Language: Spanish
Currency: Balboa (PAB)
Calling Code: +507
Panama is a country located in the southeast of
Central America. Its official name is the Republic of Panama and its
capital is Panama City, bounded on the north by the Caribbean Sea,
on the south by the Pacific Ocean, on the east by Colombia and on
the west by Costa Rica. It has an area of 75 420 km², located on
the isthmus of the same name, a strip that joins South America with
Central America, its mountainous territory is only interrupted by
the Panama Canal, the interoceanic road that connects the Atlantic
Ocean with the Pacific Ocean and whose construction, at the
beginning of the 20th century, is recognized as a milestone of
engineering.
Politically, its territory is constituted by 10
provinces and by five indigenous districts since 2014. According to
the Panamanian Constitution, Spanish is the official language of the
country and all Panamanians have a duty to know it and the right to
use it. In 2006, it was the mother tongue of 93.1% of Panamanians,
while other languages, also Panamanian, are recognized in the
educational system in diverse communities where the indigenous
population is the majority.
Panama condition as a transit
country made it an early meeting point for cultures from all over
the world. The country is the geographical scenario of the Panama
Canal, a work that facilitates communication between the coasts of
the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans and that significantly influences
world trade. And now with the recent inauguration of the expanded
Canal, it offers a greater transit of cultures. Due to its
geographical position, it currently offers the world a wide platform
of maritime, commercial, real estate and financial services,
including the Colon Free Zone, the largest free zone in the
continent and the second in the world.
With a population of
over four million inhabitants, it has a privileged position in
several classifications of growth and development in Latin America,
such as the 2016 human development index (first in Central America
and fourth in Latin America). Panama is the second most competitive
country in Latin America after Chile according to the World Economic
Forum, but also the Latin American country with the highest economic
growth The country is cataloged in absolute terms, that is, without
taking into account the distribution of wealth with the American
dollar as the official currency.
Cerro Hoya National Park is a nature preserve in Panama, situated 1.2 mi West of Jobero in Panama.
Chagres National Park is a protected area in the Panama province in the central Panama. It covers a total area of 129,000 ha.
Darien National Park is UNESCO biosphere reserve situated in the South East Panama. It covers an area of 5,790 sq km.
Chiriqui Gulf Marine National Park is a marine nature reserve that protects an area of Chiriqui Gulf in the South West Panama.
Isla Bastimentos National Park is a nature reserve situated in the Bocas del Tora District of Panama.
Isla Coiba National Park covers an island of Coiba. It covers an area of 503 sq km in the Montijo District of Panama.
La Amistad International Park is a UNESCO World Heritage Site in the North West Panama. It covers an area of 1992 sq km.
Metropolitan Nature Park is a nature reserve situated within borders of a Panama City in the Ancon district.
Omar Torrijos National Park is a nature reserve situated 31 mi Northwest of Penonome, 5 mi Northwest of El Cope in Panama.
Panama Canal was finished in the early twentieth century unites Atlantic and Pacific Oceans and instantly became a symbol of human progress and ingenuity.
Panama Viejo is a former old Panama City. Today it is situated in its suburbs of the modern capital of Panama.
Soberania National Park is situated 25 km (16 mi) from Panama City in Colón, Panamá provinces in Panama.
Volcán Barú is an active stratovolcano situated in the Chiriquí Province in Panama that opens a great view of Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.
Geographic coordinates - 9 00 N, 80 00 W.
The
climate is subequatorial; May to January is the rainy season, January to
May is the dry season.
The relief is mostly steep, uneven,
mountains and plains. The highest point is the volcano Baru (3475 m),
located in the province of Chiriqui.
Natural resources - copper,
timber, seafood, there is the possibility of building hydroelectric
power plants.
Forests occupy 44% of the country's territory
(2010).
In Panama, the climate is subequatorial, hot and humid. The intra-annual temperature amplitudes are small, the average monthly temperatures on the coasts are 25–28 °C. Daily temperature fluctuations are 6-8 °C. Constantly high relative humidity (80%). In the mountains, vertical climatic zonality is manifested (above 700 m, the average monthly temperatures decrease to 18–20 °C). The average annual precipitation on the northern slopes of the mountains and on the coast of the Caribbean Sea is 2500-3500 mm (rainfall is abundant throughout the year with a small maximum from April to December), in the southwest - up to 1500-2000 mm (dry season is pronounced in January - March ).
