77 Facts About Panama

Panama is the southernmost of the 7 countries that make up Central America.

Panama is a transcontinental country, meaning its land is on two continents. The western part is located in North America, while the eastern part is located in South America.

Some geographers regard the Panama Canal as the dividing line between North and South America, with the Bridge of the Americas spanning the two continents.

Panama is shaped like a horizontal S.

Panama is bounded to the west by Costa Rica and to the southeast by Columbia.

Panama is an isthmus (a narrow strip of land) between the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea of the Atlantic Ocean.

Panama is only 48 kilometres (30 miles) across at its narrowest point and 185 kilometres (115 miles) across at its widest.

Panama is located at a latitude of 7 to 9 degrees North, similar to southern Thailand.

Nearly half the country’s population of 4.5 million live in the capital, Panama City, which has a metropolitan population of just under 2 million.

People from Panama are called Panamanians (Panameños in Spanish).

Panamanians are 91.5% Christian. 65% are mestizo (mixed European and indigenous), 12.3% are indigenous, 9.2% are black, 6.8% are mulatto (mixed white and black), and 6.7% are white.

Panama's official language is Spanish.

Panama’s official name is República de Panamá (Republic of Panama).

The Panamanian flag is divided into red and white quarters to represent liberals and conservatives, respectively, and white spaces with stars on a white background to represent the peace in which they operate.

Beginning in 1906, Panama (along with Cuba) was the first country outside of the United States where Coca-Cola was bottled and sold.

Panama City also has a Café Coca-Cola, the only one in the world with that name. It is the city's oldest still-operating café and restaurant, dating back to 1883, and is a must-see on most people's Panama travel itinerary.

Panama is the only country where you can see the sun rise on the Atlantic and set on the Pacific from the same location.

Panama's two international borders are only 687 kilometres long (427 mi).

Panama had the highest average income in Central America in 2019, at $14,900 per person, but as a result of COVID, that fell to $11,900 in 2020.

Panama also has the highest HDI (Human Development Index), the fastest economic growth in the last 25 years, and is Central America's most industrialised city.

According to Gallup's list of Global Well-Being, Panama is one of the top countries in the Americas in terms of daily experience and well-being.

The Panama Canal, free trade zones, ports, banking, commerce, and tourism account for 80% of the Panamanian economy.

Bananas, shrimp, sugar, coffee, and clothing are all exported from Panama. The country also produces aircraft components.

Panama's official currency is the Balboa. It is named after the Spanish explorer Vasco Nez de Balboa, who was the first to cross the Americas and arrive in the Pacific Ocean in Panama.

The US dollar is also legal tender in Panama, and paper bills are only available in US dollars. Balboa coins are the same size, weight, composition, and value as their USD counterparts.

The jungle covers approximately 40% of Panama.

Panama owns over 1400 islands, including 365 in the San Blas archipelago.

There are more bat species in Panama than any other mammal.

Panama's national animal is the Golden Frog.

Other wildlife in Panama includes sloths, armadillos, anteaters, jaguars, pumas, caimans, and nearly 1000 bird species, some of which are unique to the world.

Panama has three major volcanoes: Bar, El Valle, and La Yeguada. The latter erupted last in 1620.

The largest of Panama's 14 national parks is Coiba National Park, which includes Coiba Island and 38 smaller islands.

Coiba, Darrien National Park, the Talamanca Range, and the cultural sites Portobelo-San Lorenzo fortifications and the Historic District of Panama are all UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

Panama was one of the 51 founding members of the United Nations and one of the 61 founding members of the World Health Organization.

Princess Angela of Liechtenstein is Panamanian, making her the first European member of royalty of African descent.

Ecuador is where the Panama hat originated. The name was coined later, in the 1850s, when Ecuadorian hat makers relocated to Panama to sell their wares.

Edward Murphy Jr., the inspiration for Murphy's Law ("anything that can go wrong will go wrong"), was an American born in 1918 in the Panama Canal Zone (a US territory in Panama).

In 1936, John McCain, a US senator and presidential candidate, was born in the Panama Canal Zone.

