Aquin

Aquin (Kreyol: Aken) is a port city and commune in the Southern Department of Haiti.

About[]

Aquin is a city in Haiti's Southern Department. It is on the Tiburon Peninsula's south shore. The population was just over 100,000 at the 2015 Census. An important center of the fishing industry and a popular summer destination, Aquin consists of an urban core towards west side of the bay, the two districts of Fond-des-Blancs and Vieux Bourg D'Aquin, and the outlying neighborhoods of Brodequin, Bellevue, Flamands, Mare-à-Coiffe, La Colline, Guirand, Frangipane, and Colline-à-Mongons.

Aquin is the largest municipality in Haiti by land area. It is the seat of Aquin Arrondissement. This quintessential Caribbean destination, nestled conveniently between Port-au-Prince and Les Cayes, is best known for its cultural diversity and strong intermingling.

Aquin has not forgotten the benefits that its former borough commander, General Dossous, has brought to its agriculture.

Aquin is located approximately 145 km (90 miles) southwest of Port-au-Prince, and 55 km (34 miles) northeast of the region known as Les Cayes.

History[]

During the 15th century (1400s), the settlement flourished as a significant port city, so much so that it was granted the privilege of using its own coat of arms. While it remains a functioning port today, its primary industry has shifted to tourism. The city is accessible via Route Nationale 2 and is home to Jardins Sur Mer, which is renowned locally for offering the finest seafood in Haiti.

Aquin is recognized in Haiti for its significant historical importance as one of the nation's earliest settlements.

In 1494, Christopher Colombus arrived at the port of Aquin, which the local natives referred to as Yaquimo. On September 5, 1499, Alonso de Ojeda and Amerigo Vespucci visited the area following Columbus's expedition, which had overshadowed Columbus's claim to naming the newly discovered land. They returned in 1502, but a conflict arose between Vespucci and Ojeda, leading to Ojeda being imprisoned.

Portrait of Jérôme-Maximilien Borgella, former commander of Aquin and a key figure of its founding.

Foundation[]

The Spanish established a settlement named Villa nueva de Yaquimo, which earned the nickname "Port of Brazil" due to the abundance of Brazil wood found there at the time. By 1610, the settlement had been abandoned. Around 1660, buccaneers arrived, and their pronunciation led to the name evolving to 'Aquin'. They subsequently founded the village of Aquin, situated approximately a league and a half from the current village. This initial settlement was located on the left bank of the Aquin River; however, it was relocated in 1714 to what is now known as Old Bourg. In 1804, the Haitian government mandated its move to the present town, a project that had been initiated in 1768. General Borgella, who was the local commander at the time, is often regarded as the founder of this new settlement.

• Aquin dedicated the day to Hugues Montbrun, a name that prominently appears in the early chapters of Haiti's history. Born on June 12, 1756, on a plantation near Aquin, he was sent to Bordeaux at the age of five for his upbringing. Rising through the ranks, he served as a captain in the Angoulême dragoons and, in 1792, became the head of a battalion of national volunteers from the Gironde department. He later moved to Saint-Domingue to serve as aide-de-camp to General Desparbès. Appointed as the governor general of the West, Montbrun engaged in commercial activities within his jurisdiction, which caused dissatisfaction among his subordinate officers and led to unrest in Jacmel, where he commanded Beauvais. Montbrun accused Beauvais of inciting trouble and ordered his arrest. However, Beauvais defied this command, resulting in a confrontation between soldiers who supported either Beauvais or Montbrun. The situation was defused when officers sought the mediation of Riguad, who, with the assistance of Pinchinat, removed Montbrun from his command and assigned it to Beauvais. After spending two years in detention, Montbrun was tried and subsequently acquitted by a military council. He returned to service in France, eventually attaining the rank of general. He passed away in 1831 while serving as the commander of the Chateau-Trompette in Bordeaux.

