Haiti - (North America)

Information about Haiti

Capital
 Port-au-Prince
Area
 27750 square kilometres
Population
 7492000
Religions
 Roman Catholic 80%, Protestant 16% (Baptist 10%, Pentecostal 4%, Adventist 1%, other 1%), none 1%, other 3% (1982)
Christian (%)
 96.00
Protestant (%)
 16.00
Reformed (%)

The island was discovered by Christopher Columbus in 1492. In 1657 the territory of Haiti passed from the Spanish to the French. In 1791 the black population rose against the white ruling class; it was the first country in Latin America to become independent (under Toussaint Louverture in 1804). From 1822 to 1844 Haiti also ruled over the Dominican Republic. Prompted by an anarchic situation, the US marines occupied the country in 1915; it remained dependent on the USA after their departure (1934). The mulattos played the dominant role. In 1957 François Duvalier won the elections on the basis of the promise to defend the rights of the blacks. In fact, he and, after 1971, his son Jean-Claude ruled as brutal dictators. In 1990 Aristide, a priest, was elected to the presidency, but he was soon removed by a military putch. Through US intervention the democratic order was reestablished in 1994. Haiti is the poorest country of the Western hemisphere.
Prot first came to the country in the early part of the 19th century when slaves, fleeing from the USA, found refuge in Haiti. The oldest Prot churches are the Meth and Angl, the largest body are the Bapt, followed by the Pent and Advent. In the ’60s evangelical Prot denominations founded a Council of Evangelical Churches, and in 1986 the Protestant Federation of Haiti, which brings together the majority of Protestant Churches, came into existence. The two bodies cooperate in some fields.

Churches

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