The Archipelago of San Andrés, Providencia and Santa Catalina (Spanish: Archipiélago de San Andrés, Providencia y Santa Catalina, pronounced [aɾtʃiˈpjelaɣo ðe ˌsan anˈdɾes pɾoβiˈðensja j ˌsanta kataˈlina]), or San Andrés and Providencia, is one of the departments of Colombia. It consists of two island groups in the Caribbean Sea about 775 km (418 nmi; 482 mi) 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.
HINT:
In this Dossier
- ⭐ Core Definition: San Andrés, Providencia and Santa Catalina
- San Andrés, Providencia and Santa Catalina in the context of Languages of Colombia
San Andrés, Providencia and Santa Catalina in the context of Languages of Colombia
Around 99.2% of Colombians speak the Spanish language. Sixty-five Amerindian languages, two Creole languages, the Portuguese language and the Romanian language are also spoken in the country. English has official status in the San Andrés, Providencia and Santa Catalina Islands.Since the 1930s 23 April had been declared as an Observance Language Day, to commemorate all Languages spoken in the country.
The majority of Colombians speak Spanish (see also Colombian Spanish), but in total 90 languages are listed for Colombia in the Ethnologue database. The specific number of spoken languages varies slightly since some authors consider as different languages what others consider to be varieties or dialects of the same language. Best estimates recorded 71 languages that are spoken in-country today—most of which belong to the Chibchan, Tucanoan, Bora–Witoto, Guajiboan, Arawakan, Cariban, Barbacoan, and Saliban language families. There are currently about 850,000 speakers of native languages, however it is estimated to be higher.
View the full Wikipedia page for Languages of Colombia