• The commune of Aquin was also the birthplace of Julien Raymond, a man of color who, in 1783, submitted memoirs to The Marshal of Castries, the minister of the navy and colonies, advocating for equal political rights for the affranchis (freed slaves) of Santo Domingo (island) and the white population. This same individual narrowly escaped harm from Page and Brulley during the Convention and later became a member of the Civil Commission, which was led by Sonthonax in 1796. With a solid education and considerable intellect, Raymond was held in high regard within the patriotic circles of Paris. In his correspondence, he urged the freedmen to remain loyal to France and the revolution, to avoid aligning with the planters against the metropole, to stay informed about unfolding events, to assert their human rights whenever possible, and to patiently await their liberation.

• Additionally, Aquin was home to Piverger, a distinguished officer in Riguad's army.

• On November 26, 1789, a group of white individuals invaded the residence of Labadie, a man of color from Aquin, shooting him twenty-five times and dragging him behind a horse along a rocky path. The fiery animal only halted at the plantation of their victim, located three leagues from the city. Labadie's family, after enduring insults, tended to his torn and bloodied body, which had miraculously survived the ordeal. He ultimately passed away long after this incident. Due to his wisdom and virtuous demeanor, Labadie was affectionately referred to as the "Venerable" throughout his community. The white population accused him of being an accomplice to Ferrand de Baudières from Petit-Goâve.

• In 1791, Aquin's freedmen were so numerous and so powerful that the whites who lived there never dared to send deputies to the Cape colonial assembly. The freedmen pursued numerous legal actions against the whites, resulting in the execution of women and elderly men who were unable to defend themselves.

• In 1792, twenty-seven mulatto individuals were drowned after being apprehended on a boat that was transporting flour to the city of Aquin.

19th Century[]

• The Battle of Aquin, which took place on July 7, 1800, marked the final civil war conflict of that era. Two days later, Dessalines departed Aquin for Anse-à-Veau with of 800 soldiers, leaving the remainder of his forces under Brigadier General Laplume's command. He successfully captured Anse-à-Veau and Petit-Trou-de-Nippes before returning to Aquin and subsequently advancing towards Saint-Louis-du-Sud.

• When the Leclerc expedition arrived in 1802, Aquin mirrored the actions of The Cayes, with Colonel Nerette aligning himself with the French. In December of that year, Nerette, a man of color, ordered the execution of Herald Charlemagne, a young man of color, in Aquin's Place-des-armes. Charlemagne had responded to a white man’s threat of punishment by asserting that the man's authority would soon come to an end. Shortly thereafter, Ferbosse, another man of color and a former officer in Toussaint-Louverture's army during the civil war against Riguad, was beaten by Léveillé, a black officer on the Lorquet plantation. The French in Aquin accused Ferbosse of treachery, and despite his severe injuries, he was drowned in the harbor. At the time of Leclerc's Expedition, Ferbosse was battalion commander of the 4th Colonial in Jérémie.

• Upon hearing of the unrest in Aquin against ¹President Pétion's government, General André Rigaud left his post in the Grande Anse and moved to the plain of Les Cayes on October 31, 1810. Over 3,000 farmers gathered to support him. Voltaire, who wished to remain loyal to Pétion, was abandoned and found himself isolated in the plain alongside his brother Rameau. Following Riguad's death, General Borgella was appointed to lead the government of the South. On March 16, 1812, in Aquin, he declared his allegiance to President Pétion

• Citizen David Saint-Preux, a vehement speaker and one of those expelled from the House of Commons on August 14, 1833, represented the city of Aquin, his birthplace. During the revolution of 1843, he was imprisoned in Aquin but managed to escape and joined General Rivière Hérard at Anse-à-Veau as they advanced toward Port-au-Prince.

• The Fodoas plantation in Aquin was offered for sale following the Senate Act of November 7, 1812, which aimed to establish a national currency. Additionally, the J.B. Anglade coffee shops and various plantations in other municipalities were also put on the market under the law enacted on March 10, 1814, to promote agricultural development and increase land ownership.

