Saint-Domingue

Saint-Domingue was a French colony from 1697 to 1804 that is today the independent nation of Haiti.

Saint-Domingue is French for the Spanish term Santo Domingo. Spain once controlled the entire island of Hispaniola, which was also known as Santo Domingo. But in the Treaty of Ryswick in 1697, Spain recognized that France had established control of the western one-third of its territory.

19th and early 20th century U.S. authors often referred to Saint-Domingue as "San Domingo," which can lead to confusion with the former Spanish colony which is today the Dominican Republic.

The name was changed to Haiti when the country declared independence from the French in 1804.