Almirante is the capital of the Almirante District of the

Bocas del Toro Province Bocas del Toro (; meaning "Mouths of the Bull") is a Provinces of Panama, province of Panama. Its area is 4,643.9 square kilometers, comprising the mainland and nine main islands. The province consists of the Bocas del Toro Archipelago, Bahía Al ...

in the Republic of

Panama Panama, officially the Republic of Panama, is a country in Latin America at the southern end of Central America, bordering South America. It is bordered by Costa Rica to the west, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north, and ...

. Its name is Spanish for admiral.

History

Almirante was built by the

United Fruit Company The United Fruit Company (later the United Brands Company) was an American multinational corporation that traded in tropical fruit (primarily bananas) grown on Latin American plantations and sold in the United States and Europe. The company was ...

at the beginning of the 20th century as a port for its banana exports. The area consisted of landfills on swamps. Almirante hosted UFCO's head office until 1970. Its first settlers were mostly black Jamaicans and the Lesser Antilles who moved to work on the banana plantations in the early 1900s. Due to the importance of the port of Almirante, it also attracted Chinese, Hindu and Jewish merchants in the early 1950s; Since 2002, a massive migration of Chinese entered the entire province, so it is normal to see them in their businesses. Almirante was hit by a strong

earthquake An earthquakealso called a quake, tremor, or tembloris the shaking of the Earth's surface resulting from a sudden release of energy in the lithosphere that creates seismic waves. Earthquakes can range in intensity, from those so weak they ...

on April 22, 1991, wooden houses were mostly destroyed, so the Government decided to build new houses on the outskirts.

Geography

Almirante has a land area of and average altitude of 15 meters; and it´s surrounded by the Ambrossian Bight with calm waters.

Demographics

Population of 12,731 as of 2010, giving it a population density of . Its population as of 1990 was 11,584; its population as of 2000 was 12,430.
Since Bocas del Toro Province has a vast indigenous population, they also migrated to Almirante replacing blacks as the major ethnic group.
Spoken languages are: English, Spanish, native indigenous languages and '' Guari-Guari''.

Locations

* Wards: Barriada Aeropuerto, Barriada Guaymí, Barriada San Agustín, Barrio Francés, Las Golondrinas, Las Vegas, Media Milla, Una Milla y Zegla. * Villages: Milla 3, Milla 5, Miraflores, Nuevo Paraíso, Ojo de Agua and Río Oeste. * Interest sites: Port of Almirante, "Sea Wall" area, Cincuentenario Park, Catholic Church,

Anglican Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...

Church and Ojo de Agua mountain village. As result of the creation of the District of Almirante in 2015, neighborhoods and nearby communities were combined to form new corregimientos of the district.

Economic activity

Currently the main economic activities are agricultural: cocoa crops, bananas and livestock; operations in the Port of Almirante have been reduced to a minimum, causing many to move to Panama City or mining projects in

Coclé Province Coclé () is a province of central Panama on the nation's southern coast. The administrative capital is the city of Penonomé. This province was created by the Act of September 12, 1855 with the title of Department of Coclé during the presidenc ...

in search of new job sources. In 2010, a

hydroelectric Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is Electricity generation, electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies 15% of the world's electricity, almost 4,210 TWh in 2023, which is more than all other Renewable energ ...

plant operated by AES was built in the mountainous area of Almirante District, which has little impact on the city's economy.

Transportation

Roads

Main roads around the city: * Almirante - Changuinola * Almirante - Rambala * Almirante - Las Millas - Changuinola (former railway) * Almirante - Ojo de Agua - Charco de la Pava Way

Ports

* Port Almirante (operated by Chiquita Panamá). * Port of Almirante (Ferry dock for Colón Island). * Water taxis stations (3).

Bus terminals

* Sincotavecop Terminal (located in the center of the city, for buses to Changuinola and nearby communities). * Tranceibosa Terminal (located on the outskirts of the city, in the area known as "El Cruce"), for buses to

Panama City Panama City, also known as Panama, is the capital and largest city of Panama. It has a total population of 1,086,990, with over 2,100,000 in its metropolitan area. The city is located at the Pacific Ocean, Pacific entrance of the Panama Canal, i ...

and

David David (; , "beloved one") was a king of ancient Israel and Judah and the third king of the United Monarchy, according to the Hebrew Bible and Old Testament. The Tel Dan stele, an Aramaic-inscribed stone erected by a king of Aram-Dam ...

. For travelers, Almirante is mainly a jumping-off point for land travel to other cities on the mainland,

Costa Rica Costa Rica, officially the Republic of Costa Rica, is a country in Central America. It borders Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the northeast, Panama to the southeast, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, as well as Maritime bo ...

. It is an approximately 30-minute

water taxi A water taxi or a water bus is a boat used to provide public transport, public or private transport, usually, but not always, in an Urban area, urban environment. Service may be scheduled with multiple stops, operating in a simil ...

ride from Colón Island. private shuttle services to Boquete. Additionally shuttle services exist between Puerto Viejo de Talamanca and Bocas del Toro passing through Almirante.

Railways

The United Fruit Company and later Chiquita operated a now-abandoned

narrow gauge railway A narrow-gauge railway (narrow-gauge railroad in the US) is a railway with a track gauge (distance between the rails) narrower than . Most narrow-gauge railways are between and . Since narrow-gauge railways are usually built with Minimum railw ...

that transported bananas between Changuonola plantations and Port Almirante.

Sports

Venues

* Basketball court in Una Milla, (roofed). * Soccer pitch in Barrio Francés, (artificial turf) * Soccer pitch in Miraflores, (artificial turf) * Soccer pitch in Nuevo Paraiso, (artificial turf) * Baseball Stadium ''Myric'', (natural grass, ongoing reconstructionConstrucción de estadio de béisbol por $5 millones
Centralamericadata.com ).

Sports figures

* Fernando Seguignol, former professional baseball player. * Ivan Murrell, was a former professional baseball player. Chico_Salmon

* Ruthford "Chico" Salmon, was a former professional baseball player.

References

External links

World Gazeteer: Panama
– World-Gazetteer.com {{Bocas del Toro Province Populated places in Bocas del Toro Province