The Caribbean island Columbus called La Española is Hispaniola, an island now shared by Haiti and the Dominican Republic.
Columbus first saw Hispaniola during his 1492 voyage and explored its northern coast in December of that year. He gave the island the Spanish name La Española, meaning roughly “the Spanish island.” Later writers, including the historian Peter Martyr d’Anghiera, popularized the Latin-derived form Hispaniola.
Hispaniola is part of the Greater Antilles, alongside Cuba, Jamaica, and Puerto Rico. It lies east of Cuba and west of Puerto Rico. The island is geographically one landmass, but its modern political division dates to the colonial period: Haiti occupies the western portion and the Dominican Republic occupies the eastern portion.
The island was inhabited by Taíno communities before Columbus arrived. Historical sources record several Indigenous names, including Ayiti and possibly Quisqueya, though the meanings and usage of these names are debated. A common mix-up is confusing Hispaniola with Puerto Rico, another island visited during Columbus’s later voyages.