Coordinates	39°44′21″N104°59′5″N
Native name
Conventional long name	Republic of Haiti
Common name	Haiti
Image coat	Coat of arms of Haiti.svg
National motto	''Liberté, Égalité, Fraternité''
National anthem	''La Dessalinienne''''The Dessalines Song''
Official languages	French, Haitian Creole
Demonym	Haitian
Ethnic groups	95% black, 5% mulatto and white
Capital	Port-au-Prince
Largest city	capital
Government type	Semi-presidential republic
Leader title1	President
Leader name1	Michel Martelly
Leader title2	Prime Minister
Leader name2	Daniel-Gérard Rouzier
Area rank	140th
Area magnitude	1 E10
Area km2	27,750
Area sq mi	10,714
Percent water	0.7
Population estimate	9,719,932
Population estimate rank	87th
Population estimate year	2011
Population density km2	350.27
Population density sq mi	907.22
Gdp ppp	$11.477 billion
Gdp ppp year	2010
Gdp ppp per capita	$1,164
Gdp nominal	$6.632 billion
Gdp nominal year	2010
Gdp nominal per capita	$673
Sovereignty type	Formation
Established event1	French colony declared(''Treaty of Ryswick'')
Established date1	30 October 1697
Established event2	Independence declared
Established date2	1 January 1804
Established event3	Independence recognized from France
Established date3	17 April 1825
Hdi	0.404
Hdi rank	145th
Hdi year	2010
Hdi category	low
Gini	59.2
Gini year	2001
Gini category	high
Currency	Gourde
Currency code	HTG
Utc offset	-5
Drives on	right
Cctld	.ht
Calling code	509}}

Haiti (; French ''Haïti'', ; Haitian Creole: ''Ayiti'', ), officially the Republic of Haiti (; ) is a Caribbean country. It occupies the western, smaller portion of the island of Hispaniola, in the Greater Antillean archipelago, which it shares with the Dominican Republic. ''Ayiti'' (''land of high mountains'') was the indigenous Taíno or Amerindian name for the island. The country's highest point is Pic la Selle, at . The total area of Haiti is and its capital is Port-au-Prince. Haitian Creole and French are the official languages.

Haiti's regional, historical, and ethno-linguistic position is unique for several reasons. It was the first independent nation in Latin America and the first black-led republic in the world when it gained independence as part of a successful slave revolution in 1804. Despite having common cultural links with its Hispano-Caribbean neighbors, Haiti is the only predominantly Francophone independent nation in the Americas. It is one of only two independent nations in the Americas (along with Canada) that designate French as an official language; the other French-speaking areas are all overseas ''départements'', or ''collectivités'', of France.

Haiti is the poorest country in the Americas as per the Human Development Index. It has experienced political violence throughout its history. Most recently, in February 2004, an armed rebellion forced the resignation and exile of previous President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, and a provisional government took control with security provided by the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH). Michel Martelly, the current president, was elected in the Haitian general election, 2011.

A 7.0 magnitude earthquake struck Haiti and devastated Port-au-Prince on January 12, 2010. Although the exact number was difficult to determine, the highest unbiased source estimated 220,000 people were killed. Haitian government estimates were higher. The Presidential palace, Parliament and many other important structures were destroyed, along with countless homes and businesses, leaving many homeless. Due to its severity, the country has yet to recover from this and subsequent disasters.

History

Precolonial and Spanish colonial periods

The island of Hispaniola, of which Haiti occupies the western third, is one of many Caribbean islands inhabited at the time of European arrival by the Taíno Indians, speakers of an Arawakan language. The Taíno name for the entire island was either ''Ayiti'' or ''Kiskeya''. In the Taíno societies of the Caribbean Islands, the largest unit of political organization was led by a ''cacique''; hence the term 'caciquedom' (French ''caciquat'', Spanish ''cacicazgo'') for these Taíno polities, which are often called "chiefdoms". Before the arrival of Christopher Columbus, the island of Hispaniola was divided among five or six long-established caciquedoms.

The caciquedoms were tributary kingdoms, with payment consisting of harvests. Taíno cultural artifacts include cave paintings in several locations in the country, which have become national symbols of Haiti and tourist attractions. Modern-day Léogane, a town in the southwest, is at the site of Xaragua's former capital.

Christopher Columbus landed at Môle Saint-Nicolas on December 5, 1492, and claimed the island for Spain. Nineteen days later, his ship the ''Santa María'' ran aground near the present site of Cap-Haïtien; Columbus was forced to leave behind 39 men, founding the settlement of La Navidad. Following the destruction of La Navidad by the local indigenous people, Columbus moved to the eastern side of the island and established La Isabela. One of the earliest leaders to fight off Spanish conquest was Queen ''Anacaona'', a princess of ''Xaragua'' who married ''Caonabo'', the cacique of ''Maguana''. The couple resisted Spanish rule in vain; she was captured by the Spanish and executed in front of her people. To this day, Queen Anacaona is revered in Haiti as one of the country's founders.

The Spanish exploited the island for its gold, mined chiefly by local Amerindians directed by the Spanish occupiers. Those refusing to work in the mines were killed or sold into slavery. Europeans brought with them infectious diseases that were new to the Caribbean, to which the indigenous population lacked immunity. These new diseases were the chief cause of the dying off of the Taíno, but ill treatment, malnutrition, and a drastic drop in the birthrate as a result of societal disruption also contributed. The first recorded smallpox outbreak in the Americas occurred on Hispaniola in 1507.

The Laws of Burgos, 1512–1513, were the first nationally codified set of laws governing the behavior of Spanish settlers in America, particularly with regards to native Indians. They forbade the maltreatment of natives, endorsed their conversion to Catholicism, and legalized the colonial practice of creating encomiendas, where Indians were grouped together to work under colonial masters. The Spanish crown found it difficult to enforce these laws in a distant colony.

The Spanish governors began importing enslaved Africans for labor. In 1517, Charles V authorized the draft of slaves. The Taínos became virtually, but not completely, extinct on the island of Hispaniola. Some who evaded capture fled to the mountains and established independent settlements. Survivors mixed with escaped African slaves (runaways called ''maroons'') and produced a multiracial generation called ''zambos''. French settlers later called people of mixed African and Amerindian ancestry ''marabou''. The ''mestizo'' were children born to relationships between native women and European – usually Spanish – men. During French rule, children of mixed race, usually born of unions between African women and European men, were called ''mulâtres''.

As a gateway to the Caribbean, Hispaniola became a haven for pirates. The western part of the island was settled by French buccaneers. Among them was Bertrand d'Ogeron, who succeeded in growing tobacco. His success prompted many of the numerous buccaneers and freebooters to turn into settlers. This population did not submit to Spanish royal authority until the year 1660 and caused a number of conflicts. By 1640, the buccaneers of Tortuga were calling themselves the ''Brethren of the Coast''. French pirate Jean Lafitte, who operated in New Orleans and Galveston, was born in Port-au-Prince around 1782.

Jean Baptiste Point du Sable, who might have been born in St Marc, Saint-Domingue in 1745, established a fur trading post at present-day Chicago, Illinois of which he can be considered one of the founders. John James Audubon, the renowned ornithologist and painter, was born in 1785 in Les Cayes, Saint-Domingue and painted, cataloged and described the birds of North America.

In 1779, more than 500 volunteers from Saint-Domingue, under the command of Comte d'Estaing, fought alongside American colonial troops against the British in the Siege of Savannah, one of the most significant foreign contributions to the American Revolutionary War.

17th century settlement

Bertrand d'Orgeron attracted many colonists from Martinique and Guadeloupe, such as the Roy family (Jean Roy, 1625–1707); Hebert (Jean Hebert, 1624, with his family) and Barre (Guillaume Barre, 1642, with his family). They and others were driven from their lands when more land was needed for the extension of the sugar plantations. From 1670 to 1690, a drop in the tobacco markets significantly reduced the number of settlers on the island.

The first windmill for processing sugar was built in 1685.

Treaty of Ryswick and slave colony (1697)

France and Spain settled hostilities on the island by the Treaty of Ryswick of 1697, which divided Hispaniola between them. France received the western third and subsequently named it Saint-Domingue (not the current Santo-Domingo, which is in the Dominican Republic and was part of the eastern side given to the Spanish through the treaty). Many French colonists soon arrived and established plantations in Saint-Domingue due to high profit potential. By 1789, there were approximately 40,000 French immigrants on the western part of the island, while by 1763 the French population of Canada numbered only 65,000.

By about 1790, Saint-Domingue had greatly overshadowed its eastern counterpart in terms of wealth and population. It quickly became the richest French colony in the New World due to the immense profits from the sugar, coffee and indigo industries. This outcome was made possible by the labor and knowledge of thousands of enslaved Africans who brought to the island skills and technology for indigo production. The French-enacted ''Code Noir'' ("Black Code"), prepared by Jean-Baptiste Colbert and ratified by Louis XIV, established rigid rules on slave treatment and permissible freedom. Saint-Domingue has been described as one of the most brutally efficient slave colonies; one-third of newly imported Africans died within a few years.

Revolution (1791)

Inspired by the French Revolution and principles of the rights of men, free people of colour and slaves in Saint-Domingue and the French and West Indies pressed for freedom and more civil rights. Most important was the revolution of the slaves in Saint-Domingue, starting in the heavily African-majority northern plains in 1791. In 1792, the French government sent three commissioners with troops to reestablish control. They began to build an alliance with the free people of colour who wanted more civil rights. In 1793, France and Great Britain went to war, and British troops invaded Saint-Domingue. The execution of Louis XVI heightened tensions in the colony. To build an alliance with the ''gens de couleur'' and slaves, the French commissioners Sonthonax and Polverel abolished slavery in the colony. Six months later, the National Convention led by Robespierre and the Jacobins endorsed abolition and extended it to all the French colonies.

Toussaint Louverture, a former slave and leader in the slave revolt—a man who rose in importance as a military commander because of his many skills—achieved peace in 1794 in Saint-Domingue after years of war against both external invaders and internal dissension. Having established a disciplined, flexible army, Louverture drove out not only the Spanish but also the British invaders who threatened the colony. He restored stability and prosperity by daring measures that included inviting planters to return and insisting freed men work on plantations to renew revenues for the island. He also renewed trading ties with Great Britain and the United States. In the uncertain years of revolution, the United States played both sides, with traders supplying both the French and the rebels.

Independence and Division (1804)

When the French government changed, new members of the national legislature – lobbied by planters – began to rethink their decisions on colonial slavery. After Toussaint Louverture created a separatist constitution, Napoléon Bonaparte sent an expedition of 20,000 men under the command of his brother-in-law, General Charles Leclerc, to retake the island. Leclerc's mission was to oust Louverture and restore slavery. The French achieved some victories, but within a few months, yellow fever had killed most of the French soldiers. More than 50,000 French troops died in an attempt to retake colony, including 18 generals. Leclerc invited Toussaint Louverture to a parley, kidnapped him and sent him to France, where he was imprisoned at Fort de Joux. He died there in 1803 of exposure and tuberculosis or malnutrition and pneumonia.

Slaves, along with free ''gens de couleur'' and allies continued their fight for independence after the French transported Louverture to France. The native leader Jean-Jacques Dessalines – long an ally and general of Toussaint Louverture, brilliant strategist and soldier – defeated French troops led by Donatien-Marie-Joseph de Vimeur, vicomte de Rochambeau, at the Battle of Vertières. At the end of the double battle for emancipation and independence, former slaves proclaimed the independence of Saint-Domingue on 1 January 1804, declaring the new nation be named "Ayiti", both a Native American and African term, meaning "home or mother of the earth" in the Taino-Arawak Native American language and "sacred earth or homeland" in the Fon African language, to honor one of the indigenous Taíno names for the island. Haiti is the only nation born of a slave revolt. Haiti's perseverance and successful resistance against colonial forces would influence the future of the United States Civil War. Historians have estimated the slave rebellion resulted in the death of 100,000 blacks and 24,000 of the 40,000 white colonists. In February 2010, the eight-page document containing the official Declaration of Independence, which was believed to have been destroyed or thrown out, was found by a Canadian graduate student from Duke University in Britain's National Archives. Coming as it did soon after the 2010 devastating earthquake, the discovery is seen by many to be providential.

