Azuero Peninsula ( es, Península de Azuero) is a large peninsula in southern
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 ...
. It is surrounded by the Pacific Ocean in the south; the Pacific and
Gulf of Montijo
A gulf is a large inlet from the ocean into the landmass, typically with a narrower opening than a bay, but that is not observable in all geographic areas so named. The term gulf was traditionally used for large highly-indented navigable bodies ...
to the west, and by 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 ...
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
The Pan-American Highway (french: (Auto)route panaméricaine/transaméricaine; pt, Rodovia/Auto-estrada Pan-americana; es, Autopista/Carretera/Ruta Panamericana) is a network of roads stretching across the Americas and measuring about in to ...
.
The Eastern Azuero Peninsula is known for baseball and is also a center of activity during the annual ''
carnaval'' (
carnival), with Las Tablas being the hub.
Pedasi 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 and for the local charm of cities like
Chitré,
Las Tablas 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,
Herrera,
Los Santos (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, the capital of Herrera, and
Las Tablas. The main road to the eastern Azuero peninsula connects to the
Pan-American Highway
The Pan-American Highway (french: (Auto)route panaméricaine/transaméricaine; pt, Rodovia/Auto-estrada Pan-americana; es, Autopista/Carretera/Ruta Panamericana) is a network of roads stretching across the Americas and measuring about in to ...
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 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
A mangrove is a shrub or tree that grows in coastal saline or brackish water. The term is also used for tropical coastal vegetation consisting of such species. Mangroves are taxonomically diverse, as a result of convergent evolution in severa ...
and just inland is a dry coastal forest called
Albina. The Azuero is one of the most heavily deforested parts of Panamá, although
sustainable land management systems such as
silvopastoral grazing are emerging.
In the extreme south,
Cerro Hoya
Cerro is Spanish for "hill" or "mountain".
Toponyms
;Bolivia:
* Cerro Rico, the "Rich Mountain" containing silver ore near Potosi, Bolivia
;Brazil:
* Cerro Branco, a municipality of Rio Grande do Sul
*Cerro Grande, Rio Grande do Sul, a municip ...
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
In oceanography, geomorphology, and geoscience, a shoal is a natural submerged ridge, bank, or bar that consists of, or is covered by, sand or other unconsolidated material and rises from the bed of a body of water to near the surface. ...
to the
peninsula, is used by a large number of
sea turtles to lay their eggs each year.
References
External links
"Azuero Peninsula"''Encyclopædia Britannica''
Best Places in the World to Retire: Azuero / PedasiPanamaInfo: the Azuero PeninsulaAlfalfa Travel Guide: the Azuero PeninsulaGrandiablos, diablicos and other Azuero traditionsThe Art of Precolumbian Gold: The Jan Mitchell Collection an exhibition catalog from The Metropolitan Museum of Art (fully available online as PDF), which contains material on Azuero Peninsula
{{Coord, 7, 40, N, 80, 35, W, dim:200000_region:PA, display=title, format=dms
Peninsulas of Panama
Gulf of Panama
Panamanian coasts of the Pacific Ocean
Herrera Province
Los Santos Province
Veraguas Province