Overview

A country slightly smaller than the state of South Carolina, Panama is located in Central America. Its land mass measures 29,762 square miles (77,381 square kilometers), bounded by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Colombia to the east, the Pacific Ocean to the south, and Costa Rica to the west. The climate of the area is tropical with a dry season that extends from January to May and a rainy season from May to December. Rainfall varies from 130 inches on the Atlantic coast to 68 inches on the Pacific side. Temperatures generally range between 73 and 87 degrees Fahrenheit (23-31 degrees Celsius).

Panama has a population of slightly over 2.4 million people; 70 percent are of Mestizo origin (mixed Spanish, and Indian) or mixed Spanish, Indian, Chinese, and West Indian. The rest of the population comprises various ethnic minorities, including West Indian (14 percent), white (ten percent), Indian (six percent). Most of the...