Providence Island colony

The Providence Island colony was established in 1631 by English Puritans on what is now the Colombian Department of Isla de Providencia, about 200 kilometres (120 mi) east of the coast of Nicaragua. Although intended to be a model Puritan colony, it also functioned as a base for privateers operating against Spanish ships and settlements in the region. In 1641, the Spanish overran and destroyed the colony.

Location

Isla de Providencia, the adjacent Santa Catalina island, and four smaller islands lie within a wide lagoon surrounded by a massive coral reef. They are the visible part of a stratovolcano that rises from the sea floor, extinct for the last four million years. The total area of the islands is 18 square kilometres (6.9 sq mi). Providencia is 6.5 by 4 kilometres (4.0 by 2.5 mi). Santa Catalina island to the north is 1.5 by 1.25 kilometres (0.93 by 0.78 mi). Providencia has a central peak 360 metres (1,180 ft) high, from which spines run down to the sea enclosing fertile valleys. Temperatures are around 29 °C (84 °F) all year. Easterly trade winds are normal during all seasons, bringing the most rain in the autumn. Summers are relatively dry. The surrounding coral reefs make the approach difficult for those who do not know the waters. The two larger islands were once one, called Santa Catalina by the Spanish, but in the late seventeenth century, buccaneers cut a neck of land between them to make a secure retreat on what is now the small island of Santa Catalina.