Hispaniola, Span. Española, second largest island of the West Indies, 29,530 sq mi (76,483 sq km), between Cuba and Puerto Rico. Haiti occupies the western third of the island and the Dominican Republic the remainder. Visited by Columbus in 1492, the island was called Española. The later French colony was called Saint-Domingue, after Santo Domingo, the Spanish colony in the eastern part of the island. The terrain, dominated by the Cordillera Central, is high and rugged; Pico Duarte (10,417 ft/3,175 m high) is the tallest peak. Extending far westward, like the claws of a crab, two mountain ranges form the scenic Gulf of Gonaïves. The island's climate is subtropical, and agriculture (coffee, cocoa, sugarcane, and tobacco) flourishes in the abundant rainfall. In some areas of the island (in Haiti especially), increased population has caused significant deforestation for cultivation. Port-au-Prince, Haiti, and Santo Domingo, the Dominican Republic, are the largest cities.

Spanish Española

Island, central West Indies. The second-largest West Indian island, it lies east of Cuba. It is divided into Haiti to the west and the Dominican Republic to the east. The island is some 400 mi (650 km) long and 150 mi (241 km) wide at its widest point. Christopher Columbus landed there in 1492. The Spanish wiped out the natives and settled the island with African slaves. In 1795 Spain ceded the eastern two-thirds of the island to France. The slaves rebelled in the late 18th century; led by Toussaint-Louverture and J.-J. Dessalines, they formed the independent Republic of Haiti (1804) on the western part of the island. The eastern part was briefly reunited with Spain; its road to eventual independence as the Dominican Republic (1844) was initially blocked by Haitian dominance.

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