Port-au-Prince in English is translated “The Port of the Prince.” It is the capital of Haiti and has an incredibly interesting history.

History:
The story of Port-au-Prince has to follow the story of Haiti itself. It is a very complicated history. All histories are, but the story of Haiti and it’s capital Port-au-Prince seems to be especially so.
The site of the city was a center of trade long before Columbus discovered it on his first voyage. It would be under the control of the Spanish from 1492 till 1625. Due to French and Spanish conflicts the Spanish more or less left the area around 1600, to focus their efforts on the colonization of South and Central America, leaving the harbor as more of a stop for resupplying. During this time, it became a base for pirates and buccaneers. The population dropped drastically during this period and eventually came under French control. The island would be divided into two parts, a French colony to the west, which would become Haiti, and a Spanish colony to the East, which is now the Dominican Republic.
In 1770 Port-au-Prince became the capital of the French colony. It would later be the capital of the newly formed Republic of Haiti after the only successful slave rebellion in human history to form a government. Haiti has been the center of many conflicts; it fell under German influence at the end of the 19th century, and would later be occupied by the United States from 1915 till 1934. 20th century Haiti has experienced a lot of political turmoil with many coups. The US again intervened in 1994 with 20,000 troops to stabilize the country. In all of these political upheavals, the people of Port-au-Prince have had a front row seat.

Economy:
For there to be economic prosperity, there has to be stability. With all the political instability down through the years and corrupt government officials, Haiti has suffered much economically. Port-au-Prince has a high unemployment rate. At one time they had a strong tourism industry, but over the years they have lost almost all of it.
In 2010 Pour-au-Prince suffered a 7.0 earthquake. This quake destroyed much of the historic center of the city. More than 300,000 people lost their lives, and over 1,000,000 people throughout the country were left homeless. The city looked like a war zone with whole blocks lying in rubble. Almost ten years later, there are still people left impoverished from the natural disaster.

People:
The people of Port-au-Prince are by and large of African descent. The population is difficult to estimate because of the slums that are being made around the city. The population is probably around a million, but there are over 3 million in the metro area. There are two primary languages: French and Haitian Creole, which is a mix of French, West African languages, Spanish, and Portuguese.

Religion:
In Port-au-Prince, much more than half the population profess Catholicism. Most of the time, when we think of Port-au-Prince and Haiti, we think of Voodoo, and yes, people still practice Voodoo there. It was officially recognized as a religion in 2003. Will you join us this week and pray for the city of Port-au-Prince? Pray that God would raise up laborers to plant healthy Christ-centered churches there.