Panama Totally Explained

Panama, officially the Republic of Panama (; ), is the southernmost country of Central America. Situated on an isthmus, some categorize it as a transcontinental nation connecting the north and south part of the Americas. It borders Costa Rica to the north-west, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north and the Pacific Ocean to the south. It is an international business center and is also a transit country. In Central America, it's the second most industrialized country, behind El Salvador.

History

Panama was settled by the Spanish in the 16th century. In 1821, under the leadership of the then-colonel in command, José de Fábrega, it declared its independence from Spain. It then joined Simón Bolívar's Republic of Gran Colombia (1819-1831), a federation made up of Venezuela, New Granada and Ecuador. When this dissolved in 1830 (formally in 1831), Panama became a province of New Granada (later to be renamed Colombia). This was an unstable relationship that lasted seventy three years.
   On 3 November 1903, Panama broke off from Colombia. The US gunboat Nashville prevented the Colombian military from sailing to Panama. An assault through the dense Panamanian jungle was impossible. The President of the Municipal Council, Demetrio H. Brid, the highest authority at the time, became its de facto president, appointing a Provisional Government on 4 November to run the affairs of the new republic. The United States, as the first country to recognize the new Republic of Panama, sent troops to protect its economic interests. The 1904 Constituent Assembly elected Dr. Manuel Amador Guerrero, a prominent member of the Conservative political party, as the first constitutional President of the Republic of Panama.
   In November 1903, Mr. Phillipe Bunau-Varilla—a French citizen who wasn't authorized to sign any treaties on behalf of Panama without the review of the Panamanians—unilaterally signed the Hay-Bunau Varilla Treaty which granted rights to the United States to build and administer indefinitely the Panama Canal, which was opened in 1914. This treaty became a contentious diplomatic issue between the two countries, reaching a boiling point on Martyr's Day (9 January 1964). The issues were resolved with the signing of the Torrijos-Carter Treaties in 1977.
   The original intent of the founding fathers was to bring peace and harmony between the two major political parties (Conservatives and Liberals). The Panamanian government went through periods of political instability and corruption, however, and at various times in its history, the mandate of an elected president terminated prematurely. In 1968, a coup toppled the government of the recently elected President Arnulfo Arias Madrid.
   While never holding the position of President himself, General Omar Torrijos eventually became the de facto leader of Panama. As a military dictator, he was the leading power in the governing military junta and later became an autocratic strong man. Torrijos maintained his position of power until his death in an apparent airplane accident in 1981.
   After Torrijos's death, several military strong men followed him as Panama's leader. Commander Florencio Flores Aguilar followed Torrijos. Colonel Rubén Darío Paredes followed Aguilar. Eventually, by 1983, power was concentrated in the hands of General Manuel Antonio Noriega.
   Noriega came up through the ranks after serving in Chiriqui province and in the town of Puerto Armuelles for a time. He was a former head of Panama's secret police and was an ex-informant of the CIA. But Noriega's implication in drug trafficking by the United States resulted in difficult relations by the end of the 1980s.

United States invasion of Panama

On 20 December 1989, twenty-seven thousand US personnel invaded Panama in order to remove Manuel Noriega. A few hours before the invasion, in a ceremony that took place inside a U.S. military base in the former Panama Canal Zone, Guillermo Endara was sworn in as the new President of Panama. The invasion occurred ten years before the Panama Canal administration was to be turned over to Panamanian authorities, according to the timetable set up by the Torrijos-Carter Treaties. After the invasion, Noriega sought asylum in the Vatican diplomatic mission represented by Monsignor Jose S. Laboa. To induce Noriega's surrender, US forces played loud music outside the embassy which reportedly included the song "Panama," by the 1980s rock group, Van Halen.(WSJ)

After a few days, the embassy staff talked loudly for his benefit about the possibility that the mob surrounding them might break through and lynch Noriega. He surrendered to the American military shortly after, and was taken to Florida to be formally extradited and charged by U.S. federal authorities on drug and racketeering charges. He became eligible for parole on September 9, 2007, but remained in custody while his lawyers fought an extradition request from France. Critics have pointed out that many of Noriega's former allies remain in power in Panama.
Under the Torrijos-Carter Treaties, the United States returned all canal-related lands to Panama on 31 December 1999, but reserves the right to military intervention in the interest of its national security. Panama also gained control of canal-related buildings and infrastructure as well as full administration of the canal.
The people of Panama have already approved the widening of the canal which, after completion, will allow for post-Panamax vessels to travel through it, increasing the number of ships that currently use the canal.
Panama's politics takes place in a framework of a presidential representative democratic republic, whereby the President of Panama is both head of state and head of government, and of a pluriform multi-party system. Executive power is exercised by the government. Legislative power is vested in both the government and the National Assembly. The judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature.

Provinces and regions

Administratively, Panama's major divisions are nine provinces and five indigenous territories (comarcas indígenas).

