Country Name
Haiti, or officially the Republic of Haiti, was formerly founded as Hayti.
Location
Haiti is one of the Caribbean countries that occupy the western three-eighths of Hispaniola Island.
The country lies between the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. Haiti shares a land border with the Dominican Republic, which occupies the rest of Hispaniola in the east. To the west and the south, it is surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and to the north by the Atlantic Ocean.
Haiti also shares maritime borders with the Caribbean countries of Cuba, Jamaica, and The Bahamas.
Capital
Port-au-Prince.
Reason for Naming the country
The name Haiti (or Hayti) derives from the ancient Tano language, which was the traditional name given to the entire island of Hispaniola and translates as "country of high mountains."
With a respect to the Amerindian forebears, Haitian revolutionary Jean-Jacques Dessalines reinstated the name as the official name of independent Saint-Domingue.
In French, Haiti is known as the "Pearl of the Antilles" (La Perle des Antilles) because of its natural beauty as well as the wealth it gathered for the Kingdom of France during the 18th century; the colony was the world's biggest producer of sugar and coffee during that time period.
In French, the h is silent, while the h in Hati bears a diacritical mark to indicate that the second vowel is heard independently, as in the word nave.
In English, this norm for pronunciation is frequently ignored, hence the spelling Haiti is used. There are several anglicizations for its pronunciation, including HIGH-ti, HIGH-EE-ti, and haa-EE-ti, all of which are still in use, but HAY-ti is the most common and well-established.
Flag
The current Haitian flag was adopted on February 26, 1986. Haiti declared independence from France on January 1, 1804. The Haitian flag is an adaptation of the French national flag.
The flag of Haiti consists of two equal-sized horizontal stripes, the top one is blue and the bottom one is red, In the center of the Haitian flag is the country's coat of arms, placed on a white square.
The coat of arms consists of a Palmette surrounded by the liberty cap
and under the palms a trophy with the inscription:
'L'Union Fait la Force means 'in union there is strength.
The blue represents the union of black Haitians, and the red represents mulatto* Haitians.
*a person of mixed white and black ancestry, especially a person with one white and one black parent.
*Flag Facts:
- The civil flag and ensign of Haiti do not feature the national coat of arms.
- The flag of Haiti is similar to the flag of Liechtenstein, Both flags are composed of bicolored flags that featured two equal-sized horizontal bands of red and blue colors at the bottom and top respectively.
- Haiti's Flag has a coat of arms at the center while the flag of Liechtenstein is charged with a gold crown in the canton.
Language
The two official languages of Haiti are French and Haitian Creole.
French is used in official documents, in the education system, and in the media. French is the standard written language in Haiti. Despite French being the administrative language in Haiti, only 5 percent of Haitians are fluent in the language. The few people who speak French in Haiti are the elite and well-to-do Haitians, mainly found in the urban centers.
Haitian Creole is one of the French-based creole languages. Its vocabulary is 90% derived from French, but its grammar resembles that of some West African languages.
There are minority languages that are spoken in Haiti such as; Spanish and English.
Religion
Haiti has no official religion, and the constitution allows for religious freedom. More than half of the population practices Roman Catholicism, the dominant sect of Christianity, and approximately one-fourth is Protestant or independent Christian.
Most Haitian Roman Catholics are also practitioners of Vodou (Voodoo, or Vodun), a religion whose gods (lwa) are derived from West African religions. However, most of the country’s Protestants consider Christianity to be incompatible with Vodou.
In addition to the older Protestant denominations established in the early 19th century (Methodists, Episcopalians, and Presbyterians), Baptists, Seventh-day Adventists, and Mormons came to Haiti during and after the period (1915–34) when the United States occupied the country.
Currency
Haitian gourde (G) (HTG).
Time Zone
-04:00 GMT. (Summertime)
-05:00 GMT.
Government Regime
Unitary semi-presidential republic.
Climate
The climate of Haiti is tropical, hot throughout the year, with a less hot period from November to March when the trade winds from the northeast prevail, and a muggy period from May to October, when the heat becomes unpleasant, though along the coasts it is tempered by the breeze.
Temperatures are a bit higher in inland plains and on the south-facing coasts, while they are slightly lower along the north-facing coasts. As regards the rainfall, there is usually a dry season from December to February and a rainy season from April to October, with two rainy peaks at the beginning and the end of the period, and a decrease in July. From December to March, the north-west cool wind, coming from the United States, can sometimes lower the temperature by a few degrees, bringing the night temperatures a few degrees below 20 °C (68 °F).
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