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WORLD FACTBOOK (US)
Introduction: Explored and settled by the Spanish in the 16th century, Panama broke with Spain in 1821 and joined a union of Colombia, Ecuador, and Venezuela - named the Republic of Gran Colombia. When the latter dissolved in 1830, Panama remained part of Colombia. With US backing, Panama seceded from Colombia in 1903 and promptly signed a treaty with the US allowing for the construction of a canal and US sovereignty over a strip of land on either side of the structure (the Panama Canal Zone). The Panama Canal was built by the US Army Corps of Engineers between 1904 and 1914. In 1977, an agreement was signed for the complete transfer of the Canal from the...
BACKGROUND NOTES (US)
History: Panama's history has been shaped by the evolution of the world economy and the ambitions of great powers. The earliest known inhabitants of Panama were the Cuevas and the Coclé tribes, but they were decimated by disease and fighting when the Spanish arrived in the 1500s.
Rodrigo de Bastidas, sailing westward from Venezuela in 1501 in search of gold, was the first European to ...
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COUNTRY PROFILE (UK)
History: 1501 Spanish explorer, Rodrigo Galvan de Bastidas first European to explore the Isthmus of Panama, sailing along the eastern coast.
1502 Columbus sails on his fourth and last voyage to the New World (Honduras and Panama)
1513 Spanish explorer, Vasco Nuñez de Balboa, named the Pacific the South Sea and claimed the ocean and all lands it bordered for Spain, giving the territory the name of Castilla del Oro.
1514 Balboa assigned Pedro Arias Dávila as Royal Governor.
1519 Panama City is founded.
1572-73 Sir Francis Drake’s famous raids on Panama.
1671 Panama City was attacked and destroyed by Henry Morgan.
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COUNTRY STUDIES (US)
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