Azuero Peninsula
Encyclopedia
Panama
Panama , officially the Republic of Panama , is the southernmost country of Central America. Situated on the isthmus connecting North and South America, it is bordered by Costa Rica to the northwest, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north and the Pacific Ocean to the south. The...
. It is surrounded by the Pacific Ocean in the south; the Pacific and Gulf of Montijo to the west, and by the Gulf of Panama
Gulf of Panama
The Gulf of Panama is a gulf in the Pacific Ocean, near the southern coast of Panama. It has a maximum width of , a maximum depth of and the size of . The Panama Canal connects the Gulf of Panama with the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean...
in the east. The peninsula is effectively divided into two regions; the Western Azuero and the Eastern Azuero, as no serviceable roads join the two peninsula regions past the Pan-American Highway
Pan-American Highway
The Pan-American Highway is a network of roads measuring about in total length. Except for an rainforest break, called the Darién Gap, the road links the mainland nations of the Americas in a connected highway system. According to Guinness World Records, the Pan-American Highway is the world's...
.
The Eastern Azuero Peninsula is known for baseball and is also a center of activity during the annual 'carnaval
Carnival
Carnaval is a festive season which occurs immediately before Lent; the main events are usually during February. Carnaval typically involves a public celebration or parade combining some elements of a circus, mask and public street party...
' (carnival
Carnival
Carnaval is a festive season which occurs immediately before Lent; the main events are usually during February. Carnaval typically involves a public celebration or parade combining some elements of a circus, mask and public street party...
), with Las Tablas being the hub. Pedasi
Pedasí township, Los Santos
Pedasí is a town situated on the south-eastern tip of the Azuero Peninsula on Panama’s Pacific coast. It is located in the Pedasí District, in the Los Santos province. It is principally a fishing village with a population of about 2000 people....
is a small fishing town with sport fishing.
The Western Azuero Peninsula is known for its cattle ranching, farming, fishing, sunsets and beaches.
Tourism has begun to increase in the area both for the aforementioned sport fishing, surfing in Playa Venado and for the local charm of cities like Chitré
Chitré
Chitré is the capital of the Panamanian province Herrera. Chitré is located about 7 km inland from the Gulf of Panama on the Azuero Peninsula The name Chitre comes from the native tribe Chitra . In the city, there is a district, also called Chitré, which is subdivided into five corregimientos...
, Las Tablas
Las Tablas
Las Tablas is the capital of the Panamanian province of Los Santos. It is located a few kilometers inland from the Gulf of Panama on the Azuero Peninsula. Las Tablas is a recognized national center of Panamanian folk: Art, music, gastronomy, architecture, culture and literature...
and Pedasi. Due to a rise in tourism, real estate development has begun. The area enjoys some of the best weather in Panama being in a region known as the "Arco Seco" (dry arc).
Geography
Azuero is divided into three provinces, HerreraHerrera
-Places:*Herrera de Pisuerga, a town in the province of Palencia, Spain*Herrera Province, Panama*Herrera, Spain, a municipality in the province of Sevilla*Enrique Olaya Herrera Airport*Herrera, Entre Ríos in Argentina*Herrera, Santiago del Estero in Argentina...
, Los Santos
Los Santos
Los Santos could refer to:*Los Santos Province, Panama*Los Santos de Maimona, municipality in Badajoz, Extremadura, Spain*Los Santos, San Andreas, fictional city within the video game Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas and to be set in the next upcoming Grand Theft Auto game Grand Theft Auto V...
(which are entirely on the peninsula), and Veraguas which extends into it on the west side of the peninsula. Most of the people live on the east coastal region. The southern tip is sparsely populated, and western area (the Veraguas area) is just now opening up to development. The largest towns are Chitré
Chitré
Chitré is the capital of the Panamanian province Herrera. Chitré is located about 7 km inland from the Gulf of Panama on the Azuero Peninsula The name Chitre comes from the native tribe Chitra . In the city, there is a district, also called Chitré, which is subdivided into five corregimientos...
, the capital of Herrera, and Las Tablas
Las Tablas
Las Tablas is the capital of the Panamanian province of Los Santos. It is located a few kilometers inland from the Gulf of Panama on the Azuero Peninsula. Las Tablas is a recognized national center of Panamanian folk: Art, music, gastronomy, architecture, culture and literature...
. The main road to the eastern Azuero peninsula connects to the Pan-American Highway
Pan-American Highway
The Pan-American Highway is a network of roads measuring about in total length. Except for an rainforest break, called the Darién Gap, the road links the mainland nations of the Americas in a connected highway system. According to Guinness World Records, the Pan-American Highway is the world's...
in Divisa and runs south along the eastern side of the peninsula. The road to the western Azuero connects to the Pan-American just east of Santiago.
Punta Mariato
Punta Mariato
Punta Mariato or Mariato Point is a cape in western Panama and is the southernmost point on the mainland of North America and is one of the Extreme points of Earth.-Geography:...
on the western tip of the peninsula is the southernmost point on the mainland of Central America.
History
The Azuero region was one of the first parts of Panama to be settled more than 10,000 years ago, and the area in the north of the peninsula was cultivated thousands of years before the arrival of the Spaniards.Environment
Its long history of cultivation and grazing has had a negative impact on the environment, resulting in what is sometimes called the Sarigua desert in the northeastern area of the peninsula, even though it is not technically a desert. Along the coast there are areas of mangroves and just inland is a dry coastal forest called AlbinaAlbina
Albina may refer to:Place* Albina, Suriname, a city in Suriname* Albina, Oregon, a city annexed by Portland, Oregon, USA* Albina, Brăila, a village in Tichileşti Commune, Brăila County, Romania...
. Much of the land has been cleared for cultivation or grazing.
In the extreme south, Cerro Hoya is a national park and home of most of the remaining jungle habitat in the Azuero region. Isla Canas, a coastal island connected via a sandbar to the peninsula
Peninsula
A peninsula is a piece of land that is bordered by water on three sides but connected to mainland. In many Germanic and Celtic languages and also in Baltic, Slavic and Hungarian, peninsulas are called "half-islands"....
, is used by a large number of sea turtles to lay their eggs each year.