Panama

• tropical maritime;
• hot, humid, cloudy;
• prolonged rainy season (May to January), short dry season (January to May)

total:

0.82 cu km/yr (67%/5%/28%)

per capita:

254 cu m/yr (2000)

• water pollution from agricultural runoff threatens fishery resources;
• deforestation of tropical rain forest;
• land degradation and soil erosion threatens siltation of Panama Canal;
• air pollution in urban areas;
• mining threatens natural resources

party to:

Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands, Whaling

signed, but not ratified:

Marine Life Conservation

• strategic location on eastern end of isthmus forming land bridge connecting North and South America;
• controls Panama Canal that links North Atlantic Ocean via Caribbean Sea with North Pacific Ocean

at birth:

1.04 male(s)/female

under 15 years:

1.04 male(s)/female

15-64 years:

1.02 male(s)/female

65 years and over:

0.87 male(s)/female

total population:

1.02 male(s)/female (2009 est.)

degree of risk:

intermediate

food or waterborne diseases:

bacterial diarrhea

vectorborne disease:

dengue fever and malaria (2009)

noun:

Panamanian(s)

adjective:

Panamanian

conventional long form:

Republic of Panama

conventional short form:

Panama

local long form:

Republica de Panama

local short form:

Panama

name:

Panama City

geographic coordinates:

8 58 N, 79 32 W

time difference:

UTC-5 (same time as Washington, DC during Standard Time)

• 11 provinces (provincias, singular - provincia) and 1 territory* (comarca);
• Bocas del Toro, Comarca Kuna Yala, Comarca Ngobe-Bugle, Chiriqui, Cocle, Colon, Darien, Herrera, Los Santos, Panama, San Blas* (Kuna Yala), and Veraguas

• based on civil law system;
• judicial review of legislative acts in the Supreme Court of Justice;
• accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction with reservations

chief of state:

• President Ricardo MARTINELLI Berrocal (since 1 July 2009);
• Vice President Juan Carlos VARELA (since 1 July 2009);
• note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government

head of government:

President Ricardo MARTINELLI Berrocal (since 1 July 2009); Vice President Juan Carlos VARELA (since 1 July 2009)

cabinet:

Cabinet appointed by the president

elections:

• president and vice president elected on the same ticket by popular vote for five-year terms (not eligible for immediate reelection; president and vice president must sit out two additional terms (10 years) before becoming eligible for reelection);
• election last held 3 May 2009 (next to be held in 2014)

election results:

Ricardo MARTINELLI Berrocal elected president; percent of vote - Ricardo MARTINELLI Berrocal 60%, Balbina HERRERA 38%, Guillermo ENDARA Galimany 2%

note: government coalition - PRD (Democratic Revolutionary Party), PP (Popular Party)

• Supreme Court of Justice or Corte Suprema de Justicia (nine judges appointed for 10-year terms);
• five superior courts;
• three courts of appeal

• Democratic Change or CD [Ricardo MARTINELLI];
• Democratic Revolutionary Party or PRD [Martin TORRIJOS Espino];
• Nationalist Republican Liberal Movement or MOLIRENA [Sergio GONZALEZ-Ruiz];
• Panamenista Party [Juan Carlos VARELA] (formerly the Arnulfista Party);
• Patriotic Union Party or UP (combination of the Liberal National Party or PLN and the Solidarity Party or PS)[Guillermo "Billy" FORD and Anibal GALINDO];
• Popular Party or PP [Rene ORILLAC] (formerly Christian Democratic Party or PDC)

• Chamber of Commerce;
• National Civic Crusade;
• National Council of Organized Workers or CONATO;
• National Council of Private Enterprise or CONEP;
• National Union of Construction and Similar Workers (SUNTRACS);
• Panamanian Association of Business Executives or APEDE;
• Panamanian Industrialists Society or SIP;
• Workers Confederation of the Republic of Panama or CTRP

chief of mission:

Ambassador Jaime Eduardo ALEMAN Healy

chancery:

2862 McGill Terrace NW, Washington, DC 20008

telephone:

[1] (202) 483-1407

FAX:

[1] (202) 483-8416

consulate(s) general:

Atlanta, Houston, Miami, New Orleans, New York, Philadelphia, San Diego, San Francisco, Tampa

chief of mission:

Ambassador Barbara J. STEPHENSON

embassy:

Edificio 783, Avenida Demetrio Basilio Lakas Panama, Apartado Postal 0816-02561, Zona 5, Panama City

mailing address:

American Embassy Panama, Unit 0945, APO AA 34002

telephone:

[507] 207-7000

FAX:

[507] 317-5568

• divided into four, equal rectangles;
• the top quadrants are white (hoist side) with a blue five-pointed star in the center and plain red;
• the bottom quadrants are plain blue (hoist side) and white with a red five-pointed star in the center

agriculture:

15%

industry:

18%

services:

67% (2006)

lowest 10%:

0.8%

highest 10%:

41.4% (2006)

• bananas, rice, corn, coffee, sugarcane, vegetables;
• livestock;
• shrimp

general assessment:

domestic and international facilities well developed

domestic:

mobile-cellular telephone subscribership has increased rapidly with combined fixed and mobile-cellular teledensity reaching 130 per 100 persons in 2008

international:

• country code - 507;
• landing point for the Americas Region Caribbean Ring System (ARCOS-1), the MAYA-1, and PAN-AM submarine cable systems that together provide links to the US and parts of the Caribbean, Central America, and South America;
• satellite earth stations - 2 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean);
• connected to the Central American Microwave System (2008)

total:

76 km

country comparison to the world: 128

standard gauge:

76 km 1.435-m gauge (2008)

total:

11,978 km

country comparison to the world: 132

paved:

4,300 km

unpaved:

7,678 km (2002)

males age 16-49:

705,160

females age 16-49:

710,521 (2009 est.)

male:

31,089

female:

29,939 (2009 est.)

• on 10 February 1990, the government of then President ENDARA abolished Panama's military and reformed the security apparatus by creating the Panamanian Public Forces;
• in October 1994, Panama's Legislative Assembly approved a constitutional amendment prohibiting the creation of a standing military force but allowing the temporary establishment of special police units to counter acts of "external aggression"

current situation:

• Panama is a source, transit, and destination country for women and children trafficked for the purpose of commercial sexual exploitation;
• the majority of victims are Panamanian women and children trafficked within the country into the sex trade;
• rural children in Panama may be trafficked internally to urban areas for labor exploitation

tier rating:

Tier 2 Watch List - Panama is on the Tier 2 Watch List for failing to show evidence of increasing efforts to combat human trafficking, particularly with respect to prosecuting, convicting, and sentencing human traffickers for their crimes, and for failing to provide adequate victim assistance (2008)

• major cocaine transshipment point and primary money-laundering center for narcotics revenue;
• money-laundering activity is especially heavy in the Colon Free Zone;
• offshore financial center;
• negligible signs of coca cultivation;
• monitoring of financial transactions is improving;
• official corruption remains a major problem