Nippes ( French, ) or Nip (

Haitian Creole Haitian Creole (; , ; , ), or simply Creole (), is a French-based creole languages, French-based creole language spoken by 10 to 12million people worldwide, and is one of the two official languages of Haiti (the other being French), where it ...

) is one of the ten

departments Department may refer to: * Departmentalization, division of a larger organization into parts with specific responsibility Government and military * Department (administrative division), a geographical and administrative division within a country, ...

(the highest-level political subdivisions) of

Haiti Haiti, officially the Republic of Haiti, is a country on the island of Hispaniola in the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and south of the Bahamas. It occupies the western three-eighths of the island, which it shares with the Dominican ...

located in southern Haiti. It is the most recently created department, having been split from Grand'Anse in 2003. The capital of the department is

Miragoâne Miragoâne () is a coastal commune in western Haiti and the capital of the Nippes department. It is also the headquarters of the Miragoâne Arrondissement. It is regarded as one of the major ports in the trade in used goods. Bales of used clot ...

, and it is the least populous department in Haiti.

History

Haitian Period

Being created from Grand'Anse most of Nippes' history is similar to Grand'Anse's. Nippes during the Haitian Revolution played a big role with marron troops led by notabl
Plymouth
a Jamaican later on was in Haiti.

Independence

Étienne Gérin from Miragwàn is a signatory of the

Haitian Declaration of Independence The Haitian Declaration of Independence () was proclaimed on 1 January 1804 in the port city of Gonaïves by Jean-Jacques Dessalines, marking the end of 13-year long Haitian Revolution. The declaration marked Haiti becoming the first independent ...

. During the Haitian Civil war between Pétion and Henry 1st, André Rigaud came back to Haiti from France and was disappointed by Pétion's laissez-faire politics and created a de facto republic, the Meridional Republic of Haiti and the Miragoanes bridge was the limit between those two republics.

Geography

The department is bordered to the north by the

Gulf of Gonave A gulf is a large inlet from an ocean or their seas into a landmass, larger and typically (though not always) with a narrower opening than a bay. The term was used traditionally for large, highly indented navigable bodies of salt water that a ...

, to the west the Grand'Anse Department, south by the South Department and to the east by the Ouest Department. The Nippes River is the most important of the department and one of the most important in the country. Nippes has one of the biggest and most well-preserved bays in Haiti. The Baradères Bay is formed by the Baradères Peninsula and protects multiple minor islands and cays like Picoulet and Corny Island. Part of the Miragoanes Lake is shared between Nippes and West Departement is the biggest natural freshwater lake in Haiti. Nippes has many minor islands with one of the biggest cay being the Rochelois located 15 km offshore. The cay has a potential for land reclamation in Haiti.

Economy

Nippes has great mining potential in bauxite since the town of Miragoanes had a majo
bauxite
plant operated by Reynold's company. Nippes has an agriculture and fishing industry with the lake having a potential for pisciculture. Nippes is a commerce hub since the Miragoanes Port is one of the biggest ports in the South.

Transportation

The RN2 (national road system) passes through Nippes going to Les Cayes and making it the bridge between 2 departments. Another one is proposed to connect it to Grand'Anse. Miragoanes is the major port in the town and the department has no airport.

Administrative divisions

The department of Nippes is subdivided into three

arrondissement An arrondissement (, , ) is any of various administrative divisions of France, Belgium, Haiti, and certain other Francophone countries, as well as the Netherlands. Europe France The 101 French departments are divided into 342 ''arrondissem ...

s (districts), which are further subdivided into eleven communes (the equivalent of a city or municipality). EGLISE DE MIRAGOANE-vi

* Anse-à-Veau Arrondissement ** Anse-à-Veau ** Arnaud **

L'Asile L'Asile (; ) is a commune in the Anse-à-Veau Arrondissement, in the Nippes department of Haiti Haiti, officially the Republic of Haiti, is a country on the island of Hispaniola in the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and south of ...

Petit-Trou-de-Nippes Petit-Trou-de-Nippes (; ) is a List of communes of Haiti, commune in the Anse-à-Veau Arrondissement, in the Nippes Departments of Haiti, department of Haiti. It has 36,143 inhabitants. On 14 August 2021 it was near the epicenter of 2021 Haiti ea ...

** Plaisance-du-Sud * Baradères Arrondissement ** Baradères ** Grand-Boucan * Miragoâne Arrondissement **

** Fonds-des-Nègres ** Paillant ** Petite-Rivière-de-Nippes

References

Departments of Haiti States and territories established in 2003 2003 establishments in Haiti {{Haiti-geo-stub