At a glance

Official Name:
República de Panamá

Capital:
Panama City

Population:
3,292,693 (July 2008 est.)  

Languages:
Spanish (official),
English 14%
(many Panamanians
are bilingual)

Religion:
Roman Catholic 85%, Protestant 15%

Life Expectancy:
Male: 73
Female: 77

Currency:
Balboa (PAB); US dollar (USD)

GDP (Purchasing Power Parity):
$34.51 billion (2007 est.)

National Holidays:
January 1, New Year's Day;
January 9, National Martyrs' Day;
March 21, Good Friday;
May 1, Labor Day;
August 15, Old Panama City Day (Panama City only);
November 5, Independence Day;
December 8, Mothers' Day;
December 25, Christmas Day.

Industries:
Construction, brewing, real estate, automobile industry, aircraft, cement, petrochemicals refining, livestock, textiles and apparel, aluminum materials, mining, coal, gold, sugar milling, copper, salt extraction, shipbuilding, tourism, etc.

Panama

Panama first broke free from Spain in 1821 and joined in a Union of Colombia, Ecuador, and Venezuela, called the Republic of Gran Colombia. In 1830 the Republic of Gran Colombia broke up; however, Panama continued to remain a part of Colombia. Wanting to break free from Colombia, Panama backed the United States and seceded from Colombia in 1903. Shortly after, Panama signed a treaty with the United States allowing for the construction of the Panama Canal to begin. The Panama Canal was built between 1904 and 1914 by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. In 1977, an agreement was signed for the complete transfer of the canal from the United States to Panama by the end of the century.

Panama is located in Central America, bordering both the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific Ocean and is between Colombia and Costa Rica. By 1999, Panama controlled the Panama Canal that links the North Atlantic Ocean via the Caribbean Sea with the North Pacific Ocean. In October 2006, Panamanians approved an ambitious plan to expand the canal. The project, which began in 2007 and could double the canal's capacity, is expected to be completed in 2014 or 2015.