Panama(República de Panamá)

“Pro Mundo Beneficio”(For the Benefit of the World)

By Kiernan Roche

Background and HistoryPanama is a Spanish-speaking country in

Central America, to the southeast of Costa Rica and Mexico. It was settled by Spain in the late 16th century, and broke away in 1821 to unite with Columbia, Ecuador, and Venezuela. This unity was dissolved in 1830, although Panama remained joined with Columbia until 1903. They then broke away, and signed a contract with the US, giving them right to build a canal across the country, and granting control over both ends of the canal. The Panama Canal was started by the Army Corps of Engineers in 1904 and was finished in 1914.

Politics

Panama is a constitutional democracy governed by a President, a Vice President, and a National Assembly. The Presidents and the Assembly are vested with executive and legislative power. Judicial power is exercised by the Supreme Court. The current President is Ricardo Martinelli.

Panama is separated into nine (9) provinces each managed by a Governor. The provinces are known as Bocas del Toro, Chiriquí, Coclé, Colón, Darién, Herrera, Los Santos, Panamá, and Veraguas. Panamá houses the nation’s capital, Panama City (gold border on map), the Panamanian National Assembly, and the Presidents.

Economy

Panama’s official currency is the balboa, equivalent to the US dollar. It replaced the Columbian peso in 1904. On its head is pictured Vasco Núñez de Balboa, a Spanish conquistador.

Major Exports: $821m. yearlyFood (fish): 1st

Timber: 2nd Copper, Gold, Lead 3rd

Current StatisticsGross

Domestic Product:

$25.04 billion (sum of all goods & exports)

Per Capita GDP $11, 900

(how much the average

Panamanian makes in a year)

Annual Economic

Growth Rate (projected)

5.4%

Tourism and Culture

Top Tourist AttractionsPanama City - The capital of Panama, with many interesting ceremonies.Boquette - A mountain village with no short supply of fresh air.Isla Barro Colorado - An island reserve for monkeys and other wildlife.

Panamanian music and culture are derived from a fusion of European, African and Native American traditional music and dance. One of Panama’s most celebrated forms of music is salsa, which means “thinking people’s dance music” and descends from Cuban rhythm. Rubén Blades (below) is a renowned Panamanian salsa singer, composing famous songs such as “Pedro Navaja”.

ClimatePanama, being near the equator, has a tropical climate with little seasonal variation. On any given dry season day, in Panama City the temperature should reach 24 °C (75 °F) at the least in the morning, and seldom exceeds 29 °C (84 °F) in the afternoon. It is much cooler in the mountains, however, and frosts may occur in some western regions of Panama.

It almost never rains during the dry season. The wet season lasts from April to December, and total rainfall is dependant on which province you are speaking of. Rainfall varies from 1,300 mL to over 3,000 mL yearly.

Religion

Panamanian Religion

Roman Catholic

Evangel-ical Christian

Bahá'í Faith

Officially the Panamanian government does not inquire about religion in its census, but sources estimate that 60 – 75% of the population are Roman Catholic (Christmas is very important in Panama as a result), 15 – 25% are Evangelical Christian, and about 2% belong to the Bahá'í Faith. A place of worship belonging to this faith is pictured at bottom right.

BibliographyIntelligence Agency, Central. “CIA World

Factbook” https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/pm.html

Mundo, Nuevo. “Latin American Database” www.nuevomundo.com