The name is sometimes abbreviated to "Archip. de San Andres".[6] The official website abbreviates it as San Andrés ("Gobernación de San Andrés").[7]ISO 3166-2:CO lists it as "San Andrés, Providencia y Santa Catalina".[8] Statoids lists it as "San Andrés y Providencia".[9]
In 1630,EnglishPuritans arrived in Providence Island, under the aegis of theProvidence Island Company. The Puritans decided to settle the tropical islands, rather than cold, rockyNew England, but theProvidence Island colony did not succeed in the same way as theMassachusetts Bay Colony. They establishedslave-worked plantations and engaged inprivateering, which led to the Spanish and Portuguese conquering the colony in May, 1641.[10] In 1670, Englishbuccaneers, led byHenry Morgan, took over the islands, which he used as a base to attackPanama. The buccaneers abandoned the islands by 1672. There is no record of anyone inhabiting the islands from then for another century.
In 1775, Lieutenant Tomás O'Neil, a Spaniard of Irish descent, was given military command of the islands and, in 1790, was named governor. He requested the transfer of the islands to the military jurisdiction of theViceroyalty of New Granada, which was granted in 1803. That year, Spain assigned the islands, together with south-eastern part of theMosquito Shore, fromCape Gracias a Dios to theChagres River, to theViceroyalty of New Granada. The territory was administered from the province ofCartagena. Soon, trade links with Cartagena were greater than those with Guatemala.[citation needed]
On 4 July 1818, a French corsair,Louis-Michel Aury, with 400 men and 14 ships flying theArgentine flag, captured Old Providence and St. Catherine islands. The island was populated by white English-speaking Protestants and their slaves. Aury and his team used the islands as their new base from which to pursueCentral American independence. However, his efforts to also support Bolivar in his fight for Venezuelan and Colombian independence were repeatedly turned down.[11]
After the Spanish colonies became independent, the inhabitants of San Andrés, Providence and St. Catherine voluntarily adhered to the Republic ofGran Colombia in 1822, which placed them under the administration of theMagdalena Department. TheFirst Mexican Empire, which was succeeded by theUnited Provinces of Central America (UPCA), also claimed the islands. Gran Colombia, in turn, protested the UPCA's occupation of the south-eastern coast of theMosquito Shore. The UPCA broke up in 1838 to 1840, but Nicaragua carried on the dispute, as did Gran Colombia's successors:New Granada and Colombia. A local administration (intendencia) was established in the islands in 1912 by Colombia.[citation needed]
In 1928, Colombia and Nicaragua signed theEsguerra-Bárcenas Treaty, which gave control of the islands to Colombia. However, when theSandinista government assumed power in the 1980s, Nicaragua repudiated the treaty. Colombia argues that the treaty's final ratification in 1930 (when the US forces were already on their way out) confirms its validity. Colombia andHonduras signed amaritime boundary treaty in 1999, which implicitly accepts Colombian sovereignty over the islands.[citation needed]
In 2001, Nicaragua filed claims with theInternational Court of Justice (ICJ) over the disputed maritime boundary and claimed 50,000 km2 (19,305 sq mi) in the Caribbean, including the San Andrés and Providencia Archipelagos. Colombia responded that the court has no jurisdiction over the matter and increased its naval and police presence in the islands. Colombia also defended its claim in the ICJ. On 13 December 2007, the ICJ ruled that the islands were Colombian territory but left the maritime border dispute unresolved.[12] On 19 November 2012, the ICJ upheld that Colombia had sovereignty over the islands.
