Providencia Island
| Native name: Isla de Providencia or Old Providence | |
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Manzanillo beach
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Providencia Island Isla de Providencia |
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 Providencia Island |
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 Providencia Island
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| Coordinates: 13°20′56″N 81°22′29″W / 13.34889°N 81.37472°W | |
| Country | Colombia |
| Department | San Andrés, Providencia and Santa Catalina |
| Elevation | 360 m (1,180 ft) |
| Population (2007) | |
| • Total | 5,011 |
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Isla de Providencia or Old Providence is a mountainous Caribbean island part of the Colombian department of Archipelago of San Andrés, Providencia and Santa Catalina and the municipality of Providencia and Santa Catalina Islands, lying midway between Costa Rica and Jamaica. Providencia's maximum elevation is 360 m above sea level. The smaller Santa Catalina Island is connected by a 100-metre footbridge to its larger sister Providencia Island. The island is served by El Embrujo Airport.
The island was the site of an English Puritan colony established in 1629 by the Providence Island Company, and was briefly taken by Spain in 1641. The pirate Henry Morgan used Providencia as a base for raiding the Spanish empire, and rumours suggest that much of his treasure remains hidden on the island. Many parts of the island are named after Morgan. Forts and cannons dating back hundreds of years can be found scattered all over Santa Catalina Island.
Popularly considered a failed colony due to poor planning, internal strife (seen in faulty leadership and slipping focus on the original purpose) and economic woes, it was founded in efforts to curb Spanish buccaneers in the West Indies and to found a colony based on Puritan values. It was expected to be more profitable and successful than the Plymouth colony that later became Plymouth, Massachusetts. Though the small colony was English, the island had a significant Dutch population. The colony is now known for its involvement in the trade in slaves, who were sold and traded in exchange for tobacco, but not for monetary profit, in accordance with the colonists' Puritan values.
Some of the more famous characters were the governors Nathaniel Butler and Philip Bell, Bell’s father-in-law Daniel Elfrith, William Rous and Thomas Gage. Philip Bell was the first governor and was replaced by Robert Hunt, due to conflict with another colonist resulting in ungodly behavior. Nathaniel Butler later replaced Hunt. Many of these men had already had experience with England’s colonizing and economic expeditions with the Virginia Company and the Somers (Bermuda) Company.
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Wikipedia