Hispaniola Crossword Puzzle for Kids
Free printable educational crossword puzzle. Every clue is a plain-English sentence from the Simple English Wikipedia article on Hispaniola, with the key word blanked out.
Hispaniola Crossword
Name: ____________________ Date: ______________
| 9W | ||||||||||||||||||||
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| 10C | U | L | T | U | 7R | E | S | |||||||||||||
| I | T | 2H | ||||||||||||||||||
| 5V | I | S | I | T | E | D | U | |||||||||||||
| E | R | R | ||||||||||||||||||
| 12A | V | E | R | A | 3G | E | N | 1C | A | R | I | B | B | E | A | N | ||||
| R | I | |||||||||||||||||||
| 6C | A | T | H | O | L | I | 13C | 11S | C | |||||||||||
| U | O | H | A | |||||||||||||||||
| 8P | O | P | U | L | A | T | I | O | N | |||||||||||
| I | S | S | P | E | ||||||||||||||||
| R | T | |||||||||||||||||||
| 4M | O | U | N | T | A | I | N | S | ||||||||||||
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Across
- 1. It flows to the south into the _____ Sea. (9 letters)
- 4. All this chains are in Haiti and form one group of _____. (9 letters)
- 5. Hispaniola was the only island that Columbus _____ in all his four travels to the Americas. (7 letters)
- 6. In both countries, the main religion is Roman _____. (8 letters)
- 8. The eastern, Spanish colony of "Santo Domingo" remained poor and with a very low _____. (10 letters)
- 10. It seems that they were Carib that took the Taíno _____. (7 letters)
- 12. At sea level, the _____ temperature is 25 °C, with small changes from one season to another. (7 letters)
Down
- 2. From June to November, _____ are frequent and can do much damage in the island. (9 letters)
- 3. From La Isabela, Columbus sent _____ of persons to explore and take control of the island. (6 letters)
- 7. It is the longest _____ of the island and of Haiti. (5 letters)
- 8. It is very famous because many _____ lived here. (7 letters)
- 9. By the Treaty of Ryswick, Spain gave the _____ third of the island to France and kept the eastern part. (7 letters)
- 11. On Christmas Eve, December 24, the main _____ ("Santa María") was badly damaged. (4 letters)
- 13. Tortuga (French, Île de la Tortue), close to the northern _____ of Haiti, in the Atlantic Ocean. (5 letters)
Clues are sentences from the Simple English Wikipedia article “Hispaniola” (revision 10900997, CC BY-SA 4.0). crosswordprint.com/printable-crosswords/physical-geography/hispaniola-for-kids/
Hispaniola Word Search
Name: ____________________ Date: ______________
Words to Find
crosswordprint.com/printable-crosswords/physical-geography/hispaniola-for-kids/
Pick the word that completes each sentence from the Simple English Wikipedia article.
Is the sentence correct? Some sentences have one word altered.
Click a clue, then click the word it belongs to.
Unscramble each word. The clue is the sentence it was taken from.
How to Solve & Use the Answer Key
This is a fill-in crossword. Each clue is a sentence from the Simple English Wikipedia article on Hispaniola, with the key term blanked out. The number in parentheses shows the letter count. Solve interactively on screen or check Show answers to view the answer key. To print a clean student worksheet, press Print Puzzle.
Hispaniola Crossword Answer Key & Definitions
Show Complete Answers & Word Definitions
- 1 Across: CARIBBEAN — The Caribbean or Caribbean Area is a region of the Americas. Simple English Wikipedia: Caribbean
- 4 Across: MOUNTAINS — A mountain is a large natural rise of the Earth's surface that usually has a "summit" (the name for a mountain's top, which can also be called a peak). Simple English Wikipedia: Mountain
- 5 Across: VISITED
- 6 Across: CATHOLIC — Catholicism is the traditions and beliefs of Catholic Churches. Simple English Wikipedia: Catholicism
- 8 Across: POPULATION — A population is the number of living people that live together in the same place. Simple English Wikipedia: Population
- 10 Across: CULTURE — Culture is a word for the 'way of life' of groups of people, meaning the way they do things. Simple English Wikipedia: Culture
- 12 Across: AVERAGE — An average is the "normal" number of a group of numbers made by mixing the group of numbers. Simple English Wikipedia: Average
- 2 Down: HURRICANE — A Hurricane is a cyclone type that is formed in the Atlantic Ocean and in the Eastern Pacific Ocean. Simple English Wikipedia: Hurricane
- 3 Down: GROUPS — This page is about 'group' in the common sense. Simple English Wikipedia: Group
- 7 Down: RIVER — A river is a stream of water that flows through a channel on the surface of the ground. Simple English Wikipedia: River
- 8 Down: PIRATES — Piracy can mean different things; it can be a crime that is committed. Simple English Wikipedia: Piracy
- 9 Down: WESTERN
- 11 Down: SHIP — A ship is a large vehicle used to travel on water. Simple English Wikipedia: Ship
- 13 Down: COAST — The coast also means the land next to the sea, which can also be called the shore, or sea-shore. Simple English Wikipedia: Coast
Definitions adapted from Simple English Wikipedia and Wikipedia articles (week 2026-W41), CC BY-SA 4.0.
