Today’s Image of the Day comes thanks to the NASA Earth Observatory and features a look at the island of Hispaniola in the Caribbean Sea.
Hispaniola is home to two separate nations: the Dominican Republic and Haiti. It is the 2nd largest island in the Caribbean and 22nd largest island in the world, spanning 29,418 square miles. It is located just 50 miles southeast of Cuba.
The island also marks the very first permanent European seement in the Americas after Christopher Columbus landed in 1492.
Hispaniola Española; Latin and French: Hispaniola; Haitian Creole: Ispayola; Taino: Ayiti) is an island in the Caribbean archipelago which is known as the Greater Antilles. It is the most populous island in the West Indies and the region’s second largest after Cuba.
The 76,192-square-kilometre (29,418 sq mi) island is divided into two separate, sovereign nations: the Spanish-speaking Dominican Republic (48,445 km2, 18,705 sq mi) to the east and French / Haitian Creole-speaking Haiti (27,750 km2, 10,710 sq mi) to the west. The only other shared island in the Caribbean is Saint Martin, which is shared between France (Saint Martin) and the Netherlands (Sint Maarten).
Hispaniola is the site of the first European settlement in the Americas, La Navidad (1492–1493), as well as the first proper town, La Isabela (1493–1500), and the first permanent settlement and current capital of the Dominican Republic, Santo Domingo (est. 1498). These settlements were founded successively in each of Christopher Columbus‘ first three voyages.
This image was captured by an astronaut on board the International Space Station.
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By Rory Arnold, Earth.com Staff Writer
Source: NASA Earth Observatory
