Panama Presentation :: essays research papers

Joshua MyersHUM 215Spring 2005BakhtiarovaCountry leghornCapital urban center skimmer CityGeographic Location (region) Central America Coordinates 9 00 N 80 00 WBoarders with Costa Rica to the West and Columbia to the East. Panama also borders with the Pacific Ocean to the South and Caribbean Sea to the North.Population 3,039,150 (July 2005 est.) heathen make-up Mestizo (mixed Amerindian and white) - 70% Amerindian and mixed (West Indian) - 14% white - 10% Amerindian 6%Education rate Over one million battalion (37%) live below the poverty line over half a million (12.3%) live in extreme poverty. The difference between productive and poor in Panama is one of the highest in the world.Major write up Events XV XX centuries oThe earliest known inhabitants of Panama were the Cuevas and the Cocl cultures, but their numbers were decimated by disease and the sword when the Spanish arrived in the sixteenth coke. After several forays along the countrys Caribbean shore, the Spanish es tablished a settlement, Nombre de Dios, at the mouth of the Ro Chagres on the Caribbean coast in 1510. Panamas Pacific coast later became the springboard for invasions of Peru, and the wealth generated by these incursions was carried overland from the Pacific port of Panama (City) to Nombre de Dios. The transport of wealth attracted pirates, and by the 18th century the Caribbean was so dangerous that Spanish ships began bypassing Panama and sailing directly from Peru round Cape Horn to reach Europe.oPanama went into decline, and became a country of Colombia when the South American nation received its independence in 1821.oA French attempt to build a canal in 1880 resulted in the death of 22,000 workers from malaria and yellow fever and bankruptcy for everyone involved.oPanama declared independent Nov. 3, 1903, with the full support of the USA. Columbia never concord to their independence until 1921 when the USA finally paid Columbia $25,000,000.00 in compensation. oUSA began to b uild the canal again in 1904 in 1914 the stolon ship saled through the canal.Major troubles or conflicts that the country faced in the last 50 yearsoThe only big problem was with the USA. The two countries argued over the canal contract until a new conformity was signed in 1977.