Panama

A Trade Promotion Agreement between the United States and Panama was signed by both governments in 2007, but neither country has yet approved or implemented the Agreement.^[10] While the U.S. Congress was initially favorably disposed to the Panama pact,^[11] the election of the anti-American Pedro González, and his possible link with to the assassination of US soldier Zak Hernández, to the presidency of the Panamanian legislature on September 1, 2007 has halted progress of the pact in that body.

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Demographics

Main article: Demographics of Panama

Kuna woman sewing

According to the CIA World Factbook, Panama has a population of 3,242,173. The majority of the population, 70%, is mestizo. The rest is 14% Amerindian and mixed West Indian, 10% white and 6% Amerindian. The Amerindian population includes seven indigenous peoples, the Emberá, Wounaan, Guaymí, Buglé, Kuna, Naso and Bribri. More than half the population lives in the Panama City–Colón metropolitan corridor.

The culture, customs, and language of the Panamanians are predominantly Caribbean and Spanish. Spanish is the official and dominant language. About eight percent of the population speak a creole, mostly in Panama City and in the islands off the northeast coast.^[12] English is spoken widely on the Caribbean coast and by many in business and professional fields.

The overwhelming majority of Panamanians is Roman Catholic, accounting for almost 75% of the population. Although the Constitution recognizes Catholicism as the religion of the great majority, Panama has no official religion. Minority religions in Panama include Islam (0.3), the Bahá'í Faith (0.1%), Buddhism (at least 0.5%), Greek Orthodox (0.1%), Judaism (0.4%), and Hinduism (0.3%). The Jewish community in Panama, with over 10,000 members, is by far the biggest in the region (including Central America and the Caribbean). Jewish immigration began in the late 19th century, and at present there are synagogues in Panama City, as well as two Jewish schools. Within Latin America, Panama has one of the largest Jewish communities in proportion to its population, surpassed only by Uruguay, Argentina, Brazil, and Mexico. Panama is also the first country in Latin America to have a Jewish president, Eric Del Valle. Panama's communities of Muslims, East Asians, and South Asians, are also among the largest.

Colón City, Panama

Panama City hosts a Bahá'í House of Worship, one of only eight in the world. Completed in 1972, it is perched on a high hill facing the canal, and is constructed of local mud laid in a pattern reminiscent of Native American fabric designs.

Panama, because of its historical reliance on commerce, is above all a melting pot. This is shown, for instance, by its considerable population of Chinese origin. Many Chinese immigrated to Panama from southern China to help build the Panama Railroad in the 19th century; their descendants number around 50,000. Starting in the 1970s, a further 80,000 have immigrated from other parts of mainland China as well.^[13]^[14]

The country is also the smallest in Spanish-speaking Latin America in terms of population (est. 3,232,000), with Uruguay as the second smallest (est. 3,463,000). However, since Panama has a higher birth rate, it is likely that in the coming years its population will surpass Uruguay's.^{[citation needed]}

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International rankings

Index (Year)	Author / Editor / Source	Year of publication	Countries sampled	World Ranking ⁽¹⁾	Ranking L.A.⁽²⁾
Environmental Performance (2008)	Yale University^[15]	2008	149	32º	5º
Democracy (2006)	The Economist^[16]	2007	167	44º	5º
Global Peace (2008)	The Economist^[17]	2008	140	48º	4º
Economic Freedom (2008)	The Wall Street Journal^[18]	2008	157	46º	3º
Quality-of-life (2005)	The Economist^[19]	2007	111	47º	7º
Travel and Tourism Competitiveness (2008)	World Economic Forum^[20]	2008	130	50º	3º
Press Freedom (2007)	Reporters Without Borders^[21]	2007	169	54º	5º
Global Competitiviness (2007)	World Economic Forum^[22]	2007-08	131	59º	3º
Human Development (2005)	United Nations (UNDP)^[23]	2007-08	177	62º	7º
Corruption Perception (2006)	Transparency International^[24]	2007	163	84º	10º
Income inequality (1989-2007)⁽³⁾	United Nations (UNDP)^[25]	2007-2008	126	115º	14º

⁽¹⁾ Worldwide ranking among countries evaluated.

⁽²⁾ Ranking among the 20 Latin American countries.

