General Facts About Panama

• Panama’s time zone is GMT -5, which is the same as EST.
• There is no daylight savings time in Panama.
• The dialing code for Panama is +507.
• Panama boasts an impressive 2,490 km of coastline.
• Panama has 10 provinces (Bocas del Toro, Chiriquí, Coclé, Colón, Darién, Herrera, Los Santos, Panamá, Panamá Oeste, and Veraguas) and 3 reservations or comarcas (Guna Yala, Ngöbe-Buglé, and Emberá-Wounaan).
• Panama’s biggest city and capital is Panama City.
• Colon and David are the second-largest towns.
• Panama has not had a national military since it was abolished in 1990.
• Famous Panamanians include boxer Roberto Duran, salsa singer and actor Ruben Blades and baseball players Mariano Rivera and Carlos Lee.
• The Panama hat is actually from Ecuador. They are called Panama hats because they were sent to Panama before being shipped worldwide.
• Christopher Columbus first arrived in 1502.
• Vasco Núñez de Balboa arrived in 1513 and was the first European to discover the Pacific coast of Panama.
• The national dish of Panama is sancocho, a stew made with mixed vegetables and chicken.
• Panama is the most southerly country in Central America.
• Panama has over 10,000 different species of plants.
• Panama City is the only capital city that has a rain forest within the city limits.
• Panama is located south of Hurricane Alley and is not impacted the storms and hurricanes which batter the Caribbean.
• The Biomuseo is the only building in Latin America to be designed by Frank Gehry.
• In 1671 the pirate Henry Morgan and 1,400 men sacked Panama City.
• Panama has one Olympic gold medal, Irving Saladino won the men’s long jump at Bejing 2008.
• The Volcan Baru is the tallest mountain in Panama at 3,474 meters.
• It is also an active stratovolcano.
• Panama was a Spanish colony until 1821 when it joined the Republic of Gran Colombia.
• Panama gained independence in 1903, after some help from the U.S. who were keen to build the canal.
• The population of Panama is now over 4 million (2016).
• The currency is the Balboa, which is pegged to the U.S. Dollar. U.S. Dollars are also accepted.
• The exchange rate is 1 balboa per U.S. Dollar.
• The official language is Spanish although approximately 15% of the population also speak English.
• Panama’s primary exports are Bananas, gold, shrimp, sugar, iron and steel waste, pineapples, watermelons.
• The Free Trade Zone in Panama is the second largest duty-free zone in the world.
• Business in this area is worth more than $5 billion annually.
• The oldest continually operating railroad is in Panama. It travels between Panama City and Colon.
• The railroad cost just short of $8 million to build and at one point was valued at over $295 a share.
• Panama was the first country in any of the America’s to elect a female President, Mireya Moscoso in 1999.

Facts About The Panama Canal

• The first excavations on the Panama Canal were done by the French in 1880.
• The work was abandoned due to high mortality rate amongst workers and rising costs.
• It is estimated over 22,000 people died during the first attempt to build the canal.
• The U.S. started work on the canal in 1904 and it was the first crossing was in 1914.
• Richard Halliburton was the first person to swim the Panama Canal, in 1928.
• He also paid the lowest toll, 36 cents.
• The highest toll was $376,000 paid by the cruise ship Norwegian Pearl. The Panama Canal was controlled by the U.S. until 1999 when it was transferred to Panamanian ownership.
• The first ship to cross the Panama Canal was the Ancon.
• The Panama Canal generates nearly a third of the country’s revenue.
• 121 million cubic feet of concrete went into making the locks and dams in the canal.

Facts About Wildlife In Panama

• Panama is one of the most biodiverse countries in the world. It is home to 218 species of mammal, 226 species of reptile and164 amphibian species.
• 125 animal species found in Panama are not found anywhere else in the world.
• Panama is home to 940 avian species, the largest most in Central America.
• The National Bird of Panama is the Harpy Eagle. It is amongst the largest and most powerful raptors in the world.