town and port, on the southern coast of Haiti, 24 miles (39 km) southwest of Port-au-Prince across the Tiburon Peninsula. Situated on a hillside overlooking palm-fringed Jacmel Bay, the town flourished under the French as a port for transshipment of sugar, coffee, and cotton. It continues as a commercial centre for such products as bananas, cacao, and coffee. After a good road was completed to Port-au-Prince about 1980, the bay became a tourist retreat with several small hotels. Since the 1990s, Jacmel's beaches and buildings have been neglected, and tourism is minimal. Pop. (2003 prelim.) 26,077.