Panama Political Geography

The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Concise Dictionary of World Place-Names Further reading

Portobelo

The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed. | 2008 | Copyright

Portobelo Porto Bello , or Puerto Bello , town, central Panama, on the Caribbean Sea. The site, an excellent harbor, was visited by Columbus. The town was founded in 1597. A thriving colonial city, it was connected by a stone highway with Panama city; both ports were the points of transshipment for riches from the Spanish Pacific domains. Believed impregnable—Sir Francis Drake died of fever before he could capture it and was secretly buried in the bay—Portobelo was, nevertheless, sacked by English buccaneers (William Parker in 1601, Sir Henry Morgan in 1688, and Edward Vernon in 1739). With the building of the trans-Panama railroad (1848-55) and finally the digging of the Panama Canal, Portobelo declined.

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Portobelo

Concise Dictionary of World Place-Names | 2005 | | Copyright

Portobelo, Panama Named after the bay which had been called ‘Beautiful Harbour’ in Spanish by Christopher Columbus^† in 1502. The original settlement was founded in 1597.

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JOHN EVERETT-HEATH. "Portobelo." Concise Dictionary of World Place-Names. 2005. Encyclopedia.com. 12 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

JOHN EVERETT-HEATH. "Portobelo." Concise Dictionary of World Place-Names. 2005. Encyclopedia.com. (February 12, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O209-Portobelo.html

JOHN EVERETT-HEATH. "Portobelo." Concise Dictionary of World Place-Names. 2005. Retrieved February 12, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O209-Portobelo.html

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Free newspaper and magazine articles

	Meeting Place of the Americas.(Panama) Magazine article from: The World and I; 11/1/2003
	Panamanian artist illuminates forgotten black history.(VARIETY) Newspaper article from: Star Tribune (Minneapolis, MN); 10/10/1997
	Dream of canal dates back to 1500s.(Leaving Panama) Newspaper article from: The Washington Times (Washington, DC); 1/10/1999