The territory of modern Panama was inhabited by a few
Indian tribes of Kuna, Choco and Guaya. In the south, there was a Coclet
culture with a developed tradition of making metal objects and ceramics.
The first contact with Europeans occurred in 1501 with the Spaniard
Rodrigo de Bastidas.
In 1502, Christopher Columbus explored the
east coast of Panama on his fourth voyage to the New World.
In
1513, Vasco Nunez de Balboa crossed the Isthmus of Panama and became the
first European to see the Pacific Ocean from the east. In 1510 he
founded a colony and became governor of the region. Soon Portobelo
became a place for the transfer of Inca gold to Europe, attracting
English pirates to these places. African slaves were brought in. In
1519, the future capital of the country, the city of Panama, was
founded. The English pirate Henry Morgan, who later became the governor
of Jamaica, plundered Portobelo several times and, in 1671, the city of
Panama.
The short history of the Scottish colonial presence in
Panama is also interesting. In 1696, about 2,500 Scottish settlers
established a trading colony at Darien. Due to the lack of support
promised by the British and the lack of experience, the Scottish colony
experienced great difficulties. Fatal for her was the decision to hire
one of the Jamaican corsairs in 1699 to attack Spanish trade caravans.
In response, the Spanish Expeditionary Force attacked Darien and forever
expelled the Scots from Panama.
With the decline of the Spanish
empire, Panama lost its importance. In 1821, the country declared
independence from Spain and became part of Simon Bolivar's Gran
Colombia.
The economy of the country was backward, but interest
in shipping through Panama rose again in the 1850s, after the discovery
of gold in California. The railroad was built. In 1879, a French company
began construction of the Panama Canal, which was supposed to connect
the Pacific and Atlantic oceans. The company's bankruptcy halted
construction of the canal in 1889.
On the initiative and with the
direct support of the United States, riots broke out in the northwestern
regions of Colombia, and the province of Panama declared independence
from Colombia in 1903. The canal and the land near the canal is given
under the control of the United States of America. Between 1904 and
1914, the canal was completed under the direction of US Army Engineer
Officer George Washington Gotthols. Cheap labor was used in the
construction - mostly the Negro population of the Antilles, Barbados,
British Western India, who were recruited by American recruiters,
seducing high wages, which turned out to be, according to a number of
evidence, not so high. Panama entered the First World War on April 7,
1917 on the side of the Entente, the main participation of the country
was reduced to the fight against German spies.
Demonstrations and
riots broke out against US control of the canal in 1927 and again in
1947, 1959 and 1964.
In 1940, Arnulfo Arias became president, who
was removed from this post a year later. He seized power in 1949 and was
overthrown in 1951. José Antonio Remon, elected president in 1952, was
assassinated in 1955, after which Ernesto de la Guardia took over the
post. His advent was followed by a short succession of constitutional
governments: in 1960, Roberto Chiari received the presidency, in 1964
this post was taken by Marco Robles, and in 1968 for the third time
Arnulfo Arias, who was overthrown 11 days later in a bloodless military
coup.
The military junta that was formed was led by two colonels
known for their conservative views: José María Pinilla Fabregas (since
1960 deputy commander of the National Guard) and Bolivar Urrutia
(commander of the National Guard since October 1968). The remaining 8
members of the junta, who became part of it in the position of
ministers, were associated with big business. The National Assembly was
dissolved and political parties banned.
On February 25, 1969, a
coup took place within the National Guard itself. The leaders of the
conservative wing and supporters of the dictatorship were dismissed from
the army and deported to the United States. Real power passed to one of
the organizers of the October 11 coup, Colonel Omar Torrijos.
On
December 15, 1969, there was an attempt at a pro-American coup led by
Colonels Jose Maria Pinilla Fabregas, R. Silvera and A. Sanhur, but
thanks to the personal courage of Omar Torrijos, who returned from
abroad to the country on the same day and actively supported him, A M.
Noriega, the rebellion failed.
The National Corporation for the
Production of Sugar was created, the first 5 sugar factories in the
country were built. A hydroelectric power station was built on the
Baiano River. The country has developed a network of banks.
In 1971, a new labor code was passed that gave workers
and trade unions greater rights to assert economic demands and reduced
the work week to 40 hours, as well as a guaranteed right to strike, the
possibility of participation in the profits of enterprises, a minimum
wage, a thirteenth wage and protection from unjustified layoffs. For the
first time in the country began mass housing construction for low-paid
categories of the population. The country's leadership made it possible
to turn Panama into an international financial center: in the 70s, about
fifty large banks were already operating in the country. The average
annual income of a Panamanian has become higher than in any country in
Latin America.
