The Republic of Panama is named after the city Panama, the site that wit-
nessed the signing of Panama’s Separation Act from Colombia in 1903.
The word Panama is of an indigenous origin. Despite modern-day contro-
versies concerning the name’s true meaning, the most popularly accepted
meaning defines it as the “place that has an abundance of fish and but-
terflies.”
The country suffered from continuous pirate pillage attacks after Span-
ish Conqueror Vasco Núñez de Balboa landed on the isthmus and the
subsequent foundation of the city of Panama during the Spanish Colony
period, until the nation finally decided to voluntarily attach itself to Simón
Bolívar’s Great Colombia, once it declared its independence.
Panama started to enjoy a new era in its national history after separating
from Colombia. The French, followed by U.S. citizens started to build the
Panama Canal, a magnificent engineering project that would drive the
country’s economic growth, which is currently one of the largest tourist and
business centers in Latin America.
PANAMA
Flag:
Capital:
President:
:
Territorial surface:
Official name:
Republic of Panama
City of Panama
75 517 square kilometers
Martín Torrijos Espino
Geographic
location:
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Weather:
Population:
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Currency:
Official language:
Religion
:
GDP:
GDP per
capita:
National holiday:
The Panamanian
Ambassador in
Mexico:
The Mexican
Ambassador in
Panama:
Major cities:
Political divisions
Web links:
Form of government:
Natural
resources:
The Republic of Panama is located between the
following coordinates on the Western
Hemisphere. It is bordered by the
Caribbean Sea to the north, the Republic of
Colombia to the east, the Pacific Ocean to the
south and the Republic of Costa Rica to the west.
Its abundant vegetation consists primarily of
tropical rain forests and grasslands and the
country’s wide variety of fauna includes a large
number of native species. The oceanic Atlantic
and Pacific masses are the country’s major
source of the humidity characterizing its climate.
2 839 177 inhabitants
19 739.8 million U.S. dollars (per year)
Source: General Controllership of the Republic of Panama
5 211 U.S. dollars (2006)
Source: General Controllership of the Republic of Panama
Yanerit Cristina Morgan Sotomayor
Ricardo José Alemán Alfaro
The cities of Panama,
Colón and Chitré
The country has nine
provinces and five districts
November 3
Eighty per cent of the population is Catholic
Balboa (official) and the U.S. dollar
Spanish
Is a sovereign and independent
State, unitary government
that is representative,
republican, and democratic.
Panama has tropical weather with tempera-
tures that are practically the same year-round.
The average temperature is 80°F (27°C).