The revolution in Saint-Domingue unleashed a massive multiracial exodus: French Créole colonists fled with those slaves they still held, as did numerous free people of color, some of whom were also slaveholders and transported slaves with them. In 1809, nearly 10,000 refugees from Saint-Domingue arrived from Cuba, where they had first fled, to settle ''en masse'' in New Orleans. They doubled that city's population and helped preserve its French language and culture for several generations. In addition, the newly arrived slaves added to the city's African and multiracial culture.

Dessalines was proclaimed "Emperor for Life" by his troops. He exiled or killed the remaining whites and ruled as a despot. In the continuing competition for power, he was assassinated on 17 October 1806. The country was then divided between a kingdom in the north directed by Henri I; and a republic in the south directed by Alexandre Pétion, an ''homme de couleur''. Henri I is best known for constructing the ''Citadelle Laferrière'', the largest fortress in the Western Hemisphere, to defend the island against the French. Despite opposition from the mulatto populace, Henri Christophe successfully united Northern Haiti for a period of time under a semi-feudal corvée system, establishing a rigid education and economic code aimed at sustainable improvement for all Haitians.

In 1815, Simón Bolívar, the South American political leader who was instrumental in Latin America's struggle for independence from Spain, received military and financial assistance from Haiti. Bolívar had fled to Haiti after an attempt had been made on his life in Jamaica, where he had unsuccessfully sought support for his efforts. In 1817, on condition that Bolívar free any enslaved people he encountered in his fight for South American independence, Haitian president Alexandre Pétion provided Bolívar with soldiers, weapons and financial assistance, which were critical in enabling him to liberate the Viceroyalty of New Granada (Now Colombia, Ecuador, Panama and Venezuela).

Reunification

Beginning in 1821, President Jean Pierre Boyer, also an ''homme de couleur'' and successor to Pétion, managed to reunify the two parts of St. Domingue and extend control over the western part of the island. In addition, after Santo Domingo declared its independence from Spain, Boyer sent forces in to take control. Boyer then ruled the entire island. According to ''Encyclopædia Britannica'', "During his presidency, Boyer tried to halt the downward trend of the economy — which had begun with the successful revolt of black slaves against their French masters in the 1790s — by passing the Code Rural. Its provisions sought to tie the peasant labourers to plantation land by denying them the right to leave the land, enter the towns, or start farms or shops of their own and by creating a rural constabulary to enforce the code."

During Boyer's administration, his government negotiated with Loring D. Dewey, an agent of the American Colonization Society (ACS), to encourage free blacks from the United States to emigrate to Haiti. They hoped to gain people with skills to contribute to the independent nation. In the early 19th century, the ACS – an uneasy blend of abolitionists and slaveholders – proposed resettlement of American free blacks to other countries, primarily to a colony in Liberia, as a solution to problems of racism in the US. Starting in September 1824, more than 6,000 American free blacks migrated to Haiti, with transportation paid by the ACS. Due to the poverty and other difficult conditions there, many returned to the US within a short time.

In July 1825, King Charles X of France sent a fleet of 14 vessels and thousands of troops to reconquer the island. Under pressure, President Boyer agreed to a treaty by which France formally recognized the independence of the nation in exchange for a payment of 150 million francs (reduced to 90 million in 1838) – an indemnity for profits lost from the slave trade. French abolitionist Victor Schoelcher wrote, "Imposing an indemnity on the victorious slaves was equivalent to making them pay with money that which they had already paid with their blood."

After losing the support of Haiti's elite, Boyer was ousted in 1843. A long succession of coups followed his departure to exile. National authority was disputed by factions of the army, the elite class, and the growing commercial class, increasingly made up of numerous immigrant businessmen: Germans, Americans, French and English.

In 1912, Syrians residing in Haiti participated in a plot in which the Presidential Palace was destroyed. On more than one occasion, French, US, German and British forces allegedly claimed large sums of money from the vaults of the National Bank of Haiti. Expatriates bankrolled and armed opposing groups.

In addition, national governments intervened in Haitian affairs. In 1892, the German government supported suppression of the reform movement of Anténor Firmin. In January 1914, British, German and US forces entered Haiti, ostensibly to protect their citizens from civil unrest.

1915–1934

In an expression of the Roosevelt Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine, the United States occupied the island in 1915 and US Marines were stationed in the country until 1934. According to Munro, treaties in 1915 and 1917 gave the U.S. State and Navy departments (and the Navy's Marine Corps) effective control over key government roles; the U.S. assumed responsibility for maintaining domestic peace and put down several small rebellions such as the "Cacos" uprising. Haiti had huge debts, which were refinanced by new loans from the National City Bank of New York, and paid off by American government officials who took control of customs and the national budget. The U.S. transformed the Garde into a modern police force and built up advanced public health, education, ports and roads. The U.S. Marines supervised the operations of a client Haitian government, and emphasized American-style modernization of the infrastructure and universal education. Haitian traditionalists were highly resistant to these changes while the urban elites wanted more control. Together they helped force an end to the occupation in 1934. President Herbert Hoover sent a commission that set up a plan of withdrawal that was achieved under President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The first step was a gradual, systematic turnover of government functions to the Haitian government; in 1934 it took control of the Garde and the Marines departed. The debts were still outstanding and the American financial advisor-general receiver handled the budget until 1941.

In 1915, Philippe Sudré Dartiguenave was elected president. He was succeeded by Louis Borno in the 1922 elections. Borno worked closely with the Americans. Aware that many Haitians did not speak French, he was the first president to authorize the use of Creole in the education system. Sisal fiber cultivation was introduced to Haiti, and sugar and cotton became significant exports. Recognition of the distinctive traditionalism of the Haitian people had a sharp impact on black writers in the U.S. (as well as white writers exploring black themes), including Eugene O'Neill, James Weldon Johnson, Langston Hughes, Zora Neale Hurston and Orson Welles.

1934–1956

The US occupation forces established a boundary between Haiti and the Dominican Republic by taking disputed land from the latter. After the US left in 1934, Dominican dictator Rafael Trujillo – in an event known as the Parsley Massacre – ordered his Army to kill Haitians living on the Dominican side of the border. In a "three-day genocidal spree", he murdered between 10,000 and 20,000 Haitians. He then developed a uniquely Dominican policy of racial discrimination, Antihaitianismo ("anti-Haitianism"), targeting the mostly black inhabitants of his neighboring country.

Sténio Vincent was succeeded as President in 1941 by Élie Lescot. In 1949, Lescot tried to change the constitution to allow for his own reelection, but in 1950 this triggered another coup. General Paul Magloire led the country until December 1956, when he was forced to resign by a general strike. After a period of disorder, an election held in September 1957 saw Dr. François Duvalier elected President.

1957–1986

From 1957 to 1986 Haiti was governed by the hereditary dictatorship of the Duvalier family.

Former minister of health and labor François Duvalier, known as "Papa Doc" and initially popular among the blacks, was the President of Haiti from 1957 until his death in 1971. A strong believer in the rights of the Haitian black majority, he advanced black interests in the public sector. He stayed in power by enlisting an organization known as ''Tontons Macoutes'' ("Bogeymen"), which maintained order by terrorizing the populace.

In the 1960s and 1970s, Haiti's diaspora made vital contributions to the establishment of francophone Africa's newly independent countries as Haiti's university professors, medical doctors, administrators and development specialists emigrated to these countries.

"Papa Doc" was succeeded by his son (born July 3, 1951) Jean-Claude Duvalier – known also as "Bébé Doc" – who led the country from 1971 until his ouster in 1986. In 1986, protests against "Baby Doc" led him to seek exile in France. Army leader General Henri Namphy headed a new National Governing Council.

In March 1987, a new Constitution was overwhelmingly approved by Haiti's population. General elections in November were aborted after dozens of inhabitants were shot in the capital by soldiers and Tonton Macoute, and scores more were massacred around the country. Fraudulent military-controlled elections followed, boycotted by opposition candidates, and the elected President, Leslie Manigat, was overthrown some months later in the June 1988 Haitian coup d'état when he sought to assert his constitutional control over the military. The September 1988 Haitian coup d'état followed after the St Jean Bosco massacre brought to the fore the increasing prominence of former Tontons Macoutes, and General Prosper Avril led a military regime until March 1990. Throughout the late 1980s and into the 1990s, leading members of the military, intelligence and police were involved in the illegal drug trade in Haiti, assisting Colombian drug traffickers smuggling drugs into the United States.

1990s

In December 1990, the former priest Jean-Bertrand Aristide was elected President in the Haitian general election, winning more than two thirds of the vote. His 5-year mandate began on 7 February 1991, having survived a coup attempt even before his inauguration, when former Tonton Macoute leader Roger Lafontant seized the provisional President Ertha Pascal-Trouillot and declared himself President. After large numbers of Aristide supporters filled the streets in protest and Lafontant attempted to declare martial law, the Army crushed the incipient coup.

During Aristide's short-lived first period in office, he attempted to carry out substantial reforms, which brought passionate opposition from Haiti's business and military elite. His relationship with the National Assembly soon deteriorated, partly over his selection of his friend René Préval as Prime Minister. In September, Aristide was overthrown in the 1991 Haitian coup d'état, led by Army General Raoul Cédras, and flown into exile. Elections were scheduled, but then cancelled. The Organization of American States condemned the coup, and the United Nations set up a trade embargo. A campaign of terror against Aristide supporters was started by Emmanuel Constant. In 1993, Constant, who had been on the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency's payroll as an informant since 1992, organized the Front for the Advancement and Progress of Haïti (FRAPH), which targeted and killed an estimated 5000 Aristide supporters.

In 1994, an American team, under the direction of the Clinton Administration, successfully negotiated the departure of Haiti's military leaders and the peaceful entry of US forces under Operation Uphold Democracy, thereby paving the way for the restoration of Jean-Bertrand Aristide as president. In October 1994, Aristide returned to Haiti to complete his term in office. Aristide disbanded the Haitian army, and established a civilian police force.

Aristide vacated the presidency in February 1996, the scheduled end of his 5-year term based on the date of his inauguration. In the 1995 election, René Préval was elected as president for a five-year term, winning 88% of the popular vote. Préval had previously served as Aristide's Prime Minister from February to October 1991.

21st century

The November 2000 election gave the presidency back to Aristide with an overwhelming 92% of the vote. The election had been boycotted by the opposition, now organised into the Convergence Démocratique, over a dispute in the May legislative elections. In subsequent years, there was increasing violence and human rights abuses. Aristide supporters attacked the opposition. Aristide spent years negotiating with the Convergence Démocratique on new elections, but the Convergence's inability to develop a sufficient electoral base made elections unattractive.

