Portobelo, Colón
Portobelo (Modern Spanish: "Puerto Bello" ("beautiful port"), historically in Portuguese: Porto Belo) is a historic port and corregimiento in Portobelo District, Colón Province, Panama, Central America. Located on the northern part of the Isthmus of Panama, it is 32 km (20 mi) northeast of the modern port of Colón now at the Atlantic entrance to the Panama Canal. It has a population of 4,559 as of 2010, and functions as the seat of Portobelo District.
Portobelo | |
|---|---|
Corregimiento and city | |
Portobelo ruins and bay | |
Portobelo | |
| Coordinates: 09°33′16″N 79°39′18″W | |
| Country | Panama |
| Province | Colón |
| District | Portobelo |
| Founded | 1597 |
| Founded by | Francisco Velarde y Mercado |
| Area | |
| • Land | 244.7 km2 (94.5 sq mi) |
| Population (2010) | |
| • Total | 4,559 |
| • Density | 18.6/km2 (48/sq mi) |
| Population density calculated based on land area. | |
| Time zone | UTC−5 (EST) |
| Climate | Am |
Established in 1597 for its deep natural harbor, it joined Veracruz (2,066 km (1,284 mi) to the northwest) as ports used by the Spanish Empire to ship treasure from the mines of Peru (via Panama City on the Pacific side of the Isthmus and overland to Portobelo) back to Spain. The city was repeatedly captured by British privateers and pirates, culminating in a successful siege by the Royal Navy in 1739, during the War of Jenkin's Ear.
Its economy received a major boost in the late-19th century during the construction of the Panama Canal. In 1980, UNESCO designated the ruins of the Spanish colonial fortifications, along with nearby Fort San Lorenzo, as a World Heritage Site named "Fortifications on the Caribbean Side of Panama: Portobelo-San Lorenzo".