Ouest Department (Département de l'Ouest)
Ouest (French) or Lwès (Haitian Creole; both meaning "West") is one of the ten departments of Haiti and located in Centre-Sud of the country linking the Great-North and the Tiburon Peninsula.
It is the jurisdictional seat of the national capital, the city of Port-au-Prince.
It has an area of 4982.56 km2 and a population of 4,029,705 (2015 Estimate). Due to the Ouest being the biggest and most populated department.
It is the jurisdictional seat of the national capital, the city of Port-au-Prince.
It has an area of 4982.56 km2 and a population of 4,029,705 (2015 Estimate). Due to the Ouest being the biggest and most populated department.
Map - Ouest Department (Département de l'Ouest)
Map
Country - Haiti
Flag of Haiti |
The island was originally inhabited by the indigenous Taíno people, who originated in South America. The first Europeans arrived on 5 December 1492 during the first voyage of Christopher Columbus, who initially believed he had found India or China. Columbus subsequently founded the first European settlement in the Americas, La Navidad, on what is now the northeastern coast of Haiti. The island was claimed by Spain and named La Española, forming part of the Spanish Empire until the early 17th century. However, competing claims and settlements by the French led to the western portion of the island being ceded to France in 1697, which was subsequently named Saint-Domingue. French colonists established lucrative sugarcane plantations, worked by vast numbers of slaves brought from Africa, which made the colony one of the richest in the world.
Currency / Language
ISO | Currency | Symbol | Significant figures |
---|---|---|---|
HTG | Haitian gourde | G | 2 |
USD | United States dollar | $ | 2 |
ISO | Language |
---|---|
FR | French language |
HT | Haitian Creole language |