Around 1.2 million people, including 540,000 children, have been impacted by the magnitude-7.2 earthquake which struck southwestern Haiti on August 14, according to the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF). The quake left at least 1,941 people dead and more than 6,900 injured, and the toll is expected to rise in the coming days.
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This story is an English language news item from CGTN. CGTN is a Chinese state-funded broadcaster.
Haiti is a Caribbean country that shares the island of Hispaniola with the Dominican Republic to its east. Though it’s still recovering from a 2010 earthquake, many of Haiti’s landmarks dating to the early 19th century remain intact. These include Citadelle la Ferrière, a mountaintop fortress.
Jean-Jacques Dessalines (later Emperor Jacques I), defeated Napoleon Bonaparte’s forces and declared Haiti’s sovereignty on 1 January 1804.
Haiti became the only state in history established by a successful slave revolt. Apart from Alexandre Pétion, the first President of the Republic, all of Haiti’s first leaders were former slaves.