Panama Provinces (original) (raw)

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Updates:

"Geopolitical Entities, Names, and Codes, Edition 2" (GENC), a U.S. standard that's supposed to correspond to ISO 3166-2, was issued on 2014-03-31. It gives Panam� Oeste the code PA-10. Subsequently, on 2014-11-03, ISO officially issued a code for Panam� Oeste. Now there is a perfect match between the two standards.

Update 16 to the U.S. standard GEC is dated 2014-06-30. It adds a code for Panama Oeste province.

2014-01: I now recognize that there are some comarcas that rank with provinces, and other comarcas that rank with districts. Up until now I have listed Kuna de Madungand� and Kuna de Wargand� as primary subdivisions. The standards ignore them, and the Panamanian census returns don't show them on the province level, so I am reverting to showing them as part of Panam� and Dari�n provinces, respectively. At the same time, the creation of Panam� Oeste province became official.

I found source [6], which enabled me to fill in (and in some cases to correct) the Change history. At the same time, I checked the Spanish Wikipedia and found that the capitals of three of the comarcas were different from those I had been reporting. I don't know whether this represents a name change for the cities in question, a relocation of the administrative functions, identification of places at a different level in the geographic hierarchy, or old errors on my part.

When the comarca of Ng�be Bugl� was created in 1997, the legislators didn't check the spelling carefully enough. In the latest census, the comarca's name is given as Ng�be Bugl�. According to source [4], an article published on 2009-05-16 called attention to the error, saying "The people whose name was changed: ... those who reviewed the law creating the comarca, all Spanish speakers, did not know the Ngabe language. They replaced the 'a' with an 'o'. A correction is now in the hands of the Executive." (My translation and paraphrase.) The letter in controversy is supposed to represent a vowel that is said to sound like English "aw". That sound doesn't occur in Spanish, and neither '�' nor '�' is found in the Spanish alphabet.

Update 1 to the U.S. standard "Geopolitical Entities and Codes" is dated 2010-08-20. It assigns GEC codes to two new comarcas, and changes the name of San Blas to Kuna Yala. Newsletter II-2, an update to the ISO 3166-2 standard, is dated 2010-06-30. It assigns ISO codes to three comarcas.

Country overview:

Panama was a department of Colombia in 1900. With the encouragement of the United States, Panama declared its independence from Colombia on 1903-11-03. The United States then acquired control of the Canal Zone from it. In 1979, the Canal Zone was restored to Panama.

Other names of country:

1. Danish: Panama
2. Dutch: Panama, Republiek Panama (formal)
3. English: Republic of Panama (formal)
4. Finnish: Panama
5. French: Panama m
6. German: Panam�, Panama n
7. Italian: Panam� m
8. Norwegian: Panama, Republikken Panama (formal)
9. Portuguese: Panam�, Rep�blica f do Panam� m (formal)
10. Russian: Республика Панама (formal)
11. Spanish: Panam�, Rep�blica f de Panam� m (formal)
12. Swedish: Panama
13. Turkish: Panama Cumhuriyeti (formal)

Origin of name:

There are several theories about the origin of the name Panama. The best known is that the Spanish explorers found a village on the beach where Panama City now stands. The village was populated by fishermen, and its name, Panama, meant "many fish". Another version is that the name designated a species of tree; or that it meant "many butterflies". Lately, a Kuna chief has asserted that the name came from pannaba, a Kuna word for "very far".

Primary subdivisions:

Panama is divided into ten provincias (provinces) and three comarcas.

Further subdivisions:

See the Districts of Panama page.

The provinces of Panama are divided into municipal districts, which are further subdivided into corregimientos.

Territorial extent:

Before the Canal Zone was returned, Col�n province had an exclave within the Canal Zone, containing the city of Col�n.
If thisMap and thisMap are correct, Ember� has two separate sections, one of which is completely surrounded by Dari�n.
If thisMap is correct, Ng�be Bugl� has at least two exclaves within Chiriqu� and two within Veraguas.

The UN LOCODE page for Panama lists locations in the country, some of them with their latitudes and longitudes, some with their ISO 3166-2 codes for their subdivisions. This information can be put together to approximate the territorial extent of subdivisions.

Origins of names:

1. Bocas del Toro: Spanish for "mouths of the bull"
2. Col�n: named for Christopher Columbus (Spanish: Crist�bal Col�n)
3. Kuna Yala: Kuna for "land of the Kuna people"
4. Los Santos: Spanish for "the saints"

Change history:

There have been numerous minor boundary adjustments.

