Panama ( PAN -ə-mah , pan-ə-MAH ; Spanish: Panamá IPA: [panaˈma] ⓘ ), officially the Republic of Panama , is a country in Latin America at the southern end of Central America , bordering South America . It is bordered by Costa Rica to the west, Colombia to the southeast (Colombia–Panama border ), the Caribbean Sea to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the south. Its capital and largest city is Panama City , whose metropolitan area is home to nearly half the country's over 4 million inhabitants.0
Before the arrival of Spanish colonists in the 16th century, Panama was inhabited by a number of different indigenous tribes . It broke away from Spain in 1821 and joined the Republic of Gran Colombia , a union of Nueva Granada , Ecuador , and Venezuela . After Gran Colombia dissolved in 1831, Panama and Nueva Granada eventually became the Republic of Colombia. With the backing of the United States, Panama seceded from Colombia in 1903, allowing the construction of the Panama Canal to be completed by the United States Army Corps of Engineers between 1904 and 1914. The 1977 Torrijos–Carter Treaties agreed to transfer the canal from the United States to Panama on December 31, 1999. The surrounding territory was first returned in 1979.
Revenue from canal tolls continues to represent a significant portion of Panama's GDP , especially since the Panama Canal expansion project (finished in 2016) has doubled its capacity. Commerce, banking, and tourism are major sectors. Panama is regarded as having a high-income economy .
In 2019 Panama ranked 57th in the world in terms of the Human Development Index . In 2018, Panama was ranked the seventh-most competitive economy in Latin America, according to the World Economic Forum 's Global Competitiveness Index. Panama was ranked 84th in the Global Innovation Index in 2023. Covering around 40 percent of its land area, Panama's jungles are home to an abundance of tropical plants and animals – some of them found nowhere else on earth.
Panama is a founding member of the United Nations and other international organizations such as the Organization of American States , Latin America Integration Association , Group of 77 , World Health Organization , and Non-Aligned Movement . (Full article... )
Noriega's mug shot after his surrender to U.S. forces in 1990
Manuel Antonio Noriega Moreno ( mahn-WEL NOR -ee-AY -gə , Spanish: [maˈnwel noˈɾjeɣa] ; February 11, 1934 – May 29, 2017) was a Panamanian politician, military officer who was the de facto ruler of Panama from 1983 to 1989. He never actually served as president of Panama , instead ruling as an unelected military dictator through puppet presidents. Amassing a personal fortune through drug trafficking operations by the Panamanian military , Noriega had longstanding ties with American intelligence agencies before the U.S. invasion of Panama removed him from power.
Born in
Panama City to a poor
pardo family, Noriega studied at the
Chorrillos Military School in Lima and at the
School of the Americas . He became an officer in the Panamanian army, and rose through the ranks in alliance with
Omar Torrijos . In 1968, Torrijos overthrew President
Arnulfo Arias in a
coup . Noriega became chief of military intelligence in Torrijos's government and, after Torrijos's death in 1981, consolidated power to become Panama's
de facto ruler in 1983. Beginning in the 1950s, Noriega worked with U.S. intelligence agencies, and became one of the
Central Intelligence Agency 's most valued intelligence sources. He also served as a conduit for illicit weapons, military equipment, and cash destined for U.S.-backed forces throughout Latin America. (
Full article... )
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