Christopher Columbus And The New World - 1579 Words

August 3rd, 1492, Christopher Columbus would depart from Spain in efforts to reach the New World and to try to colonize it. December 5th, of the same year, Columbus would arrive to an island in the Caribbean, which he proceeded to claim and call â€Å"La Espanola† (Hispaniola). More Spaniards came to the island to colonize it and create a plantation economy because the island was so rich and diverse in their resources. Nearly 200 years later, when France became a major European power, the French decided to invade The Hispaniola in efforts to take it away from the Spaniards. Spain at first ceded the western third of the island (now Haiti) and later on the other two thirds (Dominican Republic). Haiti eventually had a revolution and became†¦show more content†¦Although Spain had settled first in the island, major European power France managed to come to the island and Spain was forced to cede the western coast of the island to the French. Today, Haiti still maintains a great French influence as they have two official languages that include Creole and French. Their population is comprised of 95% black and 5% white. Their religion consists of about 80% Roman Catholics and the other 20% consists mostly of Protestants. The Eastern two thirds of the Hispaniola is occupied by Dominican Republic, 19 00 N, 70 40 W. Like mentioned before, Dominican Republic has a population of a little over 10 million people that are composed of 73% mixed, 16% white and 11% black. About 95% of the Dominican population is Roman Catholics, which can be tracked back to when the Spanish colonized them and their official language is Spanish. Although both countries are on the same island, their climates differ a little. Haiti’s climate is mostly topical, but it is also semiarid because the mountains cut off trade winds and Haiti’s terrain is mostly rough and mountainous. While Dominican Republic’s climate is also tropical maritime, they have little seasonal temperature variation and also seasonal variation in rainfall and their terrain consists of rugged highlands and mountains with fertile valleys interspersed. The difference in their terrain is mostly due to the fact that over the years, Dominican Republic has tried to preserve their forests and natural