Bocas del Toro Province

Bocas del Toro (meaning "Mouths of the Bull") is a province of Panama. The province is in the northwestern part of the country, bordering Costa Rica. The provincial capital is the city of Bocas del Toro on Colón Island.

History
Christopher Columbus, looking for a way to the Pacific Ocean during its fourth voyage to the Americas, visited this region in 1502 and named the island known now as Colón Island as "Isla del Drago" (the Dragon's Island).

During colonial times, Bocas del Toro was part of the Veraguas province. When the country was part of Colombia, the government made the district of Bocas del Toro in 1834. In 1850, Bocas del Toro became part of Chiriquí but later was made part of the Colón province.

On 16 November 1903, Bocas del Toro was separated from the Colón province and became one province. In 1941, it was divided in two districts, Bocas del Toro and Crimamola. In 1970, the district of Bocas del Toro became the district of Changuinola, the Bastimentos district was eliminated and three new districts were created.

The limits of the districts were changed in 1997 when the Ngäbe-Buglé comarca was created.

Location
The Bocas del Toro province borders the Caribbean Sea to the north, Limón Province of Costa Rica to the west, Chiriquí Province to the south, and Ngäbe-Buglé Comarca to the east. The Sixaola river forms part of the border with Costa Rica.

Geography
Bocas del Toro province has an area of 4657.2 km2. The province includes the Bocas del Toro Archipelago, a group of islands in the Caribbean Sea; the main islands of the archipelago are:
 * Colón, 61 km2, where is the city of Bocas del Toro, the provincial capital;
 * Popa, 53 km2
 * Bastimentos, 52 km2
 * San Cristóbal, 37 km2
 * Cayo Agua, 16 km2
 * Solarte, 8 km2
 * Carenero, 4 km2

Protected areas
The national parks in the province are "Isla Bastimentos National Marine Park" (Parque Nacional Marino Isla Bastimentos), which contains most of Bastimentos islands and some smaller nearby islands, and "La Amistad International Park" (Parque Internacional La Amistad), which spans the Costa Rica–Panama border. Bocas del Toro contains most of the Panamanian section of the park, which covers 400000 ha. The Costa Rican section of the park covers 584592 ha.

Demographics
The people of the province are known as Bocatoreños (women:Bocatoreñas).

The Bocas del Toro province had a population, in 2010, of 125,461, for a population density of inhabitants/km2.

Evolution of the population in Bocas del Toro province

Administrative divisions
The Bocas del Toro province is divided in four districts, which are divided into 30 corregimientos. The new district of Almirante was created on 8 June 2015 with territory of the Changuinola district.

Economy
The main economic activity in the mainland of the province is farming, with plantain as the main commercial crop. In the islands, the main activities are fishing and tourism.

Other websites

 * Statoids.com
 * Statoids.com