Episode – 1973 : Panama
Podcast Transcript
The country of Panama is best known as the location of the Panama Canal, the waterway that revolutionized international sea transportation.
However, there is a lot more to the country. Its history is unlike any other nation in the Americas, and its path to independence was unusual to say the least.
Given its location, it should come as no surprise that it has a geography unlike any other country in the world.
Learn about the history of Panama on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily.
Before we get into the history of Panama, let’s start with its very interesting geography.Panama is located in Central America and is bordered by Colombia to the South, Costa Rica to the North, the Pacific Ocean to the West, and the Caribbean Sea to the East.
If you remember back to my episode on why the map in your head is wrong, most people assume that Panama runs generally north-south because it sits between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.
However, if you look at a map, you see it actually runs east to west in the shape of an ‘s.’
Panama is strategically important because it contains the Isthmus of Panama, formerly the Isthmus of Darien, which is for the most part coterminous with its borders. The isthmus is the narrowest piece of land separating the Atlantic from the Pacific Ocean north of Cape Horn.
A key feature of Panama’s geography is a line of mountains and hills running through its center. These form the Continental Divide, a high region where rainwater flows into different oceans on either side.
These mountains and hills are not part of a larger range. They were created when the seafloor rose, and volcanoes erupted long ago. Together, they are known as the Cordillera Central.
The tallest point in Panama is Volcán Barú, located near its border with Costa Rica. The mountain is 3,475 meters or 11,401 feet tall and is the twelfth-highest point in Central America.
A dense, difficult-to-navigate jungle known as the Darian Gap lies on Panama’s border with Colombia. Because it is nearly impossible to build roads there, this spot is the only place where the Pan-American Highway, the road stretching from Alaska to the southern tip of South America, is interrupted.
Colombian drug dealers operate out of this dangerous jungle, using its dense woods as cover and occasionally taking hostages.
Roughly 500 rivers flow through Panama, though many are not navigable, and given the country’s geography, most are not very long.
The Río Chagres, located in central Panama, is wider than most other rivers in the country. This allows it to generate much of Panama’s hydroelectric power.
The Gatun Dam is built on the Río Chagres, creating Gatun Lake in the middle of Panama. Gatun Lake is a vital part of the Panama Canal. When it was built in 1913, it was both the largest dam and artificial lake in the world.
Panama has several natural harbors. The most important are the Port of Cristóbal on the Atlantic and the Port of Balboa on the Pacific, both of which anchor the entrances to the canal. They rank second and third for shipping container traffic in Latin America.
Panama’s climate is tropical, with high heat and humidity. There is limited seasonal change and temperature variation over the year, though there is a wet and dry season.
The wet season runs from April to December, when almost all rainfall occurs. The Caribbean side gets more rain, mainly from occasional coastal tropical cyclones.
In Panama’s mountain regions, certain areas are cooler. For example, in the Cordillera de Talamanca, the highest points can even have frost.
Panama’s tropical climate supports high biodiversity. About 40% of the country is forested, but since the 1940s, about half the tree cover has been lost, mainly to mining and farming.
Much of Panama’s history centers on the fact that it is located on an isthmus. It isn’t just what separates the Atlantic and the Pacific; it is also the land bridge that connects North and South America. It has been the route that ancient people have traveled for thousands of years.
The earliest artifacts found in Panama include ancient projectile points and some of the earliest pottery in the Americas. The first humans to cross into South America may have done so approximately 14,000 years ago.
We are unsure how many Native people lived in Panama before Europeans arrived. We do know that most Indigenous peoples were part of the Chibchan, Cueva, and Chocoan peoples. It is estimated that the total number could’ve been anywhere between 200,000 and 2 million people.
Early European explorers described Panama’s Native tribes as diverse and called the region a key place of commerce. However, following European colonization, this diverse culture was devastated. Many area tribes fled, and European diseases killed large numbers of people.
The first European to set foot in Panama was Rodrigo de Bastidas, who had sailed to the region from Venezuela while on the quest for gold in 1501. Following Bastidas, other explorers, including Christopher Columbus, entered the area, establishing short-lived settlements in their quest for treasure.
In 1513, Vasco Núñez de Balboa discovered, after an arduous overland trek, that the isthmus of Panama was a pathway between the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans.
King Ferdinand II of Spain capitalized on the isthmus’s strategic value by appointing a new governor and sending a large number of men and ships to Panama. This led to the creation of Panama City in 1519.
The establishment of Panama City made Panama the marketplace and crossroads of the Spanish New World. This is because the Spanish often would sail gold and silver found on the Pacific side of South America to Panama, haul it overland across the isthmus, and load the gold and silver onto ships returning to Spain.
This route across the isthmus was known by several names. It was officially called the Camino Real, or the Royal Road, though it was commonly referred to as the Camino de Cruces, or the Road of Crosses. This nickname was earned because of the many gravesites along the route.
Panama was under Spanish rule for almost 300 years. Its identity as a territory depended entirely on how important the isthmus was to the Spanish. If commerce was doing well, so was Panama.
However, despite nominally being under Spanish control, the Spanish only held a small amount of territory.
Large regions of modern-day Panama resisted colonization and conversion to christianity, so large populations of indios de guerra, or “war Indians,” continued to threaten European settlements for centuries.
