It is the jurisdictional seat of the national capital, the city of Port-au-Prince.
It has an area of 4,982.56 square kilometres (1,923.78 sq mi) and a population of 4,029,705 (2015 estimate), making it both the largest department by area and the most populated department in Haiti.
History
Taino period
The department was part of the Xaragua kasika under the leadership of Anacaona.
There are many native settlements in the department notably around Akaya, Azuei Lake, Yaguana, the island of Guanabo and Goava. It is understood that the Azuei Plaine region was used as a hunting ground for the natives.
The island of Gonave is the last point of refuge for the Taino natives.
Spanish period
One of the only Spanish settlements in the area was a destroyed Spanish town called Santa-Maria-de-la-Paz-Verdadera, the actual city of Tabarre.
French period
The earliest French settlement in the area was a hospital named Morne L'Hopital. In the second half of the 18th century, the French wanted to build a new colonial capital outside the troubled North. One of the suggestions was Petit-Goâve but later they chose the region of l'Hopital building which would become the City of Port-au-Prince.
English period
In 1793 the city fell to the British troops where they built the Fort-National until Toussaint gained it back for the French government.
Around 1772, Romaine-la-Prophétesse acquired a plantation named Trou Coffy in the department (likely in what is now Fondwa), becoming a prominent coffee grower and trader.[3] In 1791 and 1792, during the early Haitian Revolution, Romaine led some thirteen thousand slaves and rebels in freeing slaves from and burning the provinces plantations and briefly controlling two major cities, Léogâne and Jacmel.[4][5][6][7]
Ogé and Chavannes organized more than 300 blacks the Suisses to rebel against their so-called master. Caradeux the rough slave master in the region orderer their execution in Omòl.In 1791, Pétion, Pinchinnat, Beauvais, and more rebelled against the French authority and reclaimed their civil rights. After the Battles of Pernier, Croix-des-Bouquets, and Mirebalais they gained a Concordat, although the slaves did not gain anything.
According to Thomas Madiou's recount of the Haitian Revolution, the fight for Port-au-Prince is one of the most important fights. After Gabart gained control of St-Marc, the entire Artibonite region was under the control of Dessalines and the Armée Indigène. In the south, only the major port town of Les Cayes was still under French control. In the north, Cap-Haitian and Mole-St-Nicolas are still under French control. Rochambeau anticipated that the next step for Dessalines would be the conquer of Port-au-Prince, so he moved the capital of the colony back to Cap-Francois which would be harder for the British Navy to put under blockade versus Port-au-Prince located in the Gulf of Gonave. Leaving Petite-Rivière-de-l'Artibonite on September 15, the general stopped in St-Marc by Gabart and was in Arcahaie by Pétion on September 17. The same night for Croix-des-Bouquets where he camped by Frère. Pétion continued to march toward P-au-P and was by habitation Drouillard the next day. The French general of Croix-des-Bouquets Lux left the arrondissement to go help the French troops in P-au-P, he passed by Damien, Sarthe and the convoy was attacked by the Indigènes. By September 23, Cangé left Léogane, marched toward Port-au-Prince, and attacked the Fort-Bizoton in Carrefour, Gabart was at the St-Joseph gate and Dessalines camped in Turgeau a neighborhood located east of the city. The city of Port-au-Prince is officially sieged by the Armée Indigénes. The very next day Pétion was located in the habitation Philippeaux and started bombarding the French troops. By October 5, an aide-de-camp of Lavalette brought a letter to Dessalines with the terms of their capitulation. Dessalines accepted with an exchange of prisoners and adjuvant-general Bonnet came back to the Haitians and gave the French 4 days to leave the city. Thus on September 9 Port-au-Prince was freed from the French troops and Dessalines enter the city proudly with Pétion on his right and Gabart on his left.
On October 17, 1806, coming from Dessalinesville, Emperor Jacques 1st was ambushed and assassinated plunging the country into a civil war. His body was buried in St-Anne Cemetery. On January 2, 1904, he received state funerals and later on his body was moved to the Autel de la Patrie in Champs-de-Mars along with Pétion's body.
On January 1, 1807, only three years after the Haitian Declaration of Independence, the northern troops fought the western troops in the Sibert Battle, where Pétion almost died. Cabaret was the de facto border between the two states.
Under Jean-Pierre Boyer, fearing the return of the French boat, he ordered the construction of a city in the heights like Toussaint with Ennery, Dessalines with Dessalines and Christophe with Milot and naming it after his mentor Pétionville.
Being the political center of the country, most of Haiti's political instability and economical fight happen in the Port-au-Prince area since 1749 until today.
It is the second largest department in Haiti after Artibonite. Gonâve Island is also part of the Ouest department. The department's stretch of coastline lies entirely in the Gulf of Gonâve.
A part majority of the department lies in the Plaine-de-Cul-de-Sac which continues to the Dominican Rep. as the Hayo de Enriquillo. Two other plains that lie in the region are the Plain of Arcahaie-Cabaret and the Plain of Léoganes.
Gulf and coast
The Golfe is more than 500 km in length from Mole-Saint-Nicolas to Abricots and it consists of more than a dozen bays and harbors.
The Bay of Port-au-Prince is the largest in the country and one of the biggest in the Caribbean harboring many islands, cays, and reefs. The island of Gonave is the largest
satellite island on Hispaniola being the size of Singapore.
Environment
The largest lake in the country is a salty lake in a depression in the plain of the same name, Azuei Lake. A smaller lake lies next to it Caiman Lake. Both lakes form a national park harboring flamingos and caimans.
The hills of Port-au-Prince consist of a mountain from the Massif de la Selle-Cordillera Meridional, where one can find multiple forests such as Foret-des-Pins and Parc-la-Visite.
The most important rivers in the department are Blanche River, Froide River, Monance River, and Bois-de-Chène Ravine.
2010 earthquake or Goudougoudou. The epicenter was in Léoganes affecting Jacmel, Léoganes, and Port-au-Prince and causing millions in damages and counting hundreds-thousand of casualties.
On 12 January 2010, a magnitude 7.0 earthquake struck in the department, the largest in Haiti in two centuries.[8] In the Port-au-Prince Arrondissement, many areas suffered damage.[9] In the Léogâne Arrondissement, the city of Léogâne suffered 80-90% destruction.[10] Other places[which?] in Léogâne were also affected.
Economy
Ouest is the wealthiest department in Haiti, with economic poles in different sectors.
Tourism
Ouest's tourism sector touches on different branches such as leisure tourism in the Cotes-des-Arcadins, eco-tourism with Park Azuei-Caiman and Park La Selle, historical tourism with the countless historical monuments especially the National Museum, and cultural tourism.
Agriculture
For many years, agriculture was a part of the economy of the department, with the Arcahaie plain being a center for plantain, the Cul-de-Sac and Léogane being known for large sugar-cane plantations mostly for the production of rum, and the hills of Kenscoff cultivating different vegetables. Unfortunately, over-construction and the ever-expansion of the city, those areas see their fertile land now covered with asphalt and concrete.
[11]
Transport
Much of Haiti's road network extends out of Ouest.
The RN1 connects the West to the North by the coast
The RN2 connects the West to the South
The RN3 connects the West to the North through the mountains
The RN4 connects the West to the South-East
The RN8 connects the West to the Jimani, in the Dominican Rep.
The bay harbors many ports of sizable capacity owned or operated by the state or private parties.
