Department of the West (Ouest) – one of the ten departments, of which Haiti is divided. The Department occupies the entire center of the country, on the eastern border with the Dominican Republic. It covers an area of 4 827 km 2 and is inhabited by 2.9 million people (2002). The Department is economically and culturally dominated by the rapidly expanding Port-au-Prince, the capital of the entire country and its main city, which, together with the neighboring suburbs and smaller cities (including Carrefour creates Aire Metropolitaine (metropolitan area).