Hispaniola (from Spanish, La Española) is the second-largest and most populous island of the Antilles, lying between the islands of Cuba to the west, and Puerto Rico to the east. It is located directly within the hurricane belt. The Republic of Haiti occupies the western third and the Dominican Republic the eastern two-thirds of the island

Hispaniola is the second-largest island in the Caribbean (after Cuba), with an area of 76,480 km². The island of Cuba lies 80 km to the northwest across the Windward Passage; to the southwest lies Jamaica, separated by the Jamaica Channel. Puerto Rico lies east of Hispaniola across the Mona Passage. The Bahamas and Turks and Caicos Islands lie to the north.

Cuba, Hispaniola, Jamaica, and Puerto Rico are collectively known as the Greater Antilles. The Greater Antilles are made up of continental rock, as distinct from the Lesser Antilles, which are mostly young volcanic or coral islands.

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The island has five major mountain ranges: The Central Range, known in the Dominican Republic as the Cordillera Central, spans the central part of the island, extending from the south coast of the Dominican Republic into northwestern Haiti, where it is known as the Massif du Nord. This mountain range boasts the highest peak in the Antilles, Pico Duarte at 3,087 meters (10,128 ft) above sea level. The Cordillera Septentrional runs parallel to the Central Range across the northern end of the Dominican Republic, extending into the Atlantic Ocean as the Samaná Peninsula.

Eladio Fernández, author of Hispaniola: A Photographic Journey through Island Biodiversity, is one of the most accomplished nature photographers around. Check out his new website featuring page upon page of gorgeous photos of Hispaniola, an island whose considerable age (40 million years), along with a diversity of habitats—from mountains and cloud forests to savannahs and tropical lowlands—makes it one of the most spectacular, if poorly understood, troves of biota on the planet. No one is better equipped to document this extraordinary set of phenomena than Eladio, so head over to www.eladiofernandez.com to witness it in all its glory.