Haiti

Haiti is a country in the Caribbean Sea.

It shares a big island with another country. It has lots of mountains. The capital city is called Port-au-Prince.

Haiti is a country on the island of Hispaniola, in the Caribbean Sea. It takes up the western third of the island, and the Dominican Republic covers the rest. Haiti's name comes from Ayti, an old Indigenous word meaning mountainous land, and about two-thirds of the country is high ground.

Port-au-Prince, the capital, sits by the sea. About 11.9 million people lived in Haiti in 2024. Almost all Haitians are descended from Africans who were brought to the island and enslaved, and who later freed themselves.

Haiti includes the western third of Hispaniola and islands such as Gonâve, Tortue (Tortuga), Grande Caye and Vache. Its name derives from the Indigenous Arawak place-name Ayti, Mountainous Land; about two-thirds of the land lies above 490 m. Britannica notes that the population is almost entirely descended from enslaved Africans and that Haiti, independent from France in 1804, was the second country in the Americas, after the United States, to free itself from colonial rule.

The Haitian Institute of Statistics and Informatics (IHSI) put the population at 11,867,032 in 2024, a figure taken from long-term projections, since the last census was held in 2003. Over the centuries, economic, political and social difficulties and natural disasters have left Haiti with chronic poverty. Britannica (2026) lists a Transitional Presidential Council as head of state and Alix Didier Fils-Aimé as prime minister.

Port-au-Prince is the capital city.

Cap-Haïtien is a city by a bay in the north. Nearby, a king built a big palace. A huge stone fort stands on a mountain top.

Port-au-Prince, the capital, was founded in 1749 and is the center of Haiti's culture, with the National Library and art centers. In the north, Cap-Haïtien was once the capital of the French colony.

In the hills south of Cap-Haïtien, Henry Christophe, who ruled northern Haiti after independence, built a grand palace called Sans Souci and a huge fortress, the Citadelle Laferrière, on a mountain peak. Together with the buildings at Ramiers, they are a World Heritage Site and, UNESCO says, symbols of liberty, the first monuments built by enslaved people who had won their freedom.

Port-au-Prince, founded in 1749 and colonial capital from 1770, is the center of cultural and intellectual life, with the National Library (1940), the Centre d'Art (1944) and universities; its metropolitan area includes Pétionville, Carrefour and Delmas, and Victorian wooden gingerbread houses survive in older districts. Cap-Haïtien, formerly Cap-Français, was the colony's original capital.

The National History Park – Citadel, Sans Souci, Ramiers was inscribed by UNESCO in 1982. Henry Christophe, who declared himself King Henry I in 1811, built the Sans Souci palace and the Citadelle Laferrière atop a peak of the Massif du Nord overlooking Cap-Haïtien. UNESCO calls these early 19th-century monuments universal symbols of liberty, the first built by Black people who had freed themselves from slavery. In the gulf, Gonâve Island covers about 750 km², and Tortue Island, off the north coast, was a 17th-century base of privateers and pirates.

Haiti has many mountains.

It is warm all year. Some months bring lots of rain. Big storms called hurricanes sometimes come in summer and fall.

Four long mountain ranges cross the island of Hispaniola from west to east, and Haiti has parts of all of them. Its highest peak, Mount Selle, is 2,674 meters tall. Between the mountains are plains, the best land for farming, and the Artibonite, the longest river on the island, flows to the sea.

Haiti is warm all year, from about 25 °C in January to about 30 °C in July and August, but it is cool high in the mountains. Hurricanes and earthquakes sometimes strike. Over many years most of the forests were cut down, and the soil washed away from the bare hills.

Haiti's coast forms a long southern peninsula and a shorter northern one around the Gulf of Gonâve. Four ranges run west to east: the Massif du Nord (about 1,200 m on average), the Matheux and Trou d'Eau mountains, and the Massif de la Selle, which reaches 2,674 m at Mount Selle, the highest point, continuing west as the Massif de la Hotte (Macaya Peak, 2,345 m). The Artibonite, about 280 km long and the island's longest river, crosses the Central Plateau to the Gulf of Gonâve. A fault line runs along the southern peninsula just south of Port-au-Prince, and earthquakes have struck repeatedly, including in 2010 and 2021.

Temperatures average about 25 °C in January–February and 30 °C in July–August; Kenscoff, at 1,430 m, averages about 16 °C. Haiti lies on the leeward side of the island, where humid trade winds have less influence than in the Dominican Republic; some areas get less than 700 mm of rain a year, and all parts can be hit by hurricanes. Clearing since the 17th century has reduced the forests to a tiny share of the land, and as much as one-third of the land may have eroded beyond recovery. Patches of old forest survive in the Massif de la Selle and on Macaya Peak, with giant tree ferns and orchids.

Pink flamingos wade in the water on one island.

Manatees swim along the coast. Sea turtles swim near coral reefs. Many birds live in Haiti too.

Because so much forest has been cut, many wild animals in Haiti have lost their homes. Some flamingos still live on Gonâve Island, and American crocodiles, gentle West Indian manatees and green sea turtles live in Haiti's lakes, rivers and seas.

The seas around Haiti are known for their coral reefs. In the mountains, the last patches of old forest, with giant tree ferns and orchids, give shelter to plants and animals. Few national parks have been set up, so protecting nature is a big challenge.

Britannica explains that as natural vegetation retreated, wildlife lost habitat and shelter: some species have disappeared, flamingos survive on Gonâve Island, where they are often hunted, and little has been done to conserve Haiti's flora and fauna, with few parks; coral formations have suffered especially. The seas around Haiti are renowned for coral reefs, and mangrove swamps have shrunk as their trees were cut for firewood and charcoal.

The IUCN Red List maps the American flamingo, American crocodile, West Indian manatee and green sea turtle as living in Haiti or its waters today. Old-growth forest survives in the Massif de la Selle, with tall pines, and on the slopes of Macaya Peak in the Massif de la Hotte, an evergreen forest of giant tree ferns and orchids.

About 11.9 million people live in Haiti.

Most people speak Haitian Creole. Haitian painters are famous around the world. Rice and beans are everyday foods.

About 11.9 million people lived in Haiti in 2024. Haitian Creole and French are the official languages; Creole is what people speak every day, and French is used at school and on formal occasions. Most people are Christian, and many also practice Vodou, a religion with roots in West Africa.

Haitian art is famous around the world. In 1944 self-taught painters opened an art center in Port-au-Prince, and their works have been shown by major galleries in the United States and Europe. Everyday foods include beans, rice, sweet potatoes, plantains, corn and cassava, and street stalls sell fritay, fried pork, fish or plantain.

Haitian culture grew out of centuries of slavery and colonialism and the victory of newly self-freed people; Britannica describes a distinctive culture with innovative art, music, dance and literature, shaped by African, French and wider Caribbean influences. Haitian Creole and French are official; Creole is used in daily life, while French, the second language of perhaps one-tenth of people, dominates formal settings and schools. More than half of people are Roman Catholic and about one-fourth Protestant; most Catholics also practice Vodou, which was officially recognized in 2003.

The Centre d'Art (1944) launched self-taught artists such as Hector Hyppolite and Georges Liautaud, whose works have been shown in major galleries. Writers include Jean Price-Mars, Jacques Roumain and, in English, Edwidge Danticat. Staples are beans, rice, sweet potatoes, plantains, corn, cassava and taro, seasoned with thyme, anise and cloves. About two-fifths of people live in rural areas, mostly as small farmers.