Factbook
Histoire de Haïti — Chronologie
Dates clés de l'histoire de Haïti, d'après le Factbook Magna et l'Encyclopédie universelle.
1492The native Taino -- who inhabited the island of Hispaniola when Christopher COLUMBUS first landed in 1492 -- were virtually wiped out by Spanish settlers within 25 years.
1697In 1697, Spain ceded to the French the western third of the island, which later became Haiti.
1804After a prolonged struggle, and under the leadership of Jean-Jacques DESSALINES, Haiti became the first country in the world led by former slaves after declaring its independence in 1804, but it was forced to pay an indemnity of 100 million francs (equivalent to $22 billion USD in March 2023) to France for more than a century and was shunned by other countries for nearly 40 years.
1804Independence: 1 January 1804 (from France).
1862In 1862, the US officially recognized Haiti, but foreign economic influence and internal political instability induced the US to occupy Haiti from 1915 to 1934.
1957Francois "Papa Doc" DUVALIER and then his son Jean-Claude "Baby Doc" DUVALIER led repressive and corrupt regimes that ruled Haiti in 1957-1971 and 1971-1986, respectively.
1991Jean-Bertrand ARISTIDE was Haiti's first democratically elected president in 1991 and was elected a second time in 2000, but coups interrupted his first term after only a few months and ended his second term in 2004.
2010In 2010, a major 7.0 magnitude earthquake struck Haiti with an epicenter about 25 km (15 mi) west of the capital, Port-au-Prince.
2018Languages: French (official), Creole (official) Religions: Catholic 55%, Protestant 29%, Vodou 2.1%, other 4.6%, none 10% (2018 est.) Urban population: 59.7% of total population (2023).
2021A 7.2 magnitude earthquake hit Haiti’s southern peninsula in 2021, causing well over 2,000 deaths; an estimated 500,000 required emergency humanitarian aid.
2021President Jovenel MOÏSE was assassinated in 2021, leading the country further into an extra-constitutional governance structure and contributing to the country’s growing fragility.
2023Generation mix — fossil fuels: 81.3% of total installed capacity (2023 est.); solar: 0.4% of total installed capacity (2023 est.); hydroelectricity: 18.3% of total installed capacity (2023 est.) Energy use: 3.486 million Btu/person (2023 est.).
2023Industries: textiles, sugar refining, flour milling, cement, light assembly using imported parts Agriculture: sugarcane, cassava, plantains, bananas, mangoes/guavas, avocados, maize, tropical fruits, rice, vegetables (2023) Electricity access: 49.3% (2022 est.).
2023Major urban areas: 2.987 million PORT-AU-PRINCE (capital) (2023) small Caribbean island economy and OECS-member state; extreme poverty and inflation; enormous income inequality; ongoing civil unrest due to recent presidential assassination; US preferential market access; very open to foreign direct investment Inflation: 26.9% (2024 est.).
2023Since January 2023, Haiti has had no sitting elected officials.
2024On 25 April 2024, HENRY formally submitted his resignation as a nine-member Transitional Presidential Council assumed control, tasked with returning stability to the country and preparing elections.
2024On 29 February 2024, a significant escalation of gang violence occurred on the 20th anniversary of ARISTIDE's second overthrow, after the announcement that HENRY would not hold elections until August 2025.
2025Population: 11.9 million (2025 estimate).