Also, because Spain never had full control of the region, pirates raided Spanish ports. Sir Francis Drake carried out the most notable raids, stealing hundreds of thousands of pesos’ worth of silver, gold, and other loot for England.
In the 19th century, Spain’s colonies in Latin America began fighting for their independence, and Panama was no exception.
Panama’s call for independence began hectically: citizens of the Azuero Peninsula declared independence from Spain in 1821 without support from Panama City or the Veraguas province in the west.
Veraguas responded by calling the declaration treasonous. The capital dismissed the declaration as irregular and inefficient, but accelerated its plans for independence. Many in the capital feared the Azuero declaration would prompt Colonel José de Fábrega to retaliate quickly and harshly against the separatist movement.
Surprisingly, separatists convinced Fábrega, a once-staunch loyalist, to join the separatist movement. This prompted Panama City to declare its support, leading to Panama’s independence without military repercussions.
Following independence from Spain, the present-day territory of Panama underwent several changes.
Soon after independence, Panama voluntarily joined Gran Colombia as a province in 1821. This new country was short-lived, dissolving in 1831. The countries that made up Gran Colombia later formed the Republic of New Granada.
Panama was a province of New Granada for about 20 years before the region reorganized into the Granadine Confederation, during which Panama became an autonomous state within the confederation.
This allowed Panama to effectively operate as its own entity. Panama maintained its connection with New Granada and the subsequent Granadine Confederation until 1863.
In 1863, the Granadine Confederation dissolved, and the United States of Colombia was formed following two years of Civil War. Panama was still part of this new state but made over 80 attempts to secede.
The United States supported Panama’s secession from Colombian control, allowing it to officially become its own country on November 3, 1903.
The United States backed Panama’s independence largely because of its desire to build a canal. After independence, the U.S. quickly signed a treaty with Panama, called the Hay-Bunau-Varilla Treaty.
No Panamanians were present during the signing; instead, Panama was represented by a French lobbyist while its president was traveling to discuss the agreement.
This played a massive role in Panamanian history, as the Hay-Bunau-Varilla Treaty granted the United States rights to a strip of land within Panama that it could essentially treat as American Territory. This land, which became known as the Canal Zone, was used to build the Panama Canal, which remained under US control until 1999.
I have an entire episode on the Panama Canal if you are interested in learning more about its history and construction, but for the sake of this episode, we are going to skip over the construction of the canal.
The Panama Canal was completed in 1914 and immediately proved valuable to the United States, with many commercial ships opting to use it rather than sail around South America.
In the meantime, Panama was governed by a Constitutional Democracy. Society operated under an oligarchic structure, with the country led by a small group of wealthy businessmen.
In the 1950s, tension between the oligarchy and the Panamanian people came to a head, with the military challenging the government’s authority.
The result was pressure on the government to renegotiate the Hay-Bunau-Varilla Treaty. Tensions in the country became so high that riots broke out in 1964, killing dozens of people and forcing the American embassy to evacuate.
In 1968, tension between the military and the government came to a head, with a military coup. The military installed themselves in power, calling themselves The Revolutionary Government.
Under military control, Panama’s economy and political institutions underwent a significant transformation. They enacted many populist policies, but also suppressed any opposing groups. Under their leadership, they were authoritarian, creating a dictatorship that essentially controlled all aspects of Panamanian life.
The military stayed in complete control, assassinating and torturing suspected members of the opposition while simultaneously destroying the Panamanian economy. This led to outside interference against the country, most notably by the United States.
The US initially placed sanctions on the country, but ultimately decided to invade in 1989, stating that it was necessary to protect the lives of US citizens within Panama, maintain the neutrality of the canal, protect democracy and human rights, and to combat drug trafficking.
The military operation was heavily criticized by the United Nations, but was supported by most Panamanians. The invasion led to the restoration of a civilian government, though it was initially deeply fractured.
It also led to the complete dismantling and prohibition of the Panamanian military.
As the new government settled in, so did the nation’s stability. The new leaders took action to combat corruption and strengthen social programs. Though corruption still exists, the country is now considerably more stable and peaceful than it was in the mid- to late twentieth century.
Today, Panama remains one of the most strategically important countries in the world due to its position as a global trade hub.
The backbone of the economy is still the Panama Canal, whose tolls, logistics operations, and associated maritime services generate significant revenue and serves as anchor a vast ecosystem of ports, ship-management firms, bunkering, and storage facilities.Around this core has grown a services-oriented economy: Panama has developed into one of Latin America’s major financial centers, attracting banks, insurance companies, and multinational headquarters with favorable tax laws and stable governance.
It also became a global hub for commerce and travel through the Colón Free Trade Zone, one of the world’s largest re-export centers.
Panama currently ranks 67th in the world on the Human Development Index and its real GDP per capita is estimated at about 36,400 US dollars, around the mid-60s in global rankings. The World Bank now classifies Panama as a high-income country.Governance indicators are less flattering. On Transparency International’s 2024 Corruption Perceptions Index, Panama scores 33 out of 100 and ranks 114th of 180 countries, indicating significant perceived corruption.While Panama still has its problems, the canal and Panama’s geography have been a blessing for the country, allowing it to have one of the highest standards of living in all of Latin America.
It’s all because of its strategic location between two oceans and connecting two continents. This episode can be found at: https://everything-everywhere.com/a-brief-history-of-panama/