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Haiti News Media > Haiti News > Cap-Haitian Cap-Haitian Or Cap Haitien
Cap-Haitian, also known as Cap-Haitien or Le Cap is a city of about 500,000 people on the north coast of Haiti. Cap-Haitian is the second city of Haiti and the capital of Nord department. Due to its proximity to wide Caribbean beaches to its northwest, Cap-Haitien has traditionally been a resort and vacation destination for Haiti's upper classes.
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The central area of the city is located between the Bay of Cap-Haitien to the east, and nearby mountainsides to the west, which are increasingly dominated by flimsy urban slums. The streets in Cap-Haitian are generally narrow and arranged in grids. As a legacy of the US occupation of Haiti during the 1920's and 30's, Cap-Haitien's north-south streets were re-named as single letters (beginning with Rue A, a major avenue), and its east-west streets with numbers. This system breaks down outside of the central city, which is itself dominated by numerous markets, churches, and low-rise apartment buildings (3-4 floors each) constructed primarily before and during the US occupation. Many such buildings have balconies on the upper floors which overlook the narrow streets below, creating a an intimate communal atmosphere during the Haitian dinner hours.
Cap-Haitien is also the nearest sizeable city to the historic Haitian town of Milot, which lies 12 miles to the south along a gravel road. Milot hosts the ruins of the Sans Souci palace as well as the massive Citadelle Laferriere.
However, severe poverty, and the instability caused by several coups and rebellions since 1991, has sharply curtailed the number of visitors to Cap-Haitien, especially those from outside of Haiti.
The small Cap-Haitien airport, located on the southeast edge of the city, is currently served by several small domestic airlines.
Cap-Haitien's distance from Haiti's capital, Port-au-Prince, combined with the extremely dire condition of Haiti's transportation infrastructure, has often made Cap-Haitien an incubator for revolutionary or anti-government figures.
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The walled Labadie beach resort compound is located six miles to the city's northwest, and serves as a brief stopover for Royal Caribbean cruise ships. It is connected to Cap-Haitien via an unimproved and mountainous dirt and gravel road.
Vertieres around Cap-Haitien was the place of the last and defining battle of the Haitian Revolution. This last battle of Haitian Revolution on November 18 1803, led to the independence of Haiti, was fought between Haitian rebels led by Jean-Jacques Dessalines and the French colonial army under General Comte de Rochambeau. This decisive blow was major loss for France and its colonial empire. Before independence Cap-Haitien was called Cap Francais.
A Bird Eye View of Cap-Haitian
A Closer View of the City of Cap-Haitian, The Second Citi in Haiti
Public Market Cap-Haitian
Video about Cap-Haitian
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