San Andrés, San Andrés y Providencia

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 / 12.58472°N 81.70056°W / 12.58472; -81.70056Coordinates: 12°35′5″N 81°42′2″W / 12.58472°N 81.70056°W / 12.58472; -81.70056
Country  Colombia
Region Insular
Department San Andrés, Providencia y Santa Catalina
Area
  Total 26 km2 (10 sq mi)
Population (2005)
  Total 55,426[1]
  Languages spoken Creole, English, Spanish
  Ethnic groups 20% Raizals and 80% mainland Colombians
Time zone Eastern Time Zone (UTC-05)

San Andrés 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]

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 Andres 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

Media related to San Andrés at Wikimedia Commons

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 7/15/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.