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COUNTRY OVERVIEW
Country
at a Glance
OFFICIAL NAME
Republic of Panama
CAPITAL
Panama City
MAIN CITIES
Panama • David • Colón • Chitré • Santiago
LANGUAGE
Spanish (official)
English (second language)
CURRENCY
Balboa (PAB) US Dollar (USD)
CLIMATE
Tropical
GOVERNMENT TYPE
Constitutional democracy
PRESIDENT
Juan Carlos Varela
INDEPENDENCE
3 November 1903 (from Colombia)
CONTINENT
Americas Central America
BORDER COUNTRIES
Colombia Costa Rica
Local Initiative, Global Impact
M
Having passed from one government to another for centuries, the area that is now Panama finally attained sovereignty in 1903 and control over all territory within its borders in 1999. A mere decade and a half after taking control of the canal, the country has bootstrapped itself into one of the world’s most vital and important economies, encompassing the globe’s second-busiest interoceanic canal (after Suez), the second- largest free trade zone (after Hong Kong), and a significant regional banking center. These accomplishments are exceeded only by Panama’s ambition to be a global center of innovation and new business incubation.
A seismic event
About 4.5 million years ago, massive geologic forces caused an isthmus to form between the continents of North and South America. The Isthmus of Panama, as it is now known, immediately made its presence felt by blocking the flow of water between two previously conjoined oceans, rerouting ocean currents and trade winds in both the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, shifting the climates of continents bordering these oceans and changing their rainfall patterns.This in turn altered their landscapes in what many
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STRATEGY
easuring only 50 kilometers across at its narrowest point, the slim ribbon of land that makes up Panama is at once a powerful connector of two vast continents and a stalwart divider of colossal oceans. Although it is slightly smaller than the U.S. state of South Carolina, Panama’s existence at the confluence of enormous land and sea masses preordained a mighty destiny
for this young nation.