Cap-Haïtien
Sign in to saveCap-Haïtien (; ; "Haitian Cape") is a commune of about 400,000 people on the north coast of Haiti and capital of the department of Nord. Previously named Cap‑Français (; initially Cap-François ) and Cap‑Henri () during the rule of Henri I, it was historically nicknamed the Paris of the Antilles, because of its wealth and sophistication, expressed through its architecture and artistic life. It was an important city during the colonial period, serving as the capital of the French Colony of Saint-Domingue from the city's formal foundation in 1711 until 1770 when the capital was moved to Port-au-P
Weather now
cached 11h ago26°broken clouds
81% 4.0 m/s OpenWeatherMap
7-day forecast
via Open-Meteo
Place details
- Locality
- Cap-Haïtien
- Region
- Département du Nord
- Country
- Ayiti
- Population
- 0
via OpenStreetMap · GeoNames
Key facts
- Settlement.flag_size
- 80px
- Settlement.name
- Cap-Haitian
- Settlement.official_name
- Cap-Haïtien
- Settlement.other_name
- Guarico (Arawakan Name), Cap-Français (Colonial Name), Cap-Henri (During the reign of King Henri I)
- Settlement.settlement_type
- Commune
- Settlement.nicknames
- Le Paris des AntillesThe Paris of the Antilles
- Settlement.image_skyline
- Cap-Haitien seen from Morne Jean.jpg
- Settlement.image_caption
- View of Cap-Haïtien
- Settlement.image_shield
- Cap-Haitien Coat Of Arms.png
- Settlement.shield_size
- 60px
- Settlement.pushpin_map
- Haiti
- Settlement.pushpin_label_position
- bottom
Key dates
- Inception
- 1670
via Wikidata · CC0
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- big city
- Country
- Saint-Domingue
- Located in
- Nord
- Population
- +155505
- Area
- +53500000
- Elevation
- +0
- Time zone
- Eastern Time Zone
- Capital of
- Nord
- Image
- View of Cap-Haitien.jpg
Show 7 more facts
Article
30 sectionsContents
- History
- Geography
- Economy
- Tourism
- Labadie and other beaches
- Vertières
- Citadelle Henry and Sans-Souci Palace
- Bois Caïman
- Morne Rouge
- Disasters
- 1842 Cap-Haïtien earthquake
- 2010 Haiti earthquake
- Cap-Haïtien fuel tanker explosion
- Transportation
- Airports
- Seaport
- Roads
- Public transportation
- Health
- Education
- Universities
- Sport
- Media
- Television
- Radio stations
- Notable natives
- See also
- Notes
- References
- External links
Cap-Haïtien (; ; "Haitian Cape") is a commune of about 400,000 people on the north coast of Haiti and capital of the department of Nord. Previously named Cap‑Français (; initially Cap-François ) and Cap‑Henri () during the rule of Henri I, it was historically nicknamed the Paris of the Antilles, because of its wealth and sophistication, expressed through its architecture and artistic life. It was an important city during the colonial period, serving as the capital of the French Colony of Saint-Domingue from the city's formal foundation in 1711 until 1770 when the capital was moved to Port-au-Prince. After the Haitian Revolution, it became the capital of the Kingdom of Haiti under King Henri I until 1820.
Cap-Haïtien's long history of independent thought was formed in part by its relative distance from Port-au-Prince, the barrier of mountains between it and the southern part of the country, and a history of large African populations. These contributed to making it a legendary incubator of independent movements since slavery times. For instance, from February 5–29, 2004, the city was taken over by militants who opposed the rule of the Haïtian president Jean-Bertrand Aristide. They eventually created enough political pressure to force him out of office and the country.