San Andrés is the capital of the Colombian department of San Andrés y Providencia.
Located east of Nicaragua, the San Andrés y Providencia archipelago belongs to Colombia due to a treaty (Esguerra-Bárcenas ) signed on March 28, 1928 which states that Colombia recognizes Nicaraguan sovereignty of the island Mangle and Costa Mosquitia and Nicaragua recognizes Colombian sovereignty over San Andrés, Providencia, Santa Catalina, small island and keys around the archipelago.
The island was discovered in 1629 by English puritans. For 200 years control of the Islands changed hands several times, falling under the domain of the Spanish, English, French, and Dutch at various times. The island was visited often by pirates, among them the English pirate Henry Morgan who used it as one of his operations centers.
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