Penal Debe

Penal Debe
Basic data
Country	Trinidad and Tobago
Capital	Penal
surface	246.9 km²
Residents	89,392 (2011)
density	362 inhabitants per km²
ISO 3166-2	TT-PED
Website	www.pdrctt.com (English)
politics
Chairman	Allen Sammy
Political party	United National Congress (UNC)

Coordinates: 10 ° 10 ′  N , 61 ° 27 ′  W

Penal-Debe is a region and administrative unit on Trinidad in Trinidad and Tobago .

geography

Penal Debe is in the south of Trinidad. The region is bordered by San Fernando to the north, Princes Town to the east and Siparia to the west . In the northwest the region has a small coastline on the Gulf of Paria . The Boca del Serpiente strait runs south of Penal-Debe and separates the Gulf of Paria to the west from the Atlantic Ocean. On the opposite side of the Boca del Serpiente, about 30 km from Penal-Debe, is the Venezuelan mainland. Geographically, the region is divided into the Naparima Plain in the north and the Southern Range in the south.

The Oropouche Swamp, an ecologically significant wetland, is located in the northwest in the border area with Siparia. The South Oropouche River, which crosses Penal-Debe in an east-west direction and drains into the Gulf of Paria via the Oropouche Swamp, is the most important flowing water in the region. The largest standing water is the Petrotrin Pond in Penal.

Significant cities and towns in Penal-Debe are:

• Debe
• Hermitage
• Penal

Economy and Infrastructure

Penal Debe is characterized by agriculture. The north is urbanized and industrialized due to its proximity to San Fernando, while the southern third of the region is largely undeveloped due to the hilly terrain. On the south coast there is a small amount of fishing industry in Morne Diablo. The oil and natural gas industry is concentrated in the cities of Penal and Barrackpore.

The Sir Solomon Hochoy Highway , the most important north-south traffic axis of central Trinidad, runs through the north of Penal-Debes, but ends in Debe; further construction phases are being planned. The Southern Main Road, which connects Port of Spain and San Fernando to Point Fortin and the extreme southwest of the country, crosses Penal-Debe.

The Gulf City Mall, a large shopping center, is located in La Romaine in the northwest of Penal-Debe, which has merged with San Fernando.

history

Until 1990 Trinidad was divided into counties . As part of an administrative reform (Municipal Corporations Act No. 21), all counties were dissolved in 1990 and new administrative units were created. Parts of Victoria County became Penal Debe.

gallery

• 

  Debe

• 

  Oropouche Swamp

Web links

• Penal-Debe Regional Corporation website

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Localgov.gov.tt: A brief history ( Memento from April 11, 2015 in the Internet Archive )