1. 1821-11-28: Upon independence from Spain, Panama became Colombia's Istmo (Isthmus) department, divided into two provinces: Panam� and Veraguas. The provinces were subdivided into cantones (cantons), which were in turn divided into parroquias (parishes).
2. 1849: Chiriqu� province formed by taking Alanje canton from Veraguas province.
3. 1850-04-08: Azuero province formed by taking Los Santos and Parita cantons and Santa Mar�a parish from Panam� province.
4. 1855-02-27: Under Colombia's Constitution of 1853, Istmo department became a federal state of Panam�. (At that time, Colombia was known as Nueva Granada.)
5. 1855: Col�n and Cocl� departments split from Panam�; Herrera y los Santos department split from Azuero. Colon consisted of Portobelo canton and Bocas del Toro comarca. Cocl� consisted of Nat� canton.
6. 1875: Under Panama's new constitution, Panam� state was divided into a capital district and departments, and the departments were divided into districts.
7. 1886-11-11: Colombia adopted a new constitution, under which the states, including Panam�, became departments, subdivided into provinces, which were subdivided into distritos municipales (municipal districts).
8. 1903-11-03: Panama declared its independence from Colombia.
9. 1904-02-26: Treaty of Hay and Bunau-Varilla took effect, by which the United States acquired the "use, occupation, and control" of the Canal Zone.
10. 1904: Panama adopted a constitution which stated that the country was divided into the provinces of Bocas del Toro, Cocl�, Col�n, Chiriqu�, Los Santos, Panam�, and Veraguas. The provinces were subdivided into municipios. Bocas del Toro had been part of Col�n, as a comarca unti 1894 and then as a district.
11. 1915-01-18: Herrera province split from Los Santos.
12. 1922-12-27: Dari�n province split from Panam�.
13. ~1925: Capital of Canal Zone moved from Anc�n to Balboa Heights (a district in the city of Balboa).
14. 1938-12-16: San Blas y Bar� comarca (or intendency) formed from parts of Col�n and Panam�. This may not have been fully implemented until 1953-02-19.
15. 1979-10-01: By the Panama Canal Treaty, the United States relinquished the Canal Zone. The zone (1,432 sq. km.) was split and annexed to Col�n and Panam� provinces. At this time, Panama was divided as shown here.

1. 1983-11-08: Ember� comarca split from Dari�n province by Law 22.
2. 1996-01-12: Kuna de Madungand� comarca formed within Panam� province by Law 24. (Panam� province, excluding Kuna de Madungand�, was temporarily given HASC code PA.PN.)
3. 1997-03-07: Ng�be-Bugl� comarca formed from parts of Bocas del Toro, Chiriqu�, and Veraguas provinces by Law 10.
4. 1998-12-23: Name of San Blas comarca changed to Kuna Yala by Law 99.
5. 2000-07-25: Kuna de Wargand� comarca formed within Dari�n by Law 34. (Dari�n province, excluding Kuna de Wargand�, was temporarily given HASC code PA.DR.)
6. ~2010: Name of Ng�be Bugl� changed to Ng�be Bugl�.
7. 2010-08-13: In an alphabet reform of the Guna language, Guna name of Kuna Yala changed to Guna Yala.
8. 2014-01-01: Panam� Oeste province split from Panam� province (former HASC code PA.PA, 2010 population 1,713,070, area 11,952 km.�). It consists of Arraij�n, Capira, Chame, La Chorrera, and San Carlos districts. This is the implementation of Law No. 119 of 2013-12-30.

Other names of subdivisions:

1. Ember�: Ember�-Wounaan (variant)
2. Kuna Yala: Dulenega (variant native name); Guna Yala (vernacular); San Blas (obsolete)
3. Ng�be Bugl�: Ng�be Bugl� (obsolete)

Population history:

Column headings are dates of censuses. Kuna Yala figures for 1940-1960 are included in Col�n. Source [1] doesn't explain why a population is given for Ng�be Bugl� in 1990, before it was created; nor whether the population of Canal Zone is included in the figures for 1911-1970.

Sources:

1. [1] Historical population data (1911-2000) come from Contralor�a General de la Rep�blica de Panam� .
2. [2] La Prensa reported on 2002-01-20 that there were moves under way to split a new province of Panam� Oeste (West Panama) from the existing Panam� province, and to split a new comarca from Bocas del Toro province for the benefit of the Naso-teribe ethnic group.
3. [3] Library of Congress country study (retrieved 1999).
4. [4] La Estrella monthly (in Spanish, retrieved 2011-01-20).
5. [5] "El Parlamento paname�o crea la provincia de Panam� Oeste ," Terra Chile online news (dated 2013-10-29; retrieved 2013-12-02).
6. [6] La Organizaci�n Territorial de Panama : Particularidades del Regimen Provincial y Municipal. Agapito Gonz�lez G�mez (retrieved 2013-12-02).
7. [7] Census data for 2010 from Resultades Finales B�sicos , Censos Nacionales 2010. Instituto Nacional de Estad�stica y Censo. (retrieved 2014-01-09).
8. [8] "Presidente sanciona ley que crea la provincia de Panam� Oeste " (President approves law creating Panam� Oeste province). La Opini�n news portal (dated 2013-12-30, retrieved 2014-01-10).