Haiti

Located on the western third of the island of Hispaniola, Haiti's indigenous population was virtually annihilated by the Spanish after Christopher Columbus claimed the island in 1492. The French, arriving in the early 17th century, were granted control of the western region in 1697 and based Haiti's economy on forestry and sugar-related industries, both slave-labor intensive practices, and Haiti became one of the wealthiest Caribbean colonies. The nearly half-million slaves revolted under their French colonizers, and Haiti became the first black republic to gain independence in 1804. Now the world's poorest country, Haiti has experienced political violence, frequent natural disasters and widespread extreme poverty. Counterpart's focus on holistic empowerment delivered HIV/AIDs prevention training and youth awareness campaigns, to address the highest HIV/AIDs prevalence rates in the Caribbean.

Map and country information, The World Factbook 2009. Washington, DC: Central Intelligence Agency, 2009.