San Blas Islands
Related Category: Latin American and Caribbean Physical Geography
(sän bläs), formerly
Mulatas(m
lä´täs), archipelago off the northeast coast of Panama. It consists of 332 coral islands. The inhabitants are almost pure-blooded aborigines of Carib origin; fishing and coconut gathering are the chief occupations. Protected by a treaty with the government of Panama, the indigenous people did not consent to scientific observation of their culture and visits of tourists until the late 1940s.
