Penonomé () is the capital of the

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 ...

nian province of Coclé. The town is located in the geographic center of Panama along the

Inter-American Highway The Inter-American Highway (IAH) is the Central American section of the Pan-American Highway and spans between Nuevo Laredo, Mexico, and Panama City, Panama. History The idea of a road being built across all of Central America became a tangib ...

in the wide, flat lowlands of central Coclé.Friar, William. ''Panama''.

Moon Publications Moon is a travel guidebook publisher founded in 1973 in Chico, California. The company started with travel guides to Asia and later also published guides to the Americas. Bill Dalton was the founder and writer of the regularly updated ''Indon ...

(2008), p. 236–37. .

History

Overview

Penonomé was founded in 1581.Katzman, Patricia. ''Panama''. Hunter Publishing (2006), p. 162. . The name of this town comes from the words "penó Nomé". Nomé was a chief of a local Native American tribe who resisted the Spanish conquistadores and was put to death by colonial officials. "Penó Nomé" means "Nomé was punished." The town was the capital of Panama for a short period after Panama City was sacked by

Henry Morgan Sir Henry Morgan (; – 25 August 1688) was a Welsh privateer, plantation owner, and, later, the lieutenant governor of Jamaica. From his base in Port Royal, Jamaica, he and those under his command raided settlements and shipping ports o ...

in 1671. The town is home to many descendants of Turkish, Chinese, and Arab immigrants. Its population as of 1990 was 12,117; its population as of 2000 was 15,841.

Local legend

Local legend (unknown origin) has it that Nomé was a chieftain in love with an indigenous woman named Zaratí. His tribe didn't want him to marry and so told him that his beloved had drowned. Trying desperately and without success to find her, he threw himself from a bluff, crying out "I'm coming Zara!" Hence the names of the Zaratí River and Penonomé ("Penó Nomé" in Spanish meaning "Nomé mourned", with subject and verb inverted).

Landmarks

The Catedral de Penonomé and the municipal government office (''Casa de Gobierno'') are located on the town's central plaza. The town also has a small museum, El Museo de Penonomé, which is often closed. The town has two main shopping streets, Avenida Juan Demóstenes Arosemena and the Inter-American Highway along the edge of town. Penonomé is the location of several

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

stadiums, including the Estadio Virgilio Tejeira, built in 2001. It was funded by

FIFA The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (), more commonly known by its acronym FIFA ( ), is the international self-regulatory governing body of association football, beach soccer, and futsal. It was founded on 21 May 1904 to o ...

as a part of the ''Goal Project'' to support Panama's

national team A national sports team (commonly known as a national team or a national side) is a team that represents a nation, rather than a particular club or region, in an international sport. The term is most commonly associated with team sports, for exa ...

Transport

Penonomé is served by buses to many locations in Panama.

Notable people

Arnulfo Arias Arnulfo Arias Madrid (15 August 1901 – 10 August 1988) was a Panamanian politician, medical doctor, and writer who served as the President of Panama from 1940 to 1941, again from 1949 to 1951, and finally for 11 days in October 1968. Thro ...

(1901–1988) – physician and former President of Panama * Harmodio Arias Madrid (1886–1962) – politician and former President of Panama * Alcibíades Arosemena (1883–1958) – 15th President of Panama * Ana Ibáñez (born 1986) – former Miss Earth Panama 2012 * Esther Neira de Calvo (1890–1978) – women's rights activist, recipient of the Order of Vasco Nunez de Balboa and many more awards * José Gabriel Carrizo (born 1983) – Vice President of Panama *

Carlos Chávez Carlos Antonio de Padua Chávez y Ramírez (13 June 1899 – 2 August 1978) was a Mexican composer, conducting, conductor, music theorist, educator, journalist, and founder and director of the Mexican Symphonic Orchestra. He was influence ...

(1928–2006) – Olympic weightlifter * Ezequiel Fernández (1886–1946) – politician and former acting President of Panama *Diana Jaén (born 1992) – Miss World Panama 2015 * Gladys de la Lastra (1932–2005) – musician and national hero * Shey Ling Him (born 1986) – former Miss World Panama 2007 * Ramón Maximiliano Valdés (1867–1918) – politician and former President of Panama

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Penonome Populated places in Coclé Province Corregimientos of Coclé Province Penonomé, Coclé Populated places established in 1581