Under Spanish rule from 1501, Panama was a pivotal trade route and collection point for commerce from the New World. This abundance of transient wealth also attracted many foreign pirates and buccaneers, such as Henry Morgan and Sir Francis Drake. Panama achieved independence in 1821, as a region of Gran Colombia. However, when Gran Colombia collapsed in 1830, Panama became part of modern Colombia. Unhappy with this, the Panamanians found an ally in the United States, which had strategic interests in the region – specifically, in the construction of an Atlantic-Pacific link, and the construction of the Panama Canal, embarked upon when Panama achieved full independence in 1903.
The Panama Canal Zone, completed in 1914, became an American Protectorate. Panama remained under effective American control until 1939. The country’s domestic politics were reasonably stable until the 1968 military coup, led by General Omar Torrijos Herrera. He held effective power until his death by plane crash in 1981. Four years earlier, the Americans agreed to turn over the Canal to full Panamanian control at the turn of the century.
During most of the 1980s, the country was run by the Head of the Armed Forces, Manuel Noriega. The general’s policies and his personal activities - including alleged involvement in drug trafficking - produced very strained relations with the USA. US intervention became more likely after the Panamanian presidential election of May 1989. This was won by the principal opposition candidate, Guillermo Endara Galimany, but the election was annulled. After an attempted coup in October 1989 – believed to have had US backing – Endara was quickly crushed by Noriega’s forces. The only means of getting rid of the troublesome dictator was military intervention. So, in December 1989, US President George Bush authorized an invasion.
After a few days of fierce fighting, US forces secured control of the country and the capture of Noriega, who was later tried, convicted and sentenced to 40 years of imprisonment on US soil. Guillermo Endara was installed as the head of a new administration drawn from the ADOC coalition, which had won the May 1989 election.
By 1999, the defining event in recent Panamanian history took place – the return of the Panama Canal Zone to Panama under the terms of the agreement negotiated by the Panamanians and the US Carter administration in 1980. Quite groundbreaking too was that the event was overseen by Panama's first female president, Elisa Moscoso Rodriguez, who won the race that same year.
Panama is thus a curious but exhilarating combination of cultural influence. It lies at the center of the world, its isthmus constituting the last part of a natural land-bridge between the North and South American continents. Its strategic position and glorious terrain – from jungle to beach - suggests that it will remain an important country for a long time yet.
Geography
Panama forms the land link between the North and South American continents. Panama borders Colombia to the east, Costa Rica to the west, and the Caribbean and the Pacific Ocean to the north and south. The country forms an S-shaped isthmus which runs east–west over a total length of 772km (480 miles) and is 60 to 177km (37 to 110 miles) wide. The landscape is mountainous with lowlands on both coastlines cut by streams, wooded slopes and a wide area of savannah-covered plains and rolling hills called El Interior between the Azuero peninsula and the Central Mountains. The Caribbean and the Pacific Ocean are linked by the man-made Panama Canal, cut into a gap between the Cordillera de Talamanca and the San Blas mountain range and stretching for over 65km (40 miles); the length of the Canal is often referred to as 80km (50 miles) as this is the distance between deep-water points of entry. Only about a quarter of the country is inhabited. The majority of the population live either around the Canal and main cities of Panama City and Colón (the two cities which control the entrance and exit of the Canal) or in the Pacific lowlands and the adjacent mountains.