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A chef-lieu (French pronunciation: [ʃɛfljø], principal place) is a town or city that is pre-eminent, from an administrative perspective, in any given sub-division of territory in France, French-speaking countries, and other countries too (as Italy).

[edit] In Algeria

The capital of an Algerian Province is called a chef-lieu. The capital of a district, the next largest division, is also called a chef-lieu. While the capital of the lowest division, the municipalities, is called agglomeration de chef-lieu (chef-lieu agglomeration) and is abbreviated as A.C.L.

[edit] In Belgium

The chef-lieu in Belgium is the administrative centre of each of the ten Provinces of Belgium. Three of these cities also give their name to their province (Antwerp, Liège and Namur).

[edit] In Luxembourg

Luxembourg is divided in two arrondissements, three districts, twelve cantons and one hundred and eighteen towns. Each has a chef-lieu. In particular, in every district chef-lieu, there is a district commissioner specifically in charge of the administration of the towns within the district.

[edit] In France

The chef-lieu of a département is known as the préfecture. This is the town or city where the prefect of the départment (and all services under his/her control) is situated, in a building known as the prefecture. In every French region, one of the départments has pre-eminence over the others, and the prefect carries the title of Prefect of region X…, Prefect of Department Z… and the city where the regional prefect is found is known as ‘’’chef-lieu of the region or, more commonly, Regional prefecture. The services are, however, controlled by the prefecture of the départment.

The chef-lieu of an arrondissement, commonly known as the sous-préfecture is the city or town where the sub-prefect of the arrondissement (and the services directly under his/her control) is situated, in a building called the sub-prefecture. The arrondissement where the département prefecture is located does not normally have a sub-prefect or sub-prefecture, the administration being devolved usually to the Secretary-general of the departmental prefecture, who functions as sub-prefect for the arrondissement.

The chef-lieu of a canton is usually the biggest city or town within the canton, but has only a nominal role. No specific services are controlled by it. In past decades, there was always a Gendarmerie, a treasurer and a Justice of the Peace.

The chef-lieu of a commune is the principal area of the town or city that gives the commune its name, the other areas of the town being called hamlets. French typographers will use a capital for the ‘Le’ or ‘La’ preceding the name of places having ‘chef-lieu of town’ status, and lowercase ‘le’ or ‘la’ for hamlets.

[edit] In New Caledonia

The chef-lieu indicates the principal city of the provinces of New Caledonia. So Nouméa is the chef-lieu of South Province. But the chef-lieu can also mean the principal area within a town. So Wé is part of the town of Lifou, but is the chef-lieu of Lifou. In the Loyalty Islands and the other islands, the name of the chef-lieu differs from that of the name of the town. For the towns of the mainland, the chef-lieu has the same name as the town. Nouméa is a town composed only of Nouméa.

Francophone West Africa[link]

Many of the West African states which gained independence from France in the mid-20th century also inherited the French administrative structure of Departments and Communes, headed by a Chief-Lieu. States still using Chief-Lieu to identify the administrative headquarters of a government subdivision include Senegal, Burkina Faso, Benin, Mali, and Niger.^[1]

Taking Niger and Mali as examples, the administrative subdivisions down to the Commune level each have a formal place of administrative headquarter, titled the chef-lieu. The larger portion of the terminology of administrative division is inherited from colonial rule as part of French West Africa, and has survived and been somewhat modified over time. In both nations there have been remarkably parallel histories.^[2] With the decentralization process begun in both nations in the 1990s, the chef-lieu has transitioned from the location of the Governor, Commandant, or Prefect and their staff, to the location of Commune, Cercles of Mali/Departments of Niger, and Regional Councils and a variety of decentralized bodies.^[3][4] The chefs-lieux of a Region, Cercle or Departement, is usually also a Communal chef-lieu. Both nations collect these councils in a "High Council of Collectivites" seated at the nation's capital. Smaller sub-divisions in Mali's Communes (Villages, Tribal councils, Quarters) are administered from or identified as a Place/Site (Site in French), so the chef-lieu is literally the Chief-Place even at the lowest level.^[5][6]

[edit] In Switzerland

The term chef-lieu is applied to the capital of each Swiss canton. In 16 of the 26 cantons, the territory is subdivided into districts. Every district also has a city nominated as chef-lieu and each has a prefect.

