Коамо: Пуэрто-Рико қаласы мен муниципалитеті

Town and municipality in Puerto Rico

Coamo (koˈamo, ˈkwamo) is a town and municipality founded in 1579 in the south central region of Puerto Rico, located north of Santa Isabel; south of Orocovis and Barranquitas; east of Villalba and Juana Díaz; and west of Aibonito and Salinas. The municipality of Coamo is spread over 10 barrios and Coamo Pueblo – the town or downtown area and administrative center of the city. The Coamo municipality is also a Micropolitan Statistical Area and as such is part of the Ponce Yauco Coamo Combined Statistical Area. The town of Coamo and parts of its barrios are nestled in a valley about 20 mile (32 km) east of the town of Ponce (about 40 minutes by car). It was named San Blas Illescas de Coamo by Spanish settlers in 1579. Saint Blaise (San Blas) was designated by the Catholic Church as the patron saint of the town, and so it remains presently. Illescas is the Spanish town where some of the town founders originated (nowadays in Toledo province, Castile La Mancha, Spain). There are several theories regarding the origin of the word Coamo. One theory is that it comes from an indigenous word that means "valley". Another theory is that Coamo derives its name from Coamex (or Coamey), who was a celebrated local cacique. Archeological digs in the municipality of Coamo have produced extensive evidence of pre Columbian inhabitants of the area. Coamo is famous for its natural hot springs, Los Baños de Coamo, and for its annual San Blas Half Marathon. The Battle of Coamo was a decisive battle of the Spanish–American War (1898).

Coamo is located in the South Central region of Puerto Rico.

Barrios (which are like minor civil divisions) are further subdivided into smaller areas called sectores (sectors in English). The types of sectores may vary, from normally sector to urbanización to reparto to barriada to residencial, among others.

Comunidades Especiales de Puerto Rico (Special Communities of Puerto Rico) are marginalized communities whose citizens are experiencing a certain amount of social exclusion. A map shows these communities occur in nearly every municipality of the commonwealth. Of the 742 places that were on the list in 2014, the following barrios, communities, sectors, or neighborhoods were in Coamo: Zambrana neighborhood, Cuyón, Sector Varsovia in El Cerro, Río Jueyes, and Sector Sabana Hoyo.

Coamo is an agricultural center where mangoes, corn, guanabanas, tamarindo, quenepas, avocados, oranges and plantains are grown, and where poultry and cattle are raised.

Coamo is a trading center for machinery, aircraft radio components, and clothing.

To stimulate local tourism, the Puerto Rico Tourism Company launched the Voy Turistiendo ("I'm Touring") campaign, with a passport book and website. The Coamo page lists Aguas Termales de Coamo, Iglesia San Blas de Illescas, and Mirador Cerro Picó, as places of interest.

Coamo is famous for being the host of the San Blas Half Marathon, a yearly world class professional marathon that attracts the best competitive runners in the world. It was inaugurated in 1963 by Delta Phi Delta fraternity in honor to the founder of the town. World class international and local runners compete in a 13.1094 mile (21 km) half marathon. It is Puerto Rico's biggest race, and the crowds are always large. The Maratonistas de Coamo (from the BSN) is the only professional team which the town hosts. The team has played in Coamo with mixed success since joining the league in 1985.

Race Coamo, Puerto Rico 2000 Census Race Population % of Total White30,26480.5% Black/African American2,1655.8% American Indian and Alaska Native1010.3% Asian250.1% Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander60.0% Some other race3,79910.1% Two or more races1,2373.3%

All municipalities in Puerto Rico are administered by a mayor, elected every four years. The current mayor of Coamo is Juan Carlos García Padilla, of the Popular Democratic Party (PPD). He was elected at the 2000 general elections. The city belongs to the Puerto Rico Senatorial district VI, which is represented by two senators. In 2012, Miguel Pereira Castillo and Angel M. Rodríguez were elected as district senators.

There are 31 bridges in Coamo.

Coamo's first school was built in 1901.

The municipio has an official flag and coat of arms.

The flag of Coamo derives its colors from the coat of arms. Its colors are red, yellow, and black.

The top left and the lower right have a red background with a gold Episcopal hat each. These parts of the coat of arms represent the old seat of San Blas de Illescas. The horse and the bull represent the cattle wealth of the population. The gold color that serves as background in contrast with the black color, recalls the yellowish reddish tone of the fields of Coamo during the droughts. The heavy border of the coat of arms contains the following figures: two flames; three bell towers with gold bells outlined in red; two red crosses with arms ending in three petals; and a circle with a surface divided by horizontal blue and silver plated stripes.