IN BRIEF

In 1804, Haiti became the first black republic to declare its independence

> Christopher Columbus claimed the island of Hispaniola for Spain in 1492. The native Arawak inhabitants who called their homeland Haiti
(“Land of Mountains“) suffered disease and oppression under their Spanish conquerors.

> by the 1600s Spanish interest in the western part of the Hispaniola had waned and it became a base for French and English buccaneers. The island’s eastern half (now the Dominican Republic) was run by sugar planters.

> French Settlers came to Haiti in the 1700s, developing forestry and sugar-related industries, until it became one of the wealthiest colonies in the Caribbean, based on slave labor shipped in from Africa.

> In the late 18th century, Haiti’s nearly half million slaves revolted under Toussaint L'Ouverture and after a prolonged struggle, became the first black republic to declare its independence in 1804.

> Haiti, A Potentially rich nation, had been ill-served by its rulers until 1990 when Jean-Bertrand Aristide was the first freely elected President. His term was clouded by military resistance, but he was able to return to office in 1994 and oversee the installation of a close associate to the presidency in 1996.

> Jean-Bertrand Aristide won a second term as President in 2000, and took office early in 2001. Haiti’s checkered history has made the establishment of peaceful democratic rule a difficult
task, but the benefits for all could be huge.

Source: CIA World Factbook