Ngöbe–Buglé people
| Ngäbe-Buglé Comarca | ||
|---|---|---|
| Reservation | ||
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| Anthem: none | ||
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| Established | 1997 | |
| Capital | Buäbti | |
| Subdivisions |
9 Districts
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| Government | ||
| • Body | Tribal Council | |
| • Cacique | Silvia Carrera | |
| Area | ||
| • Total | 6,968 km2 (2,690 sq mi) | |
| Population (2010) | ||
| • Total | 154,355 | |
| • Density | 22/km2 (57/sq mi) | |
| Time zone | UTC-5 | |
| ISO 3166 code | PA-NB | |
Ngäbe-Buglé is the largest and most populous of Panama's three comarcas indígenas. It was created in 1997 from lands formerly belonging to the provinces of Bocas del Toro, Chiriquí, and Veraguas. The capital is known as Buäbti in Ngäbere and Llano Tugrí in Spanish.
The comarca is divided in nine districts.
District (Capital):
Starting in 1972, the Panamanian government was required to establish comarcas, demarcated regions in which indigenous groups possess exclusive land rights and considerable administrative autonomy. Within comarcas, people elect a General assembly, governor, and any number of regional and local leaders, although the government still controls public expenditure and tax revenues within the territory. The comarca Ngäbe-Buglé, located in north western Panama, was formed in 1997 both as a latent result of government promise and of considerable political pressure from the Ngäbe-Buglé, united by threats of natural resource exploitation and environmental degradation on their ancestral lands. The territory is made up of land previously belonging to the provinces of Bocas del Toro, Chiriquí, and Veraguas, and divided into seven districts (listed above with capitals); the capital of the entire comarca is Büäbti, located in the Müna district. As the Ngäbe-Buglé population tends to identify more with their communities than with an ethnicity and is distributed rather unevenly, the political organization that prompted the formation of their comarca is fairly unusual, but nonetheless demonstrates a powerful capacity to influence government actions.
Ngäbe-Bugle comarca is characterized by mountainous terrain, steep slopes and generally nutrient poor soil with high rock content, all characteristics that make farming difficult. On the Caribbean slope there is no dry season and tropical forest dominates the landscape; on the Pacific slope there is a windy dry season (December to April) and a wet season. As a result of more seasonal variation there are more localized geographies on the Pacific slope and vegetation consists of grasses mixed with tropical forest cover. Small perennial streams and larger rivers run on both sides of the continental divide and are used for bathing, laundry, and drinking. In the region most travel is done on foot or horseback as there are few year round access roads leading into the comarca (the first ever starting out as a mine access road that runs up to Buäbti and continues to Escopeta, the location of the Cerro Colorado mine) from San Felix, a city connected to the interamericana highway via Las Cruces.
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Wikipedia