In the 19th century, the United States claimed several uninhabited locations in the area under theGuano Island Act, including several now claimed by Colombia.[13] In 1981, the US ceded its claims toSerrana Bank andRoncador Bank to Colombia and abandoned its claim toQuita Sueño Bank.[14] The US still maintains claims overSerranilla Bank andBajo Nuevo Bank and considers them both to be unincorporated territories of the United States.[13]
In 1903, the local Raizal population rejected an offer from the US to separate from Colombia in the wake ofPanama'ssecession from Colombia. However, the island's native population soon changed its mind when the policies of successive Colombian governments tried consistently to modify the majority Raizal and British ethnic composition of the Islands by the extensive migration of Spanish-speaking mainland Colombians. The efforts at assimilation and immigration were led largely by Catholic missionaries, which angered the Protestant native population.[15][16]
At the departmental assembly, elected the same day, the 9 seats were distributed among 6 parties: three Liberals (Arlington Howard, Qwincy Bowie Gordon, and Leroy Carol Bent Archbold), two MIR (Jorge Méndez and Freddy Herazo) two Democratic Colombia Party (former MP María Teresa Uribe Bent and former Interior Secretary Rafael Gómez Redondo), two SNUP (Fernando Cañon Florez and María Said Darwich), one Radical Change (Heber Esquivel Benitez), and one Conservative (Julio César Gallardo Martínez).[18]
The new mayor of Providence, Janeth Archbold (Team Colombia party), a political ally of the new governor, was elected with 1,013 votes against Liberal Mark Taylor (515 votes), SNUP Arturo Robinson (514 votes) and Conservative Peter Bent.[18]
This is the main island of the San Andrés group, and the largest of the department. It is located at12°33′N81°43′W / 12.550°N 81.717°W /12.550; -81.717 (San Andrés Island). It measures 12 km (7.5 mi) in length with a width of 3 km (1.9 mi) and covers an area of 26 km2 (10 sq mi). There is a tinylagoon in the centre of the island called Big Pond. The principal town is San Andrés in the north of the island. Another town is San Luis on the east coast.Cayo Johnny (Johnny Caye) lies 1.5 km (0.9 mi) ENE of German Point (Punta Norte), the island's northern tip, and Haynes Cay about the same distance east of the island.Cotton Cay is less than 1 km (0.6 mi) south of San Andrés town, on the northeastern coast.[citation needed]
Cayos de Albuquerque (Cayos de S.W., Southwest Cays)
This atoll is 22 km (14 mi) east-south-east of San Andrés Island and 35 km (22 mi) northeast of Cayos de Alburquerque, at12°24′N81°28′W / 12.400°N 81.467°W /12.400; -81.467 (Cayos del Este Sudeste). It is 14 km (8.7 mi) long and 4 km (2.5 mi) wide. There are a few sandcays in the southeast. The largest ones are Cayo del Este, Cayo Bolivar, West Cay, and Cayo Arena, none of which are higher than 2 metres (7 ft). All cays are overgrown withpalm trees and bushes, and surrounded bymangroves. There is a Colombian Navy lighthouse on Cayo Bolivar. The cays are regularly visited by fishermen from the Colombian mainland and San Andrés. There are two concrete buildings on Cayo Bolivar, and a few wooden huts on the other cays.[citation needed]
The Departamento de San Andrés, Providencia y Santa Catalina covers a land area of 44 km2 (17 sq mi). The latest official population estimate for 2018 is 61,280.[citation needed]
Before 1960, the population of the islands was almost entirelyRaizals, who are an Afro-Caribbean group,Protestant in religion, speakingSan Andrés–Providencia Creole. There is a minority of white English-speaking Protestants of British descent.[21] Colombia has promoted the migration of Spanish-speaking mainlanders, withCatholic missions participating since 1947. This policy seems to be an answer to growing discontent within theRaizal community that could strengthen separatist movements; a Raizal majority would in this case win a pro-independence referendum but this could be neutralized by outnumbering them with mainland Colombians.[citation needed]
By 2005, Raizals were only 30% of the 60,000 or more inhabitants of the islands, with the rest being mainlandColombians and English-speaking whites of British descent.[22] Most Raizals are multilingual and can speakSpanish,Creole, andEnglish.[citation needed]
Gustavo Rojas Pinilla International Airport (IATA:ADZ) serves the towns of San Andrés andSan Luis, but also commercially serves the nearby island ofProvidencia Island through feeder flights fromEl Embrujo Airport.Gustavo Rojas Pinilla International Airport was initially called Sesquicentenario International Airport.[23] It is the 6th busiest airport in Colombia, handling 836,234 passengers in 2006. Most of these passengers come from the continental part of the country, due to poor international direct service to the island. Many international tourists have to fly to one of Colombia's largest airports to be able to reach the islands.Copa Airlines maintains a passenger service between San Andrés andPanama City. In 2021,American Airlines began serving San Andrés nonstop fromMiami.[24] In recent years, San Andrés has also received seasonal charter flights, mainly from Canada and a few Central American countries.[citation needed]
The airport is one of Colombia's fastest growing airports with a 13.4% increase in the number of passengers between 2005 and 2006.[citation needed]
^Dussán, Carlos Parra (2005). "Pueblo Raizales: Introducción". In Dussán, Carlos Parra; Rodríguez, Gloria Amparo (eds.).Comunidades étnicas en Colombia: Cultura y Jurisprudencia (Ethnic Communities in Colombia: Culture and Jurisprudence) (in Spanish). Bogotá, Colombia: Universidad del Rosario. pp. 212–216,page 212.ISBN978-958-8225-52-4.
^"DANE". Archived fromthe original on 13 November 2009. Retrieved13 February 2013.
Diemer, Christian; Šeparović, Amalija (2006). "Territorial Questions and Maritime Delimitation with Regard to Nicaragua's Claims to the San Andrés Archipelago".Heidelberg Journal of International Law.66:167–186.ISSN0044-2348.
Geotourismhttp://www.caribbeancolombia.com/ San Andres, Providencia and Santa Catalina are a perfect spot to explore Geoutourism. Visit the website made with National Geographic where you can find an interactive mapguide the places to visit and much more
24Claimed in 1908; territory formed 1962; overlaps portions of Argentine and Chilean claims, borders not enforced but claim not renounced under theAntarctic Treaty.
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