In 2004, a revolt began in northern Haiti. The rebellion eventually reached the capital; and Aristide was forced into exile, whereupon the United Nations stationed peacekeepers in Haiti. Much evidence points to a key U.S. role in Aristide's ouster, with Aristide and his bodyguard, Franz Gabriel, claiming that he was the victim of a "new coup d'état or modern kidnapping" by U.S. forces. Mrs. Aristide stated that the kidnappers wore US Special Forces uniforms, but changed into civilian clothes upon boarding the aircraft that was used to remove Aristide from Haiti. Boniface Alexandre assumed interim authority. René Préval was elected President in February 2006, following elections marked by uncertainties and popular demonstrations. The United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti (also known as MINUSTAH) remains in the country, having been there since the 2004 Haiti Rebellion. The United States led a vast international campaign to prevent Aristide from returning to his country while he was exiled in South Africa. Released Wikileaks cables show that high-level U.S. and U.N. officials coordinated a politically motivated prosecution of Aristide to prevent him from "gaining more traction with the Haitian population and returning to Haiti." The United States and its allies allegedly poured tens of millions of dollars into unsuccessful efforts to slander Aristide as a drug trafficker, human rights violator, and heretical practitioner of voodoo.

Michèle Pierre-Louis was the second female Prime Minister of Haiti (September 2008-Nov. 2009). Claudette Werleigh (1995–1996) was the first.

2010–2011: Earthquake, cholera, and flood events

The 2010 Haiti earthquake left up to 316,000 people dead and 1.6 million homeless. Massive homelessness and displacement continues and does not appear to have significantly abated. Non-Haitian sources have placed the death toll from 50,000 to 92,000 . Government agencies were also hard hit. Two days afterwards thousands of U.S. troops arrived to aid in the earthquake relief effort and relief agencies are playing a large role in rebuilding Haiti's infrastructure, while taking care of the short-term emergency needs of the many injured and displaced Haitians. In October 2010 a cholera epidemic was identified, a disease thought to be accidentally introduced by aid workers from abroad. More than 3,500 people in a region to the north of Port-au-Prince were treated for diarrhea, acute fever, vomiting, and severe dehydration. There were fears the outbreak would reach camps housing survivors of the earthquake.

There were initial protests against the U.N. peacekeeping forces because of their suspected role in introducing cholera. These led to violent attacks on November 15, 2010. The cholera outbreak had, at that point, killed around 900 people, and sickened around 15,000. Many Haitian people alleged that the strain may have come from the Nepalese peacekeepers, who have a base on the Artibonite river, but the U.N. did not want the Haitian people to come to conclusions and blame the Nepalese based on "misinformation". The last cholera outbreak in Haiti was forty years ago, and "The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that the cholera strain now ravaging the country matched a strain specific to South Asia, but said they had not pinpointed its origin or how it arrived in Haiti."

General elections had been planned for January 2010, but were postponed due to the earthquake. The elections were held on 28 November 2010 for senate, parliament and the first round of the presidential elections. The run-off between Michel Martelly and Mirlande Manigat took place on 20 March 2011, and preliminary results, released on 4 April, named Martelly the winner.

Geography

Haiti is on the western part of Hispaniola, the second largest island in the Greater Antilles. Haiti is the third largest country in the Caribbean behind Cuba and the Dominican Republic (the latter shares a border with Haiti). Haiti at its closest point is only about away from Cuba and has the second longest coastline () in the Greater Antilles, Cuba having the longest. The country lies mostly between latitudes 18° and 20°N (Tortuga island lies just north of 20°), and longitudes 71° and 75°W. Haiti's terrain consists mainly of rugged mountains interspersed with small coastal plains and river valleys.

The northern region consists of the ''Massif du Nord'' (Northern Massif) and the ''Plaine du Nord'' (Northern Plain). The ''Massif du Nord'' is an extension of the ''Cordillera Central'' in the Dominican Republic. It begins at Haiti's eastern border, north of the Guayamouc River, and extends to the northwest through the northern peninsula. The lowlands of the ''Plaine du Nord'' lie along the northern border with the Dominican Republic, between the ''Massif du Nord'' and the North Atlantic Ocean. The central region consists of two plains and two sets of mountain ranges. The ''Plateau Central'' (Central Plateau) extends along both sides of the Guayamouc River, south of the ''Massif du Nord''. It runs from the southeast to the northwest. To the southwest of the ''Plateau Central'' are the ''Montagnes Noires'', whose most northwestern part merges with the ''Massif du Nord''. Its westernmost point is known as Cap Carcasse.

The southern region consists of the Plaine du Cul-de-Sac (the southeast) and the mountainous southern peninsula (also known as the Tiburon Peninsula). The Plaine du Cul-de-Sac is a natural depression that harbors the country's saline lakes, such as Trou Caïman and Haiti's largest lake, Lac Azuéi. The Chaîne de la Selle mountain range – an extension of the southern mountain chain of the Dominican Republic (the Sierra de Baoruco) – extends from the Massif de la Selle in the east to the Massif de la Hotte in the west. This mountain range harbors Pic la Selle, the highest point in Haiti at *

The country's most important valley in terms of crops is the Plaine de l'Artibonite, which is oriented south of the Montagnes Noires. This region supports the country's (also Hispaniola's) longest river, the Riviere l'Artibonite, which begins in the western region of the Dominican Republic and continues most of its length through central Haiti and onward where it empties into the Golfe de la Gonâve. The eastern and central region of the island is a large elevated plateau. Haiti also includes various offshore islands. The historically famous island of Tortuga (Île de la Tortue) is located off the coast of northern Haiti. The arrondissement of La Gonâve is located on the island of the same name, in the Golfe de la Gonâve. Gonâve Island is moderately populated by rural villagers. Île à Vache (Cow Island), a lush island with many beautiful sights, is located off the tip of southwestern Haiti. Also part of Haiti are the Cayemites and Île d' Anacaona.

Environment

In 1925, Haiti was lush, with 60% of its original forest covering the lands and mountainous regions. Since then, the population has cut down an estimated 98% of its original forest cover for use as fuel for cookstoves, and in the process has destroyed fertile farmland soils, contributing to desertification.

In addition to soil erosion, deforestation has caused periodic flooding, as seen on 17 September 2004. Earlier that year in May, floods had killed over 3,000 people on Haiti's southern border with the Dominican Republic.

Natural disasters

Hurricanes and tropical storms

In 2004, Tropical Storm Jeanne skimmed the north coast of Haiti, leaving 3,006 people dead in flooding and mudslides, mostly in the city of Gonaïves.

Haiti was again pummeled by tropical storms in late August and early September 2008. The storms – Tropical Storm Fay, Hurricane Gustav, Hurricane Hanna and Hurricane Ike – all produced heavy winds and rain in Haiti. Due to weak soil conditions throughout Haiti, the country's mountainous terrain, and the devastating coincidence of four storms within less than four weeks, valley and lowland areas throughout the country experienced massive flooding. Casualties proved difficult to count because the storm diminished human capacity and physical resources for such record keeping. Bodies continued to surface as the flood waters receded. A 10 September 2008 source listed 331 dead and 800,000 in need of humanitarian aid. The grim state of affairs produced by these storms was all the more life threatening due to already high food and fuel prices that had caused a food crisis and political unrest in April 2008.

2010 earthquake

On January 12, 2010, at 21:53 UTC, (4:53 pm local time) Haiti was struck by a magnitude-7.0 earthquake, the country's most severe earthquake in over 200 years. The epicenter of the quake was just outside the Haitian capital Port-au-Prince. On 10 February the Haitian government gave a death toll of 230,000. Widespread damage resulted from the quake, and the capital city was devastated.

The Presidential Palace was badly damaged, the second floor collapsing onto the first floor; the Haitian Parliament building, UN mission headquarters and the National Cathedral were also destroyed. International aid flowed in but was hampered by damaged infrastructure: the main port was damaged beyond immediate use, the one local airport was of limited capacity, and border crossings with the Dominican Republic were distant and crowded. As many as one million Haitians were left homeless.

Haiti will need to be completely rebuilt from the ground up, according to a journalist, as "[e]ven in good times, Haiti is an economic wreck, balancing precariously on the razor's edge of calamity." Several international appeals were launched within days of the earthquake, including the Disasters Emergency Committee in the United Kingdom, Young Artists for Haiti (Canada) and Hope for Haiti Now: A Global Benefit for Earthquake Relief based in the USA, which was a global effort to raise relief funds by way of a charity telethon held on January 22, 2010. International officials are looking at the short and long term priorities while continuing the daily task of managing the emergency situation. As of September 2010, there were over one million refugees living in tents and the humanitarian situation was characterized as still being in the emergency phase.

On May 31, 2011, BBC News reported that a new report challenges Haiti's official earthquake death toll. "Significantly fewer people died or were left homeless by last year's earthquake in Haiti than claimed by the country's leaders, a draft report commissioned by the US government has said. The unpublished report puts the death toll between 46,000 and 85,000. (Haiti's government says about 316,000 died.) It also suggests many of those still living in tent cities did not lose their homes in the disaster. The draft report, which has yet to be released publicly, is based on a survey commissioned by the US Agency for International Development (USAID) and draws its numbers from door-to-door surveys carried out over 29 days in January 2011."

Demographics

Although Haiti averages approximately 250 people per square kilometer (650 per sq mi.), its population is concentrated most heavily in urban areas, coastal plains, and valleys. Haiti's population was about 9.8 million according to UN 2008 estimates, with half of the population being under 20 years. The first formal census, taken in 1950, showed that the population was 3.1 million.

Eighty-five percent of Haitians (depending on the source because the Haitian government does not conduct a census) are of African and indigenous Taíno descent; the remaining 20–15% of the population are mostly of mixed-race background. A small percentage of the non-black population consists primarily of White Haitians; mostly of Western European (French, German, Polish, Portuguese and Spanish), and Arab, Armenian,or Jewish origin. Haitians of east Asian descent or East Indian origin number approximately 400.

Haitian diaspora

Millions of Haitians live abroad, chiefly in North America: the Dominican Republic, United States, Cuba, Canada (primarily Montreal), Bahamas, France, French Antilles, the Turks and Caicos, Jamaica, Puerto Rico, Venezuela and French Guiana. There are an estimated 800,000 in the Dominican Republic, 600,000 Haitians in the United States, 100,000 in Canada, 80,000 in France, and up to 80,000 in the Bahamas.

Languages

One of Haiti's two official languages is French, which is the principal written and administratively authorized language. It is spoken by all educated Haitians, is spoken in schools, and is used in the business sector. It is also used in ceremonial events such as weddings, graduations and church masses. The second is the recently standardized Haitian Creole, which is spoken by virtually the entire population of Haiti. Haitian Creole is one of the French-based creole languages. It is strongly related to French and Spanish, Taíno and many other European languages. Haitian Creole is related to the other French creoles, but most closely to Louisiana Creole.

Religion

Haiti is a majority Christian country, with strong roots in Roman Catholicism. Around 80% of Haitians profess to be Catholics. Protestants make up about 16% of the population.

Government

The government of Haiti is a semi-presidential republic, a multiparty system wherein the President of Haiti is head of state elected directly by popular elections. The Prime Minister acts as head of government and is appointed by the President, chosen from the majority party in the National Assembly. Executive power is exercised by the President and Prime Minister who together constitute the government.

Legislative power is vested in both the government and the two chambers of the National Assembly of Haiti. The government is organized unitarily, thus the central government ''delegates'' powers to the departments without a constitutional need for consent. The current structure of Haiti's political system was set forth in the Constitution of Haiti on 29 March 1987. The current president is Michel Martelly.

In 2010, there were 7,000 people in the Haitian National Police.

The Institute for the Protection of National Heritage has preserved 33 historical monuments and the historic center of Cap-Haïtien.

Departments, arrondissements, and communes

For reasons of administration, Haiti has been divided into ten departments. The departments are listed below, with the departmental capital cities in parentheses.

