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About Panama | Panama Facts
Historical
Background
·
Explored
and settled by the Spanish in the 16th century.
·
Panama broke
with Spain in 1821 and joined the union of Colombia.
·
Panama seceded
from Colombia and became an independent nation in 1903.
·
The Panama
Canal was built by the US between 1904 and 1914.
·
In 1977, an
agreement was signed for the complete transfer of the Canal from the US to
Panama by the end of 1999.
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With US help,
dictatorship government was deposed in 1989.
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The entire
Panama Canal and remaining US military bases were transferred to Panama by
the end of 1999.
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In 2006,
Panamanians approved the Panama Canal expansion, the project is expected to
be completed in 2014.
·
In September 3, 2007 the Panama Canal Expansion works are officially
started.
Geography
Location:
Central America, bordering both the Caribbean
Sea and the North Pacific Ocean, between Colombia and Costa Rica
Total
Area: 78,200 sq km
Coastline: 2,490 km
Climate: Tropical; hot, humid, cloudy; prolonged rainy season (May to
January), short dry season (January to May)
Geography-note: Strategic location on eastern end of isthmus forming
land bridge connecting North and South America; controls Panama Canal that
links North Atlantic Ocean via Caribbean Sea with North Pacific Ocean
People
Population: 3,242,173 (July 2007 est.)
Age structure:
0-14
years: 30% (male 496,195/female 476,508)
15-64
years: 63.6% (male 1,044,139/female 1,016,805)
65 years
and over: 6.4% (male 97,365/female 111,161) (2007 est.)
Government
Government type: Constitutional democracy
Country
Official Name: Republic of Panama
Capital
Name: Panama
Legal
system: Based on Civil Law.
Chief
of state / President: Martin Torrijos Espino (since September 1, 2004)
Elections: President and Vice presidents elected by popular vote for 5
year terms.
Election last held: May 2, 2004
Next
Elections: to be held on May 3, 2009
Economy
Economy - overview:
Panama's
economy rests primarily on a well-developed services sector that accounts
for three-fourths of GDP. Services include operating the Panama Canal,
banking, the Colon Free Zone, insurance, container ports, flagship registry,
and tourism.
Growth picked up in 2004-06 led by export-oriented services and
a construction boom stimulated by tax incentives. The government has
implemented tax reforms, as well as social security reforms, and backs
regional trade agreements and development of tourism. Unemployment remains
high.
In October 2006, voters passed a referendum to expand the Panama Canal
to accommodate ships that are now too large to transverse the transoceanic
crossway, Panama in December 2006 independently negotiated a free trade
agreement with the US, which, when implemented, will help promote the
country's economic growth.
Gross domestic product:
GDP
(official exchange rate): $16.47 billion (2006 est.)
GDP - real
growth rate: 8.1% (2006 est.)
GDP - composition by sector:
agriculture: 7.2%
industry:
16.4%
services:
76.4% (2006 est.)
Communications
Overall
Good communication systems
Telephone Lines: 441,000
Cellular Lines: 1,352 Millions
Telephone Country Code: 507
Internet Country Code: .pa
Internet Users:
Aprox.
300,000
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