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Featured Country

Panama

Photo by: Jacobo Villegas
Under Spanish rule from 1501, Panama was a pivotal trade route and collection point for commerce from the New World. This abundance of transient wealth also attracted many foreign pirates and buccaneers, such as Henry Morgan and Sir Francis Drake. Panama achieved independence in 1821, as a region of... more >>

Panama Main | Currency | General | Health | Overview

Panama Overview

Panama forms the land link between the North and South American continents. Panama borders Colombia to the east, Costa Rica to the west, and the Caribbean and the Pacific Ocean to the north and south. The country forms an S-shaped isthmus which runs east–west over a total length of 772km (480 miles) and is 60 to 177km (37 to 110 miles) wide. The landscape is mountainous with lowlands on both coastlines cut by streams, wooded slopes and a wide area of savannah-covered plains and rolling hills called El Interior between the Azuero peninsula and the Central Mountains. The Caribbean and the Pacific Ocean are linked by the man-made Panama Canal, cut into a gap between the Cordillera de Talamanca and the San Blas mountain range and stretching for over 65km (40 miles); the length of the Canal is often referred to as 80km (50 miles) as this is the distance between deep-water points of entry. Only about a quarter of the country is inhabited. The majority of the population live either around the Canal and main cities of Panama City and Colón (the two cities which control the entrance and exit of the Canal) or in the Pacific lowlands and the adjacent mountains.

Area
75,517 sq km (29,157 sq miles).

Government
Republic. Gained independence from Colombia in 1903. 
Recent history: In May 2004, Martin Torrijos (son of the former military leader Omar Torrijos who had been instrumental in negotiating the 1977 treaty with the US to handover the Panama Canal) defeated ex-president Guillermo Endara in the presidential elections. Torrijos took office in September that year and pledged to pursue a free trade agreement with the USA. In October 2006, Panamanians voted in a referendum to expand the canal. The project which will begin in 2008 and is due to be completed by 2014.

Population
3.2 million (UN, 2005).

Population Density
42.3 per sq km.

Language
The official language is Spanish, but English is widely spoken.

Religion
Almost all Christian; 86 per cent Roman Catholic.

Time
GMT - 5.

Capital
Panama City. Population: 827,828 (2005).

Electricity
120 volts AC, 60Hz. Plugs are the flat two-pin American type.