim minority.

regime

A republic, the Haitian president is elected by the people for a period of 5 years, and the parliament, called the National Assembly, makes laws.

The National Assembly consists of two chambers: the Senate and includes 27 members elected by the people for a period of 6 years, and the other chamber is the House of Representatives and has 83 members elected by the people for a period of 4 years.

The president appoints the head of government chosen by the majority party in Parliament, and the head of government appoints the members of his cabinet after conducting the necessary consultations with the president.

Economy

80% of the population lives below the poverty line, 54% of them are in extreme poverty, and about two-thirds of the population depends on agriculture. The most important agricultural crops are coffee, sugar cane, rice, corn, cocoa, sweet potatoes, bananas, and cotton.

Haiti has natural resources such as marble, limestone, bauxite and copper.

The movement of clothing exports and investments recently increased after the Haitian economy was linked to the American economy, with the signing of an agreement to create economic opportunities in the Western Hemisphere and encourage economic participation, in December 2006.

This agreement allowed free Haitian products to reach US markets with low tariffs, and an agreement signed in October 2008 increased exports of the apparel sector.

The apparel sector accounts for two-thirds of Haiti's exports and nearly one-tenth of the country's gross domestic product. Remittances are the main source of foreign currency, equal to a quarter of the gross domestic product, and more than twice the value of the country's exports.