Cap-Haïtien

**Cap-Haïtien**, also known as _Le Cap_, (Kréyòl: _Kap Ayisyen_, _Okap_) is a city in northern Haiti. It is the capital city of the Nord _Département_.

The city is on the coast of the _Cap-Haïtien_ Bay, on the Atlantic Ocean, about 260 km north of the Haitian capital Port-au-Prince. The central part of the city is between the bay to the east, and mountains to the west.

Cap-Haïtien is also the chief town of an _arrondissement_ (a part of a department) with the same name. The _arrondissement_ has three _communes_ (a _commune_ is like a municipality): Cap-Haïtien, Limonade and Quartier-Morin.

## History

On the left side of the river Haut du Cap, Christopher Columbus built a small fort with the rest of the ship _Santa María_ when it was destroyed on Christmas Day on 1492; he named the fort as _La Navidad_ (in English, "Christmas").

The region around the city had the Taíno name of _Guarico_, the name used by the Spanish colonists for the region and the new city. When French people came from the Tortuga Island to live here, they founded the city in 1670 and the French King Louis XIV named the place as _Cap-Français_ in 1711; it was then the capital city of the _Saint-Domingue_ colony until 1770 when Port-au-Prince became the new capital city.

The town was destroyed by Spanish people in January 1691, after the Battle of La Limonade; La Limonade is a savanna just to the east of Cap-Haïtien. Later, in 1695, the town was again destroyed by Spanish and English soldiers.

Haiti, known as _Saint-Domingue_ during colonial times, was the richest colony of France, and Cap-Français was the richest city in the colony. The city was known then as the "Paris of the west".

During the Haitian Revolution, there was a battle on 18 November 1803 in Vertières, near Cap-Haïtien. In this battle, the army of Jean-Jacques Dessalines defeated a French colonial army led by the Comte de Rochambeau, leading to the independence of Haiti on 1 January 1804.

After the Haitian independence, the country was divided in two parts and the northern part was made a kingdom by Henri Christophe and the name of the city was changed to _Cap-Henry_. Christophe made Milot, a town 15 km to the south of the city, the capital of his kingdom.

The city was named _Cap-Haïtien_ after the death of Christophe and when Haiti became again one country.

## Economy

Cap-Haïtien is a very important port of northern Haiti; there is also an airport.

### Radio

- Radyo Atlantik FM
- Radio 4VEH (4VEF) AM and FM
- Radio Cap-Haïtien
- Radio Citadelle
- Radio Étincelle
- Radio Gamma (Based in Fort Liberté)
- Radio Lumiere FM
- Radio Méga FM
- Radio Sans-Souci FM
- Radio VASCO FM
- Radio Vénus FM
- Voix de l’Ave Maria
- Voix du Nord
- Radio Paradis
- Radio Nirvana FM
- Radio Hispaniola
- Radio Passion Haïti

### Television

- Télé Vénus
- Télé Paradis
- Chaîne 6
- Chaîne 7
- Chaîne 11
- Télévision Nationale d'Haiti

## Infobox (settlement)

- **official name**: Cap-Haïtien
- **native name**: (Kréyòl): _Kap Ayisyen, Okap_
- **image skyline**: View of Cap-Haitien.jpg
- **image caption**: View of Cap-Haïtien
- **pushpin map**: Haiti
- **pushpin label position**: bottom
- **pushpin map caption**: Cap-Haïtien
- **subdivision type**: Country
- **subdivision name**: Haiti
- **subdivision type1**: Province, Département
- **subdivision name1**: Nord Department, Nord
- **subdivision type2**: Arrondisement
- **subdivision name2**: Cap-Haïtien
- **established title**: Founded
- **established date**: 1670
- **population as of**: 2003
- **population total**: 111094
- **population blank1 title**: Demonym
- **population blank1**: Capois
(female, capoise)
- **timezone**: Eastern Time Zone (North America), Eastern
- **utc offset**: -5
- **timezone dst**: Eastern Time Zone (North America), Eastern
- **utc offset dst**: -4
- **elevation m**: 0
- **blank name**: Distance to
 – Port-au-Prince
- **blank info**:
260 km