Islands And Archipelagos Codexery

Hispaniola

Caribbean island divided between Haiti and the Dominican Republic.

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Its modern name was recommended by American leaders to the National Geographic Society in 1918.[1][2] La Navidad (1492–1493) was the first European fort constructed in the Americas on this island, and La Isabela (1493–1500) was the first settlement, while Santo Domingo (1498–present) became the first permanent settlement.[3]

Last updated 2026-10-03 from the source article.

Geography and history

The island was called Bohío, Haiti, and Quisqueya by its Native peoples at European contact.[4] Columbus renamed it Española on December 5, 1492, because its vegetation reminded him of Spain.[5][6] By 1514 the Taíno population had fallen to about 26,334 from an estimated 400,000 in 1508.[7] The French occupied the western third of the island in the mid-17th century, naming it Saint-Domingue.[8]

In November 1493, Columbus arrived with 1,300 men to start a permanent colony, and in January 1494 they founded La Isabela in what is now the Dominican Republic.[9] Governor Ovando forced the indigenous population to labor in gold mines, and by 1503 the Spanish Crown had legalized the encomienda system for allocating native labor to individual Spaniards for mining.[7] The United States occupied Haiti from 1915 to 1934 and the Dominican Republic from 1916 to 1924.[1]

What the cited sources add

Balcácer records that a royal decree of December 6, 1508 extended the name Santo Domingo to the whole island.[2] Morgan's 2009 article reports that Columbus renamed the island Española because its lush vegetation reminded him of Castile.[6] Morgan also states that Columbus decreed every Arawak of 14 years or over must furnish a hawk's bell full of gold dust every three months.[6] The name Isla Española was used until about 1550, after which the entire island territory was increasingly called Santo Domingo or combined as isla Española de Santo Domingo.[2]

References

  1. Wikipedia, "Hispaniola" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Balcácer, "¿Cuál es el nombre de nuestra isla?", Diario Libre, 2012-09-29; Castillo Pantaleón, "La Nacionalidad Dominicana", Editora Nacional, Ministerio de Cultura, 2012, p. 329 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  2. Balcácer, "¿Cuál es el nombre de nuestra isla?", Diario Libre, 2012-09-29. facts only, no text reused. diariolibre.com
  3. Wikipedia, "Hispaniola" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Embassy of the Dominican Republic, in the United States"; "Haiti", The World Factbook, October 6, 2021; Davies, "The Loss of the Santa Maria Christmas Day, 1492", The American Historical Review, 1953, p. 854–865; Maclean, Frances, "The Lost Fort of Columbus", Smithsonian, January 2008 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  4. Wikipedia, "Hispaniola" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Balcácer, "¿Cuál es el nombre de nuestra isla?", Diario Libre, 2012-09-29; "Colón y el nombre de Haití", Diario Libre, 2024-12-11; "Justificación para una historia militar de Puerto Rico", LA ODISEA DE MARTIN ALONSO PINZON, April 4, 2023, p. 62–63; "Martín Alonso Pinzón y Puerto Rico", Academia Puertorriqueña de la Historia, April 4, 2023, p. 174–179; 285–300 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  5. Wikipedia, "Hispaniola" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Cristobal Colón - Consuelo Varela - Juan Gil - Textos y Documentos Completos, Relaciones de Viajes, Cartas y Memoriales.-Alianza Universidad (1982) PDF", Scribd, p. 157; "Colón y el nombre de Haití", Diario Libre, 2024-12-11; McIntosh, "The Piri Reis Map of 1513", University of Georgia Press, 2000, p. 88; "Quam protinus Hispanam dixi": Epistola De Insulis Nuper Repertis (Letter to Lord Raphael Sanchez, March 14, 1493). (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  6. Morgan, "Columbus' Confusion About the New World", Smithsonian, October 2009. facts only, no text reused. smithsonianmag.com
  7. Wikipedia, "Hispaniola" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Pons, "The Dominican Republic, A National History", Hispaniola Books, 1995, p. 33–37; Floyd, "The Columbus Dynasty in the Caribbean, 1492–1526", University of New Mexico Press, 1973, p. 44, 50, 57–58, 74; Livi-Bacci, "The Depopulation of Hispanic America after the Conquest", Population and Development Review, 2006, p. 208–213; Hopkins, "The Greatest Killer: Smallpox in History", University of Chicago Press, 2002-09-15, p. 205; Livi-Bacci, "The Depopulation of Hispanic America after the Conquest", Population and Development Review, 2006, p. 2 en.wikipedia.org
  8. Wikipedia, "Hispaniola" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Schwartz, "The Butterflies of Hispaniola", University of Florida Press, 1989, p. 10 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  9. Wikipedia, "Hispaniola" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Phillips, "The worlds of Christopher Columbus", Cambridge University Press, 1992, p. 199–200 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org

Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Hispaniola (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.

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Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.

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