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Haiti was discovered by Christopher Columbus on December 5, 1492. It became the first permanaent settlement of the Americas by Europeans. Columbus first named the island 'La Isla Espagnola' which means the "The Spanish Island". Hispaniola is what the whole island is called today and is made of of two countries; The Republic of Haiti on the western portion of the island and The Dominican Republic in the east.

When it was discovered by the Spaniards, the first inhabitants were the Taino natives. It was here where the "Barbeque" cooking was first seen. The natives were eventually all killed by the by the 1500's. This left the island occupied by the Spanish, which neglected this western portion due to the many settlements of French buccaneer pirates especially in Tortuga (island). Many decades later, the Spanish decided that they could no longer control it and signed a Treaty of Ryswick with the French that ended up splitting the island into a 2:1 ratio, with the smaller area going to the French. The latter became Haiti and the Dominican Republic.

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10y ago

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