• The first citizen to represent this commune in the first Chamber of Communes in 1817 was Baudouin, who also served as its president.

• Aquin is the final resting place of Generals Vaval and Francisque, who were former leaders of the borough.

• In 1844, Aquin rose in rebellion against ³President Herard Rivière; Jacques Acao, the movement's leader, advanced toward the capital but was halted only by the appointment of General Guerrier as president.

• In April 1848, a conspiracy broke out in Aquin aimed at overthrowing Soulouque, led by Louis Jacques. Several cities in the South, like Miragoâne, where General Carrié Jr. commanded, joined the uprising. In response to this development, an alarm gun was fired at Port-au-Prince on April 16. Soulouque and Similien, assisted by the Zinglins, executed a coup d'état at the national palace. Some members of the entourage, who had been bribed by Similien, opened fire on the generals and officials assembled there. Some have drowned in their blood, while the others, hunted from all sides, escaped death by jumping over the gates of the garden. Chief Piquet Jean Denis took control of Aquin from the rebels, and among the captured were one hundred and eighty negres who, under the mistaken belief that their lives would be spared due to their race, were garroted and executed.

• During the Cacos revolution in 1869, Aquin was attacked and captured by both government forces and revolutionary gangs. In August, General Brice launched a surprise naval assault on the Piquets, resulting in their significant defeat. John Saint-Vil, who was in command for ⁹President Salnave, retreated in disarry from Morne Ocro, which he subsequently abandoned. He was later tried, found guilty, and executed in Port-au-Prince for failing to adequately resist the enemy.

• On June 2, 1883, during the Miragoâne insurrection, Aquin expressed opposition to ¹³President Salomon's government; however, this movement had no follow-up.

21st Century[]

• In February 2010, the Department of South welcomed a high-level Norwegian delegation in order to review the advancements in watershed management projects and to discuss potential development opportunities. Norway is one of the key financial supporters of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Haiti. The Senior Advisor at the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs for the Caribbean and Latin America, emphasized, "We see the South as a region with significant potential that has been overlooked for a long time, despite its appeal to investors."

The two-day visit began in Côteaux, where the delegation observed the drainage projects implemented by the Ministry of the Environment (MDE) and UNDP. The visit concluded in Aquin, where the delegation toured the MDE offices and one of the nine nurseries established jointly with UNDP for reforestation efforts in the South. The intended objective was to cultivate more than 1.5 million seedlings in these nurseries, with a plan to reforest 6,000 hectares (60 km² [or 23 mi^2]) over the next two years.

In 2010, Norway contributed $205 million in humanitarian aid to Haiti and continues to support various initiatives.

Geography[]

The latitude of Aquin is 18.2807° N, 73.3959° W. The legal distance of Aquin with the capital is fixed by law of April 25, 1817 to 35 leagues. According to the IHSI, the town has a total area of 638.59 square kilometers (246.56 square miles), of which 426.30 km² (67%) is rural, 208.37 km² (32%) is suburban, and 3.92 km² (1%) is urban.

With the largest land area of any municipality in Haiti, Aquin consists of several neighborhoods and geographical sections. Larger localities in the town include La Ville d'Aquin, Vieux Bourg D'Aquin, Brodequin, and Fond-des-Blancs.

Aquin's shoreline makes up the entire northern shore of Aquin Bay and straddles the Caribbean sea for over 50 kilometers (30 miles). It is bordered on land by Côtes-de-Fer to the southeast, Saint-Louis-du-Sud to the west, Miragoâne to the north and east, and L'Asile and Fonds-des-Nègres to the north. Aquin is situated in a tri-departmental area where the Sud, Nippes, and Sud-Est departments meet. This area, more specifically along Route Nationale 2 is known as "the Gate to the Southwest".

The stretch of road between Aquin and Saint-Louis-du-Sud is where the southwestern charms of Haiti really start to reveal themselves. The scenery is lush, green, and hilly, and there are long stretches where the road tracks the coast - miles of white sand beaches and the clean turquoise waters of the Caribbean Sea. It's startlingly pretty.

