Claim: Haiti shares an island with the Dominican Republic.

Haiti -LRB- -LSB- ˈheɪti -RSB- Haïti -LSB- a.iti -RSB- Ayiti -LSB- ajiti -RSB- -RRB- , officially the Republic of Haiti and formerly called Hayti , is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean Sea . It occupies the western three-eighths of the island , which it shares with the Dominican Republic . Haiti is 27750 km2 in size and has an estimated 10.6 million people , making it the most populous country in the Caribbean Community -LRB- CARICOM -RRB- and the second-most populous country in the Caribbean as a whole .   The region was originally inhabited by the indigenous Taíno people . Spain discovered the island on 5 December 1492 during the first voyage of Christopher Columbus across the Atlantic . When Columbus initially landed in Haiti , he had thought he had found India or Asia . On Christmas Day 1492 , Columbus ' flagship the Santa Maria ran aground north of what is now Limonade . As a consequence , Columbus ordered his men to salvage what they could from the ship , and he created the first European settlement in the Americas , naming it La Navidad after the day the ship was destroyed .   The island was named La Española and claimed by Spain , which ruled until the early 17th century . Competing claims and settlements by the French led to the western portion of the island being ceded to France , which named it Saint-Domingue . The development of sugarcane plantations , worked by slaves brought from Africa , led to the colony being among the most lucrative in the world .   In the midst of the French Revolution -LRB- 1789 -- 1799 -RRB- , slaves and free people of colour revolted in the Haitian Revolution -LRB- 1791 -- 1804 -RRB- , culminating in the abolition of slavery and the defeat of Napoleon Bonaparte 's army at the Battle of Vertières . Afterward the sovereign nation of Haiti was established on 1 January 1804 the first independent nation of Latin America and the Caribbean , the second republic in the Americas , the only nation in the western hemisphere to have defeated three European superpowers -LRB- France , Spain , and the UK -RRB- , and the only nation in the world established as a result of a successful slave revolt . The rebellion that began in 1791 was led by a former slave and the first black general of the French Army , Toussaint Louverture , whose military genius and political acumen transformed an entire society of slaves into an independent country . Upon his death in a prison in France , he was succeeded by his lieutenant , Jean-Jacques Dessalines , who declared Haiti 's sovereignty and later became the first Emperor of Haiti , Jacques I . The Haitian Revolution lasted just over a dozen years ; and apart from Alexandre Pétion , the first President of the Republic , all the first leaders of government were former slaves . The Citadelle Laferrière is the largest fortress in the Americas . Henri Christophe former slave and first king of Haiti , Henri I built it to withstand a possible foreign attack .   It is a founding member of the United Nations , Organization of American States -LRB- OAS -RRB- , Association of Caribbean States , and the International Francophonie Organisation . In addition to CARICOM , it is a member of the International Monetary Fund , World Trade Organization , and the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States . It has the lowest Human Development Index in the Americas . Most recently , in February 2004 , a coup d'état originating in the north of the country forced the resignation and exile of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide . A provisional government took control with security provided by the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti -LRB- MINUSTAH -RRB- .