[edit] In Tunisia

The term chef-lieu is used to designate the capital of each gouvernorat (department). Each of the 24 gouvernorats is subdivided into delegations (districts) which each have a central city as chef-lieu of delegation.

Pronunciation[link]

The ‘f’ in chef-lieu is pronounced (almost as "v"), in contrast to chef-d'oeuvre where it is mute.

Film[link]

• The Fiancée of the pirate (1969) is a film by Nelly Kaplan, where the action takes place in a hamlet where everyone spends their time worrying about what everyone thinks about the chef-lieu of the town.

References[link]

Michel Martelly
56th President of Haiti
Incumbent
Assumed office 14 May 2011
Prime Minister	Jean-Max Bellerive Garry Conille Laurent Lamothe
Preceded by	René Préval
Personal details
Born	(1961-02-12) 12 February 1961 (age 51) Port-au-Prince, Haiti
Political party	Farmers' Response Party
Spouse(s)	Sophia Martelly
Children	4

Joseph Michel Martelly (born 12 February 1961), also known by his stage name "Sweet Micky", is a Haitian politician, former musician and businessman. Since 2011 he is the President of Haiti.^[1]

On 4 April 2011, a senior Haitian official announced that Martelly had won the second round of the election against candidate Mirlande Manigat.^[2][3] He assumed his position of the President of Haiti on May 14, 2011.

Early life[link]

Martelly was born in Port-au-Prince, the middle-class son of a super market supervisor. Martelly is a self-taught keyboard player and mango seller. After graduating from high school, Martelly briefly worked for a construction company in the United States before he enlisted in the Haitian Military Academy. In 1986, after one semester, he returned to Haiti just as Jean-Claude Duvalier, then president-for-life, was heading into exile. Martelly later returned to the U.S. with his then-girlfriend, Sophia, whom he later married in a small ceremony in Miami, Florida.

Upon their return to Haiti, Martelly had his first breakthrough in the music industry when he began playing keyboard as a fill-in musician in local venues in Pétionville and Kenscoff, upscale suburbs of Port-au-Prince.^[4][5]

Music[link]

Martelly has been heralded as a pioneer of a unique brand of compas music, a style of Haitian dance music sung predominantly in the Haitian Creole language. Originally, Compas, or Kompa, was the creation of Nemours Jean-Baptiste. Martelly, a keyboardist and the self-proclaimed "President of Compas," popularized a nouvelle génération, or "new generation" style, of smaller bands with few members that relied predominantly on synthesizers and electronic instruments to reproduce a fuller sound. Martelly's live performances and recordings are sometimes laced with physical humor and humorous sociopolitical commentaries and satires. Although he is the most recognized musician and public personality in Haiti, Martelly's performance style has sometimes ignited controversy throughout Haitian communities.

Recording career[link]

By 1988, Martelly's musical talent, charismatic persona, and his pattering style of compas had gained tremendous popularity at El Rancho Hotel and Casino and The Florville, another local venue. That year, he recorded his first single, Ooo La La, which became an instant hit, followed by "Konpas Foret des Pins" which was released in 1989, also a number hit from his debut album "Woule Woule". During the period of about 1988-2008 Martelly, using his stage name Sweet Micky, recorded fourteen studio albums and a number of live CDs. His music blends Haitian music with fresh interpretations of compas, zouk, reggae, salsa, Caribbean soca and jazz-fusion. In 1997, Martelly's crossover appeal to other musical genres was evident when Wyclef Jean of The Fugees featured him on the title track for Jean's solo effort Wyclef Jean Presents The Carnival featuring the Refugee Allstars. As Jean proclaims on 'The Carnival,' "Surprise - it's Sweet Micky, y'all!" Also in 1997, Martelly released an album containing one of his most celebrated hits, Pa Manyen ("Don't Touch"). The song is an adaptation of "Angola", composed by the renowned artist/composer/record producer Ramiro Mendes (of the Mendes Brothers), first recorded by Cesária Évora, the legendary Cape Verdean singer. Pa Manyen went on to be featured in various compilation albums, including the popular Putumayo Presents: French Caribbean in 2003. The song was also covered by Venezuelan singer, Soledad Bravo as "Canta, Canta Corazon" and by Jose Luiz Cortes of Cuba. See also the Mendes Brothers' original version of the song, performed by Ramiro Mendes included in the group's 1997 album - Para Angola Com Um Xi Coracao. Martelly is also notorious for his cursing on stage as well as using homophobic slurs.

