Haiti

The native Taino Amerindians - who inhabited the island of Hispaniola when it was discovered by COLUMBUS in 1492 - were virtually annihilated by Spanish settlers within 25 years. In the early 17th century, the French established a presence on Hispaniola. In 1697, Spain ceded to the French the western third of the island, which later became Haiti. The French colony, based on forestry and sugar-related industries, became one of the wealthiest in the Caribbean but only through the heavy importation of African slaves and considerable environmental degradation. In the late 18th century, Haiti's nearly half million slaves revolted under Toussaint L'OUVERTURE. After a prolonged struggle, Haiti became the first black republic to declare independence in 1804. The poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, Haiti has been plagued by political violence for most of its history. After an armed rebellion led to the forced resignation and exile of President Jean-Bertrand ARISTIDE in February 2004, an interim government took office to organize new elections under the auspices of the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH). Continued violence and technical delays prompted repeated postponements, but Haiti finally did inaugurate a democratically elected president and parliament in May of 2006. A massive magnitude 7.0 earthquake struck Haiti in January 2010 with an epicenter about 15 km southwest of the capital, Port-au-Prince. An estimated 2 million people live within the zone of heavy to moderate structural damage. The earthquake is assessed as the worst in this region over the last 200 years and massive international assistance will be required to help the country recover.

Economical characteristics

 * Currency: Gourde (ISO code: HTG)
 * Central bank discount rate:
 * Commercial banks lending rate: 17.81% (31 December 2008)
 * Stock of money (M1): $NA (31 December 2008)
 * Quasi money (with M1 makes M2): $NA (31 December 2008)

Links

 * Haiti on Wikipedia
 * Central bank of Haiti
 * Studies from the Library of Congress (1986-1998)
 * BBC country profile
 * My Week in Haiti by Robert P. Murphy, May 2010
 * When Capital Is Nowhere in View by Jeffrey A. Tucker, May 2011
 * Timberland Helps Haiti Plant 2 Million Trees, and Counting, Herald Online, January 2013