Saint Andrews, Providence, and the Corn Islands

  

Territory of Saint Andrews, Providence, and the Corn Islands
Unincorporated organized territory of the Kingdom of Sierra
Flag Seal
Motto(s): "Etiam si omnes, ego non" (Latin) "Even if others, not I"
Official language(s)	English
Demonym	Saint Andrewsians
Capital	Port Morgan
Largest city	Port Morgan
Area	Ranked N/A
• Total	25.3 sq mi (65.4 km2)
Population	Ranked N/A
• Total	101,287
• Density	4003.44/sq mi  (1548.73/km2) Ranked N/A
Elevation
• Highest point	Patience Hill 1059.7 ft (323 m)
• Lowest point	sea level
Political status	Unincorporated unorganized territory Timeline Treaty of Veracruz: October 19, 1950
Lord Proprietor	Sir Charlie Moseby
Governor	Marco Holmes Fajardo
Lieutenant Governor	Jean-Baptiste Préval
Legislature	Board of Aldermen (unicameral)
• Upper house	None
• Lower house	None
K.S. House delegation	1 resident commissioner Rosalia Negrete
Time zone	CST UTC –6/UTC –5
Abbreviations	SP, KS-SP, SP

Saint Andrews, Providence, and the Corn Islands (commonly shortened to Saint Andrews) is an unincorporated unorganized territory of Sierra located off the coast of Nicaragua in the Caribbean Sea. It consists of Saint Andrews, Providence, Santa Catalina, the Corn Islands, and a number of other minor outlying islands in the vicinity. It is a self-governing territory with its own elected government, laws, elections, and courts. The Kingdom of Sierra handles the territory's self-defense and foreign relations. Native inhabitants of Saint Andrews, Providence, and the Corn Islands are K.S. citizens by birth and accorded most rights and constitutional protections granted to mainland K.S. citizens. Notably however, they lack voting representation in Porciúncula.

Saint Andrews, Providence, and the Corn Islands lies east of the Central American state of Zelaya, northeast of the Central American state of Costa Rica, north of the Andean state of Panama, northwest of the mainland Andes, southwest of the West Indies (Jamaica), and south of the West Indian Cayman Islands. The capital and largest city is Port Morgan, which is located on Saint Andrews Island, the largest island in the territory. Port Morgan is 144 miles (233 km) east-northeast of Bluefields, Zelaya. The islands have a total area of 25.3 square miles (65.4 km²).

Sovereignty over the territory is an ongoing dispute between the Kingdom of Sierra, Andes, and Central America. The latter two claim the islands are illegally occupied by Sierra through invalid treaties and have a historical connection to the islands. The islands have been under control by various states throughout its history including Spain, the United Kingdom, Gran Colombia, and Nicaragua prior to Sierran control in 1950. It served an important role during Sierra's administration of the Nicaragua Canal and the Zone and is home to Fort Piscinita, a military installation operated by the Sierran Royal Navy.

The population of Saint Andrews was 101,287 in the 2010 Royal Census, and consists mainly of native-born Saint Andrewsians, with roughly half of whom are of Sierran nationality (any race) and the other of either Andean (mainly Colombian) or Central American (mainly Nicaraguan) descent. It is also home to a sizable minority of Afro-Caribbeans, Indians, Chinese, and Lebanese.

Its largest economic sectors are tourism, hospitality, and fishing. Oil exploration and extraction has also been a major source of revenue for the territory, although its policy has attracted controversy over environmental harm.

Etymology

Saint Andrews, Providence, and the Corn Islands derive their name from Saint Andrews and Providence Islands, the two largest in the territory, and the Corn Islands, a group of islands off the coast of Nicaragua.

Saint Andrews Island received its name from 17th century English and Welsh Puritans who arrived directly from English or the English colony of Barbados. The island was the first island in the territory settled by the Englishmen and was named after Saint Andrew, the patron saint of Scotland. Later, a group of Puritans resettled on the Providence Island colony on Providence Island and Saint Catherine Island. The islands had been discovered in the previous century by French and Dutch pirates, before the English landed on the island in 1628. Thereafter, reports of the islands' strategic location near Spanish colonies and shipping routes made it an island of interest. The main island's name, Providence, was given by the Puritans who described the island's ideal conditions and their arrival as divine providence. When both Saint Andrews and Providence were taken control by the Spanish, they were renamed to their Spanish equivalents: San Andrés and Providencia.

The Corn Islands received its name from the British who occupied it when Nicaragua was administered as the Mosquito Coast and after Nicaragua secured its independence, it retained the English name for the islands rather than Hispanicize it.

The current official name mentions all three of the main parts of the territory. Notable islands or archipelagos omitted from the name include Saint Catherine Island, Miskito Cays, Serranilla Bank, Bajo Nuevo Bank, and the Pearl Cays. The official shorthand name of the territory is Saint Andrews, although Saint Andrews and Dependencies are also used to distinguish the territory from the individual island of Saint Andrews.

Geography and climate

The territory consists of two distinct archipelagos and several outlying atolls in the southern Caribbean Sea off the eastern coast of Central America. It stretches a distance totaling 400 miles from the southwest with the southern tip of Grand Corn Island to the northeast with the northern tip of Bajo Nuevo Bank.

Government and politics

Saint Andrews is an unincorporated, organized territory of the Kingdom of Sierra. It is divided into six parishes, which are equivalent to the counties found in Sierran provinces and Hawaiian states. The government of Saint Andrews derives its authority from the Sierran Parliament and is the only organized territory that has an unwritten constitution rather than a codified one.

The Queen is the head of state of Saint Andrews as the "Crown in right of Saint Andrews, Providence, and the Corn Islands". Her viceregal representative, the Lord or Lady Proprietor, fulfills the diplomatic and ceremonial roles of the monarch in the territory. All laws and government documents must be made in the Crown via the Lord Proprietor's name. The head of government is the Governor of Saint Andrews, who is elected by the unicameral Board of Aldermen, the territory's legislature.