Port-de-Paix

Port-de-Paix, port, northwestern Haiti, situated on the Atlantic coast opposite Tortue Island. It was founded in 1665 by French filibusters, fomenters of insurrection who had been driven from Tortue Island by the British. The original settlement was located near Môle Saint-Nicolas, where Christopher Columbus landed on Dec. 6, 1492. The site of the first black slave revolt (1679), Port-de-Paix was for a time capital of the colony and prospered during the 19th century. It was almost totally destroyed by fire in 1902 and never regained its former prestige. Coffee, bananas, tobacco, rice, and cacao are cultivated locally. There is subsistence fishing, and agricultural produce, hides, and logwood are exported. A major import is dried sea-snail meat from the Caicos Islands, an inexpensive and popular source of protein. In the 1990s Port-de-Paix developed a reputation as a centre for contraband trade, specializing in smuggled goods from Miami. Pop. (1997 est.) 27,100.