This article relies largely or entirely on a single source .(November 2018) |
Providence and Saint Catherine (Jamaican Patois: Pravidenz an Sient Khachrin) | |
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Providence and Saint Catherine Islands | |
Coordinates: 13°21′N81°22′W / 13.350°N 81.367°W | |
Country | Colombia |
Department | San Andres and Providencia |
Region | Caribbean |
Established | 1853 |
Capital | Saint Elizabeth (Providence) |
Area | |
• Total | 18 km2 (7 sq mi) |
Elevation | 2 m (7 ft) |
Population (2006) | |
• Total | 4,900 (approx.) (Census DANE 2,005) |
Demonym | Providenciano (a)(s) (in Spanish) |
Time zone | UTC-5 (EST) |
Area code | 57 + 8 |
Website | providencia-sanandres |
Providence and Saint Catherine (Jamaican Patois : Pravidenz an Sient Khachrin), is a municipality within the department of The Raizal Islands, on the northern coast of Providencia Island (including several uninhabited cayes to the North and East) which has a population of 5,011 as of (2007), and receives just 15,000 visitors per year. The island is one of Colombia's top scuba diving destinations, with a 32 km long barrier reef protecting the Eastern coast of the island.
This is the main island of the Providencia group, and the second largest of the department. It is located at 13°21′N81°22′W / 13.350°N 81.367°W . Providencia Island and Santa Catalina Island (a small satellite island close off its northern end) extend 7.2 km in a north–south direction. The land area of Providencia Island measures 17 km2. The mountainous center of Providencia Island rises to three peaks of about the same elevation: roughly 363 meters. The island consists of sedimentary rocks laid down on a former volcano. The chief settlement is Saint Elizabeth in the north, near Saint Catherine Island. Other villages are Lazy Hill on the west coast, and Bottom House in the southeast.
Low Cay, a very small islet, lies more than 10 km further north, at 13°32′N81°21′W / 13.533°N 81.350°W .
The Miskito from the mainland first came into contact with the English when the Second Earl of Warwick established his colony on Providence Island in 1639. The Earl persuaded the Miskito leader to send his son to England as an emissary. This prince, known to his descendants as Oldman (or Oldham in old documents), was received in by King Charles I, who gave him noble title. He later returned to the Mosquito Coast to find that his father had died during his absence, and that he was now king. His son and successor, Jeremy, visited Jamaica in February 1688 and placed himself and his people under English protection as a result of Spanish aggression. Thereafter, all his successors were confirmed king by virtue of a certificate of recognition from the Governor of Jamaica.
In the years that followed, small numbers of English and American settlers, escaped convicts and slaves, settled in several centres along the coast, many of them intermarrying with the local tribes of Indians. They left offspring who took part in the military and administrative affairs of the Miskito kingdom. Relations between the Miskito and the Spanish had always been poor, and the increasing number of settlers increased tensions further. British commercial interest in hardwood logging in nearby Honduras also exacerbated Spanish antagonism and apprehensions. As a result, official British involvement in the region steadily increased. Miskito king Edward I and the British concluded a formal Treaty of Friendship and Alliance in 1740, followed by the appointment of a British Superintendent in 1749. His brief tenure included the establishment of a more formal protectorate over the Miskito nation, giving advice to the king, codifying the islands legal system, and formalising a system of land grants.
The local population consists of Raizals, a Protestant Afro-Caribbean ethnic group, speaking the San Andrés–Providencia Creole, an English Creole, although most speak Spanish as well. Spanish-speaking immigrants from Colombia have increased the use of Spanish, although they remain a minority, unlike the significantly more Spanish sister island, San Andrés.
A forum titled "San Andres & Providencia" Islands of Colombia reads “…This heritage goes back to pre-colonial times, to the days of the Dutch sea captains who inhabited San Andres and Old Providence, one of whom founded Bluefields, naming it after himself…”
The local El Embrujo Airport is served by various daily flights from Gustavo Rojas Pinilla International Airport in San Andrés. Scheduled flights are operated by Satena, and charter flights by Decameron/Searca.
A 50-seat catamaran makes the two and a half hour return trip from San Andres to Providencia Island four times a week, leaving San Andres in the morning, and returning in the afternoon.
Due to the insular and oceanic nature, terrestrial fauna is limited and presents a high degree of endemism. Only a single species of frog (Leptodactylus insularis) and a single species of terrestrial turtle (Geochelone carbonaria) have been found. Two species of snakes (Boa constrictor imperator and Leptotyphlops magnamaculata), 6 of saurians, 10 of birds, 4 of sea turtles and a few of mammals have also been reported.
Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
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Record high °C (°F) | 30.8 (87.4) | 32.4 (90.3) | 33.2 (91.8) | 35.1 (95.2) | 32.9 (91.2) | 32.6 (90.7) | 31.9 (89.4) | 32.8 (91.0) | 33.0 (91.4) | 32.4 (90.3) | 32.0 (89.6) | 31.6 (88.9) | 35.1 (95.2) |
Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 29.6 (85.3) | 30.0 (86.0) | 30.7 (87.3) | 31.3 (88.3) | 31.7 (89.1) | 31.6 (88.9) | 31.2 (88.2) | 31.6 (88.9) | 31.9 (89.4) | 31.4 (88.5) | 31.0 (87.8) | 30.3 (86.5) | 31.0 (87.8) |
Daily mean °C (°F) | 26.6 (79.9) | 26.5 (79.7) | 26.8 (80.2) | 27.4 (81.3) | 28.0 (82.4) | 28.1 (82.6) | 28.1 (82.6) | 28.1 (82.6) | 27.9 (82.2) | 27.5 (81.5) | 27.4 (81.3) | 26.9 (80.4) | 27.4 (81.4) |
Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | 21.9 (71.4) | 21.8 (71.2) | 21.3 (70.3) | 23.3 (73.9) | 24.0 (75.2) | 23.6 (74.5) | 23.8 (74.8) | 23.6 (74.5) | 23.1 (73.6) | 23.1 (73.6) | 22.5 (72.5) | 22.6 (72.7) | 22.9 (73.2) |
Record low °C (°F) | 18.9 (66.0) | 18.9 (66.0) | 19.2 (66.6) | 21.4 (70.5) | 22.0 (71.6) | 21.0 (69.8) | 19.8 (67.6) | 22.2 (72.0) | 21.8 (71.2) | 22.0 (71.6) | 20.5 (68.9) | 21.2 (70.2) | 18.9 (66.0) |
Average rainfall mm (inches) | 74.4 (2.93) | 45.8 (1.80) | 23.8 (0.94) | 35.0 (1.38) | 116.1 (4.57) | 173.4 (6.83) | 143.9 (5.67) | 154.0 (6.06) | 182.2 (7.17) | 301.9 (11.89) | 256.9 (10.11) | 130.1 (5.12) | 1,637.5 (64.47) |
Mean monthly sunshine hours | 229.9 | 225.8 | 260.3 | 255.6 | 226.6 | 186.7 | 209.7 | 232.5 | 195.2 | 188.5 | 180.5 | 194.7 | 2,586 |
Source: Instituto de Hidrologia Meteorologia y Estudios Ambientales [1] |
The Mosquito Coast is an area along the eastern coast of present-day Nicaragua and Honduras. It was named after the local Miskito Nation and was long dominated by British interests and known as the Mosquito Kingdom. From 1860 suzerainty of the area was transferred to Nicaragua with the name Mosquito Reserve, and in November 1894 the Mosquito Coast was militarily incorporated into Nicaragua. However, in 1960, the northern part was granted to Honduras by the International Court of Justice.
The Archipelago of San Andrés, Providencia and Santa Catalina, or San Andrés and Providencia, is one of the departments of Colombia, and the only one located geographically in Central America. It consists of two island groups in the Caribbean Sea about 775 km northwest of mainland Colombia, and eight outlying banks and reefs. The largest island of the archipelago and Colombia is called San Andrés and its capital is San Andrés. The other large islands are Providencia and Santa Catalina Islands which lie to the north-east of San Andrés; their capital is Santa Isabel.
The Miskitos are a native people in Central America. Their territory extends from Cape Camarón, Honduras, to Río Grande de Matagalpa, Nicaragua, along the Mosquito Coast, in the Western Caribbean zone. Their population was estimated in 2024 as 535,225, with 456,000 living in Nicaragua.
Bajo Nuevo Bank, also known as the Petrel Islands, is a small, uninhabited reef with some small grass-covered islets, located in the western Caribbean Sea at 15°53′N78°38′W, with a lighthouse on Low Cay at 15°51′N78°38′W. The closest neighboring land feature is Serranilla Bank, located 110 kilometres to the west.
San Andrés is the capital city of the department of San Andrés, Providencia and Santa Catalina, or The Raizal Islands, in Colombia. As of 2005 its population was 55,426.
Bluefields is the capital of the South Caribbean Autonomous Region in Nicaragua. It was also the capital of the former Kingdom of Mosquitia, and later the Zelaya Department, which was divided into North and South Caribbean Coast Autonomous Regions. It is located on Bluefields Bay at the mouth of the Bluefields River in the municipality of the same name.
Mískito Coast Creole or Nicaraguan Creole English is an English-based creole language spoken in coastal Nicaraguan region of Mosquito Coast on the Caribbean Sea; its approximately 40,000 speakers are spread over the RACCN and RACCS regions of Nicaragua. The region, known before 1986 as the Zelaya department, is today administratively separated into two autonomous regions: North Caribbean Coast (RACCN) and South Caribbean Coast (RACCS). Mosquito is the nickname that is given to the region and earlier residents by early Europeans who visited and settled in the area. The term "Miskito" is now more commonly used to refer to both the people and the language.
