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Cap-Haïtien ((ハイチ語:Kap Ayisyen); (英語:''Cape Haitian'')) often referred to as ''Le Cap'' or ''Au Cap'', is a commune of about 190,000 people on the north coast of Haiti and capital of the Department of Nord. Previously named as ''Cap-Français'', ''Cap-Henri'' and historically known as the ''Paris of the Antilles'', displaying its wealth and sophistication through its beautiful architecture and artistic life. It was an important city during the colonial period, serving as the capital of the French Colony of Saint-Domingue from the city's formal foundation in 1711 until 1770 when the capital was moved to Port-au-Prince. After the Haitian Revolution, it became the capital of the Kingdom of Northern Haiti under King Henri Christophe until 1820. Cap-Haïtien's long history of independent thought and its relative distance from Port-au-Prince have contribute in making it a legendary incubator of anti-establishment movements. For instance, from February 5–29, 2004, the city was taken over by militants who opposed the rule of the Haïtian president Jean-Bertrand Aristide. They eventually created enough political pressure to force him out of office and the country. Cap-Haïtien is near the historic Haitian town of Milot, which lies to the southwest along a gravel road. Milot was Haiti's first capital under the self-proclaimed King Henri Christophe, who ascended to power in 1807, three years after Haiti had gained independence from France. He renamed Cap-Français as Cap-Henri. Milot is the site of his Sans-Souci Palace, wrecked by the 1842 earthquake. Five miles away is the Citadelle Laferrière, a massive stone fortress bristling with cannons, atop a nearby mountain. On clear days, its silhouette is visible from Cap-Haïtien. The small Hugo Chavez International Airport (formerly Cap-Haïtien International Airport), located on the southeast edge of the city, is served by several small domestic airlines and has been patrolled by Chilean UN troops from the "O'Higgins Base" since the 2010 earthquake. The airport is currently being expanded. Several hundred UN personnel, including nearby units from Nepal and Uruguay, are assigned to the city as part of the ongoing United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH). ==History and character== Occupied for thousands of years by indigenous peoples, who had migrated from present-day Central and South America, the island was colonized in the 16th century by Spanish explorers. The Spaniards adopted the native name, ''Guárico'' for this area that is today known as "Cap-Haïtien." Due to the chance introduction of new infectious diseases, as well as poor treatment of the indigenous peoples, their population rapidly declined. On the nearby coast Columbus founded his first community in the New World, the short-lived La Navidad. In 1975, researchers found near Cap-Haïtien another of the first Spanish towns of Hispaniola: Puerto Real was founded in 1503. It was abandoned in 1578, and its ruins were discovered in the twentieth century.〔Florida Museum of Natural History, (Puerto Real ).〕 The French took over half of the island of Hispaniola from the Spanish in the early eighteenth century. They established large sugar cane plantations on the northern plains and imported tens of thousands of African slaves to work them. Cap-Français became an important city of the French colonial period and the colony's main commercial centre. It served as the capital of the French colony of Saint-Domingue from its founding in 1711 until 1770, when the capital was moved to Port-au-Prince in the southwest part of the island. After the slave revolution, this was the first capital of the Kingdom of Northern Haiti under King Henri Christophe, when the nation was split apart. The central area of the city is between the Bay of Cap-Haïtien to the east and nearby mountainsides to the west; these are increasingly dominated by flimsy urban slums. The streets are generally narrow and arranged in grids. As a legacy of the United States' occupation of Haiti from 1915 to 1934, Cap-Haïtien's north-south streets were renamed as single letters (beginning with Rue A, a major avenue) and going to "Q" and its east-west streets with numbers from 1 to 26; the system is not followed outside the central city. The historic city has numerous markets, churches, and low-rise apartment buildings (of three–four storeys), constructed primarily before and during the U.S. occupation, with much of the infrastructure in need of repair. Many such buildings have balconies on the upper floors, which overlook the narrow streets below. With people eating outside on the balconies, there is an intimate communal atmosphere during dinner hours. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Cap-Haïtien」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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