Haiti, formally the Republic of Haiti (in Haitian Creole: Ayiti), is a country in the Greater Antilles, occupying the western third of the island of Hispaniola (approximately 27,750 km²), with the eastern two-thirds occupied by the Dominican Republic. Its capital is Port-au-Prince, and its highest point is Pic la Selle (2,680 m above sea level). Haiti is the only independent French-speaking territory in the Caribbean, and it is also the most populous country in the region.

In the Taíno language, Ayiti means “land of high mountains.”

On January 1, 1804, when declaring the country’s independence, Jean-Jacques Dessalines gave it its original Taíno name, “Haiti,” in honor of this Amerindian people.