San Andrés–Providencia Creole is an English-based creole language spoken in the San Andrés and Providencia Department of Colombia by the native Raizals. It is very similar to Belizean Creole and Miskito Coast Creole. Its vocabulary originates in English, its lexifier, but San Andrés–Providencia creole has its own phonetics and many expressions from Spanish and African languages, particularly Kwa languages and Igbo languages. The language is also known as "San Andrés Creole", "Bende" and "Islander Creole English". Its two main strands are San Andres Creole English and Providence Creole English.
Isla de Providencia, historically Old Providence, and generally known as Providencia or Providence, is a mountainous Caribbean island that is part of the Colombian department of Archipelago of San Andrés, Providencia and Santa Catalina, or The Raizal Islands, and the municipality of Providencia and Santa Catalina Islands, lying midway between Costa Rica and Jamaica.
Around 99.2% of Colombians speak the Spanish language. Sixty-five Amerindian languages, two Creole languages, the Portuguese language and the Romani language are also spoken in the country. English has official status in the San Andrés, Providencia and Santa Catalina Islands.
The Raizal are a Black Colombian ethnic group from the Archipelago of San Andrés, Providencia and Santa Catalina, off of Colombia's Caribbean coast. They are not defined by race but are labeled by the Colombian authorities as one of the Afro-Colombian ethnic groups under the multicultural policy pursued since 1991. They are speakers of the San Andrés-Providencia Creole, one of many English Creoles used in the Caribbean.
El Embrujo Airport is an airport serving Providencia Island, Colombia. The airport is located in the north east side of the island, in the limits of the Old Providence McBean Lagoon National Natural Park.
San Andrés is a coral island in the Caribbean Sea. Politically part of Colombia, and historically tied to the United Kingdom, San Andrés and the nearby islands of Providencia and Santa Catalina form part of the department of San Andrés, Providencia and Santa Catalina; or The Raizal Islands. San Andrés, in the southern group of islands, is the largest of Colombia. The official languages of the department are Spanish, English, and San Andrés–Providencia Creole.
The western Caribbean zone is a region consisting of the Caribbean coasts of Central America and Colombia, from the Yucatán Peninsula in southern Mexico to the Caribbean region in northern Colombia, and the islands west of Jamaica are also included. The zone emerged in the late sixteenth century as the Spanish failed to completely conquer many sections of the coast, and northern European powers supported opposition to Spain, sometimes through alliances with local powers.
The Old Providence McBean Lagoon National Natural Park is a national park located on the northeast side of Providencia Island in the Archipelago of San Andrés, Providencia and Santa Catalina, Colombia.
Afro-Nicaraguans are Nicaraguans of Sub-Saharan African descent. Five main distinct ethnic groups exist: The Creoles who descend from Anglo-Caribbean countries and many of whom still speak Nicaragua English Creole, the Miskito Sambus descendants of Spanish slaves and indigenous Central Americans who still speak Miskito and/or Miskito Coast Creole, the Garifunas descendants of Zambos expelled from St. Vincent who speak Garifuna, the Rama Cay zambos a subset of the Miskito who speak Rama Cay Creole, and the descendants of those enslaved by the Spanish.
Afro-Hondurans or Black Hondurans are Hondurans of Sub-Saharan African descent. Research by Henry Louis Gates and other sources regards their population to be around 1-2%. They descended from: enslaved Africans by the Spanish, as well as those who were enslaved from the West Indies and identify as Creole peoples, and the Garifuna who descend from exiled zambo Maroons from Saint Vincent. The Creole people were originally from Jamaica and other Caribbean islands, while the Garifuna people were originally from Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. Garifunas arrived in the late seventeen hundreds and the Creole peoples arrived during the eighteen hundreds. About 600,000 Hondurans are of Garífuna descent that are a mix of African and indigenous as of Afro Latin Americans. Honduras has one of the largest African community in Latin America.
Cayman Islands English, also called Caymanian English, is an English variety spoken in the Cayman Islands. Its early development was influenced by Early Modern English, Guinea Coast Creole English, and the Igbo and Twi languages of West Africa. More recent influences include Standard English, Jamaican Patois and African-American Vernacular English. It has been described as both a non-creole and a semi-creole, due to its differences from and similarity to Caribbean Creole languages.
Tomás O'Neill y Salmón was a Spanish colonial governor of the western Caribbean archipelago of San Andrés, Providencia and Santa Catalina, today part of modern Colombia.
The Cayos Miskitos-San Andrés & Providencia moist forests ecoregion cover the forested areas of four islands in the western Caribbean Sea - Cayos Miskitos and the Corn Islands off the east coast of Nicaragua, and San Andrés and Providencia Islands farther east and belonging to the nation of Colombia. The forests on San Adres and Providencia have been heavily degraded by agriculture - coconuts on San Andres, oranges on Providencia. A significant feature of the ecoregion is the surrounding corals reefs, which are large and well preserved. While not technically a part of this terrestrial ecoregion, they are related to the islands.