Which island known to the Taíno as Borinquen did Columbus sight in 1493?

Which island known to the Taíno as Borinquen did Columbus sight in 1493? Puerto Rico. Columbus first sighted Puerto Rico’s eastern coast on November 17, 1493, during his second voyage across the Atlantic.

The island was known to its Taíno inhabitants as Borinquen, also written Borikén. Columbus’s fleet sailed along the southern coast before landing near the Bay of Añasco on November 19. He gave the island the name San Juan Bautista, honoring Saint John the Baptist.

A common mix-up is the island’s changing names. Puerto Rico originally referred to the island’s valuable harbor, while San Juan was the island’s Spanish name. Over time, the names effectively switched: the island became Puerto Rico and the principal city became San Juan.

The second voyage was much larger than Columbus’s first. It left Cádiz on September 24, 1493, with 17 ships and roughly 1,200–1,500 people, intending to establish permanent Spanish settlements. Puerto Rico later became an important Spanish base in the Caribbean, and Juan Ponce de León founded Caparra in 1508.