Haiti

Port-au-Prince is Haiti’s capital and largest city, serving as the seat of government and the country’s main economic and cultural hub on the Gulf of Gonâve. Founded by the French in 1749, it became the colonial capital in 1770 (replacing Cap-Haïtien) and remained the national capital after Haiti’s independence in 1804. Remember it this way: a “Prince” rules from the capital, and a “Port” anchors the nation—Port-au-Prince. While Cap-Haïtien, Les Cayes, and Gonaïves are important Haitian cities (Gonaïves is where independence was declared), only Port-au-Prince hosts the central institutions of government and international commerce.