Panamanians received wide support from such
measures of the government of O. Torrijos as tax reform, restructuring
of the education system (universal primary education was introduced) and
health care, agrarian reform (based on the use of fallow and vacant
state lands), strengthening the role of trade unions with the
introduction of the principle of compulsory membership in them . In the
course of the reform of the education system, by 1978 one of the best
achievements in Latin America was achieved: not a single student had to
get to school for more than half an hour on foot. Education until the
age of 9 became not only free, but also compulsory. 98% of school-age
children attended schools. The number of students has quadrupled. 12% of
general government spending was allocated to health care. Healthcare
costs have gone up from $11.7 to $17 a year. For every 10 thousand
people relied on a specialized medical center.
The actually
frozen agrarian reform of 1962 was launched, and the long non-payment of
taxes began to be qualified as the refusal of the owner from the land,
and the government received the right to transfer it to the peasants. In
1969-1971, 73 thousand hectares were transferred in this way. More than
250 cooperative farms were created on the expropriated lands
(asentamiento, in 1970 they gave 1% of the national grain production,
after 3 years already 30%, and the incomes in them exceeded the income
of single peasants by 4-5 times).
In a short time, powerful trade
union associations were created (the main one, the National Center of
Workers, had 40,000 members).
An active policy in the field of
eradicating illiteracy led to the fact that if in 1968 there were about
35% of illiterates in the country, then in 1978, according to O.
Torrijos, “not a single child in Panama took more than half an hour to
walk to school” Education up to 9 years became compulsory and free. The
number of schoolchildren has increased 5 times, mainly due to schools
focused on training future specialists for industry, transport and
agriculture. The range of professions at the University of Panama has
tripled, its branches have appeared in the provinces, and the number of
students has grown 4 times. Textbooks were provided free of charge. For
the first time, the Ministry of Health was created, about 12% of
government spending was allocated for the needs of medicine. There was a
specialized medical center for every 10,000 people, and infant mortality
dropped from 44 per 1,000 births to 24.
Over time, the popularity
of Torrijos among the people grew due to socially oriented politics and
populist speeches. During this period, there is a widespread
construction of roads, bridges, residential buildings, agrarian reform
is being carried out, although the country has climbed into heavy debts.
Education and health care developed rapidly. A number of North American
companies were nationalized and new enterprises built. The government of
Torrijos took measures aimed at strengthening the national sovereignty
of the country.
In the elections to the National Assembly (NA) on
August 6, 1972, with a turnout of 89%, the supporters of O. Torrijos
received 350 seats, left parties (including communists and their
supporters) - 60, right parties - 50, independents - 44, democratic
Christians - 1 The NA had the right to consider laws, amend them, accept
and reject them, approve amendments to the constitution, ratify or
reject international treaties. The NA gained the right to elect the
president and vice president of the country. However, the right of
legislative initiative was retained by the National Legislative Council,
whose members were appointed by the president of the country and the
chairman of the National Assembly.
On October 12, 1972, Demetrio
Lacas was elected president of the country at the first session of the
National Assembly. The new constitution categorically forbade the
alienation of national territory under any pretext and introduced the
institution of a popular plebiscite to approve the most important
international treaties (in particular, those relating to existing or new
inter-oceanic canals. The electoral qualification was reduced from 21 to
18 years. Article 2 of the new constitution obliged the executive,
legislative and the judiciary to work in "harmonious cooperation among
themselves" and with the armed forces of the country (the National Guard
received the legal right to participate in the political life of the
country). The right of the state to the public sector and economic
activity was proclaimed. The temporary (for 6 years) article provided
almost all the supreme power and the credentials of O. Torrijos as
"Supreme Leader of the Panamanian Revolution".
On September 7,
1977, an agreement was reached for the complete transfer of the channel
from US jurisdiction to the government of Panama at the end of 1999
(beginning October 1, 1979). In July 1981, Torrijos died in a plane
crash under suspicious circumstances that did not rule out the
possibility of murder. His colleague, Colonel Manuel Noriega, came to
power. In the following decade, Noriega, from the post of commander of
the National Guard, de facto led the country, although the appearance of
democracy was maintained and presidential elections were held regularly.
In 1988, an American court charged Noriega with involvement in drug
trafficking, and the United States began to attempt to remove Noriega
from power. In 1989, Noriega canceled the results of the May
presidential election and declared Francisco Rodríguez president,
dispersing protests. The current official version of the United States
claims that the opposition candidate collected twice as many votes as
Noriega's protégé.
