Veraguas Province
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Veraguas is a province of Panama. The capital is the city of Santiago de Veraguas.
The province is divided into 12 districts.
District (Capital)
- Atalaya District (Atalaya)
- Calobre District (Calobre)
- Cañazas District (Cañazas)
- La Mesa District (La Mesa)
- Las Palmas District (Las Palmas)
- Montijo District (Montijo)
- Río de Jesús District (Río de Jesús)
- San Francisco District (San Francisco)
- Santa Fé District (Santa Fé)
- Santiago District, Veraguas (Santiago de Veraguas)
- Soná District, Veraguas (Enrique Arosemena)
- Mariato District (Mariato)
The province of Veraguas is located to Central-West of the Republic of Panama. It has 10,677.2 km²; and is divided in twelve districts.
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[edit] History
Veraguas was explored by Christopher Columbus on his fourth voyage. He tried to establish the first colony in the new Spanish mainland but failed due to attacks from native Indians. In reports to the Spanish crown he mentions gold, and the local civilization has in fact produced remarkable pieces of jewelry. Diego de Nicuesa also tried to make a colony and failed, which made him create a colony to fight against the Indians called Nombre de Dios. Its capital, Santiago de Veraguas, was found in 1636.
It is said that its name comes from the indigenous word "Veracua" or "Viragua." It is the only province in Panama with coastlines on both the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific Ocean. The majority of people live on the pacific side, the Caribbean coast is mostly unihabited.
[edit] Tourism
Veraguas has many groups of inhabitants, mainly of Spanish-Indian origin named campesinos. This land offers tourists and visitors close contact with nature. Forests, mountains, coasts and islands where there are more than 200 varieties of orchids; more than 400 species of birds, besides mammals, reptiles and insects.
Veraguas has various national parks. The Coiba National Park, (with the largest coral reef of the Pacific Coast of America), Cerro Hoya National Park (covers the southwest part of the Azuero península and the sea that surrounds it), Santa Fe National Park (a wonderful virgin forest in the northern region of the province), La Yeguada Forest reserve (with a great artificial lake for the production of electricity)and El Montuoso Forest reserve.
Beaches such as Playa Santa Catalina, Playa Mariato, Malena and Torio offer great places for recreation, surfing and fishing.
Other famous touristic areas is the Iglesia de San Francisco de la Montaña.This Church has a Baroque architecture and dates back to 1727. It was declared a National Historical Monument on January 27, 1937.
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- Resources and discussion
- SantaCatalinaBeach.com A complete guide to Santa Catalina, Panama. Surfing, Scuba Diving and Fishing information in Santa Catalina. Created to fill the void discovered when planning a recent trip there, this site is striving to give complete and accurate information on Santa Catalina, Panama. Includes driving instruction, accommodations, food and other service as well as a forum to exchange information and stories about Santa Catalina.
- CatalinaPanama.com Everything related to Santa Catalina, located in the Veraguas province of Panama. Includes photos, commentary, real estate information and much more.
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