Read about Hispaniola
Hispaniola is an island in the Caribbean Sea. It is the second largest island (after Cuba) of the West Indies, east of Cuba and west of Puerto Rico. It is the most populous island of the West Indies.
The Republic of Haiti occupies the western three-eighths, the Dominican Republic the rest. Hispaniola is one of two Caribbean islands in which there are two countries; the other is Saint Martin.
History
When Columbus arrived to America, some groups of native people, coming from northern South America, had lived in the Caribbean Islands since a very long time. That movement from South America to the Caribbean islands was not continuous but it happened in several waves during almost twelve centuries.
Archeological studies suggests that those people from South America came to the Caribbean islands during four periods.
The first period began around 5000 B.C. For most Caribbean islands, this period ended around 2000 years ago except in Cuba and Hispaniola where there were some small populations in western Cuba and southwestern Hispaniola when the Europeans arrived to these islands. They were called Ciboney or Siboney by the Taínos, meaning "man that lives among rocks" (Ciba means stone and eyeri man).
The second group was the Igneri, the first Arawak Indians to come to the Caribbean Islands. They displaced the Ciboney people and, later, they were displaced by another group of Arawak Indians, the Taínos. Taínos occupied all the Greater Antilles (Cuba, Jamaica, Hispaniola and Puerto Rico) and they developed a culture different from the culture of the Arawaks of South America. They were the first people that the Spanish met in the Americas.
The fourth and last group was the Carib. The Carib were also Arawaks but with a different language. Even if they used to go to Puerto Rico and the Hispaniola to fight against the Taínos, they lived only in the Lesser Antilles when Columbus got to America.
Geography
The island of Hispaniola has an area of 76,480 km2. There are two countries: the Republic of Haiti is in the western part of the island and the Dominican Republic in the eastern part. These two countries are separated by an artificial border, except in the northern and southern extremes where they are separated by the rivers Dajabón and Pedernales, respectively.
The island is separated from Cuba by the Windward Passage (81 km from Punta Maisí in Cuba to Cape Saint-Nicolas in Haiti), from Jamaica by the Jamaica Channel (186 km from Point Morante in Jamaica to Cape Irois in Haiti) and from Puerto Rico by the Mona Channel, as 112 km from Punta Higüero in Puerto Rico to Punta de Agua in the Dominican Republic.
The maximun length, east to west, is 650 km from Cape Engaño to Cape Irois. The maximum width, north to south, is 265 km from Cape Isabela to Cape Beata. The highest point of the island, and of the Caribbean is Duarte Peak (Pico Duarte) in the Dominican Republic with 3,087 m; the lowest point is in the Enriquillo Lake, which is about 46 meters under sea level.
There are many smaller islands around the Hispaniola. The largest are:
Gonâve (French, Île de la Gonâve), in the Gulf of Gonâve. It is part of Haiti and has an area of 743 km². Its Taíno name was Guanabo.
Climate
Hispaniola has a tropical climate but modified by elevation and the trade winds (winds that come from the northeast, from the Atlantic Ocean). At sea level, the average temperature is 25 °C, with small changes from one season to another. In the highest mountains, the temperature in winter can be as low as 0 °C.
There are two wet seasons: April-June and September-November. The most dry period is from December to March.
Rainfall varies greatly; eastern regions, like the Samaná Peninsula, get an average of over 2,000 mm in a year, but less than 500 mm fall in the southwest (Hoya de Enriquillo - Cul-de-Sac).
From June to November, hurricanes are frequent and can do much damage in the island.
Population
Hispaniola has a total population, estimated for July 2013, of 20,113,564 inhabitants, for a density of 263 inhabitants per km².
In Haiti, 95% of the population belongs to the black ethnic group, and in the Dominican Republic it is about 70% of the population.
In the Dominican Republic, only Spanish is spoken (except for groups of immigrants) even if Haitian Creole is gaining importance because the massive immigration from Haiti. Both French and (Haitian) Creole are spoken in Haiti, and both are official languages.
In both countries, the main religion is Roman Catholicism. Protestant groups are important, more in Haiti (15% of the population) than in the Dominican Republic (5%).
The most important cities in the island are Santo Domingo (capital of Dominican Republic), Port-au-Prince (capital of Haiti), Santiago (Dominican Republic), Carrefour (Haiti).
Text adapted from the Simple English Wikipedia article “Hispaniola” (revision 10900997, 2026-06-26), authors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.