In the
administrative divisions of Haiti, the department (french: département d'Haïti, ; ht, depatman Ayiti) is the first of four levels of government. Haiti is divided administratively into ten departments, which are further subdivided into 42
arrondissements
An arrondissement (, , ) is any of various administrative divisions of France, Belgium, Haiti, certain other Francophone countries, as well as the Netherlands.
Europe
France
The 101 French departments are divided into 342 ''arrondissements' ...
, 145
communes, and 571
communal sections.
In 2014, there was a proposal by the
Chamber of Deputies
The chamber of deputies is the lower house in many bicameral legislatures and the sole house in some unicameral legislatures.
Description
Historically, French Chamber of Deputies was the lower house of the French Parliament during the Bourbon R ...
to increase the number of departments from 10 to 14 —perhaps as high as 16.
Administration
Each
departement
In the administrative divisions of France, the department (french: département, ) is one of the three levels of government under the national level ("territorial collectivities"), between the administrative regions and the communes. Ninety- ...
has a
departmental council
''Departmental'' is a 1980 Australian TV movie based on a play by Mervyn Rutherford. It was part of the ABC's Australian Theatre Festival.Ed. Scott Murray, ''Australia on the Small Screen 1970-1995'', Oxford Uni Press, 1996 p43 Reviews were poor ...
(''conseil départemental'') compound of three members elected by the departmental assembly for a 4-year
term. The departmental council is led by a
president
President most commonly refers to:
*President (corporate title)
* President (education), a leader of a college or university
* President (government title)
President may also refer to:
Automobiles
* Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...
(''président''). The council is the executive organ of the department.
Each department has a
departmental assembly who assists the council in its work. The departmental assembly is the deliberative organ of the department. The members of the departmental assembly are also elected for 4 years. The departmental assembly is led by a president.
History
Three Departments have roots in the former French colony of
Saint-Domingue
Saint-Domingue () was a French colony in the western portion of the Caribbean island of Hispaniola, in the area of modern-day Haiti, from 1659 to 1804. The name derives from the Spanish main city in the island, Santo Domingo, which came to ref ...
, namely: the
Nord
Nord, a word meaning "north" in several European languages, may refer to:
Acronyms
* National Organization for Rare Disorders, an American nonprofit organization
* New Orleans Recreation Department, New Orleans, Louisiana, US
Film and televisi ...
,
Sud, and
Ouest. In 1801, under Governor-General
Toussaint Louverture
François-Dominique Toussaint Louverture (; also known as Toussaint L'Ouverture or Toussaint Bréda; 20 May 1743 – 7 April 1803) was a Haitian general and the most prominent leader of the Haitian Revolution. During his life, Louverture ...
, the "provinces," became known as ''departments''.
The departement of l'Artibonite was known as departement of
Louverture.
Under the administration of
Dessalines the country was administrated by
military divisions.
In 1821,
Artibonite was created and in 1844,
Nord-Ouest, both derived out of the Nord and Ouest departments.
In 1962 during the reign of
Duvalier, four new departments were created out of a territorial redistribution. These departments were:
Centre
Center or centre may refer to:
Mathematics
*Center (geometry), the middle of an object
* Center (algebra), used in various contexts
** Center (group theory)
** Center (ring theory)
* Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentricity ...
,
Grand'Anse,
Nord-Ouest and
Sud-Est. In 2003, a tenth department was created out of Grand'Anse, called
Nippes.
In the 1990s, before the creation of Nippes, the was a phrase commonly used in regards to the
Haitian diaspora
Haiti has a sizeable diaspora, present primarily in the United States, Dominican Republic, Cuba, Canada, France (including its French Caribbean territories), the Bahamas, Brazil and Chile. They also live in other countries like Belgium, Turks a ...
. Since then, the phrase was soon adopted to describe the diaspora.
Demographics
Data based on 2015 estimates from the Haitian government.
Proposed
Although not being official there is a interest in the creation of new departements and changing the names from geographical positions to natives Taino names.
There is also a proposal to join these departement unber a new legislature by region thus making Regions (The Great-North or
Marien, Centre or
Artibonite, West or
Gonave-Azuei ans South or
Xaragua) the first level
administrative division
Administrative division, administrative unit,Article 3(1). country subdivision, administrative region, subnational entity, constituent state, as well as many similar terms, are generic names for geographical areas into which a particular, ind ...
of the country and making Haiti a
federation
A federation (also known as a federal state) is a political entity characterized by a union of partially self-governing provinces, states, or other regions under a central federal government ( federalism). In a federation, the self-gover ...
of four states instead of a
unitary republic
A unitary state is a sovereign state governed as a single entity in which the central government is the supreme authority. The central government may create (or abolish) administrative divisions (sub-national units). Such units exercise only t ...
.
See also
*
ISO 3166-2:HT
*
Haiti
Haiti (; ht, Ayiti ; French: ), officially the Republic of Haiti (); ) and formerly known as Hayti, is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and s ...
*
Arrondissements of Haiti
*
Communes of Haiti
*
List of departments of Haiti by Human Development Index
This is a list of departments of Haiti by Human Development Index as of 2019.
See also
*List of countries by Human Development Index
References
{{reflist
Haiti
Haiti
Haiti (; ht, Ayiti ; French: ), officially the Republic of Hai ...
*
List of Caribbean First-level Subdivisions by Total Area
This is a list of first-level country subdivisions within the Caribbean in order of total area. Those administrative divisions that are the largest within their respective countries are highlighted in bold. The list also contains first-level admin ...
References
External links
Code Postal Haitien
{{Departments of Haiti
Subdivisions of Haiti
Haiti, Departments
Haiti 1
Departments, Haiti
Haiti geography-related lists