Which two countries share the island of Hispaniola?
Quick answer
The Caribbean island of Hispaniola is shared by Haiti, which covers the western third, and the Dominican Republic, which covers the eastern two-thirds. It’s the second-largest island in the Caribbean after Cuba. Christopher Columbus landed there in 1492 and named it La Isla Española, “the Spanish Island.”
Hispaniola is one of the few islands in the world divided between two countries, and the two halves have very different histories.
Two countries compared
| Haiti | Dominican Republic | |
|---|---|---|
| Share of island | About one-third (west) | About two-thirds (east) |
| Capital | Port-au-Prince | Santo Domingo |
| Languages | Haitian Creole and French | Spanish |
| Former colonial power | France | Spain |
| Independence | 1804, from France | 1844, from Haiti |
| Population (approx.) | 11.8 million | 11.4 million |
A turbulent history
- The Taíno people lived on the island, which they called Ayiti (“land of high mountains”), long before Europeans arrived.
- Spain colonized the island after 1492. Disease and forced labor devastated the Taíno.
- France took the western part in 1697. Called Saint-Domingue, it became the richest colony in the world, producing sugar and coffee with enslaved African labor.
- The Haitian Revolution (1791–1804), led by figures such as Toussaint Louverture, created the first nation founded by formerly enslaved people and the first Black republic.
- Haiti ruled the whole island from 1822 to 1844, when the Dominican Republic declared independence.
Firsts in the Americas
Santo Domingo, founded in 1496, is the oldest continuously inhabited European city in the Americas. It has the first cathedral, university and hospital built by Europeans in the New World. For the oldest such city in the US, see the oldest city in the United States.
Geography
- Pico Duarte, 3,098 m, in the Dominican Republic, is the highest point in the Caribbean.
- Lake Enriquillo, about 40 m below sea level, is the Caribbean’s lowest point and home to American crocodiles.
- The border runs about 390 km. Satellite images show the Haitian side has much less forest cover.
Columbus’s arrival began centuries of change for the Americas; for another part of that story, see the Qhapaq Ñan of the Inca.
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