Tortuga is square kilometres 69 square miles [3] in size and had a population of 25, at the Census. In the 17th century, Tortuga was a major center and haven of Caribbean piracy. Its tourist industry and reference in many works has made it one of the most recognized regions of Haiti. At sunrise, Columbus noticed an island whose contours emerged from the morning mist. Because the shape reminded him of a turtle 's shell, he chose the name of Tortuga.
Tortuga was originally settled by a few Spanish colonists. In French and English settlers arrived on the island of Tortuga after initially planning to settle on the island of Hispaniola. The French and English settlers were attacked in by the Spanish commanded by Don Fadrique de Toledo , who fortified the island, and expelled the French and English. As most of the Spanish army left for Hispaniola to root out French colonists there, the French returned in to occupy the fort and expanded the Spanish-built fortifications.
From onward, the island of Tortuga was divided into French and English colonies , allowing buccaneers to use the island as their main base of operations. In , the first slaves were imported from Africa to aid in the plantations. However, by the use of slaves had ended. The slaves were said to be out of control on the island, while at the same time there had been continuous disagreements and fighting between French and English colonies. In Spain recaptured Tortuga from the English and French, expelled them and left.
As they soon returned, Spain conquered the English and French colonies for a second time, only to leave again because the island was too small to be of major importance. This allowed the return of both French and English pirates. In , the Spanish returned for a third time to take the island and rid it of all French and the newly settled Dutch. They occupied the island, but were expelled by the French and Dutch colonists in , at which time the French built Fort de Rocher in a natural harbour ; the fort enabled the French to defeat a Spanish invasion force the following year.
By , the buccaneers of Tortuga were calling themselves the Brethren of the Coast. The pirate population was mostly made up of French and Englishmen, along with a small number of Dutchmen. In , the Spanish captured the island for the fourth and last time.
