|
Hero's Day
by W.Holidays
Hero's
Day is celebrated in Haiti on January 3.
It honors Haitians' ancestors. It
is
also known as Ancestry Day.
Haitian
Flag
The Republic of Haiti is a country situated on the
western third of the island of Hispaniola and the smaller islands of La
Gonve, La Tortue (Tortuga), Les Cayemites, and Ile a Vache in the
Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba; Haiti shares Hispaniola with the Dominican
Republic. The total land area of Haiti is 10,714 square miles
(27,750 square km) and its capital is Port-au-Prince on the main island
of Hispaniola. [1]
The
native Arawak Amerindians - who inhabited the island of Hispaniola when
it was discovered by Columbus in 1492 - were virtually annihilated by
Spanish settlers within 25 years. In the early 17th century, the French
established a presence on Hispaniola, and in 1697, Spain ceded to the
French the western third of the island - Haiti. The French colony,
based on forestry and sugar-related industries, became one of the
wealthiest in the Caribbean, but only through the heavy importation of
African slaves and considerable environmental degradation. In the late
18th century, Haiti's nearly half million slaves revolted under
Toussaint L'OUVERTURE and after a prolonged struggle, became the first
black republic to declare its independence in 1804. Haiti has been
plagued by political violence for most of its history. It is the
poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. [2]
Sources:
1 Wikipedia
2 CIA Factbook
|
