Grande Riviere Du Nord

Grande-Rivière-du-Nord is a municipality located in Haiti’s Nord Department and is the seat of Grande-Rivière-du-Nord Arrondissement. t is a municipality located 10km to the south of Cap-Haïtien. It is situated at an elevation of 92 meters above the level of the sea.

The municipality of Grande Rivière du Nord was founded in 1712. It has six communal sections. At the time of the Indians, she called herself Guanarawi, Later with the white settlers she was called Sainte-Rose of Lima and a little later, unanimously, its inhabitants have seen fit to call it ‘Great North River’.

In 1790, during the Haitian Revolution that led to the independence of the country, the mulatto Vincent Ogé led the popular uprising of the Grande-Rivière-du-Nord.

During the occupation of Haiti by the United States from 1915 to 1934, Grande-Rivière-du-Nord is the base of the resistance movement led by Charlemagne Péralte.

In the Nord Department of Haiti lies Grande-Rivière-du-Nord, part of its Arrondissement that observed the 300th anniversary of its founding at St. Rose de Lima Church.

A place of historical interest in Grande-Rivière-du-Nord is Gallifet Plantation where Haiti’s slave revolt began, motivated by Voodoo rites.

Many of Haiti’s rulers have been born in Grande-Rivière-du-Nord, among them first ruler, Jean-Jacques Dessalines. It has also been the birthplace of Haiti’s intelligentsia: Jean Price Mars, who pioneered the Negritude movement, inspiring the Black is Beautiful slogan of the 60s.

On the Cormiers plantation in 1758, Jean-Jacques Dessalines was born here. In the geographical coordinates, latitude 72° 11′ 0″ West of the Greenwich meridian and latitude 19° 35′ 0″ North of the equator, is located La Grande Rivière du Nord a river in Haiti. It flows relatively fast.

The town is named after the river that runs through it, the Great North River which also gave its name to the mountain range of the Grande Rivière du Nord.

It is an interior commune, and its climate is fresh. Its inhabitants are called Rivarnordais. In 1998, the population of the Grande Rivière du Nord was estimated at 42 806 inhabitants and reached about 45 900 inhabitants in 2015. For an area of ​​131.12 km2, its density was 326 inhabitants / km2.

Education: The Ministry of National Education of Youth and Sports is represented in the Commune by a school district office. The commune has two kindergarten of which one private and one congregational. Primary schools are 16 public, several private, and one congregational have been inventoried. At secondary level, it has six schools, two public and four private. In addition, two literacy centers and a vocational school have been inventoried in the municipality.

Health: The Ministry of Public Health and Population is not represented in the municipality of Grande Rivière du Nord. A health center with a bed with two doctors, two dentists and sixteen auxiliaries were located in the municipality of Grande Rivière du Nord.

Security: At the level of the administrative and judicial infrastructures, the commune has a court of peace, a civil court, a parquet, an office of civil status and a police station.

Utilities: As for the availability of water, the town is well equipped. It has a river, over 100 springs, and dozens of wells and fountains. Regarding technical infrastructure such as electricity, mainly the city center is electrified.

The river has its origins in the ridges known as the chain of Grande Rivière du Nord in the Massif du Nord ranges. Through Grande-Rivière-du-Nord town, the river makes its course which is a permanently wide channel that brims with water in considerable depth. Through Northern Haiti’s deep valleys, this river meanders and overlooks a number of steep ranges. Waters of this river terminate in the large Atlantic Ocean.

The local economy is based on growing coffee, cocoa and fruit. Mining is important. zinc, lead, copper and silver are extracted.

A private morgue, four pharmacies, a photocopy service, a food supply business and a building materials depot form the economic establishments of the municipality of Grande-Rivière-du-North.

Environment and Infrastructure: Tropical storms keep hitting La Grande Rivière du Nord thus causing flooding on an extensive scale and in turn hurricanes. The river breaks its banks due to extensive flooding.

Its environment has avoided deforestation plaguing most of the country, it delivers superior healthcare services, and provides mountain spring drinking water.

But downsides exist. A population of 5,000 inhabitants, mostly poor, does not get educated. And no industry sector exists, causing population migration for jobs.

However the government of Haiti (GOH) has begun funding infrastructure projects, bringing jobs to town, spending $4 million USD to urbanize the city.

It’s been more than half a century since GOH has paid attention to Grande-Rivière-du-Nord. But now the town will be able to attract more of the tourist trade than it has in the past.

Transportation: Transport in the region gets badly hampered due to this. Roads get washed away when hit by the tropical storms. Many times the roads also get submerged under the water due to flooding and storms.

Weather: It takes around one hour to reach a nearest town by local transport. Grande-Rivière-du-Nord. It is prone to natural hazards like drought and mainly cyclone, floods, and earthquakes.

Climate: The warmest month is August with 31.6 degree C (88*F) and the coldest is January with 17.3 degree C (63*F) average temperature. Most of the sunshine is seen in February. Around May, precipitation and rainfall are experienced. The driest month is January. All through the year the temperature is constant.

Religion: Nearly thirty-seven temples have been listed in the commune. The Baptist temples appear to be the most numerous, (16) in total.

Organizations: The municipality of Grande Rivière du Nord does not have representation of political parties but, it has a popular organization and one NGO.

Leisure: As for Leisure, the municipality of Grande Rivière du Nord has a library with a parish hall that sometimes serves as a theater. However, she does not have a movie theater. Regarding monuments and sites, there are three types: natural, colonial and historical.