Political career[link]

In 1997, Martelly participated in "Knowledge is Power", an HIV educational music video with a message about preventing the spread of HIV. His humanitarian work as the President of the Foundation Rose et Blanc, created by his wife Sophia and himself, to help the poor and disenfranchised of the country, was the basis for his choice as the Good Will Haitian Ambassador for the Protection of the Environment by the current Haitian Government. In 2010 he ran for President of Haiti where he challenged the results as to whether he placed second, making the runoff, or third. On 3 February 2011, it was announced that he would participate in a run-off election scheduled for 20 March 2011.^[6] On 4 April 2011, a senior official announced that Martelly had won the presidential run-off election against candidate Mirlande Manigat with more than 60% of the vote.^[3]

Presidency[link]

Martelly was sworn in as president on 14 May 2011 following the Haitian general election, 2010-2011. The following day, the incumbent Prime Minister, Jean-Max Bellerive resigned to allow Martelly to choose his own Prime Minister.^[7] Martelly was quick to pledge reforms the post-earthquake reconstruction process.^[8]

In August 2011, Martelly announced a plan to reinstate the nation's military. This plan was met with controversy as many human rights activists were concerned about bringing back a military which had been responsible for many atrocities in the past.^[9]

In September 2011, Martelly formed an advisory board that included business executives, bankers, and politicians such as former President of the United States Bill Clinton, that he hopes will improve business and economy in Haiti.^[10]

Personal life and later music career[link]

Martelly currently lives in Haiti, but has held several homes in Palm Beach, Florida. He lives with his wife and former manager, Sophia, and their four children, Olivier, Sandro, Yani, and Malaika, in 2006 Martelly announced his unofficial retirement from recording and performing, but two years later announced a return to music with a new single, Magouyè, and the video/short film, "Bandi Legal yo ki rive". He is a cousin of Port-au-Prince hotel manager and musician Richard Morse.^[11]

Discography[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official website

Music[link]

• Sweet Micky: Mon Colonel, music video

v t e Heads of State of Haiti Post-Revolutionary (1804-1859) Dessalines/Jacques I · Christophe/Henri I · Blanchet (acting) · Pétion · Boyer · Rivière-Hérard · Guerrier · Pierrot · Riché · Soulouque/Faustin I Post-Imperial (1859-1930) Geffrard · Saget (provisional) · Salnave · Saget · Council of Secretaries of State · Domingue · Boisrond-Canal · Lamothe (provisional) · Salomon · Boisrond-Canal (provisional) · Légitime · Jeune (provisional) · Hyppolite · Simon Sam · Boisrond-Canal (provisional) · Alexis · Simon · Leconte · Auguste · Oreste · Zamor · Théodore · Guillaume Sam · Dartiguenave · Borno · Roy Post-Occupation (1930-1986) Vincent · Lescot · Lavaud · Estimé · Lavaud · Magloire · Pierre-Louis (provisional) · Sylvain (provisional) · Executive Government Council · Fignolé (provisional) · Kebreau · François Duvalier · Jean-Claude Duvalier Post-Duvalier (1986-2011) Namphy · Manigat · Namphy · Avril · Abraham · Pascal-Trouillot · Aristide · Cédras · Nérette · Bazin (provisional) · Aristide · Jonassaint (provisional) · Aristide · Préval (provisional) · Aristide · Alexandre · Préval Post-Quake (2011-present) Martelly