The Pearl Islands (Spanish: Archipiélago de las Perlas or Islas de las Perlas) is a group of 200 or more islands and islets (many tiny and uninhabited) lying about off the

Pacific The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the contine ...

coast of

Panama Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a transcontinental country spanning the southern part of North America and the northern part of South America. It is bordered by Co ...

in the

Gulf of Panama The Gulf of Panama ( es, Golfo de Panamá) is a gulf of the Pacific Ocean off the southern coast of Panama, where most of eastern Panama's southern shores adjoin it. The Gulf has a maximum width of , a maximum depth of and the size of . The Pana ...

Islands

The most notable island is

Contadora Island Isla Contadora (or Contadora Island in English) is a Panamanian island on the Pearl Islands archipelago (''Spanish: Archipielago de las Perlas'') in the Gulf of Panama. It has an area of 1.39 km², which makes it the 11th largest island of th ...

(or Isla Contadora in

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...

), known for its resorts. Contadora was said to be used by the

conquistadors as a stop for taking inventory of booty prior to returning to Spain, hence the name (''contador'' means counter or bookkeeper in

). Contadora is a resort island, with many homes owned by wealthy Panamanians. There are a large hotel and other cabins available. Most of the resort workers live on nearby Isla

Saboga Saboga is a corregimiento in Balboa District, Panamá Province, Panama Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a transcontinental country spanning the southern part of No ...

. In 1979, the

Shah of Iran This is a list of monarchs of Persia (or monarchs of the Iranic peoples, in present-day Iran), which are known by the royal title Shah or Shahanshah. This list starts from the establishment of the Medes around 671 BCE until the deposition of th ...

briefly took exile on Isla Contadora. Domestic airline Air Panama runs at least daily flights between

Panama City Panama City ( es, Ciudad de Panamá, links=no; ), also known as Panama (or Panamá in Spanish), is the capital and largest city of Panama. It has an urban population of 880,691, with over 1.5 million in its metropolitan area. The city is locat ...

and Contadora and Isla San José. The largest island, at , is Isla del Rey ("Island of the King"), its name probably referring to Christ the King rather than to a secular king. Isla del Rey has several towns, most notably San Miguel. It is easily larger than the other Pearl Islands combined, and is the second largest island in Panama, after

Coiba Coiba is the largest island in Central America, with an area of , off the Pacific coast of the Panamanian province of Chiriquí. It is part of the Tolé District of that province. History Coiba separated from continental Panama about 12,000 to ...

. Other islands in the archipelago include Bolano Island, Buena Vista Island, Cana Island, Casaya Island, Chapera Island, Chitre Island, Cocos Island, Espiritu Santo Island, Galera Island, Gallo Island, Isla Gibraleón, Isla Bayoneta, Lampon Island, Marin Island, Mina Island, Mogo Mogo o Pajaro, Pacheca Island, Pachequille Island, Pedro Gonzalez Island, Puerco Island, Isla San José, Senora Island, Vivenda Island, and Viveros Island. The island of Galera has a façade of very tall coconut palm trees and a white sandy beach. Strong currents, combined with shallows and jagged reefs surrounding the island, make navigation near the island perilous.

History

Three million years ago the Isthmus of Panama was created. Until then North and South America were divided by sea. It was the biggest and reportedly the most significant geological event in 60 million years. Prior to that date as the Earth's plates had begun to join the Pearl Islands were created and they emerged from the sea. On

and other islands in the group

pre-Columbian In the history of the Americas, the pre-Columbian era spans from the original settlement of North and South America in the Upper Paleolithic period through European colonization, which began with Christopher Columbus's voyage of 1492. Usually, ...

artifacts have been found. The biggest island is Isla del Rey where more than fifteen pre-Columbian recognised archeological sites of the “Cuevas” and “Cocle” cultures have been identified. However none of the original population remain. The islands were first occupied by native populations who were (with their leader Terarequí) wiped out within two years of the islands' discovery by the Spanish. Spaniard Vasco Nunez de Balboa named the islands Pearl Islands on his discovery of them in 1513 due to the many pearls which were found there. Another Spaniard, Gaspar de Morales, exterminated 20 local Indian chiefs not long after and gave them to his dogs to tear to pieces. The Spaniards then needed workers to harvest pearls and imported slave labour in the 16th century from Africa whose descendants now live on the islands, particularly del Rey. The Islands were frequently used by pirates in the years that followed and were relatively undisturbed until the 1960s and 1970s when the building of the resort on Contadora took place to which the Shah of Iran retreated in 1979.

Sustainability

The Chamber for Sustainable Tourism Las Perlas aims to preserve the islands' delicate ecological balance.

Publicity

The Pearl Islands are a popular location for reality TV programs, particularly '' Survivor''. The American edition has had 3 seasons (namely '' Survivor: Pearl Islands'', '' Survivor: All-Stars'' and '' Survivor: Panama'') set on the islands. Season 2 of the Israeli version of the program (titled '' Survivor: Pearl Islands''), season 1 of '' Survivor South Africa'' (titled '' Survivor South Africa: Panama''), season 4 of the French edition (titled '' Koh-Lanta: Panama''), season 3 of the Bulgarian version (titled '' Survivor BG: Pearl Islands'') and Ukrainian versions of the show were all set on the islands. Other programs, namely

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...

Islands

History

Sustainability

Publicity

See also

References