An attempt by a group of officers of the
Panamanian army, with the support of the United States, to organize a
putsch to overthrow Noriega from the post of commander-in-chief in
October 1989 failed, almost all the organizers were arrested and
executed (members of their families and families of sympathizers were
also persecuted), some managed to escape to the USA.
On December
15, 1989, the legislature of Panama declared Noriega president and
declared a state of war with the United States. On the same day, one
American soldier was killed in the country.
On December 20, 1989,
the United States launched a military operation against Panama. Noriega
was overthrown, Guillermo Endara, brought from the USA, was put in his
place.
In 1994, Ernesto Pérez Balladares, a former colleague of
Torrijos, was elected president in his government. Under Balladares,
free market principles were preached, the electricity and telephone
companies were privatized, and Panama joined the WTO. At the end of his
reign, Balladares lost a referendum on a second term by about 1 to 2,
citing the unpopularity of his neoliberal undertakings as a reason. In
1999, the widow of ex-president Arnulfo Arias Mireia Moscoso Rodriguez
was elected president, who later lost the contest for this post in 2004.
Her program was ambitious, but there were difficulties with
implementation, since her party did not have a majority in the
legislative assembly. In 2004, Martin Torrijos Espino, the son of
General Torrijos, who had already run for president in 1999, took over
as president. His arrival to this post confirmed an interesting pattern
- the loser in the presidential elections in Panama wins the next.
Torrijos Jr. acted on a conditionally social democratic platform and
invited everyone and everyone to "join the social pact against poverty,
for social justice and prosperity."
In recent times, protests and
social protests against neo-liberal reforms have become a noticeable
trend in Panamanian life (especially noticeable in August 2001,
September 2003 and May-June 2005).
On May 3, 2009, presidential
and parliamentary elections were held, in which Ricardo Martinelli, the
candidate of the liberal Democratic Choice party, was elected as the new
president.
In the general elections of May 4, 2014, Juan Carlos
Varela of the Panamista Party was elected president, and in the National
Assembly, the Democratic Change, Revolutionary Democratic and Panamista
parties became the leading parties.
Panama is administratively divided into ten provinces
(Spanish provincias, in the singular - provincia) and three autonomous
regions (Comarca, Spanish comarca indígena).
Two more comarca are
part of the provinces and are thus hierarchically equivalent to
districts (distrito).
Foreign policy
Member of the UN, OAS,
Non-Aligned Movement, WTO.
State structure
Panama is a unitary
state. The constitution was adopted on 10/11/1972. The form of
government is a presidential republic. The type of government is a
democratic republic. The head of state and government is the president.
The current president is Laurentino Cortiso.
The Cabinet of
Ministers is appointed by the President, and the President and Vice
President are elected by popular vote every 5 years.
Legislative
body - unicameral National Assembly - 71 deputies, elected by the
population for a five-year term.
Political parties
According
to the results of the elections in May 2019, the following parties are
represented in the National Assembly:
Revolutionary Democratic
Party - centre-left, 35 seats in the National Assembly;
Democratic
Change (Panama) - Liberal Conservative, 18 seats;
Panamist Party
(former National Revolutionary, former Arnulfist) -
conservative-nationalist, 8 seats;
Liberal Republican National
Movement (MOLIRENA) - center-right, 5 seats.
The remaining 5 seats in
the National Assembly were taken by independent politicians.
There are several more legal parties and movements registered in the
country that are not represented in parliament.
Economy
The
economy of Panama is based on the operation of the Panama Canal, as well
as on banking, insurance, registration of ships under the flag of the
country and tourism. These industries account for approximately
two-thirds of Panama's GDP and employ approximately two-thirds of the
workforce.
GDP per capita in 2012 - 15.6 thousand dollars (63rd
place in the world).
Industry provides about 17% of GDP (18% of
employees are employed), and agriculture - about 6% of GDP (15% of
employees are employed).
The main agricultural crops are bananas,
rice, corn, coffee, sugarcane, vegetables; cattle are bred.
Industries - construction, brewing, cement and other building materials,
sugar production, oil refining.
International trade
Export - $
3.06 billion (in 2017): petroleum products (21%), tar (9.9%), bananas
(9.8%), ships (5.1%), as well as coffee, gold, shrimp and other food
products.
Major buyers: Ecuador 28%, Netherlands 9.8%, USA 8.1%,
South Korea 4.3%.
