ed by
Venezuela preventing any discussion of a maritime boundary; Guyana
has expressed its intention to join Barbados in asserting claims
before UNCLOS that Trinidad and Tobago's maritime boundary with
Venezuela extends into their waters; Suriname claims a triangle of
land between the New and Kutari/Koetari rivers in a historic dispute
over the headwaters of the Courantyne; Guyana seeks UNCLOS
arbitration to resolve the long-standing dispute with Suriname over
the axis of the territorial sea boundary in potentially oil-rich
waters

Illicit drugs:
transshipment point for narcotics from South America - primarily
Venezuela - to Europe and the US; producer of cannabis

This page was last updated on 20 October, 2005

======================================================================

@Haiti

Introduction Haiti

Background:
The native Arawak Amerindians - who inhabited the island of
Hispaniola when it was discovered by Columbus in 1492 - were
virtually annihilated by Spanish settlers within 25 years. In the
early 17th century, the French established a presence on Hispaniola,
and in 1697, Spain ceded to the French the western third of the
island - Haiti. The French colony, based on forestry and
sugar-related industries, became one of the wealthiest in the
Caribbean, but only through the heavy importation of African slaves
and considerable environmental degradation. In the late 18th
century, Haiti's nearly half million slaves revolted under Toussaint
L'OUVERTURE and after a prolonged struggle, became the first black
republic to declare its independence in 1804. Haiti has been plagued
by political violence for most of its history. It is the poorest
country in the Western Hemisphere.

Geography Haiti

Location:
Caribbean, western one-third of the island of Hispaniola, between
the Caribbean Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean, west of the
Dominican Republic

Geographic coordinates:
19 00 N, 72 25 W

Map references:
Central America and the Caribbean

Area:
total: 27,750 sq km
land: 27,560 sq km
water: 190 sq km

Area - comparative:
slightly smaller than Maryland

Land boundaries:
total: 360 km
border countries: Dominican Republic 360 km

Coastline:
1,771 km

Maritime claims:
territorial sea: 12 nm
contiguous zone: 24 nm
exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
continental shelf: to depth of exploitation