# Artibonite (Gonaïves) # Centre (Hinche) # Grand'Anse (Jérémie) # Nippes (Miragoâne) # Nord (Cap-Haïtien) # Nord-Est (Fort-Liberté) # Nord-Ouest (Port-de-Paix) # Ouest (Port-au-Prince) # Sud-Est (Jacmel) # Sud (Les Cayes) The departments are further divided into 41 arrondissements, and 133 communes, which serve as second- and third-level administrative divisions.

Politics

Haitian politics have been contentious: in its 200-year history, Haiti has suffered 32 coups. Haiti's is the only country in the Western Hemisphere to undergo a successful slave revolution, but a long history of oppression by dictators – including François Duvalier and his son Jean-Claude Duvalier – has markedly affected the nation. France and the United States have repeatedly intervened in Haitian politics since the country's founding, sometimes at the request of one party or another.

According to a Corruption Perceptions Index report in 2006, there is a strong correlation between corruption and poverty and Haiti ranked first of all countries surveyed for of levels of perceived domestic corruption. The International Red Cross reports that seven out of ten Haitians live on less than US$2 a day.

Cité Soleil, Haiti's largest slum in the capital of Port-au-Prince, has been called "the most dangerous place on Earth" by the United Nations. The slum is a stronghold of supporters of former Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, who, according to the BBC, "accused the US of forcing him out – an accusation the US rejected as 'absurd'".

Jean-Claude Duvalier suddenly returned to Haiti in late January 2011, claiming his doing so was out of concern for the present situation in Haiti. On the other hand, Jean-Bertrand Aristide was initially denied access to Haiti by Haitian immigration authorities, despite issuing appeals to his supporters, and to international observers, to be able to do so. The world's most prominent governments did not overtly oppose such appeals, nor did they support them; an unnamed analyst 'close to the Haitian government' who was repeatedly quoted in several media sources including the ''New York Times'', is reported to have commented, "Aristide could have 15 passports and he's still not going to come back to Haiti. ...France and the United States are standing in the way." However, Aristide finally returned to Haiti just days before the 2011 Presidential election, on March 18, 2011.

Elections

The first round of the 2010 Haiti Elections, was held in December and qualified Mirlande Manigat and Jude Celestin for the second round, but the results of the election were contested. Some people said that the first round was a fraud, and that Michel Martelly should be in the place of Jude Celestin, René Préval's chosen successor. There was some violence between the contending parties.

On April 4, 2011 the Provisional Electoral Council announced preliminary results that Martelly had won the presidential election.

Economy

Haiti's economy is still recovering from the massive earthquake in January 2010. Its purchasing power parity GDP fell 8% in 2010 (from $12.15 billion to $11.18 billion) and the GDP per capita remained unchanged at (PPP US$) 1,200. Comparative social and economic indicators show Haiti falling behind other low-income developing countries (particularly in the hemisphere) since the 1980s. Haiti ranked 145 of 182 countries in the 2010 United Nations Human Development Index, with 57.3% of the population being deprived in at least three of the HDI's poverty measures.

''The World Factbook'' reports a shortage of skilled labor, widespread unemployment and underemployment, saying "more than two-thirds of the labor force do not have formal jobs", and describes pre-earthquake Haiti as "already the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere with 80% of the population living under the poverty line and 54% in abject poverty." Most Haitians live on $2 or less per day.

Adult literacy is variously reported as 52.9% [World Factbook] and 65.3% [United Nations], and the World Bank estimates that in 2004 over 80% of college graduates from Haiti were living abroad, with their remittances home representing 52.7% of Haiti's GDP. Cité Soleil is considered one of the worst slums in the Americas, most of its 500,000 residents live in extreme poverty. Poverty has forced at least 225,000 Haitian children to work as restavecs (unpaid household servants); the United Nations considers this to be a modern-day form of slavery.

About 66% of all Haitians work in the agricultural sector, which consists mainly of small-scale subsistence farming, but this activity makes up only 30% of the GDP. The country has experienced little formal job-creation over the past decade, although the informal economy is growing. Mangoes and coffee are two of Haiti's most important exports.

Natural resources of Haiti include bauxite, copper, calcium carbonate, gold, marble and hydropower. Haiti contains relatively small amounts of gold, silver, antimony, tin, lignite, sulphur, coal, nickel, gypsum, limestone, manganese, marble, iron, tungsten, salt, clay, and various building stones. Gold and copper are found in small quantities in the north of the country. The government announced the discovery of new gold deposits in the northern peninsula in 1985, but long-standing plans for gold production proceeded slowly. Copper also was mined, beginning in the 1960s, but production of the ore was sporadic. There are bauxite (aluminum ore) deposits on the southern peninsula, but large scale mining there was discontinued in 1983. The country's only bauxite mine, the Miragoâne mine in the southern peninsula, produced an average of 500,000 tons of bauxite a year in the early 1980s; however, in 1982 the declining metal content of the ore, high production costs, and the oversupplied international bauxite market forced the mine to close. Bauxite had at one time been the country's second leading export. Haiti apparently has no hydrocarbon resources on land or in the Gulf of Gonâve and is therefore heavily dependent on energy imports (petroleum and petroleum products).

Haiti's richest 1% own nearly half the country's wealth. Haiti has consistently ranked among the most corrupt countries in the world on the Corruption Perceptions Index. Since the day of "Papa Doc" Duvalier, Haiti's government has been notorious for its corruption. It is estimated that President "Baby Doc" Duvalier, his wife Michelle, and three other people took $504 million from the Haitian public treasury between 1971 and 1986.

Similarly, some media outlets alleged that millions were stolen by former president Jean-Bertrand Aristide. However the accuracy of the information is questionable and may have been concocted to discredit Aristide. In March 2004, at the time of Aristide's being kidnapped, a BBC article wrote that the Bush administration State department claimed that Aristide had been involved in drug trafficking. The BBC also described pyramid schemes, in which Haitians lost hundreds of millions in 2002, as the "only real economic initiative" of the Aristide years. However this cannot necessarily be entirely blamed on Aristide since one of his conditions upon being returned to Haiti by the Clinton administration during the 90s was that he not stir the pot away from US Free Market Trade Policies. Clinton recently expressed regret and apologized for the US's trade policies with Haiti Aristide however decided against being further tied to the free market policies that he was restricted to, and he attempted to raise the country's minimum wage.

Foreign aid makes up approximately 30–40% of the national government's budget. The largest donor is the US, followed by Canada and the European Union. From 1990 to 2003, Haiti received more than $4 billion in aid. The United States alone had provided Haiti with 1.5 billion in aid. Venezuela and Cuba also make various contributions to Haiti's economy, especially after alliances were renewed in 2006 and 2007. In January 2010, China promised $4.2 million for the quake-hit island. US President Barack Obama pledged $1.15 billion in assistance. European Union nations promised more than 400 million euros ($616 million) in emergency aid and reconstruction funds.

US aid to the Haitian government was completely cut off from 2001 to 2004, after the 2000 election was disputed and President Aristide was accused of various misdeeds. After Aristide's departure in 2004, aid was restored, and the Brazilian army led the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti peacekeeping operation. Following almost 4 years of recession ending in 2004, the economy grew by 1.5% in 2005.

In 2005 Haiti's total external debt reached an estimated US$1.3 billion, which corresponds to a debt per capita of US$169. In September 2009, Haiti met the conditions set out by the IMF and World Bank's Heavily Indebted Poor Countries program to qualify for cancellation of its external debt.

Transport

Roadways

Haiti has two main highways that run from one end of the country to the other. The northern highway, Route Nationale #1 (National Highway One), originates in Port-au-Prince, winding through the coastal towns of Montrouis and Gonaïves, before reaching its terminus at the northern port Cap-Haïtien. The southern highway, Route Nationale #2, links Port-au-Prince with Les Cayes via Léogâne and Petit Goâve.

According to the Washington Post, "Officials from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said Saturday [January 23, 2010] that they assessed the damage from the Jan. 12 quake in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, and found that many of the roads aren’t any worse than they were before because they’ve always been in poor condition."

Water

The port at Port-au-Prince, Port international de Port-au-Prince, has more registered shipping than any of the other dozen ports in the country. The port's facilities include cranes, large berths, and warehouses, but these facilities are not in good condition. The port is underused, possibly due to the substantially high port fees, compared to ports in the Dominican Republic. The port of Saint-Marc is currently the preferred port of entry for consumer goods coming into Haiti. Reasons for this may include its location away from volatile and congested Port-au-Prince, as well as its central location relative to numerous Haitian cities.

During the 2010 Earthquake, the Port-au-Prince port suffered widespread damage, impeding aid to the victims. The main pier caved in and fell into the water. One of the main cranes also collapsed in the water. Port access roads were severely damaged as well.

Air

Toussaint Louverture International Airport is located North/North East of Port-au-Prince. It has Haiti's main jetway, and as such, handles the vast majority of the country's international flights. To travel on from the international airport at Port-au-Prince to other Haitian cities requires boarding a smaller plane. Cities such as Jacmel, Jeremie, Les Cayes, Cap Haitien, and Port de Paix have airports that are accessible only by smaller aircraft. Companies that fly to these airports include: Caribintair, Sunrise Airways and Tortug' Air.

Rail

In the past, Haiti used rail transport, but, today, railroads are no longer in use, due to their replacement by other forms of transportation.

Health

Half of the children in Haiti are unvaccinated; only 40% of the population has access to basic health care. Prior to the 2010 earthquake, nearly half of all Haitian deaths were attributed to HIV/AIDS, respiratory infections, meningitis and diarrheal diseases, according to the World Health Organization. Ninety percent of Haiti's children suffer from waterborne diseases and intestinal parasites. HIV infection is found in 2.2% of Haiti's adult population. The incidence of tuberculosis (TB) in Haiti is more than ten times as high as in the rest of Latin America. Approximately 30,000 people in Haiti suffer each year from malaria.

Most people living in Haiti are at high risk for major infectious diseases. Food or waterborne diseases include bacterial and protozoal diarrhea, hepatitis A and E, and typhoid fever; common vectorborne diseases are dengue fever and malaria; water contact diseases include leptospirosis. Roughly 75% of Haitian households lack running water. Unsafe water, along with inadequate housing and unsanitary living conditions, contributes to the high incidence of infectious diseases. There is a chronic shortage of health care personnel, and hospitals lack resources, a situation that became readily apparent after the January 2010 earthquake.

Education

The educational system of Haiti is based on the French system. Higher education, under the responsibility of the Ministry of Education, is provided by universities and other public and private institutions. Haiti counts 15,200 primary schools, of which 90% are non-public and managed by communities, religious organizations or NGOs. The enrollment rate for primary school is 67%, and fewer than 30% reach 6th grade. Secondary schools enroll 20% of eligible-age children. Charity organizations, including Food for the Poor and Haitian Health Foundation, are building schools for children and providing necessary school supplies. Haiti's literacy rate is 52.9%.

The January, 2010 earthquake was a major setback for education reform in Haiti. Literacy levels remain near 50 percent. Haiti is one of the lowest-ranked countries in the world, 177th out of 186, for national spending on education.

Many reformers have advocated the creation of a free, public and universal education system for all primary school-age students in Haiti. The Inter-American Development Bank estimates that the government will need at least $3 billion USD to create an adequately funded system.

Culture

Haiti has a long and storied history and therefore retains a rich culture. Haitian culture is a mixture of primarily French, African elements, and native Taíno, with influence from the colonial Spanish. The country's customs essentially are a blend of cultural beliefs that derived from the various ethnic groups that inhabited the island of Hispaniola. In nearly all aspects of modern Haitian society however, the European and African elements dominate. Haiti is world famous for its distinctive art, notably painting and sculpture.

