Port-au-Prince is the capital and largest city of the Caribbean nation of Haiti. The city's official population was 704,776 as of the 2003 census. The city of Port-au-Prince is on the Gulf of Gonâve: the bay on which the city lies, which acts as a natural harbor, has sustained economic activity since the civilizations of the Arawaks. It was first incorporated under the colonial rule of the French, in 1749, and has been Haiti's largest metropolis since then.