Aquin's border with Côtes-de-Fer makes up most of the line between Haiti's Southern and Southeastern departments.

Within the municipal boundaries is a pond called Étang Salée (Salted Pond), which is a league long and about a half mile of width: it connects with the sea via Aquin Bay.

Located in the Plaine d'Aquin, the town of Aquin has many distinct geographical features. The Hill at Mongon offers a general view of this plain, which measures 60 square km. The town's Caribbean coast is characterized by low plains, while its central and western sections are extremely hilly and forested. Aquin contains several rivers and streams flowing throughout its quadrants and on an island in the middle of one of them lie the ruins of an old English fort. A major feature of the town is the delta at la Ville d'Aquin. There is also the Riviére des Côtes-de-Fer, which forms the eastern border of Aquin and much of it's border with Miragoâne.

Aquin also has several islands off its coast such as Grosse Caye, Orange Cay, and Île des Moustiques.

Neighborhoods[]

Aquin has 10 communal sections and two districts.

AQN	Aquin	104,216
VAQ	Ville d'Aquin	Urban	9,192
QFD	Quartier Fond-des-Blancs	Urban	572
QVB	Quartier Vieux Bourg D'Aquin	Urban	4,083
MAC	1ère Section Macéan	Rural section	7,076	Baptiste, Basse-Terre, Boucan-Mapou, Calvaire-Miracle, Carrefour 44, Dabon, Duverger, Grison, Grondel, Labadie, La Rou-Pays, Lucrece, Maducaque, Masseillan, Mélinette, Nan Citron, Nan Clos, Pascal, Patte-Tortue, Plaine-Dassema, Quartier, Saint-Castor, Tête-l'Etang, Ticoma, Vieux-Bourg-d'Aquin.
BLL	2ème Section Bellevue	Rural section	11,958	Belle Vue, Bois Rond, Bontemps, Corail-Desbas, Dandin, Jaliette, Miran, Montclair, Nérette, Olive, Paulin, Terre-Blanche, Tête-Source, Traime.
BDQ	3ème Section Brodequin	Rural section	6,289	Grand-Fond, Jocelyn, Maugis, Patrice.
FLA	4ème Section Flamands	Rural section	5,942	_{Bisserette, Bois-Corail, Bois-d'Orme, Caille-Zinc, Carrefour Losandieux, Coquille, Damase, Davis, Derrière-Morne, Dos-Mare-Rouge, Duchat, Dumoulin, Duverger, Gaillac-Penché, Grand-Fond, Hier, Jamais Vu, Jocelyn, La Baleine, Lacachine, Lagon-Laborieux, Losandieu, Maigrette, Malbranche, Nadine, Nan Brun, Nan Felix, Nan Maro, Nan Trompe, Passe-Campeche, Patoilais, Puits-Vibert, Raquette, Roche-Crabe, Savane Bé, Source-Blanche, Timil-Fache, Trou-King, Vainqueur.}
MCF	5ème Section Mare à Coiffe	Rural	7,676	Nan Contrée, Plaine-Délice, Poste-Gaille, Sous-Jean-Jacques.
LAC	6ème Section La Colline	Rural	16,100	Bassin-Caiman, Belgarde, Boirond, Bonnefi, Cabosse, Ca Coq, Cajoux, Ca Roi, Corail, Croix-Paul, Dumornay, Elien, Faudoise, Gatimo, Grandécor, Jonette, Labady, Labate, La Colline, La Hatte, Lalanne, Michaud, Mombrun, Pas-de-Chaine, Patoilais, Raymond, Saint-Médard, Sobia, Valère, Vièle, Vincent.
FNB	9ème Section Fond-des-Blancs	Rural section	7,248	Adonis, Anglade, Balangrin, Bellegarde, Bernadel, Cacique, Camilet, Ca Pin, Colas, Damagnac, Damaniac, Dugué, Fond des Blancs, Fraicheur, Gaspard, Guêpe, Nabonne, Oranger, Périne, Savane-Sainton, St-Jules.
GRD	10ème Section Guirand	Rural	9,614	Beucard, Blaise, Briand, Ca Roi, Caroline, Dembreville, Dessalines, Fond-Maricile, Latour, Lohier, Oranger, Plaine-Abraham.
FRG	11ème Section Frangipane	Rural	11,190	Bel-Air, Boudary, Corail-Lhérisson, Cotes-de-Fer, Danneau, Dubois, Ferdile, Frachipagne, Godet, Gousse, Grande-Passe, Grande-Savane, Hatte-Joli-Bois, Lazare, Lévêque, Macary, Mascary, Méxi, Morency, Mouillage-Fouquet, Nan Déjour, Nan Gerard, Nan Glacis, Nan Grié, Nan l'Air, Nan Perdu, Plaine-Aquin, Pommier, Puits-Chacha, Raymond, Ti Salé.
CMO	12ème Section Colline-à-Mongons	Rural	7,276	Bidouze, Faubert, Galbert, Genne, La Hatte, Mare-Rouge, Moisson, Saint-Jean, Virgile.