The music of Haiti is influenced mostly by European colonial ties and African migration (through slavery). In the case of European colonization, musical influence has derived primarily from the French, however Haitian music has been influenced to a significant extent by its Spanish-speaking neighbors, the Dominican Republic and Cuba, whose Spanish-infused music has contributed much to the country's musical genres as well. Styles of music unique to the nation of Haiti include music derived from Voodoo ceremonial traditions, Rara parading music, troubadour ballads, and the wildly popular Compas.

Compas (in French) or Kompa (in Creole) is a complex, ever-changing music that arose from African rhythms and European ballroom dancing, mixed with Haiti's bourgeois culture. It is a refined music, played with an underpinning of tipico, and méringue (related to Dominican merengue) as a basic rhythm. Haiti had no recorded music until 1937 when Jazz Guignard was recorded non-commercially. One of the most popular Haitian artists is Wyclef Jean. Wyclef Jean, however, left the country before his teenage years. His music is somewhat hip-hop mixed with world music.

Brilliant colors, naive perspective and sly humor characterize Haitian art. Frequent subjects in Haitian art include big, delectable foods, lush landscapes, market activities, jungle animals, rituals, dances, and gods. Artists frequently paint in fables. People are disguised as animals and animals are transformed into people. In a mostly illiterate land, symbols take on great meaning. For example, a rooster often represents Aristide and the red and blue colors of the Haitian flag often represent his Lavalas party. Many artists cluster in ‘schools’ of painting, such as the Cap Haitien school, which features depictions of daily life in the city, the Jacmel School, which reflects the steep mountains and bays of that coastal town, or the Saint-Soleil School, which is characterized by abstracted human forms and is heavily influenced by Voodoo symbolism.

Cuisine

The cuisine of Haiti originates from several culinary styles from the various historical ethnic groups that populated the western portion of the island of Hispaniola, namely the French, African, and the Taíno. Haitian cuisine is similar to the rest of the Latin-Caribbean (the French and the Spanish-speaking countries of the Antilles) however it differs in several ways from its regional counterparts. Its primary influence derive from French cuisine, and African cuisine, with notable derivatives from native Taíno and Spanish culinary technique. Though similar to other cooking styles in the region, it carries a uniqueness native only to the country and an appeal to many visitors to the island. Haitians often use peppers and other strong flavorings.

Dishes tend to be seasoned liberally and consequently Haitian cuisine tends to be moderately spicy, not mild and not too hot. In the country, however, many businesses of foreign origin have been established introducing several foreign cuisines into the mainstream culture. Years of adaptation have led to these cuisines (ie: Levantine from Arab migration to Haiti) to merge into Haitian cuisine. Rice and beans in several differing ways are eaten throughout the country regardless of location, becoming a sort of national dish. They form the staple diet, which consists of a lot of starch and is high in carbohydrates. Rural areas, with better access to agricultural products have a larger variety of choices.

One such dish is mais moulu (''mayi moulin''), which is comparable to cornmeal that can be eaten with sauce aux pois (''sòs pwa''), a bean sauce made from one of many types of beans such as kidney, pinto, or garbanzo beans, or pigeon peas (known in some countries as gandules). Mais moulin can be eaten with fish (often red snapper), or alone depending on personal preference. Some of the many plants used in Haitian dishes include tomato, oregano, cabbage, avocado, bell peppers. A popular food is banane pesée (''ban-nan'n peze''), flattened plantain slices fried in soybean oil (known as tostones in the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico). It is eaten both as a snack and as part of a meal is, often eaten with tassot or griot, which are deep-fried goat and pork respectively.

Sports

Soccer is the most popular sport in Haiti. Basketball is growing in popularity. Hundreds of small football clubs compete at the local level.

See also

Caribbean Sea

External debt of Haiti

Greater Antilles

Hispaniola

Le Nouvelliste (Haiti)

List of Haitians

National Museum of Haiti

Wikipedia in Haitian Kreyol

Notes

External material

References

Cassá, Roberto. 1995. ''Los indios de las Antillas''. Madrid: MAPFRE. Series: Pueblos y lenguas indígenas, 10.

Wilson, Samuel M. 1990. ''Hispaniola: Caribbean chiefdoms in the age of Columbus''. Univ. of Alabama Press.

Further reading

Arthur, Charles. ''Haiti in Focus: A Guide to the People, Politics, and Culture''. Interlink Publishing Group (2002). ISBN 1-56656-359-3.

Dayan, Colin. ''Haiti, History, and the Gods''. University of California Press (1998). ISBN 0-520-21368-8.

Hadden, Robert Lee and Steven G. Minson. 2010. The Geology of Haiti: An Annotated Bibliography of Haiti's Geology, Geography and Earth Science. US Army Corps of Engineers, Army Geospatial Center. July 2010.

Heinl, Robert Debs & Nancy Gordon Heinl. ''Written in Blood: The Story of the Haitian People 1492–1995''. University Press of America (2005). ISBN 0-7618-3177-0.

Robinson, Randall. ''An Unbroken Agony: Haiti, From Revolution to the Kidnapping of a President''. Basic Civitas (2007). ISBN 0-465-07050-7.

Wilentz, Amy. ''The Rainy Season: Haiti Since Duvalier''. Simon & Schuster (1990). ISBN 0-671-70628-4.

External links

; Government

Republic of Haiti Ministry of Foreign Affairs official website

; General information

Haiti at Encyclopædia Britannica

Haiti at ''UCB Libraries GovPubs''

A Country Study: Haiti from the U.S. Library of Congress (December 1989)

; Maps

Map of Haiti from ''Elahmad.com''

Collection of maps from the Perry-Castañeda Library at the University of Texas

Map of Haiti from the United Nations

Maps of Haiti from the US Army Corps of Engineers, Army Geospatial Center, including geology, hydrology, geography and trafficability

; Media

Collection of Haitian Media World Wide from ''haitianmedialist.com''

; Travel

; Relief Organizations

The ICRC in Haiti International Committee of the Red Cross

Hope for Haiti Education and grassroots development in rural Haiti.

Haiti volunteer youth corps Training leaders in trauma relief, community empowerment, and sustainable agriculture

Instituto Dominicano Desarrollo Integral Main Branch of the Haitian Institute fron Integral Development.

The Haitian Institute for Integral Development The Haitian Institute for Integral Development

Category:Caribbean countries Category:Member states of the Caribbean Community Category:French-speaking countries Category:Island countries Category:Latin America Category:Least developed countries Category:Member states of La Francophonie Category:Republics Category:States and territories established in 1804 Category:History of Haiti Category:Member states of the United Nations

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Coordinates	39°44′21″N104°59′5″N
playername	Ian Wright
fullname	Ian Edward Wright
dateofbirth	November 03, 1963
cityofbirth	Woolwich, London
countryofbirth	England
position	Striker
years1	1985–1991
years2	1991–1998
years3	1998–1999
years4	1999
years5	1999–2000
years6	2000
clubs1	Crystal Palace
clubs2	Arsenal
clubs3	West Ham United
clubs4	→ Nottingham Forest (loan)
clubs5	Celtic
clubs6	Burnley
caps1	225
goals1	90
caps2	221
goals2	128
caps3	22
goals3	9
caps4	10
goals4	5
caps5	8
goals5	3
caps6	15
goals6	4
totalcaps	501
totalgoals	239
nationalyears1	1989–1992
nationalyears2	1991–1998
nationalteam1	England B
nationalteam2	England
nationalcaps1	3
nationalgoals1	0
nationalcaps2	33
nationalgoals2	9 }}

Ian Edward Wright, MBE is a retired English footballer turned television and radio personality.

Wright enjoyed success with London clubs Crystal Palace and Arsenal, spending six years with the former and seven years with the latter. With Arsenal he has lifted the Premier League title and both major domestic trophies, and the European Cup Winners Cup. He played 581 league games, scoring 387 goals for seven clubs in Scotland and England and earned 33 caps for the English national team.

After retiring from the game he has been active in the media, usually in football related TV and radio shows. His sons, Shaun and Bradley Wright-Phillips, are both professional footballers.

Early life

Wright came to professional football relatively late. Despite having had trials at Southend United and Brighton during his teens, he was unable to attract sufficient interest to win a professional contract offer. Reverting to playing for amateur and non-league teams, he was left disillusioned about his chances of a career as a professional footballer.

He spent two weeks in Chelmsford Prison for driving without tax or insurance.

Club career

Crystal Palace

A Crystal Palace talent scout, Peter Prentice, happened to see Wright playing for Dulwich Hamlet and invited him to have a trial at Selhurst Park. Having impressed then-manager Steve Coppell, he signed professional terms for Crystal Palace in August 1985, just three months short of his 22nd birthday.

He quickly made his mark in his first season, scoring nine goals to finish as Palace's second-highest scorer. When Mark Bright arrived on the Palace scene the following year the duo soon established a successful striking partnership and it was largely their goals which took the club to top flight via the playoffs in 1989. Wright was particularly instrumental that season, scoring 24 goals in the Second Division and a grand total of 33 in all competitions.

Wright was called up for England B duty in December 1989 but a twice-cracked shin bone reduced his initial impact in the First Division. However, after recovering from the injury he made a dramatic appearance as a 'super-sub', in the 1990 FA Cup Final against Manchester United. He equalised for Palace a few minutes after coming onto the field forcing extra time, then putting them ahead in extra time. The eventual score was 3–3, but Palace lost the replay 1–0.

The next season he gained full international honours, and reached a hundred goals for Crystal Palace. He scored twice as Palace beat Everton to win the Zenith Data Systems Cup at Wembley. Wright became renowned for his deadly striking ability, as shown when he scored a hat-trick in just eighteen minutes in Palace's penultimate game of the 1990–91 season away to Wimbledon.

Wright scored 117 goals in 253 starts and 24 substitute appearances over six seasons for The Eagles in all competitions, making him the club's record post-war goalscorer and third on the all-time list. In 2005, he was voted into their Centenary XI and was named as their "Player of The Century".

Arsenal

Wright signed for Arsenal in September 1991 for £2.5 million, which was at the time a club record fee. He scored on his debut against Leicester City in a League Cup tie, and then scored a hat-trick on his League debut against Southampton. He won the Golden Boot in his first season by scoring 29 league goals, five of which were for Palace, and 31 in all competitions. He scored a hat-trick in the final game of the season against Southampton; his third goal being the last ever scored in the old First Division. As of 2007, only Wright and Teddy Sheringham (1992–93 season) have won the top-flight goalscoring award having scored for two different clubs during the season in question.

Wright went on to be the club's top scorer for six seasons in a row. He played a major part in the club's success during the 1990s, winning an FA Cup and League Cup double in 1993; he scored in both the FA Cup Final and the replay against Sheffield Wednesday. Wright also helped Arsenal reach the 1994 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup Final, although Wright was suspended for the final in which Arsenal beat Parma 1–0. That season they finished fourth in the Premier League.

Wright scored in every round but the final of Arsenal's 1995 Cup Winners' Cup campaign, and was a strong goalscorer in the Premier League, but it was a difficult time for Arsenal following the dismissal of manager George Graham over illegal payments, and under caretaker Stewart Houston they could only manage a 12th place finish in the league.

The arrival of Bruce Rioch heralded a bleaker time; the two did not get on and eventually Wright handed in a transfer request (which he later retracted). The arrival of Dennis Bergkamp, however, heralded a brief but fruitful striking partnership, and in their first season as a partnership they helped Arsenal finish fifth in the league and qualify for the UEFA Cup. They also reached the Coca-Cola Cup semi-finals, where they went out on away goals to eventual winners Aston Villa.

By the time Arsène Wenger had arrived at Arsenal in September 1996, Wright was nearly 33. Despite his age, he continued to score regularly (being the second highest Premier League scorer in 1996–97 with 23 goals), and on 13 September 1997 he broke Cliff Bastin's Arsenal goalscoring record with a hat-trick against Bolton Wanderers (a record since surpassed by Thierry Henry in October 2005). A couple of months later he suffered a bad hamstring injury which ruled him out of the club's run-in to a League and Cup Double; Wright was named as a substitute in the cup final against Newcastle United but did not play.

