Cañazas District is a

district A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions o ...

(''distrito'') of

Veraguas Province Veraguas () is a province of Panama, located in the centre-west of the country. The capital is the city of Santiago de Veraguas. It is the only Panamanian province to border both the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. It covers an area of 10,587.6&nb ...

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 Cos ...

. The population according to the 2000 census was 15,999; the latest official estimate (for 2019) is 18,022.Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Censo, Panama. The district covers a total area of 789 km². The capital lies at the town of

Cañazas Cañazas is a corregimiento in Cañazas District, Veraguas Province, Panama Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a transcontinental country spanning the southern part o ...

History

Cañazas was founded in 1757 under the name of San Francisco Javier de Cañazo. Since the Spaniards established the custom of naming the places they arrived, the named the town after the saint on arriving on 3 December, which is the feast day. It is assumed that the name of Cañazo arose from the surrounding mountains. The first school was established in Cañazo in 1853. In 1783, Indians attacked and devastated the population of Cañazo and other peoples of

and

Chiriquí Province Chiriquí () is a province of Panama located on the western coast; it is the second most developed province in the country, after the Panamá Province. Its capital is the city of David. It has a total area of 6,490.9 km², with a population ...

. In 1912, they constructed the tower and temple, with much work carried out by Juan Bautista Brea. Today, there is a new tower and a church completely restored after the fall of the old tower. On August 16, 1963, 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 ...

established links to Cañazo. On December 28, 1971, General

Omar Torrijos Herrera Omar Efraín Torrijos Herrera (February 13, 1929 – July 31, 1981) was the Commander of the Panamanian National Guard and military leader of Panama from 1968 to his death in 1981. Torrijos was never officially the president of Panama, ...

signed the contract for the construction of an asphalt road to Cañazo. On May 11, 1974, it was opened by

Demetrio Basilio Lakas Demetrio Basilio Lakas Bahas (August 29, 1925 in Colón, PanamaNovember 2, 1999 in Panama City) was the 27th President of Panama from December 19, 1969 to October 11, 1978. Early life and education The son of Greek immigrants, Lakas was born in ...

, and the minister of public works of that time, Edwin Fabrega. The honor of cutting the ribbon was awarded to Peter J. Mérida, a distinguished citizen of the district of Cañazo.

Administrative divisions

Cañazas District is divided administratively into the following '' corregimientos'': * San Francisco Javier de Cañazas * Cerro de Plata * Los Valles * San Marcelo * El Picador * San José * El Aromillo * Las Cruces

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Canazas District Districts of Panama Veraguas Province