History of Isla de San Andres

s no sense), the Municipality of San Andres and Providencia was established, giving administrative independence. In August 1920, a boundary treaty was signed between Colombia and Panama in Bogota. On 24 March 1928, the Esguerra-Bárcenas Treaty was signed, in which Nicaragua recognized Colombia's sovereignty over the Archipelago of San Andrés, Providencia and Santa Catalina.

In November 1943, Colombia joined World War II, because a German submarine sank one of their boats that had to transport British troops to San Andrés. In 1953, at the request of several representatives of the island community, President Gustavo Rojas Pinilla reaffirmed the San Andres Island and the free port. In 1972, the archipelago was declared as a Special Municipality. In the Colombian Constitution of 1991, the Department Archipelago of San Andrés, Providencia and Santa Catalina was established as one of the Departments of Colombia. In 2000, the archipelago of San Andrés, Providencia and Santa Catalina became a UNESCO World Biosphere Reserve as per of the five biosphere reserves listed with the UNESCO’s Man and the Biosphere programme.

21st century

In 2001, Nicaragua National Assembly declared null Barcenas-Esguerra Treatry because it was signed under pressure of US army occupation (1928-1933). Nicaragua now have signed a treaty of limits with Colombia, and it disputed the limits alleged by Colombia at 82 degrees longitude. In 2007, International Court of Justice said the Treaty signed in 1928 (and the 1930 Protocol of Exchange of Ratifications) are not a Treatry of limits between both nations. Nicaragua filed a formal complaint before the International Court of Justice in The Hague, claiming territory east of longitude 82, because