Wright scored a total of 185 goals for Arsenal in 279 starts and 9 substitute appearances. His final goal at Highbury came on 4 October 1997 against Barnsley and was his 300th career goal for both Crystal Palace and Arsenal. He scored his final goal for Arsenal on 6 January 1998 in a League Cup quarter-final victory against West Ham United at the Boleyn Ground. In his absence, Arsenal were eliminated from the League Cup in the semi-final by Chelsea, ending their hopes of a unique domestic treble.

On 15 July 2008, he finished 4th in 50 Greatest Gunners listed on the Arsenal website.

Later career

In July 1998, Wright moved to West Ham United for £500,000. He spent fifteen months as a West Ham player without reaching the same form he had at Arsenal. During his spell there he made the headlines for all the wrong reasons when he vandalised the referee's dressing room at Upton Park after being sent off during a match against Leeds United. He had subsequent short spells at Nottingham Forest, Celtic, and Burnley (whom he helped to promotion to Division One) before retiring in 2000. He finished his club career with 313 goals in all competitions.

International career

Wright was handed his England debut by manager Graham Taylor in February 1991. He started in the 2–0 victory against Cameroon at Wembley and helped England reach the finals of Euro 1992 in Sweden. Despite the fact that his international career spanned eight years, 87 matches and three different full-time managers, he only started 17 times and was a used substitute in 16 matches. In each of the seven seasons that followed the 1990 World Cup, Wright never scored fewer than 23 goals a season for his club. He scored 25 goals for Crystal Palace during 1991 before going on to break the 30 club-goal barrier five times in the following six seasons. Despite Wright's goalscoring feats, the most number of games he started for England consecutively was three—something he only did twice.

Taylor, who became England manager after the 1990 World Cup in Italy and remained in charge for 38 matches, only handed Wright nine starts and seven substitute appearances. He opted instead to use a whole host of less prolific strikers, including Nigel Clough of Nottingham Forest, Paul Stewart of Tottenham Hotspur,v David Hirst of Sheffield Wednesday and Brian Deane of Sheffield United. Wright did not make it into the squad for Euro 1992 at the expense of Clough, Gary Lineker of Tottenham Hotspur, Alan Shearer of Southampton and Arsenal team mate Alan Smith. This was particularly surprising as Wright had been the highest top division goalscorer in England that season.

Five of Wright's nine international goals were scored under Taylor's management. These included a vital late equaliser in a 1–1 away draw against Poland in May 1993 and four goals in the 7–1 away win against San Marino in Bologna, Italy, in November 1993, the final match of Taylor's reign as manager. Both matches were qualifiers for the 1994 World Cup in the USA, for which England failed to qualify for the first time since 1978.

Terry Venables replaced Taylor as manager after the unsuccessful 1994 World Cup qualifying campaign but Wright's appearances in the side became even more limited. Despite featuring in four of the first five matches under Venables, albeit three times as a substitute, Wright never played under his management again. Ultimately, it cost Wright a place in the squad for Euro 1996, where England reached the semi-finals as the host nation. Venables vacated his position as England manager after the tournament and was replaced by Glenn Hoddle.

After being in international exile for 21 consecutive matches, Wright was recalled to the England team by Hoddle in November 1996 when he came off the bench in a 2–0 1998 World Cup qualifying victory in Georgia. It had been over two years since Wright had made his previous England appearance in October 1994.

Four of Wright's nine international goals were scored under Hoddle's management, including the winner in a 2–1 friendly win against South Africa at Old Trafford in May 1997, and the opener a month later in a 2–0 victory over Italy in the Tournoi de France. England won the four-team tournament, staged as a warm-up event to the 1998 World Cup in France, which also included world champions Brazil as well as the hosts.

Wright went on to help England qualify for the 1998 World Cup by scoring two goals in the 4–0 qualifying campaign victory against Moldova at Wembley in September 1997, before producing arguably his best performance for his country in the vital 0–0 draw in Italy, a month later, which secured his country's passage through to the finals. He missed out on the finals, however, with a recurrence of the hamstring injury which had ruled him out for much of Arsenal's double-winning campaign.

Following the 1998 World Cup, Wright went on to play a further two times for England as a West Ham player. He came on as a substitute in the Euro 2000 qualifier in Luxembourg, a match England won 3–0 in October 1998. He made his final international appearance, a month later, in a friendly against the Czech Republic at Wembley. England won the match 2–0 and it also turned out to be Hoddle's final game as manager.

Wright started six matches and was used as a substitute on six occasions under Hoddle, who was manager for 28 matches. He made his first appearance under Hoddle aged 33 and his final appearance under him aged 35. England went on to qualify for Euro 2000 in Belgium and the Netherlands, by which time, Wright was approaching his 37th birthday and retired from club football shortly after the tournament. Only Mick Channon played more times for England without being selected for a World Cup or European Championships squad.

Director of Football

In March 2007, Wright was appointed Director of Football Strategy of Isthmian League team, Ashford Town, and him taking his place on the Board of Directors, following his purchase of a stake in the club.

Broadcasting career

Television

Wright began his television career as a guest host on Top of the Pops. He was later signed up by ITV to present his own chat show, ''Friday Night's All Wright'', where he interviewed such showbiz greats as Elton John, Mariah Carey and Will Smith which ran for two seasons.

Since then, he has gone on to present programmes such as ''Friends Like These'', ''I'd Do Anything'', ''The National Lottery Wright Ticket'' and ''What Kids Really Think''. He took over from David Seaman in Autumn 2004 as a team captain on BBC game show ''They Think It's All Over'', which ran until 2006.

Wright has also starred in ''Men & Motors'' show ''Wright Across America'', where he fulfils a life long dream to travel coast to coast across America on a ''Harley-Davidson'' motorbike. The show is famous for Wright's rocky relationship with co-host and legendary custom bike builder ''Nicky Bootz''.

He also starred in ''Ian Wright's Excellent Adventure'' in which he travels to Greenland with a friend, 'Mrs C' (Novello Noades, wife of former Crystal Palace chairman Ron Noades), to scale the highest mountain in the Arctic, Gunnbjørn.

Wright appeared as a "celebrity hijacker" in the television series ''Big Brother: Celebrity Hijack''.

On 12 March 2008, Wright was confirmed as one of the presenters of the new series of the popular game show ''Gladiators''.

Wright was a presenter on Channel 5's early evening magazine programme ''Live from Studio Five'', from its launch in September 2009, to August 2010. He originally co-presented the show alongside, former model Melinda Messenger, and runner-up of the ''The Apprentice'', Kate Walsh.

It was announced on 29 January 2010, that Wright’s co-presenter Melinda Messenger was leaving ''Live from Studio Five'' to focus on other projects. After making her final appearance on 26 February 2010, Messenger revealed that she had left the show following a disagreement with Wright. She described their relationship as "intolerable".

Wright continued to present the show, alongside Walsh, and new presenter Jayne Middlemiss. At the beginning of the 12 August 2010 edition of ''Live from Studio Five'', Walsh and Middlemiss announced that Wright would not be presenting the show that evening. At the end of the programme, they revealed that he had left the show, and would not be returning.

It was later revealed that Wright had been sacked from ''Live from Studio Five'', after falling out with the show's bosses, over Channel 5's summer talent show ''Don't Stop Believing''. It was reported that Wright refused to promote the show, on the early evening programme, as he was not a fan of it. Wright was also reported to be unhappy with other changes at the programme, such as its daily airtime being cut from 60 minutes to just 30 minutes.

During a radio interview with ''Absolute Radio'', the day after he was axed, Wright stated that, "It's just been arguments for the last couple of weeks." Wright's contract was due to end in September 2010, but show bosses decided not to renew it. Wright, who was reported to have not found out about his termination from the show, until just hours before he was due to arrive at the studios on Thursday 12 August, made his final appearance on Wednesday 11 August's addition of ''Live from Studio Five''. The show was axed in February 2011.

Wright presented ''Football Behind Bars'', a reality TV series aired on Sky1 about his program to socialize young men incarcerated at Portland Young Offenders Institution in Dorset by organizing them in a football academy. The program was an experiment with the prison authority with an eye to expanding it to other prisons if it was successful. The series ran 6 episodes, aired weekly from 7 September to 12 October 2009.

Radio

Wright formerly co-hosted the drivetime slot (4-7 pm) Monday to Thursday on Talksport, with Adrian Durham. In 2010 Wright joined ''Absolute Radio Rock 'N' Roll Football'' for post match analysis and hosts this on their new Digital and MW radio station Absolute Extra.

Punditry

Since his retirement from football, Wright appeared as a pundit on BBC Sport's ''International Match of the Day'' and has been a pundit for the 2002 and 2006 World Cups and Euro 2004.

On 17 April 2008, Wright quit his job on ''Match Of The Day'' and criticised the programme for using him as a "comedy jester", saying "Fans want people who are dressed like them. They've got no one to relate to on TV and that's why I've said to them I don't want to do the England games any more."

Commercials

Wright has appeared in television commercials for the chicken sauce, Chicken Tonight and Ladbrokes along with Chris Kamara, Ally McCoist and former Arsenal team mate Lee Dixon.

He also appears in an advertisement for the Nintendo Wii console where he is playing ''Mario Strikers Charged'' and ''Wii Sports'' with his son Shaun.

Writing

While he was still a professional footballer at Arsenal, Wright published his autobiography, ''Mr Wright''. It was first published in hardback in 1996 by Collins Willow when Wright was still a professional player at Arsenal. It was then published in paperback in 1997, which included an all new updated chapter.

In 1993, Wright wrote and released a single called "Do The Right Thing". The song was co-written and produced by Chris Lowe (of Pet Shop Boys) and reached #43 in the UK Singles Chart.

Wright is also a columnist for tabloid newspaper ''The Sun''.

Personal life

Wright's adopted son Shaun Wright-Phillips currently plays for QPR and England. Shaun's half-brother Bradley Wright-Phillips, who is Ian's biological son, plays for Charlton. Ian's cousin Jermaine Wright currently plays for Lewes FC, having been released by Blackpool, while Ian's other son, Brett Wright, had a trial with Reading in September 2005 and played for their reserve team. His youngest son, Stacey, is a keen rugby player and attends Whitgift School in Croydon.

Wright is also the patron of the African-Caribbean Leukaemia Trust.

He has supported Millwall since he was a boy.

Awards

Shortly after his retirement from playing in 2000, Wright was awarded the MBE for his services to football.

