San Andrés, San Andrés y Providencia

San Andrés (Spanish pronunciation: [ˌsan anˈdɾes]) is the capital city of the department of San Andrés, Providencia and Santa Catalina, in Colombia. As of 2005 its population was of 55,426.[1]

This article is about the Colombian town. For the article about the whole island, see San Andrés (island).
San Andrés
City and municipality
San Andrés Island.
View of San Andrés Beach
Maps of the islands of San Andrés and Providencia
San Andrés
Location of San Andrés in Colombia
Coordinates: 12°35′5″N 81°42′2″W
Country Colombia
RegionInsular
DepartmentSan Andrés, Providencia y Santa Catalina
Area
 • Total26 km2 (10 sq mi)
Population
 (2005)
 • Total55,426[1]
 • Languages spoken
Creole, English, Spanish
 • Ethnic groups
20% Raizals and 80% mainland Colombians
Time zoneUTC-05 (Eastern Time Zone)

Overview

It is situated at the north end of San Andrés Island, on the Caribbean Sea. The population is considered to be about 20% Raizals and 80% mainland Colombians. The economy is mainly sustained by tourism and commercial fishing. Once a duty-free port, it still has a relatively vigorous shopping district selling various consumer goods at bargain prices, including Colombian gold and emerald jewellery, leather goods and other distinctively Colombian wares.

San Andrés has become such a byword for bargain shopping in Colombia that many towns and cities have a bargain shopping area known as a San Andresito ("little San Andres").

Twin towns

References
  1. "Census 2005 - San Andrés" (PDF) (in Spanish). (DANE)
  • Media related to San Andrés at Wikimedia Commons
  • Colombia portal


This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.