⁽³⁾ Because the Gini coefficient used for the ranking corresponds to different years depending of the country, and the underlying household surveys differ in method and in the type of data collected, the distribution data are not strictly comparable across countries. The ranking therefore is only a proxy for reference purposes, and though the source is the same, the sample is smaller than for the HDI

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Notes and references

^ www.ilri.org/contentman/documentos/Sector%20Cárnico%20CA.pdf
^ Lawrence A. Yates. Operation JUST CAUSE in Panama City, December 1989. Combat Studies Institute. Retrieved on 2007-10-19.
^ John Lindsay-Poland (2003). Emperors in the Jungle: The Hidden History of the U.S. in Panama. Duke University Press. ISBN 0-8223-3098-9, p. 118.
^ Craige, Betty Jean (1996). American Patriotism in a Global Society. SUNY Press. ISBN 0-7914-2959-8, p. 187
^ "The Panama Deception" Part I
^ By Gustavo Gonzalez, Mixed Social Progress
^ Noticias SIN : Panamá en camino de reducir pobreza extrema pese a desigualdades
^ [1]PDF (95.9 KiB)
^ List of BITs currently in effect.
^ U.S. Trade Representative's page on Panama TPA.
^ News Release by Democratic Leadership of U.S. House of Representatives of July 2, 2007.
^ Gordon, Raymond G., Jr. (ed.), (2005) Languages of Panama. Ethnologue: Languages of the World, Fifteenth edition. Dallas, Tex.: SIL International. Online version. Retrieved on: April 6. 2008.
^ Jackson, Eric (May 2004). "Panama's Chinese community celebrates a birthday, meets new challenges". The Panama News 10 (9).
^ President Chen's State Visit to Panama. Government Information Office, Republic of China (October 2003). Retrieved on 2007-11-07.
^ Yale Center for Environmental Law & Policy / Center for International Earth Science Information Network at Columbia University. Environmental Performance Index 2008, Metrics for Costa Rica. Retrieved on 2008-03-16.
^ The Economist Intelligence Unit. The World in 2007, Democracy Index 2006. Retrieved on 2008-03-13.
^ The Economist Intelligence Unit et. al. (Vision of Humanity website). Global Peace Index Rankings. Retrieved on 2008-05-28.
^ The Heritage Foundation and The Wall Street Journal. Index of Economic Freedom 2008. Retrieved on 2008-03-14.
^ The Economist Intelligence Unit. Pocket World in Figures 2008. Retrieved on 2008-03-13.
^ World Economic Forum (2008). The Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Report 2008. Retrieved on 2008-03-09.
^ Reporters Without Borders. Worldwide Press Freedom Index 2007. Retrieved on 2008-03-13.
^ World Economic Forum. The Global Competitiveness Report 2007-2008. Retrieved on 2008-03-09.
^ UNPD Human Development Report 2007/2008. Table 1: Human development index. Retrieved on 2008-03-11.
^ Transparency International. Global Corruption Report 2007. Retrieved on 2008-03-11.
^ UNPD Human Development Report 2007/2008. Inequality in income or expenditure. Retrieved on 2008-03-14.

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External links

Find more about Panama on Wikipedia's sister projects:
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Government and Diplomacy

Mellander, Gustavo A. (1971) The United States in Panamanian Politics:The Intriguing Formative Years. Danville, Ill.: Interstate Publishers, OCLC 138568
Mellander, Gustavo A.; Nelly Maldonado Mellander (1999). Charles Edward Magoon: The Panama Years. Río Piedras, Puerto Rico: Editorial Plaza Mayor. ISBN 1563281554. OCLC 42970390.

(Spanish) The President of Panama
(Spanish) List of Panamanian Government Agencies
(Spanish) Ministry of External Relations
Embassy of Panama in the U.S.
National Directorate of Immigration and Naturalization

Tourism and Travel

Economy and Business

(Spanish) Ministry of Economics and Finance
(Spanish) Bolsa de Valores (Panama Stock Exchange)
(Spanish) Comisión Nacional de Valores (Panama SEC)
American Chamber of Commerce & Industry of Panama
List of all Panama Banks

Media and Discussion

(Spanish) La Prensa

Geographic locale

v • d • e Provinces and regions of Panama

Provinces	Bocas del Toro · Chiriquí · Coclé · Colón · Darién · Herrera · Los Santos · Panamá · Veraguas

Comarcas indígenas ("Indigenous regions")	Emberá · Kuna de Madugandí · Kuna de Wargandí · Kuna Yala · Ngöbe-Buglé

v • d • e Countries of Central America

Belize · Costa Rica · El Salvador · Guatemala · Honduras · Nicaragua · Panama

v • d • e

Countries of North America

Several nations listed here straddle both North and South America or can also be considered Caribbean

Sovereign states

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Dependencies

v • d • e Countries of South America

Countries and territories also in or commonly reckoned elsewhere in the Americas shown in italics

	Sovereign states Argentina · Bolivia · Brazil · Chile · Colombia · Ecuador · Guyana · Paraguay · Peru · Suriname · Uruguay · Venezuela Dependencies Falkland Islands (UK) · French Guiana (France) · South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands (UK)

International membership

v • d • e Members of the United Nations Security Council

Permanent members	China · France · Russia · United Kingdom · United States

Term ends December 31, 2008	Belgium · Indonesia · Italy · Panama · South Africa

Term ends December 31, 2009	Burkina Faso · Costa Rica · Croatia · Libya · Vietnam