PANAMA FACTS

Panama Information and History

Panama is a narrow bridge of land connecting North and South America. The Panama Canal, built by the United States after Panama's independence from Colombia in 1903, joins the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans bringing value to worldwide commerce by reducing the ship’s journeys hundreds of miles, saving shippers money and time. Panama's first woman president, Mireya Moscoso, was elected in 1999—the same year that her country assumed full control of the Panama Canal. Panama now has undertaken yet again the enormous project of widen the Panama Canal to be prepare for modern trade and adapt to the bigger cargo and cruise ships currently navigating the seas.

Economy

Industry: food processing, chemicals, machinery and metal products, textiles, real state, Panama Canal income

Agriculture: coffee, bananas, sugarcane, cotton; beef, veal.

Exports: coffee, shrimp and lobster, cotton, tobacco, bananas.

Panama Flag and Fast Facts

		Population 3,232,000	Currency Balboa, US dollar
		Capital Panama City 930,000	Life Expectancy 74
		Area 75,517 square kilometers (29,157 square miles)	GDP per Capita U.S. $6,200
		Language Spanish, English	Literacy Percent
			Religion Roman Catholic, Protestant

Did you know Panama was the first Latin American country to adopt the U.S. currency as its own?