The thought of Panama immediately brings to mind the magnificent Panama Canal. However, Panama has much more – more than 1,400 miles of coastline, palm fringed beaches, amazing wildlife with a diversity of tropical birds, and its indigenous peoples including the Kuna. The word "Panama" means "abundance of fish and butterflies" in the indigenous language.
The Panama Canal is considered to be one of the Eight Wonders of the modern world, and is one of the most fascinating places in the world linking two oceans. The canal is approximately 50 miles long with some 13,000 - 14,000 ships passing through annually.
Panama faces two oceans – The Pacific and the Caribbean Sea/Atlantic. The east coast fronts onto the Caribbean, and has beaches that are small to medium sized and all have coral reefs nearby. On the west coast fronting onto the Pacific are a series of superb long beaches easily accessed from the Pan American Highway. There are superb beaches renowned for surfing, and off-shore reefs offering fabulous opportunities for scuba diving and snorkelling. Both coastlines have a number of beautiful off-shore islands all of which are accessible by boat and some by aircraft.
By way of a contrast, Panama is the only capital city in Latin America with a tropical rainforest only 10 minutes away, and yet is a modern city with an excellent infrastructure, a mixture of colonial and 21st Century architecture, superb shopping facilities, and many terrific restaurants offering a wide choice of cuisine. Panama's forests have a wide variety of flora and fauna with more than 10,000 plant species and over 1,000 varieties of birds.
The land area is 75,990 square km, and with a population of approximately 3 millions. As a comparison, United Kingdom has a land area of 241,930 square kms and a population of in excess of 60 millions. Whilst the official language is Spanish, many Panamanians are multi-lingual speaking both Spanish and English.
Climate.
Panamanian weather is pleasantly tropical, and uniform throughout the year. Nights are usually cool, and the tropical maritime climate produces temperatures normally around 25-30 degrees C. Panama has just 2 seasons - a dry sunny season from December to April and the rainy season from May to November. Panama is situated south of the hurricane tracks and is normally not affected by these tropical storms.
Financial.
The Panamanian currency is the Balboa which has parity with the US dollar. The US dollar is legal tender in Panama. Therefore they do not print bank notes although they do mint their own coins.
Panama has a highly developed international banking sector with more than 150 banks from 35 countries having established branches, including HSBC, Citibank, Bank of Nova Scotia, Banco Bilbao Viscaya, Banco do Brasil, and Dresdner Bank.
Panama has established very flexible banking legislation which means that it eliminates all duties, fiscal charges and control over operations carried out abroad. Amongst the advantages of banking in Panama are free movements of foreign currency, a favourable taxation environment, total banking secrecy, numbered account services and free use of the US Dollar.
History.
In 1508 the Spanish Crown decided to conquer the territories from Central America to Venezuela. This resulted in Panama becoming the trade centre of the Spanish regime in the Americas. The ships from Spain arrived at Portobelo on the Caribbean coast and the cargo crossed the isthmus towards Panama City. Goods were then distributed to all of America in the Pacific, from San Francisco to Santiago, and the treasures of the New World were shipped back to Spain. The concentration of goods plus the gold of the Incas and Aztecs brought on the threat of privateers, pirates, particularly the English, who then looted the cities. Francis Drake did so in 1596 to Portobelo and Henry Morgan burned down Old Panama in 1671.
Panama gained independence from Spain by becoming a part of the Great Colombia on November 28th 1821. Panama, backed by the United States, became completely independent from Colombia on November 3rd, 1903. Today Panama is a Centralized Republic with a Constitutional Democracy, and a thriving economy. The construction of the Panama Canal began in 1903 and the Panama Canal Zone became an American protectorate. The canal was completed in 1914 and was hailed as the eighth wonder of the world at the time. In 1999, the U.S. Government withdrew from Panama and handed over sovereignty of the Panama Canal and the Canal Zone to Panama.
