Port-Au-Prince

Port-au-Prince (pôrt-ə-prĭns`, Fr. pôr-tō-prăNs`), city (1995 est. pop. 846,200), capital of Haiti, SW Haiti, on a bay at the end of the Gulf of Gonaïves. The country's chief seaport, it exports mainly coffee and sugar. The city has food-processing plants; soap, textile, and cement industries; and other light manufacturing. It was founded in 1749 by French sugar planters. In 1770, it replaced Cap-Haïtien as capital of the French colony of Saint-Domingue (as Haiti was then known), and in 1804 it became the capital of newly independent Haiti. Port-au-Prince has remained unsanitary and economically backward, however, and has suffered frequently from earthquakes, fires, and civil warfare. The city is laid out like an amphitheater, with business and commercial quarters along the water and residences on the hills above. Landmarks include the French-built quay (1780), the Univ. of Haiti, the National Palace, the National Museum, and the Basilica of Notre Dame.

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Port-au-Prince

City (metro. area pop., 1997: 1,556,000), seaport, and capital of Haiti, West Indies, on the southeastern shore of the Golfe de la Gonâve. Founded by the French in 1749, it was destroyed by earthquakes in 1751 and 1770 and has frequently suffered from fires and civil strife. In 1807 the port was opened to foreign commerce. It is the country's principal port and commercial centre, producing sugar, flour, cottonseed oil, and textiles.

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Port-au-Prince

the capital and chief port of Haiti, in the south on the Gulf of Gonaïves: founded in 1749 by the French; university (1944). Pop.: 2 090 000 (2005 est.)

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Port-Au-Prince 

the capital of the republic of Haiti and the country’s political, economic, and cultural center. It is situated in the western part of the island of Hispaniola. The climate is tropical, with a mean January temperature of 25°C, a mean July temperature of 28°C, and an annual precipitation of 1,355 mm. Population, 387,000 (1972).

Founded by the French in 1749, Port-au-Prince became the capital of the French colony of Saint-Domingue in 1770. The city was a major center of the struggle against the colonial yoke in the late 18th century, and, on Jan. 1, 1804, it became the capital of the independent state of Haiti. During the 19th century, the city was the scene of many revolutions. It was occupied by American troops from July 1915 to August 1934. After World War II (1939–45) it was a center of the labor and student movement.

Port-au-Prince, the chief port of Haiti, is situated on the Baie de Prince in the Golfe de la Gonâve of the Caribbean Sea. The city is a railroad junction and the center of a region producing coffee, sugar cane, and cotton. There are textile, cement, and food-processing (chiefly sugar-refining) industries. Port-au-Prince is the site of the State University of Haiti, three higher technical schools, the National Conservatory, an ethnographic research institute, the National Library, the National Museum, the Museum of the Peoples of Haiti, and the Art Center.