Herrera () is a

province A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''Roman province, provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire ...

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 ...

. Named after General Tomás Herrera, the province was founded on January 18, 1915 from a division of the

Los Santos province Los Santos () is a province in Panama, reaching from the La Villa river in the North to the Pacific Ocean in the south and east. It is part of the Azuero Peninsula, bounded by the province of Herrera to the north and northeast, and by Mariato D ...

. The capital city of Herrera is

Chitré Chitré () is a city and corregimiento, the capital of the Panamanian province of Herrera. with a population of 9,092 as of 2010, and a metropolitan area population of 80,000 inhabitants. It is also the seat of Chitré District. Chitré is loca ...

, which is located near the province's coastline. Herrera is bordered on the north by the provinces of

Veraguas 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 ...

and Coclé, on the south by the province of Los Santos, on the east by Golfo de Parita and the province of Los Santos, and on the west by the province of Veraguas.

History

After gaining independence from

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

in 1821, the isthmus of Panama was divided into two provinces, Panamá and Veraguas. The province Panamá consisted of the districts of Natá, Portobelo,

and Darién. At the time, the location now occupied by the city of Chitré was inhabited by a small population of indigenous persons, near La Villa de Los Santos and was governed from Natá. It later came under the control of the Los Santos government. The province of Herrera was created in 1854 and eliminated in 1860. 55 years later, in 1915 the province was created again by the president of Panama Dr.

Belisario Porras Belisario Porras Barahona (28 November 185628 August 1942) was a Panamanian journalist and politician. He served three terms as President of Panama between 1912 and 1924. Porras was born in Las Tablas, on the thirty-fifth anniversary of Panama ...

. Chitré was founded on October 19, 1848 by Ventura Solís, Matías Rodríguez, José Ríos, José María Benavidez, Ildelfonso Pérez, Blas Tello, Eugenio Barrera, José Burgos y Carlos Rodríguez. Chitré, however, was included in the province of Los Santos. It was not until 1915 under the Porras administration that Chitré became a part of Herrera and was made the province's capital.

Economy

Of Panama's nine provinces, Herrera ranks third in

sugarcane Sugarcane or sugar cane is a species of (often hybrid) tall, Perennial plant, perennial grass (in the genus ''Saccharum'', tribe Andropogoneae) that is used for sugar Sugar industry, production. The plants are 2–6 m (6–20 ft) tall with ...

production. Other commercial mainstays in Herrera include retail, equipment repair, banking, and domestic service. Prominent industries include

dairy A dairy is a business enterprise established for the harvesting or processing (or both) of animal milk – mostly from cows or buffaloes, but also from goats, sheep, horses, or camels – for human consumption. A dairy is typically located on ...

cattle Cattle (''Bos taurus'') are large, domesticated, cloven-hooved, herbivores. They are a prominent modern member of the subfamily Bovinae and the most widespread species of the genus ''Bos''. Adult females are referred to as cows and adult mal ...

commercial fishing Commercial fishing is the activity of catching fish and other seafood for commercial profit, mostly from wild fisheries. It provides a large quantity of food to many countries around the world, but those who practice it as an industry must often ...

alcohol Alcohol most commonly refers to: * Alcohol (chemistry), an organic compound in which a hydroxyl group is bound to a carbon atom * Alcohol (drug), an intoxicant found in alcoholic drinks Alcohol may also refer to: Chemicals * Ethanol, one of sev ...

ceramic A ceramic is any of the various hard, brittle, heat-resistant and corrosion-resistant materials made by shaping and then firing an inorganic, nonmetallic material, such as clay, at a high temperature. Common examples are earthenware, porcelain ...

s, clay products, mosaics, and

cement A cement is a binder, a chemical substance used for construction that sets, hardens, and adheres to other materials to bind them together. Cement is seldom used on its own, but rather to bind sand and gravel ( aggregate) together. Cement mix ...

Culture

The famous

Festival del Manito Ocueño A festival is an event ordinarily celebrated by a community and centering on some characteristic aspect or aspects of that community and its religion or cultures. It is often marked as a local or national holiday, mela, or eid. A festival c ...

has its origin in the city of Ocú in Herrera. Also, the pottery work in the province is extensive, consisting mainly of high-quality reproductions of pre-Columbian artifacts. Herrera's pottery is the best-known in the country. Panama's most famous alcoholic drink, "seco" ''(translation: dry)'', is produced in Herrera, which is a sugarcane liqueur said to be drier than normal rum.

Varela Hermanos Varela is a Spanish and Portuguese surname of Galician origin. Notable people with the surname include: * Abigail Varela (born 1948), Venezuelan artist * Adilson Tavares Varela (born 1988), footballer * Adrián Varela (born 1984), Mexican reality ...

, a company based in

Pesé Pesé is a town and corregimiento in Pesé District, Herrera Province, Panama Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a transcontinental country spanning the southern ...

, sells seco under the trade name

Seco Herrerano Seco Herrerano is an alcoholic beverage distilled from sugar cane. It is distilled three times. It is traditionally used straight or in mixed drinks as a replacement for rum or vodka. It is a clear liquor that is sold at 35 percent alcohol by volu ...

Sports

Herrera's

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

team has won sixteen national championships, more than any other team in the country, including the 2005, 2006 and 2007 titles.

Carnival

The best-known carnivals are celebrated in Chitré,

Parita Parita is a town and corregimiento in Parita District, Herrera Province, Panama Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a transcontinental country spanning the souther ...

and Ocú. Chitré's carnival is one of the most popular in Panama, but those in Ocú have risen in prominence in recent years.

Administrative divisions

Herrera Province is divided into 7 ''distritos'' (districts) and subdivided into 49 '' corregimientos''.

References

{{Authority control Provinces of Panama States and territories established in 1915 1915 establishments in Panama