As the new year begins, Haiti is celebrating 210 years of independence.

In a New Year’s Day statement, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said the United States “joins in commemorating the courage and spirit of independence of all Haitians as well as the ties of friendship and family that bind our peoples together.”

Kerry said the United States has a “strong commitment to help all Haitians as they chart a path toward greater peace, security and, prosperity.”

When it gained independence from France in 1804, Haiti became the only nation in the world established as the result of a successful slave revolt.

The Caribbean country was the second republic in the Americas, following the United States.

Haiti occupies the western portion of the island of Hispaniola, which it shares with the Dominican Republic.