Mariano Rivera of the New York Yankees and boxer Roberto Durán are both Panamanians.

Val Halen's 1984 glam rock hit "Panama" was written about a car named Panama, not the country Panama.

Frank Gehry designed the Biomuseo, a natural history museum in Panama, as well as the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, the Dancing House in Prague, and the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles.

The Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute is the only Smithsonian Institute that is not based in the United States. Barro Colorado Island on Gatun Lake in the Panama Canal is managed by the institute. It is one of the world's most studied tropical forests.

The Panama Canal spans 82 kilometres (51 miles).

Locks at either end of the canal lift ships up to a raised section of the canal. The locks were originally 33.5 metres (110 feet) wide, but they were widened in 2016.

The locks lift ships up to the man-made Gatun Lake, which was once the largest in the world at 425 km2 (164 mi2). The lake accounts for nearly half of the canal's 32.7 km length (20.3 mi).

The Culebra cut, an artificial valley cut through the continental divide, adds another 12.6 km (7.83 mi).

The cost of a ship crossing the Panama Canal ranges from around $1000 (for small ships) to $500,000. (large ships).

Tolls charged to ships using the Panama Canal account for approximately 10% of Panama's GDP, earning more than $2 billion per year.

When ships travel from the Pacific to the Atlantic Ocean, the Panama Canal saves them 8000 nautical miles and 22 days on average.

A ship can cross the canal in 8 to 10 hours.

Every year, approximately 13,000-14,000 ships pass through the canal. Americans are the most frequent users, followed by Chinese.

The 4000-passenger Norwegian Bliss was the largest passenger cruise ship to ever cross the Panama Canal, while the 369-meter Triton was the largest container ship.

The concept of building a canal across Panama dates back to 1534, when Charles V (King of Spain and Holy Roman Emperor) envisioned a faster route from Spain to Peru.

Sir Thomas Browne, an English philosopher, and Thomas Jefferson, an American, both proposed the construction of such a canal.

The United States was already discussing plans to build the canal with the Republic of Gran Columbia, of which Panama was a part, in 1826. The United States considered Nicaragua to be a better location at various points.

Hundreds of millions of dollars were spent on the project, and over 20,000 people died during the construction attempts, which became known as the "Panama Affair."

The climate, dense rain forest, diseases, and the lack of an ancient route were major impediments to the canal's construction.

Panama gained independence in 1903 and soon after granted the US rights to build the canal.

From 1904 to 1914, the Panama Canal was built by the United States Army Corps of Engineers.

The project was finished 401 years after Balboa became the first European to cross Panama by land.

When the canal was completed, the economies of Chile, Patagonia, and the Falkland Islands suffered immediately.

Approximately 1000 ships passed through the canal in its first year.

For the first time, the Panama Canal earned $1 billion in annual revenue in 2004.

From 2007 to 2016, Panama underwent a massive expansion project to widen and double the capacity of the Panama Canal.

Tourists can view the Panama Canal locks from the Miraflores Visitor Center, which is located near Panama City.

For tourists who come to see the canal on day trips, the government has even built fake Embera Indian villages around it.

The Panama Canal is less than an hour's drive from downtown Panama City.

The Panama Canal has been named one of the Seven Wonders of the Modern World by the American Society of Civil Engineers.

The Isthmus of Panama (the land bridge connecting North and South America) formed approximately 3 million years ago.

Humans walked through Panama 17,000 years ago and continued on to South America.

The Chibchan, Chocoan, and Cueva were pre-Columbian indigenous peoples in Panama.

Panama gained independence in 1903 with the help of the United States.

Panama was ruled by an oligarchy focused on commercial activities, including the Panama Canal, until 1968.

Mireya Moscoso became Panama's first female president in 1999. She oversaw the transfer of full control of the Panama Canal to Panama.

Panama and the United States signed a free trade agreement in 2011.

The Panama Papers were leaked in 2016, exposing Panama's role as a tax haven for the ultra-rich.

Since 2019, Laurentino Cortizo of the center-left Democratic Revolutionary Party has served as President of Panama.