Career statistics

|- |1985–86||rowspan="7"|Crystal Palace||rowspan="4"|Second Division||32||9||2||0||34||9 |- |1986–87||38||9||5||1||43||10 |- |1987–88||41||20||4||3||45||23 |- |1988–89||42||24||3||1||45||25 |- |1989–90||rowspan="4"|First Division||26||8||7||1||33||9 |- |1990–91||38||15||8||4||46||19 |- |1991–92||8||5||0||0||8||5 |- |1991–92||rowspan="7"|Arsenal||30||24||3||2||33||26 |- |1992–93||rowspan="7"|Premier League||31||15||15||15||46||30 |- |1993–94||39||23||13||11||52||34 |- |1994–95||31||18||14||12||45||30 |- |1995–96||31||15||9||8||40||23 |- |1996–97||35||23||6||7||41||30 |- |1997–98||24||10||4||1||28||11 |- |1998–99||West Ham United||22||9||1||0||23||9 |- |1999–2000||Nottingham Forest||First Division||10||5||0||0||10||5 |- |1999–2000||Celtic||Premier League||8||3||1||0||9||3 |- |1999–2000||Burnley||Second Division||15||4||0||0||15||4 493||236||94||66||587||302 8||3||1||0||9||3 501||239||95||66||596||305

Honours

;Individual

MBE: 1

:: 2002

PFA Team of the Year: 2

:: 1993, 1997

English Football Hall of Fame: 1

:: 2005

;Crystal Palace

Second Division: 1

:: 1989

Full Members Cup: 1

:: 1991

Golden Boot: 1

:: 1992

;Arsenal

Golden Boot: 1

:: 1992

FA Premier League: 1

:: 1997–98

FA Cup: 2

:: 1993, 1998

UEFA Cup Winners' Cup: 1

:: 1994

League Cup: 1

:: 1993

;England

Tournoi de France: 1

:: 1997

England Challenge Cup: 1

:: 1991

References

External links

Ian Wright Player Statistics Soccerbase

Number 8 - Ian Wright ArseWEB

Football Hall of Fame - Ian Wright National Football Museum

Category:1963 births Category:Living people Category:English footballers Category:England international footballers Category:England B international footballers Category:Arsenal F.C. players Category:Burnley F.C. players Category:Celtic F.C. players Category:Crystal Palace F.C. players Category:Nottingham Forest F.C. players Category:West Ham United F.C. players Category:Premier League players Category:Scottish Premier League players Category:The Football League players Category:First Division/Premier League topscorers Category:English television presenters Category:English radio personalities Category:Members of the Order of the British Empire Category:Black English sportspeople Category:People from Woolwich Category:English Football Hall of Fame inductees Category:Black British television personalities Category:British association football commentators

ar:إيان رايت da:Ian Wright de:Ian Wright (Fußballspieler) es:Ian Wright (futbolista) eu:Ian Wright fr:Ian Wright gd:Iain Wright it:Ian Wright he:איאן רייט la:Ioannes Wright nl:Ian Wright ja:イアン・ライト no:Ian Edward Wright pl:Ian Wright pt:Ian Wright ru:Райт, Иан simple:Ian Wright fi:Ian Wright sv:Ian Wright tr:Ian Wright zh:伊恩·胡禮

Coordinates	39°44′21″N104°59′5″N
name	Garcelle Beauvais
birth date	November 26, 1966
birth place	St. Marc, Haiti
occupation	Actress
yearsactive	1984–present
spouse	Daniel Saunders (divorced; 1 child)Mike Nilon (divorced; 2 children (twins))
homepage	}}

Garcelle Beauvais (born November 26, 1966) is a Haitian-American actress and former fashion model. She is best known for her roles as The Hotel Employee Francesca "Fancy" Monroe on The WB television sitcom, ''The Jamie Foxx Show'' which ran from 1996 to 2001, and as Valerie Heywood on the ABC crime drama, NYPD Blue.

Early life

Beauvais was born in Haiti, to Marie-Claire Beauvais, a nurse, and Axel Jean Pierre, a lawyer. After her parents divorced, Garcelle and her six elder siblings moved with their mother to the US, first to Massachusetts and later to Miami.

Career

At age seventeen, Beauvais went to New York City to pursue a career as a fashion model, and she was signed with Ford Models and Irene Marie Models in Miami. She modeled print ads for Avon, Mary Kay and Clairol. Beauvais also modeled in catalogs for Lerner New York Clothing Line, Neiman Marcus and Nordstrom. She has appeared in ''Essence'' and ''Ebony'' and also walked the catwalk for Calvin Klein and Isaac Mizrahi. Beauvais is the cover model for ''Jet'' June 6, 2011 issue.

She co-starred in ''The Jamie Foxx Show''. After ''The Jamie Foxx Show'' ended its run in 2001, Beauvais appeared in Luther Vandross' music video, "Take You Out", playing Vandross' girlfriend. She had previously starred in R. Kelly's video for "Down Low (Nobody Has to Know)" in 1996, as the wife of "Mr. Big", and the lover of R. Kelly, delivering the title line as inducement for an affair. She also posed for ''Playboy'' 's August 2007 issue. In 2008, Garcelle launched her children's jewelry line called Petit Bijou. As of June 2011, Garcelle is a character on the TNT law drama Franklin & Bash.

Personal life

A marriage to producer Daniel Saunders ended in divorce. They had a son, Oliver, born in 1991.

Beauvais married Mike Nilon, an agent working for the Creative Artists Agency, on May 12, 2001. Their twin sons, Jax Joseph and Jaid Thomas, were born on October 8, 2007, after a five-year struggle with infertility. In April 2010, it was reported that Beauvais had discovered a five-year extramarital affair by Nilon. She reportedly outed him by sending his co-workers an email, the contents of which were leaked to the ''New York Post''. Beauvais issued a statement on April 9, 2010, explaining that her "focus at this time is on my kids and healing the pain". Beauvais filed for divorce from Nilon on May 10, 2010, seeking joint custody of their sons. The couple's divorce was finalized on April 1, 2011.

Filmography

''Manhunter'' (1986)

''Coming to America'' (1988)

''Every Breath'' (1993)

''Wild Wild West'' (1999)

''Double Take'' (2001)

''Bad Company'' (2002)

''BarberShop 2: Back in Business'' (2004)

''American Gun'' (2005)

''I Know Who Killed Me'' (2007)

''Women in Trouble'' (2009)

Television work

''Miami Vice'' (1984 and 1985)

''The Cosby Show'' (1986) (uncredited)

''Family Matters'' (1991–1996)

''Dream On'' (1992)

''The Fresh Prince Of Bel-Air'' (1992 and 1995)

''Hanging with Mr. Cooper'' (1993)

R. Kelly - "Down Low (Nobody Has to Know)" (music video) (1995)

''Models, Inc.'' (1994–1995)

''The Wayans Bros'' (1995)

''The Jamie Foxx Show'' (1996–2001)

''Arli$$'' (1999)

''Opposite Sex'' (2000) (canceled after 8 episodes)

''NYPD Blue'' (cast member from 2001–2004)

Luther Vandross - "Take You Out" (music video) (2001)

''Second String'' (2002)

''The Bernie Mac Show'' - seen in one episode 'Rope-a-Dope' as Wesley Snipes's motor-mouth wife (2003)

''Curb Your Enthusiasm'' (2004)

''Life with Bonnie'' (2004)

''Eyes'' (2005–2007) (canceled after 9 episodes)

''10.5: Apocalypse'' (2006)

''Women in Law'' (2006)

''CSI: Miami'' (2006)

''The Cure'' (2007)

''Maneater'' (2009)

''Human Target'' (2010)

''Franklin & Bash'' (2011)

References

External links

Category:1966 births Category:Haitian female models Category:Haitian actors Category:American people of Haitian descent Category:Living people

de:Garcelle Beauvais fr:Garcelle Beauvais it:Garcelle Beauvais ht:Garcelle Beauvais nl:Garcelle Beauvais pl:Garcelle Beauvais ro:Garcelle Beauvais

Coordinates	39°44′21″N104°59′5″N
birth name	Sandra Annette Bullock
birth date	July 26, 1964
birth place	Arlington County, Virginia, U.S.
nationality	American
years active	1985–present
spouse	Jesse G. James (2005–2010)
children	Louis Bardo (2010)
residence	New Orleans, Lousiana
alma mater	Washington-Lee High School
parents	John BullockHelga Meyer (deceased)
occupation	Actress, producer }}

Sandra Annette Bullock (; born July 26, 1964) is an American actress and producer who rose to fame in the 1990s after roles in successful films such as ''Speed'', ''A Time to Kill'', and ''While You Were Sleeping''. She continued with films such as ''Miss Congeniality'', ''Two Weeks Notice'', and ''Crash'', the third of which received critical acclaim. In 2007, she was ranked as the 14th richest female celebrity with an estimated fortune of US$85 million. In 2009, Bullock starred in the most financially successful films of her career, ''The Proposal'' and ''The Blind Side''. Bullock was awarded a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress, a Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role, and the Academy Award for Best Actress, for her role as Leigh Anne Tuohy in ''The Blind Side''.

Early life

Sandra Annette Bullock was born in Arlington, Virginia, daughter of John W. Bullock (born 1925), an United States Army employee and part time-voice coach from Birmingham, Alabama, and his wife Helga D. Meyer (1942–2000), a German opera singer and voice teacher. Bullock's maternal grandfather was a rocket scientist from Nuremberg, Germany. John Bullock, then in charge of the Army's Military Postal Service in Europe, was stationed in Nuremberg when he met his wife. They married in Germany, soon moving to Arlington, where John Bullock worked with the Army Materiel Command, before becoming a contractor for The Pentagon.

Bullock frequently accompanied her mother on her opera tours throughout Europe. She spent time in Salzburg and Nuremberg, where she stayed with her aunt and grandmother and became fluent in German. Bullock studied ballet and vocal arts as a child, taking small parts in her mother's opera productions. She sang in the operas children's choir at the ''Staatstheater Nürnberg''.

Bullock attended Washington-Lee High School, where she was a cheerleader and performed in high school theater productions. After she graduated in 1982, she entered East Carolina University in Greenville, North Carolina. However, she dropped out in her fourth year in spring of 1986, just three credits short of graduating, to become an actress. She moved to Manhattan and supported herself as a bartender, cocktail waitress, and coat checker. She later completed her coursework and graduated from East Carolina University.

Acting

While in New York, Bullock took acting classes with Sanford Meisner. She appeared in several student films, and later landed a role in an Off-Broadway play ''No Time Flat''. Director Alan J. Levi was impressed by Bullock's performance and offered her a part in the TV movie ''Bionic Showdown: The Six Million Dollar Man and the Bionic Woman'' (1989). Afterward, she was cast in a series of small roles in several independent films as well as in the lead role of the short-lived NBC television version of the film ''Working Girl'' (1990). She later appeared in several films, such as ''Love Potion No. 9'' (1992), ''The Thing Called Love'' (1993) and ''Fire on the Amazon''. A prominent supporting role in the science-fiction/action movie ''Demolition Man'' (1993) led to her breakthrough performance in ''Speed'' the following year. She became a movie star in the late 1990s, carrying a string of successes, including ''While You Were Sleeping'', and ''Miss Congeniality'' in 2000. Bullock received $11 million for ''Speed 2: Cruise Control'', which she agreed to star in for financial backing for her own project, ''Hope Floats'', and has revealed she regrets making the sequel. She later received $17.5 million for ''Miss Congeniality 2: Armed & Fabulous''.

Bullock was selected as one of ''People'' magazine's 50 Most Beautiful People in the World in 1996 and 1999, and was also ranked #58 in ''Empire'' magazine's Top 100 Movie Stars of All Time list. She was presented with the 2002 Raúl Juliá Award for Excellence for her efforts, as the executive producer of the sitcom ''George Lopez'', in helping expand career openings for Hispanic talent in the media and entertainment industry. She also made several appearances on the show as Accident Amy, an accident-prone employee at the factory Lopez's character manages. In 2002, she starred opposite Hugh Grant in ''Two Weeks Notice'' and in the film ''Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood''.

In 2004, Bullock had a supporting role in the film ''Crash''. She received positive reviews for her performance, with some critics suggesting that it was the best performance of her career. In 2005, she was a co-recipient of the Women in Film Crystal Award.

Bullock later appeared in ''The Lake House'', a romantic drama also starring her ''Speed'' co-star, Keanu Reeves; it was released on June 16, 2006. Because their film characters are separated throughout the film (due to the plot revolving around time travel), Bullock and Reeves were only on set together for two weeks during filming. The same year, Bullock appeared in ''Infamous'', playing author Harper Lee. Bullock also starred in ''Premonition'' with Julian McMahon, which was released in March 2007. 2009 proved to be especially good for Bullock, giving the actress two record highs in her career, as earlier in the year she released ''The Proposal'', with co-star Ryan Reynolds, a huge hit that took in more than $314 million at the box office worldwide, making it her most successful picture to date.

