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Hispaniola

(Encyclopedia)Hispaniola ĕspänyōˈlä [key], second largest island of the West Indies, 29,530 sq mi (76,483 sq km), between Cuba and Puerto Rico. Haiti occupies the western third of the island and the Dominican ...

Isabela, ruins, Dominican Republic

(Encyclopedia)Isabela ēsäbāˈlä [key], ruins of a town on the north shore of Hispaniola, in the Dominican Republic, at the base of Cape Isabela. Believed to have been founded by Columbus (c.1494), it was one of...

Columbus, Christopher

(Encyclopedia)Columbus, Christopher, Ital. Cristoforo Colombo krēstōˈbäl kōlōnˈ [key], 1451–1506, European explorer, b. Genoa, Italy. Columbus was not the first European mariner to sail to the New World...

solenodon

(Encyclopedia)solenodon sōlēˈnədŏn [key], venomous insectivorous mammal, genus Solenodon, found in the West Indies. Related to moles and shrews, the solenodon resembles a rat with an elongated snout and coarse...

tody

(Encyclopedia)tody tōˈdē [key], common name for small (3–4 in./9–10 cm) West Indian birds of the family Todidae, comprising the single genus Todus. Bright green above with red throats, they are forest birds ...

Enriquillo, Lago

(Encyclopedia)Enriquillo, Lago lägˈō ĕnˌrēkēˈlyō [key], salt lake, SW Dominican Republic, the largest lake of Hispaniola and the Caribbean islands, c.89 ft. (27 m) below sea level. Lago Enriquillo, which h...

González de Ávila, Gil

(Encyclopedia)González de Ávila, Gil hēl gōnthäˈlĕth dā äˈvēlä [key], d. 1543, Spanish conquistador. Despite the opposition of Pedro Arias de Ávila, he conquered Honduras, Costa Rica, and Nicaragua in ...

Gonâve, La

(Encyclopedia)Gonâve, La, oblong island (1991 est. pop. 79,188), 254 sq mi (658 sq km), in the Gulf of Gonaïves, Ouest dept., W Haiti. The largest of Hispaniola's smaller neighboring islands, it is c.35 mi (56 km...

Ojeda, Alonso de

(Encyclopedia)Ojeda, Alonso de älōnˈsō ᵺā ōhāˈᵺä [key], c.1466–1515?, Spanish conquistador. He joined Columbus on his second voyage and in 1499—at first accompanied by Vespucci—explored the north...

Velázquez, Diego de

(Encyclopedia)Velázquez, Diego de vəlăsˈkwĭz, Span. dyāˈgō dā vāläthˈkāth [key], c.1460–1524?, Spanish conquistador, first governor of Cuba, b. Cuéllar, Spain. He sailed with Christopher Columbus on...

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