Pearl Islands
| Pearl Islands | ||
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| Waters | Gulf of Panama | |
| Geographical location | 8 ° 25 ′ N , 79 ° 0 ′ W | |
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| Number of islands | 183 | |
| Main island | Isla del Rey | |
| Total land area | 331,765.7 km² | |
| Residents | 2721 (2010) | |
The Pearl Islands ( Spanish Archipiélago de las Perlas , also known as Islas de las Perlas ) are an archipelago of 183 islands in the east of the Gulf of Panama off the Pacific coast of Panama .
geography
The archipelago covers a land area of around 332 km². The largest islands are the main islands of Isla del Rey , Isla de San José and Isla de Pedro González . The remaining islands are less than one square kilometer (100 hectares ) each . The archipelago belongs to the state of Panama and is located in the Panamá province in the Balboa district .
Only 39 of the 183 islands are inhabited. The center is the two largest, Isla del Rey and Isla de San José, where there are also airfields. The largest place is San Miguel on the north coast of Isla del Rey.
geology
The Pearl Islands are of volcanic origin and some have fresh water springs . There is a diverse flora and fauna typical of the rainforest , and the fishing grounds around the islands are considered to be rich in species.
economy
The archipelago has been developed for tourism since the 1960s, mainly by North American travel companies.
There is a well-developed tourism infrastructure on the larger islands ; the archipelago is a popular destination for divers. It is also frequently approached by cruise ships and frequented by holidaymakers, mainly from North America, as it is known for its extensive sandy beaches.
history
The appointment comes on Spanish Conquistadors back in the 16th century, assumed under shell beads named, with whom the resident Indians operated commercially. The German-language name “Perleninseln” (also spelled “Perlen-Insel”) has been known since at least the 17th century and has been established ever since.
Lured by the wealth of the archipelago, the conquistador Vasco Núñez de Balboa , who reached the Pacific coast on a voyage of discovery in September 1513, ordered the island to be conquered. On August 10, 1515, the governor Pedrarias Dávila , who was responsible for the region, gave the order to rob and occupy it. The Spanish conquerors went to work with brutal severity and exterminated the entire Indian tribe in the course of the short battles.
The archipelago remained uninhabited for a few years until 1518 slaves were settled on the islets to manage the fishing grounds and to dive for pearl oysters. In the centuries that followed, the islands increasingly offered shelter for slaves and outlaws who had fled, and were used as a hideout for pirates, including for English and French privateers who hunted Spanish ships. The island of Contadora (Spanish for accountant ) got its name from the numerous hiding places for looted property.
politics
On the El Bunker estate on Isla Contadora , Jimmy Carter signed the so-called Torrijos-Carter Treaty as President of the United States in 1977 , in which the United States ceded its sovereign rights over the Panama Canal to the Republic of Panama. The Contadora Group , founded in 1983, was named after the island , a coalition of the foreign ministers of Colombia , Mexico and Venezuela with the aim of settling political conflicts in some small Central American states.
List of Inhabited Pearl Islands
Map with all coordinates: OSM | WikiMap
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Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ Johann Eduard Wappäus : Handbook of geography and statistics of the former Spanish Central and South America, along with the European possessions. Verlag der JC Hinrichschen Buchhandlung, Leipzig 1863–1870, p. 24. Retrieved from Google Books on May 10, 2019.
- ↑ a b c Pearl Islands. In: Brockhaus online . Retrieved on May 10, 2019 (restricted access): “Pearl Islands, Archipiélago de las Perlas [artʃi-], Panamanian archipelago of 183 islands (39 are inhabited) in the east of the Gulf of Panama, together approx. 400 km², approx. 3,000 inhabitants; the largest island is the Isla del Rey with the main town San Miguel; Fishing and pearl fishing, rice cultivation, coconut palm stocks; The tourism and conference center is Isla Contadora (5 km²). "
- ↑ a b Roman Stani-Fertl, Ingrid Kretschmer (ed.), Karel Kriz (ed.): Exonyms and cartography. Worldwide register of German geographical names, classified according to usage and their local equivalents. Vienna 2001, ISBN 3-900830-44-4 , p. 317.
- ↑ Administrative map of the Balboa district (PDF; 2.5 MB)
- ↑ a b The Great World Atlas , Millennium House 2010, ISBN 978-1-921209-31-4 .
- ↑ Wolfgang Jäger : Geographical-Historical-Statistical Newspaper Lexicon. M – Z, Volume 2, Verlag Ernst Christoph Grattenauer , Nürnberg 1793, p. 201. Retrieved from Google Books on May 18, 2019.
- ↑ Arnoldus Montanus , Olfert Dapper : The unknown new world / or description of the world part America and the south country. Jacob von Meurs, Meurs 1673, p. 320. Retrieved from Google Books on May 19, 2018.
- ^ Johann Huebner : Reales Staats-Zeitungs- und Conversations-Lexicon . Verlag Johann Friedrich Gleditsch , Leipzig 1737, p. 1425. Retrieved from Google Books on May 18, 2018.