In November 2009, Bullock starred in ''The Blind Side'', which opened at #2 behind ''New Moon'' with $34.2 million, making it her highest opening weekend ever. ''The Blind Side'' is unique in that it had a 17.6% increase at the box office its second weekend, and it took the top spot of the box office in its third weekend. The movie cost $29 million to make according to the Box Office Mojo. It has grossed over $250 million to date, making it her domestic highest grossing film and the first movie in history to pass the $200 million mark with only one top-billed female star. She won the award for Best Actress at the Golden Globes, Academy Awards, and the Screen Actors Guild Award for her performance in ''The Blind Side''. Bullock had initially turned down the role three times due to a discomfort with portraying a devout Christian. Winning the "Oscar" also gave her another unique distinction — since she won two "Razzies" the day before, for her performance in ''All About Steve'', she is the only performer ever to have been named both "Best" and "Worst" for the same year. Sandra was asked to return her 2009 "Worst Actress of the Year" Razzie award; however, this wasn't because of a change of heart for Bullock's performance but because Bullock personally accepted her Razzie and accidentally took the original one-of-a-kind prototype Razzie, as opposed to the cheap trinket normally handed out to celebrities.

Recognition

As of 2009, Bullock's films have grossed over $3.1 billion worldwide. According to ''The Numbers'', her total domestic gross stands at $1.7 billion, placing her among the Top 100 Stars at the Box Office.

Critics, while praising her screen persona, have been less receptive to her films. As of the 2009 release of ''The Proposal'', Mark Kermode said she's made only three "good" films in her career—''Speed'', ''While You Were Sleeping'', and ''Crash'', and says "she's funny, she's gorgeous, it's impossible not to love her and yet she makes rotten film after rotten film after rotten film." As of December 2009, Bullock has appeared on three ''Entertainment Weekly'' covers. She was selected by ''People'' Magazine as its "Woman of the Year" for 2010. She was ranked #12 on ''People'''s Most Beautiful 2011 list.

Entrepreneurship

Bullock runs her own production company, Fortis Films. Bullock was an executive producer of ''The George Lopez Show'', which garnered a lucrative syndication deal that banked her some $10 million (co-produced with Robert Borden). Bullock tried to produce a film based on F.X. Toole's short story, ''Million-Dollar Baby'', but could not interest the studios in a female boxing drama. The story was eventually adapted and directed by Clint Eastwood as the Oscar-winning film, ''Million Dollar Baby'' (2004). Bullock's production company, Fortis Films, also produced ''All About Steve'', which was released in September 2009. Her father, John Bullock, is the company's CEO, and her sister, Gesine Bullock-Prado, is the former president.

Since November 2006, Bullock founded a popular Austin, Texas, restaurant, Bess Bistro. She later opened another business across the street in a building she extensively renovated downtown called Walton's Fancy and Staple a bakery, upscale restaurant and floral shop that also offers services such as event planning.

Personal life

Relationships and children

Bullock was once engaged to actor Tate Donovan, whom she met while filming ''Love Potion No. 9''; their relationship lasted four years. She previously dated football player Troy Aikman, Austin musician Bob Schneider (for two years), and actors Matthew McConaughey and Ryan Gosling.

Bullock married motorcycle builder and ''Monster Garage'' host Jesse James on July 16, 2005. They first met when Bullock arranged for her ten-year-old godson to meet James as a Christmas present.

In November 2009, Bullock and James entered into a custody battle with James' second ex-wife, former pornographic actress Janine Lindemulder, with whom James had a child. Bullock and James subsequently won full legal custody of James' five-year-old daughter.

In March 2010, a scandal arose when several women claimed to have had affairs with James during his marriage to Bullock. Bullock cancelled European promotional appearances for ''The Blind Side'' citing "unforeseen personal reasons". On March 18, 2010, James responded to the rumors of infidelity by issuing a public apology to Bullock. He stated, "The vast majority of the allegations reported are untrue and unfounded" and "Beyond that, I will not dignify these private matters with any further public comment." James declared that "There is only one person to blame for this whole situation, and that is me", and asked that his wife and children one day "find it in their hearts to forgive me" for their current "pain and embarrassment". James’ publicist subsequently announced on March 30, 2010, that James had checked into a rehab facility "to deal with personal issues" and "save his marriage" to Bullock. However on April 28, 2010, it was reported that Bullock had filed for divorce on April 23 in Austin. Their divorce was finalized on June 28, 2010, with "conflict of personalities" cited as the reason.

Bullock announced on April 28, 2010, that she had proceeded with plans to adopt a baby boy born in January 2010 in New Orleans. Bullock and James had begun an initial adoption process four years earlier. The child began living with them in January 2010, but they chose to keep the news private until after the Oscars in March 2010. However, given the couple's separation and then divorce, Bullock continued the adoption of the baby, named Louis Bardo Bullock, as a single parent.

Vehicular accidents

On December 20, 2000, Bullock and another passenger survived the crash of a chartered business jet during an attempted night landing at Jackson Hole Airport. The pilots were unable to activate the runway lights due to having out-of-date approach plates, but continued the landing. The aircraft landed in the airport's graded safety area between the runway and parallel taxiway and hit a snowbank. The accident caused a separation of the nose cone and landing gear, partial separation of the right wing, and a bend in the left wing.

On April 18, 2008, while Bullock was in Massachusetts shooting the film ''The Proposal'', she and her then-husband were in an SUV that was hit head-on (driver's side offset) at moderate speed by a drunken driver. Vehicle damage was not major and there were no injuries.

Legal matters

In October 2004, Bullock won a multimillion-dollar judgment against Benny Daneshjou, the builder of her Lake Austin, Texas home; the jury ruled the house was uninhabitable. It has since been torn down and rebuilt.

Stalking

On April 22, 2007, Marcia Diana Valentine was found lying outside James and Bullock's Southern California home in Orange County. When James confronted the woman, she ran to her 2004 silver Mercedes, got behind the wheel, and tried to run over James. The woman is said to be an obsessed fan of Sandra Bullock. The woman was charged with one felony count each of aggravated assault and stalking, while Bullock obtained a restraining order to bar Valentine from "contacting or coming near her home, family or work for three years." Valentine pleaded not guilty to charges of aggravated assault and stalking. Valentine was subsequently convicted of stalking and was sentenced to three years of probation.

Charity work

Bullock has been a public supporter of the American Red Cross, having donated $1 million to the organization at least four times. Her first public donation of that amount was to the Red Cross's Liberty Disaster Relief Fund. Four years later, she sent money in response to the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunamis. In 2010, she donated $1 million to relief efforts in Haiti following the Haiti earthquake, and again donated the same amount following the 2011 Japan Earthquake.

Along with other stars, Bullock did a PSA urging people to sign a petition for clean-up efforts of the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

Filmography

+ Feature films
! Year	! Title	! Role	Notes
1987	''Hangmen''	Lisa Edwards
1989	''Religion, Inc.'' (aka "A Fool and His Money")	Debby
1989	''Bionic Showdown: The Six Million Dollar Man and the Bionic Woman''	Kate Mason
1989	''Who Shot Patakango?''	Devlin Moran
1989	''''	Stacy
1990	''Lucky/Chances''	Maria Santangelo
1992	''Who Do I Gotta Kill?'' (aka "Me and the Mob")	Lori
1992	''When the Party's Over''	Amanda
1992		Diane Farrow
1993	''''	Diane Shaver
1993	''''	Linda Lue Linden
1993		Lt. Lenina Huxley	Nominated—Golden Raspberry Award
1993	''[[Fire on the Amazon''	Alyssa Rothman
1993	''Wrestling Ernest Hemingway''	Elaine
1994		Annie Porter	Saturn Award for Best ActressMTV Movie Award for Best Female PerformanceMTV Movie Award for Best On-Screen Duo (with Keanu Reeves) MTV Movie Award for Most Desirable Female Nominated—MTV Movie Award for Best Kiss (with Keanu Reeves)
1995	''While You Were Sleeping''	Lucy Moderatz	Nominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy Nominated—MTV Movie Awards
1995	''''	Angela Bennett/Ruth Marx
1996	''[[Two If by Sea''	Roz
1996	''''	Ellen Roark
1996		Agnes Von Kurowsky
1997	''Speed 2: Cruise Control''	Annie Porter	Nominated—Razzie Award for Worst ActressNominated—Razzie Award for Worst Screen Couple (with Jason Patric)
1997	''Making Sandwiches''	Melba Club	Debut—Sundance Film Festival; also writer, director, and producer
1998	''Hope Floats''	Roberta "Birdee" Pruitt
1998	''Practical Magic''	Sally Owens	Co - Producer
1998	'''' (animated film)	Miriam	(Voice)
1999	''Forces of Nature''	Sarah Lewis
2000		Judy Tipp
2000		Gwen Cummings
2000		Gracie Hart/Gracie Lou Freebush	Nominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy Nominated—Satellite Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy Also Producer
2002	''Murder by Numbers''	Cassie Mayweather/Jessica Marie Hudson
2002		Siddalee Walker
2002	''Two Weeks Notice''	Lucy Kelson
2004		Jean Cabot	Black Reel Award: Best Ensemble
2005		Mrs. Harker
2005	''[[Miss Congeniality 2: Armed and Fabulous''	Gracie Hart	Producer
2006	''''	Kate Forster
2006		Nelle Harper Lee
2007		Linda Hanson
2009	''''	Margaret Tate	Teen Choice Award for Best Dance (with Betty White)Teen Choice Award for Best Romantic Comedy ActressNominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Musical or ComedyNominated—Teen Choice Award for Choice Movie: Chemistry (with Ryan Reynolds) Nominated—Teen Choice Award for Choice Summer: Movie Star—FemaleNominated—Teen Choice Award for Choice Movie: Liplock (with Ryan Reynolds) Nominated—MTV Movie Award for Best Kiss (with Ryan Reynolds) Nominated—MTV Movie Award for Best Comedic Performance Nominated—People's Choice Award for Favorite On Screen Team (with Ryan Reynolds) Nominated—Satellite Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy	Producer
2009	''All About Steve''	Mary Horowitz	Razzie Award for Worst ActressRazzie Award for Worst Screen Couple (with Bradley Cooper)	Producer
2009	''''	Leigh Anne Tuohy	Academy Award for Best Actress Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Actress (tied with Meryl Streep) Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Drama Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role Teen Choice Award for Best Actress Drama MTV Generation Award Nominated—Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Association Award for Best Actress Nominated—Denver Film Critics Award for Best Actress Nominated—Houston Film Critics Society Award for Best ActressNominated—MTV Movie Award for Best Female Performance Nominated—NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actress in a Motion Picture Nominated—Washington D.C. Area Films Critics Association for Best Actress
2011			Post-production
2012			Filming

References

External links

Sandra Bullock at Yahoo! Movies

Sandra Bullock: 2010's Triumphs – slideshow by ''Life magazine''

Category:1964 births Category:Living people Category:20th-century actors Category:21st-century actors Category:Actors from Virginia Category:American film actors Category:American film producers Category:American people of German descent Category:American philanthropists Category:American television actors Category:American television producers Category:Best Actress Academy Award winners Category:East Carolina University alumni Category:Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre alumni Category:Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture Screen Actors Guild Award winners Category:Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role Screen Actors Guild Award winners Category:People from Arlington County, Virginia Category:People from Austin, Texas Category:People from Fürth Category:Waldorf school alumni

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