Tortuga is a Haitian island located off the northwest coast of Hispaniola. On 6 December 1492, Christopher Columbus' Spanish expedition encountered the island and named it Tortuga after its turtleshell-like shape. In 1625, French and English colonists from Saint Kitts settled on the island, and they were attacked by Spanish troops in 1629, forcing them to flee. After the Spanish Army returned to Hispaniola to root out the French colonists there, the French returned to Tortuga in 1630 to occupy the fort. Tortuga was then divided between French and English colonies which allowed buccaneers to base themselves on the island. In 1635, the Spanish recaptured Tortuga, but the island was soon reoccupied by pirates, leading to a third Spanish recapture in 1638. In 1640, French and Dutch colonists expelled the Spanish garrison of Tortuga, and, in 1641, the French defeated a Spanish invasion force. From 1640 to 1654, the piratical "Brethren of the Coast" controlled the island, and, in 1654, the Spanish captured the island for the fourth and last time. In 1655, Tortuga was occupied by French and English interlopers, and, in 1660, the French claimed the island for themselves, defeating several English attempts to reclaim the island. In 1664, 400 Angevin settlers arrived on Tortuga to colonize the island. The island became home to sugar plantations as part of the colony of Saint-Domingue, and, after the 1684 Truce of Ratisbon, piracy was outlawed, and most pirates were hired out as privateers to suppress their former buccaneer allies. In 1676, the capital of Saint-Domingue was moved from Tortuga to Port-au-Prince. By the 21st century, little had changed on Tortuga, as the tourism industry had not developed, there was almost no electricity on the island (and, hence, no phone reception or internet), and it continued to be known as a hotspot for smuggling, especially drug trafficking. As of 2003, Tortuga had a population of 25,936 people.
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