Provinces : Bocas del Toro Coclé Colón Chiriquí Darién Herrera Los Santos Panamá Veraguas

Provincial-level comarcas : Emberá-Wounaan Kuna Yala Ngöbe-Buglé Kuna de Madugandí Kuna de Wargandí

Geography

Panama is located in Central America, bordering both the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific Ocean, between Colombia and Costa Rica. Its location on the Isthmus of Panama is strategic. By 1999, Panama controlled the Panama Canal that links the North Atlantic Ocean via the Caribbean Sea with the North Pacific Ocean.
A nearly impenetrable jungle forms the Darien Gap between Panama and Colombia. It creates a break in the Pan-American Highway, which otherwise forms a complete road from Alaska to Patagonia.

Economy

Panama has an unemployment rate of 7.3%. According to the CIA World Factbook the combination of relative and extreme poverty reaches 36% of the population. However, the First World infrastructure of the country shows Panama's strong and thriving economy growth.
Panama's economy is service-based, heavily weighted toward banking, commerce, tourism, trading and industry because of its key geographic location. The handover of the canal and military installations by the United States has given rise to new construction projects. The Martín Torrijos administration has undertaken controversial structural reforms, such as a fiscal reform and a very difficult Social Security Reform. Furthermore, a referendum regarding the building of a third set of locks for the Panama Canal was approved overwhelmingly (though with low voter turnout) on 22 October 2006. The official estimate of the building of the third set of locks is US$5.25 billion.
The Panamanian currency is the balboa, fixed at parity with the United States dollar. In practice, however, the country is dollarized; Panama mints its own coinage but uses US dollars for all its paper currency. Panama was the first of the three countries in Latin America to have dollarized their economies, later followed by Ecuador and El Salvador.

Globalism

The high levels of Panamanian trade are in large part from the Colón Free Trade Zone, the largest free trade zone in the Western Hemisphere. Last year the zone accounted for 92% of Panama's exports and 65% of its imports, according to an analysis of figures from the Colon zone management and estimates of Panama's trade by the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC).
Panama fared decently in tourism receipts and foreign direct investment as a percent of GDP (the fourth-highest in Latin America in both categories) and internet penetration (eighth-highest rate in Latin America).

Inflation

According to the Economic Commission for Latin American and the Caribbean (ECLAC, or CEPAL by its more-commonly used Spanish acronym), Panama's inflation as measured by CPI was 2.0 percent in 2006. Panama has traditionally experienced low inflation.

Real estate

Panama City is currently experiencing a real estate boom. Tourists and retirees are arriving in greater quantities and consequently helping the local real estate market. Properties in Panama are rapidly increasing in price, which is turning Panama into a seemingly excellent destination for second homes and investments.
Apart from the existing demand, future developments will also be helped by such factors as the planned expansion of the Panama Canal.

Colleges and Universities

Demographics

The culture, customs, and language of the Panamanians are predominantly Caribbean and Spanish. Ethnically, the majority of the population is mestizo of mixed Amerindian, African, Spanish and aboriginal descent. Spanish is the official and dominant language; English is spoken widely on the Caribbean coast and by many in business and professional fields. More than half the population lives in the Panama City–Colón metropolitan corridor. The overwhelming majority of Panamanians are Roman Catholic, accounting for almost 80% of the population. Although the Constitution recognizes Catholicism as the religion of the great majority, Panama has no official religion. Minority religions in Panama include Protestantism (12%), Islam (4.4%), the Bahá'í Faith (1.2%), Buddhism (at least 1%), Greek Orthodox (0.1%), Judaism (0.4%), and Hinduism (0.3%). The Jewish community in Panama, with over 10,000 members, is by far the biggest in the region (including Central America, Colombia and the Caribbean). Jewish immigration began in the late 19th century, and at present there are synagogues in Panama City, as well as two Jewish schools. Within Latin America, Panama has one of the largest Jewish communities in proportion to its population, surpassed only by Uruguay, Argentina, Brazil, and Mexico. Panama is also the first country in Latin America to have a Jewish president, Max Del Valle. Panama's communities of Muslims, East Asians, and South Asians, are also among the largest.
   Panama City hosts a Bahá'í House of Worship, one of only eight in the world. Completed in 1972, it's perched on a high hill facing the canal, and is constructed of local mud laid in a pattern reminiscent of Native American fabric designs.
   Panama, because of its historical reliance on commerce, is above all a melting pot. This is shown, for instance, by its considerable population of Chinese origin (see Panama section in Chinatowns in Latin America). Many Chinese immigrated to Panama to help build the Panama Railroad in the 19th century although larger numbers have immigrated over the last few decades mostly as economic immigrants. A term for "corner store" in Panamanian Spanish is el chinito, reflecting the fact that many corner stores are owned and run by Chinese immigrants. (Other countries have similar social patterns, for instance, the "Arab" corner stores of France.)
   There are seven indigenous peoples in Panama:

Emberá

Wounaan

Guaymí

Buglé

Kuna

Naso

Bribri

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