Haiti vs Dominican Republic

Why people mix them up

Haiti and the Dominican Republic share the Caribbean island of Hispaniola, so on a map they look like two halves of one landmass. Both flags are blue and red with a coat of arms in the centre, and both countries have a long and closely linked history. People often ask which side is which, which is bigger, and whether the Dominican Republic is the same as Dominica, a separate island nation further east.

How to tell them apart

• Haiti occupies the western third of Hispaniola; the Dominican Republic covers the eastern two-thirds.
• Haiti's languages are Haitian Creole and French; the Dominican Republic speaks Spanish.
• Haiti's flag is two horizontal bands, blue over red, with a coat of arms on a white panel; the Dominican Republic's has a white cross dividing blue and red rectangles, with its coat of arms at the centre.
• The capitals are Port-au-Prince (Haiti) and Santo Domingo (Dominican Republic). Port-au-Prince lies at the head of a deep western bay; Santo Domingo is on the south coast.
• The Dominican Republic is larger, about 48,000 km² against Haiti's roughly 27,800 km².
• Haiti's currency is the gourde; the Dominican Republic uses the peso.

Memory hook

Haiti is on the left and was French; the Dominican Republic is on the right and was Spanish. The cross on the DR's flag splits it into four, but the country itself takes the bigger share of the island.

On the map

Find Cuba, then move southeast to the next large island, Hispaniola. Haiti is the western part, shaped like a lobster claw with two long peninsulas reaching towards Cuba and Jamaica. The Dominican Republic is the eastern, more solid part, facing Puerto Rico. If the country you are tapping has that two-pronged claw, it is Haiti.