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 . The province includes the Bocas del Toro Archipelago, a group of islands in the Caribbean Sea; the main islands of the archipelago are:
- Colón, , where is the city of Bocas del Toro, the provincial capital;
- Popa,
- Bastimentos,
- San Cristóbal,
- Cayo Agua,
- Solarte,
- Carenero,

### Protected areas

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

## 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/km<sup>2</sup>.

**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.

|Districts|_Corregimientos_|Capital|
| --- | --- | --- |
|**Almirante**|Puerto Almirante, Barriada Guaymí, Barrio Francés, Nance de Riscó, Valle de Aguas Arriba, Valle de Riscó|Puerto Almirante|
|**Bocas del Toro**|Bocas del Toro, Isla Bastimentos, Cauchero, Punta Laurel, Tierra Oscura|Bocas del Toro|
|**Changuinola**|Changuinola, Barriada 4 de Abril, Finca 30, Finca 6, Finca 60, Guabito, El Teribe, El Empalme, El Silencio, Las Tablas, Las Delicias, Cochigro, La Gloria|Changuinola|
|**Chiriquí Grande**|Chiriquí Grande, Bajo Cedro, Miramar, Punta Peña, Punta Robalo, Rambala|Chiriquí Grande|

## 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

## Infobox (settlement)

- **name**: Bocas del Toro Province
- **native name**: Provincia de Bocas del Toro
- **native name lang**: es
- **settlement type**: Provinces of Panama, Province
- **image skyline**: 01-002 GOBERNACIÓN DE BOCAS DEL TORO - Flickr - Anelita PunkRock.jpg
- **image alt**: Bocas del Toro provincial headquarters
- **image caption**: Bocas del Toro Province, provincial headquarters
- **image flag**: Bandera de la Provincia de Bocas del Toro.svg
- **image map**: Bocas del Toro in Panama.svg
- **map alt**: Bocas del Toro, in red, in Panama
- **map caption**: Bocas del Toro, in red, in Panama
- **coor pinpoint**: Seat of Government
- **subdivision type**: Country
- **established title**: Founded
- **established date**: 1903
- **seat type**: Capital city, Capital
- **seat**: Bocas del Toro
- **parts type**: Districts
- **parts style**: para
- **p1**: Almirante
- **p2**: Bocas del Toro
- **p3**: Changuinola
- **p4**: Chiriquí Grande
- **leader title**: Governor
- **leader name**: Ubaldo Vallejos
- **unit pref**: Metric
- **area total km2**: 4657.2
- **population total**: 125461
- **population as of**: 2010
- **population density km2**: auto
- **population demonym**: Bocatoreño
- **timezone1**: Eastern Time Zone, Eastern Time
- **utc offset1**: +1
- **timezone1 dst**: Central European Summer Time, CEST
- **utc offset1 dst**: -5
- **iso code**: PA-1