San Blas

San Blas, the Spanish name for Saint Blaise, may refer to:

Places

See also

San Blas Islands

The San Blas Islands of Panama is an archipelago comprising approximately 365 islands and cays, of which only 49 are inhabited. They lie off the north coast of the Isthmus of Panama, east of the Panama Canal. A part of the comarca (district) Guna Yala (also spelled Kuna Yala) along the Caribbean coast of Panama is home to the Kuna Indians. San Blas and its surrounding area is a haven for ecotourists because of its pristine environs. The area is also popular for sailing, as it is known for its beauty and lack of hurricanes.

Tradition and legacy

Before the arrival of Europeans, the Kuna wore few clothes and decorated their bodies with colorful designs. When encouraged to wear clothes by the missionaries, they copied these designs in their molas, which they wore as clothing.

The Kuna worship a god named Erragon, whom they believe came and died just for the Kuna people. Driven off Panama during the Spanish invasion, the Kuna fled to the surrounding 378 islands. Today their chief lives on an island called Acuadup, which means "rock island". Many Kuna are hunters and fishermen. On some of the islands, children can attend school. Most of the men now speak Spanish, although the women carry on older traditions.

Guna Yala

Guna Yala, formerly known as San Blas, is an indigenous province in northeast Panama (Official Gazette of Panama). Guna Yala is home to the indigenous group known as the Gunas. Its capital is El Porvenir. It is bounded on the north by the Caribbean Sea, on the south by the Darién Province and Emberá-Wounaan, on the east by Colombia, and on the west by the province of Colón.

Etymology

Guna Yala in Kuna means "Land Guna" or "Guna Mountain". The area was formerly known as San Blas, and later as Kuna Yala, but the name was changed in October 2011 to "Guna Yala" when the Government of Panama recognized the claim of the people that "Guna" was a closer representation of the name in their mother tongue than "Kuna".

History

The area was the site of the conquistador stronghold of Acla, where Vasco Núñez de Balboa was tried and beheaded.

By Act of June 4, 1870 of Colombia was created Shire Tulenega, which also included the present territory of the District Guna Yala, the various communities of the District of Wargandí as Mordi, and Sogubdi Asnadi, as well as the communities of the region of Madungandi as Tiuarsicuá, and communities Guna of Colombia, as Tanela and architecture. The land area of the Shire Tulenega stretching from the province of Colon coming to the Gulf of Urabá, Colombia. The head of government of the region was generally exercised by a commissioner appointed by the central government. The law also recognized the Guna, the land in the Shire.

Panama

Coordinates: 9°N 80°W / 9°N 80°W / 9; -80

Panama (ⁱ/ˈpænəmɑː/ PAN-ə-mah; Spanish: Panamá [panaˈma]), officially called the Republic of Panama (Spanish: República de Panamá), is a country in Central America situated between North and South America. It is bordered by Costa Rica to the west, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean to the north and the Pacific Ocean to the south. The capital and largest city is Panama City, whose metropolitan area is home to nearly half of the country's 3.9 million people.

Panama was inhabited by several indigenous tribes prior to settlement by the Spanish in the 16th century. Panama broke away from Spain in 1821 and joined a union of Nueva Granada, Ecuador, and Venezuela named the Republic of Gran Colombia. When Gran Colombia dissolved in 1831, Panama and Nueva Granada remained joined, eventually becoming the Republic of Colombia. With the backing of the United States, Panama seceded from Colombia in 1903, allowing the Panama Canal to be built by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers between 1904 and 1914. In 1977, an agreement was signed for the total transfer of the Canal from the United States to Panama by the end of the 20th century, which culminated on 31 December 1999.