Imports - $ 24.8 billion (in 2017): Crude oil
and oil products (33%), engineering products (14%), chemical products,
including medicines (12.7%), vehicles, including ships (11.1%), textiles
(5.8%).
Major suppliers: China 24%, USA 19%, Colombia 10%, South
Korea 6.6%.
monetary system
The Panamanian currency, the
balboa, was introduced in 1903, after secession from Colombia. However,
in practice, balboa is rarely used. Panama has its own coinage, but US
dollars are used as paper currency. In Panama, coins are minted with a
maximum denomination of 5 balboas, as well as 1 balboa and smaller ones
(since 1934, the balboa has been firmly pegged to the US dollar in a
ratio of 1: 1).
Panama was the first of the three countries in
Latin America to dollarize; later Ecuador and El Salvador were
dollarized.
Tourism
In 2010, 1.7 million tourists visited the
country, which is the highest figure and 12% more than in 2009.
Since 2009, the Trans-Panama Trail has been developed in Panama. The
TransPanama Trail is a 1,127 km hiking trail that runs across the
country from the border with Colombia to the border with Costa Rica.
Tocumen International Airport.
Population
Population - 4.2
million (2020).
Annual increase - 1.5% (fertility - 2.5 births
per woman).
According to the average forecast, the population of
the country by 2100 will be 3.9 million people.
Infection with
the immunodeficiency virus (HIV) - 1% (53rd place in the world, estimate
for 2007), 20,000 people.
Birth rate - 20.18 ‰ (96th place in the
world), mortality - 4.66 ‰ (196th place in the world), infant mortality
12.67 per 1000 newborns (139th place), average life expectancy - 77.25
years (74. 47 years for men, 80.16 years for women).
The share of
the urban population is 73%.
Wed population density 48.5
people/km2 (2013).
Separately from Panamanians, Americans should be
considered - US citizens living compactly mainly in the Panama Canal
Zone on a permanent basis, of which about 75% are US military personnel
(army, air force, navy and marines). Americans live with their families
apart in their own towns, specially built for their accommodation, with
little contact or contact with the local population (having their own
administrative bodies, police and other municipal and public services,
schools, churches, shops, entertainment facilities etc.). Over many
decades, such a sub-ethnic type as the Panama American (the so-called
"200% Americans") has been developed. In this regard, it is a common
practice for family members of American employees in Panama to not
understand a word of Spanish in several decades of living there.
Languages
Spanish (official), French (18% of the population speaks),
English (14% of the population speaks), many Panamanians speak several
languages.
Religion
Catholics make up from 75% to 85% of the
country's population, Protestants - from 15% to 25%. Protestants are
divided into believers of the Assemblies of God, Protestant Episcopal
Church, Seventh Day Adventist Church, Baptists, Methodists. About 2% of
the population professes Bahaism, Jehovah's Witnesses - 1.31%, Mormons -
1.1%.
The literacy rate in the country in 2016 is 94%, which
makes Panama the leader in this indicator in the Central American
region. The education index was 0.888 for 2007, which is in the high
category.
There are almost 100,000 students in the country (young
people study at 88 universities).
Main higher education
institutions:
University of Panama
Technological University of
Panama
West Coast University
Latin University
Polytechnic
University of Central America
University of Santa Maria la Antigua
Mass media
The state television and radio company - SERTV
(Sistema Estatal de Radio y Televisión - "State Radio and Television
System"), includes TVN, SERTV Canal 11, radio channels Radio Nacional de
Panamá, Nacional FM, Cristol FM, international radio channel Radio
Panamá Internacional.
The country does not have mandatory data
retention laws and is not part of the 5 and 14 eye alliances, which is
why some VPN providers (NordVPN) are based there.
Culture
The
culture of Panama comes from European music, arts and traditions brought
by the Spaniards to Panama. Hegemonic forces created hybrid forms that
combined African and Indian cultures with European ones. For example,
tamborito is a Spanish dance with African rhythms, themes and dance
moves.
Folklore varies in each region and is represented by the
typical costume, skirt, traditional food and dishes, as well as music
and dance.
Sport
Panama athletes made their Olympic debut in
1928.
Armed forces
The country does not have a standing army.
The "Public forces of the Republic" include:
National Border Guard;
Panama National Police;
National Air Service;
National Maritime
Service;
Institutional Protection Service.
The total number of
armed paramilitaries is about 12 thousand people (of which 11 thousand
are the forces of the national police).