Haiti
Discover Haiti
Introduction
Haiti occupies the western third of Hispaniola, the island it shares with the Dominican Republic. The Taíno name Ayiti means land of high mountains, and that is the honest description: four ranges cross the country, the Massif de la Hotte and the Massif de la Selle among them, leaving a coastline of deep bays and very little flat ground.
Port-au-Prince, on the bay between the two southern peninsulas, is the capital and by far the largest city. In the north, Cap-Haïtien sits below the Citadelle Laferrière — an enormous mountaintop fortress built after independence to repel a French return that never came, and the largest fortification in the Americas. It and the nearby palace ruins at Sans-Souci are a UNESCO World Heritage site. Jacmel, on the south coast, is known for its ironwork, papier-mâché and its carnival.
Haiti has an artistic output — painting, sculpture, drumming, Vodou ritual and literature — far out of proportion to its size, and it was the first country in the world to be founded by formerly enslaved people who freed themselves. It is also, at present, extremely difficult to visit: gang control of large parts of the capital, the airport and the main roads has led most governments to advise against all travel. Check current advice before making any plan.