Demography

Year	Population	-/+
1890	12,000
1896	20,000	+66%
1950	58,412	+192%
1998	68,190	+17%
2003	95,004	+39%
2009	94,773	-1%
2015	104,216	+10%

Economy[]

Aquin is an economic and tourism center of southern Haiti. The major industry is tourism, with agriculture, trade, and finance also being primary industries. Apart from a hotel, five restaurants (one large and four small), a bank and a marketing cooperative represent the economic facilities of the commune. The Ministry of Economy and Finance (MEF), is represented in the Commune of Aquin by an office and headed by a director located at Rue Julien-Raymond.

The municipality of Aquinas is famous for its horses, sheep, oysters, truffles and oranges which are the best in the country. There is also good timber, iron, spear, tender pebble, three-word wood, latanier, acorn oak, laget or lace wood, gaïac, and brazillet. Boats are built for coasting and straw hats and salt are made to eat.

Coal deposits were found three leagues away from Aquin. The municipalities of L'Asile and Camp-Perrin are the known portions of the same coal basin. Aquin's samples show a less crumbly quality than that of the mineral fuel of Anse-à-Veau. Mr. Gros, an agent of a company formed by Mr. Holt of London], had brought a survey machine in January 1883 to study Haiti's coal mines. He had left for Aquin with Mr. Eugene Nau to examine the coal depots discovered in the South. The port of Aquin, which fills the gap between Jacmel and Les Cayes, would take a maple development under the impetus of active exploitation of these coal mines, and this industry would bring back the ease.

The port of Aquin is very flared, and ships of a certain tonnage are forced to take anchorage in the distance. Except for this inconvenience, the port is safe. Accessible only by a beautiful entrance to the south, it is guaranteed offshore winds by the rock the Diamond le Diamant which cuts the pass in half, and on which comes the effort of the blades. The mangroves that line the bay are loaded with excellent oysters that are said to be superior to all those of the country, and harvested all year round. The Diamond is at 18.13'45" north latitude, and 75.48' of western longitude.

The island of Grosse-Caye is located opposite Aquin's Bay, and the tip of Morne-Rouge is to the south. The port was opened to foreign trade by law of April 21, 1807. The law of 17 December 1808 closed it. On the claims made by General Vaval, commander of the borough, on behalf of his fellow citizens, it was again opened to foreign trade.

Market day

Saturday and Wednesday are market days when Aquin buzzes with activities. Wares are traded by people who come in large numbers to the market.

Infrastructure[]

Transportation[]

The National Route 2 passes through Aquin which makes the region easily accessible. National Route 2 heads towards Les Cayes and traverses through town to Port-au-Prince.

