GEO Haiti 2010

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GEO HAITI • 2010 64 Figure 19: Total population growth Total population in million inhabitants 10 500,0 10 000,0 9 500,0 9 000,0 8 500,0 8 000,0 7 500,0 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 Years Source: http://websie.eclac.cl/anuario_estadistico/anuario_2008/esp/index.asp There was little change in the total population between 2000 and 2006 (Figure 19), however a significant increase could be possible between 2014 and 2050 (Figure 91). The urban population has steadily continued to grow since 1950. More than half of the total population will be concentrated in cities between 2005 and 2030 (Figure 20). Figure 20: Percentage of the urban population of Haiti 60.0 Percentage of the total population 50.0 40.0 30.0 20.0 10.0 0.0 1950 1955 1960 1965 1970 1975 1980 1985 Years Source: http://websie.eclac.cl/anuario_estadistico/anuario_2008/esp/index.asp 3. Historical Highlights of the Haitian Nation The name “Ayiti” comes from the language of the Amerindian-Caribbean Tainos, and means “the land of high mountains” or “the mountain in the sea”. Peaceful people, the Tainos dedicated themselves to agriculture, fishing and hunting at the time of the arrival of Christopher Columbus in the New World in 1492. The Spaniards called the island Hispaniola. Attracted by the abundant gold in the riverbeds, the Europeans subjugated the natives, forcing them to work and extract this mineral. The 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010 2015 2020 2025 2030 newcomers also were introduced to products unknown to them, such as sweet potatoes, cocoa, maize and tobacco (MERCIER, 1949). Gradually, the Europeans colonized the island, intensifying agriculture, particularly of sugarcane. The number of autochthones, estimated at one million at the arrival of the Spaniards in 1492, had fallen to 60,000 fifteen years later, in 1508, and then to 15,000 in 1514. The regime of extenuating hard labour and of abuse, and also the diseases brought back from Europe by the Europeans were the main causes of the situation, not to mention the acts of collective suicide, often the only way for the natives to escape their misery.
State of the Environment Report 2010 Later on, French and English pirates who attacked and looted the cargo ships en route to Spain, subsequently settled in the island of La Tortue (to the north), but the depletion of gold deposits on the island and the discovery of larger deposits in Mexico, and also the continuing conflicts with France, led Spain to cede the western third part of the island to France in 1697 by way of the Treaty of Rijswijk. This was the beginning of the colony of Santo Domingo. As a result of the shortage of labor on the plantations, the French settlers brought back Africans from the West African coast. Captured, chained in slave ships (ships engaged in the slave trade) they were transported by force to America and used as slaves on coffee, cotton, cocoa, sisal, indigo and sugarcane plantations. The slave trade continued until the end of the 17 th century. Once harvested, the largest share of the production was then transported by ship and sold in France, after which the ships continued on to the coast of Africa to embark more slaves bound for Santo Domingo. This system was known as the “triangular trade”. Many slaves did not survive long under these conditions, forcing the settlers to continually replace them. The slave market was, unfortunately, extremely prosperous. Saint-Domingue was the most prosperous of all American colonies, even worldwide. One third of the French foreign-trade revenue came from Saint- Domingue (WARGNY, 2004) and many French, even among the nobility, depended directly or indirectly on the colony. The luxurious wealth of Paris and the elegant French palaces, all which made France one of the finest countries, and Paris the capital of the world, were largely paid for by the industries of Saint-Domingue (MERCIER, 1949). For its part, the town of Cap-Français (now Cap- Haïtien) was the center of French culture and knowledge in the Americas. A generalized slave rebellion began in 1791. The French commissioners then, given the fact that the colony was in turmoil, were left with no other choice in order to stabilize the situation, but to proclaim the general freedom of the slaves. The decision was ratified in the first instance by the National Convention in 1793 and revised shortly thereafter. This revolutionary movement began under the leadership of Toussaint Louverture, then a general in the French army. Faced with more and more persistent rumors concerning the restoration of slavery, he assembled a Constituent Assembly and had the Constitution ratified in 1801. This act was considered an impertinence by Bonaparte, who sent an expedition commanded by General Leclerc who had Toussaint Louverture arrested and deported to France in 1802. Louverture finally died in prison. Then Jean-Jacques Dessalines, supported by other local generals, took command of the rebellion and led it to victory. Nearly 100,000 slaves lost their lives, but the Haitians nevertheless defeated the 30,000 most aggressive troops of Napoleon Bonaparte’s army, the best army at that time. This heroic and unique historical uprising led to the creation of the first black Republic on January 1 st , 1804 20 . The context within which Haiti won its independence brought the country enormous difficulties. The victory over Napoleon’s army, an army victorious in Europe and Africa, was an affront to the hegemony of France, a dangerous precedent in the New World, in addition to being a threat to the interests of France and to those of the other colonialist countries. It was necessary to squelch this young nation in the strongest possible way, and the strict trade embargo coupled with quarantine and isolation on the international arena was extremely harmful (D’ANS, 1987). Haiti’s agricultural production, its main source of foreign exchange, was hard-hit. 65 20 Combined sources
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GEO Haiti 2010

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