The road from Aquin to Miragoâne through the municipality of Fonds-des-Nègres, through which many travellers come to buy goods from Port-au-Prince, has historically been heavily travelled. In his government program, General Légitime proposed the creation of a railway from Miragoâne to Aquin.

The road from Aquin to Anse-à-Veau was clear.

Education[]

The Ministry of National Education for Youth and Sports is represented in the Commune of Aquin by a School Inspectorate. Six kindergarten, several primary schools and ten secondary schools have been listed in the commune. The city center has five secondary schools amongst them, there is one that contains both the primary and the secondary, it's our Lady of the sacred heart of Aquinas College. There are also six technical and vocational schools, a number of literacy centers and a graduate school.

List of higher schools
Our Lady of the Sacred Heart of Aquinas
Lycée Pierre-Sully
St. Thomas Aquinas College
Collège Jaques-Roumain
Collège Rénovateur

List of primary schools
Yanetty School
École MEBSH d'Aquin
Ecole Armé du Salut d'Aquin
Our Lady of the Sea school
Boys national school

Health[]

The Ministry of Public Health is not represented in the Municipality of Aquin. Four health facilities were counted in the Commune with a technical staff consisting of five doctors, one dentist, eight nurses, nineteen auxiliaries and 68 matrons.

Utilities[]

With respect to water resources, the town of Aquinas has six rivers, three springs, a pond and a lagoon. In addition, sixty single wells, 150 artesian wells, public fountains with at least fifteen taps and twenty pumps were also listed. Only the city of Aquinas is electrified, and the frequency of electric power supply is about 35 hours per week. [1]

Security[]

A police station, a civil court, a public prosecutor's office, three courts of peace and a registry office constitute the administrative and judicial infrastructures of the Commune.

Organizations[]

FAS (Fondation Aquin Solidarité; E: Aquin Solidarity Foundation) aims to support the city's forward progress.
COCIDES (Combite des Citoyens pour le Développement de St. Louis du Sud) works to improve quality of life in St Louis du Sud, Aquin, and Cavaillon through environmental protection.

Tourism[]

One of the best hotels here is Jardin Sur Mer. Some of the finest delicacies like grilled shrimps and home grown oysters are prepared tastefully and served here.

Food

This place is indeed an exquisite one. Tourists and locals visit the hotels to enjoy great food sometimes served as buffets, and scenic settings naturally created by nature. Many of the hotels have an excellent view of the sandy beaches and the Caribbean Sea.

Culture[]

Religion[]

In the area of religion, the Commune of Aquin has thirty Catholic churches (including chapels), fifteen Baptist churches, seven Adventist temples, seven Pentecostal churches, three Jehovah's Witness Kingdom Halls and 26 other churches.

The Lodges are The Intimate Reunion (Réunion Intime) and the Valley of Ebron (la Vallée d’Ebron) N°52, belonging to the Grand Orient of Haiti].

Leisure[]

Aquin has some of the most amazing beaches and overlooks the Caribbean Sea. A lot of people come here to enjoy bathing in the sun and collect sea shells and coral reefs. The shells get deposited by the tide while it regresses towards the Caribbean Sea.

As for Leisure, the Commune of Aquin has a library and three cinemas. The parish hall serves as a theater room. The sports practiced in the municipality are: football (soccer), basketball and tennis. Three night clubs operating occasionally and six gaugeres were listed in the Commune.

The Fort of Bonnet-Carré is located in the municipality.

Communication[]

The Commune has a telephone service with four telephone booths. There is no radio station, newspaper / magazine, or TV station.

The post comes from Port-au-Prince and the North and arrives via Miragoâne on Sunday evening for the same destinations.

Heritage[]

As far as cultural heritage is concerned, a cave has been listed in the 12th communal section, maintained by the people of the area and especially by the pilgrims who come there to worship and celebrate Saint Gregory.

References/Links[]

Lending Haiti a helping hand - [2]

Route Nat 2 Ca

Anba Seriz Motel [3]

Norway is interested in the potential of the Department of South - Haiti Libre [4]

_{Michael Vedrine}