Panama is a country located in the southeast of Central America. Its official name is the Republic of Panama with Panama as its capital. The map of the country is as follows: from the north, the state is bounded by the Caribbean Sea, from the south by the Pacific Ocean, from the east it has a border with Colombia, from the west - with Costa Rica. The area of the state is 75,420 square kilometers. The country is located on the Isthmus of Panama, which connects South America with Central America. Its mountainous territory is separated only by the Panama Canal (see map).
In contact with
The population of the country is about 4 million people. On January 1, 2014, the province of Western Panama was created, so Panama currently consists of 10 provinces and 5 Amerindian communities. Western Panama is separated from the province of Panama from the east by the Panama Canal.
You can understand where Panama is located on the world map by following the link from Wikipedia: https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panam%C3%A1#/media/File:Panama-CIA_WFB_Map.png
Language
According to the Constitution of Panama, Spanish is the official language of the country, and all its inhabitants must know it and have the right to use it. In 2006, Spanish became the native language for 93.1% of the country's population. Other Panamanian languages are taught in educational institutions of the respective administrative units, where the majority of the population is made up of Indians.
Beyond Spanish , the following are considered official languages:
Immigrants from other countries, in addition to Spanish, speak their native languages. So, Arabic is spoken by the Syrian and Lebanese colonies in the province of Kolon. English is widely spoken by the African immigrants of the Atlantic coast of the country. There are also large colonies of Chinese, Italians and French.
Panama Canal
The State of Panama, as a country that transits a huge volume of goods through its territory, has become crossroads of cultures from around the world. The Panama Canal was built on the territory of the country, which facilitates communication between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, and plays an important role in world trade. Due to its geographical position, the Panama Canal offers the world a wide range of services:
- marine;
- commercial;
- financial.
Panama Canal, being a route connecting the Caribbean Sea with the Pacific Ocean, has a length of 65 km. At both ends of the canal, there are locks designed to raise ships to the level of Lake Gatun, an artificial lake created to reduce the work of digging the canal. The lake is located at an altitude of 26 m above sea level.
The Panama Canal was opened on August 15, 1914 and was able to shorten the time and distance of sea routes, making commercial and economic exchange between the two oceans more dynamic, and gave a strong impetus to the development of the Central American region and the country. Major States that began to use the channel based on the results of 2012 were the following:
Before the opening of the canal, people used the natural sea routes between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, which were the Strait of Magellan (Argentina), and the Cape Stove, located in southern Chile. The Panama Canal is considered one of the largest buildings in the world engineering of the 20th century.
More information about the Panama Canal can be found on the Internet, according to "Panama Wikipedia".
Geography
Climate
The country has a tropical climate, with very high temperatures throughout the year on the coast. Temperatures become less cold as the altitude rises to 1000 m above sea level. Precipitation levels are high throughout the country, with constant rainfall on the Caribbean coast, while the dry season on the Pacific coast lasts from December to March. Hurricanes do not pose a threat to the country, since it is located in the south of their zone of influence. On the territory of the country there is a zone where trade winds from both hemispheres of the planet meet. This meeting significantly affects the climate of Panama and determines the duration of the wet and dry period in one or another part of the country.
Flora and fauna
Panama is a country with great biological diversity. Due to its proximity to South America, some South American species live in its territory, for example, the capybara, which is the largest rodent in the world, the bespectacled bear and the blue parrot. In the waters belonging to Panama, there are 1497 species of fish, which is more than in Costa Rica and Nicaragua, 957 species of birds and 229 species of mammals. 10,115 species of plants grow on its territory, 229 species of reptiles and 179 species of amphibians live. Enough attention is being paid by the authorities to the conservation of this biological diversity and the control of the level of emissions into the environment.
Tourism
One of the main occupations of the country is tourism. The main tourist arenas of Panama are concentrated on commercial tourism and beaches. Most tourists come here from the USA, Canada, Europe, Central and South America. The annual income from tourism is 1400 million dollars, and this figure is growing rapidly.
In 2013, Panama received 1,527,228 tourists at Tocumen Airport. The average tourist in the country spends $365-$385 per day, which is the highest tourist spending in Central America. On average, a tourist stays in the country for 6-7 days.
During 2011 Panama hosted more than 2 million tourists, which is 18% more than in the previous year. The New York Times magazine ranked Panama as the top country to visit in 2012 as the country experienced its peak economic boom, 12 years after the Isthmus of Panama returned to local control.
Among the sights of the country are the BioMuseum - a center of natural history, which opened in 2014, Casco Antiguo - the ancient part of the city of Panama, declared by UNESCO in 1997 as part of the Heritage of Humanity list and the Bocas de Toro (Bull's Mouth) archipelago, which has become a popular stop for wanderers and vagabond.
For 2018, the following places are included in the list of recommended to visit:
The construction of the Panama Canal has become one of the largest and most complex construction projects carried out by mankind. The Panama Canal had an invaluable impact on the development of shipping and the economy as a whole in the Western Hemisphere and throughout the Earth, which led to its extremely high geopolitical significance. Thanks to the Panama Canal, the sea route from New York to San Francisco was reduced from 22.5 thousand km to 9.5 thousand km.
The Panama Canal is a navigable canal connecting the Panama Bay of the Pacific Ocean with the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean, located on the Isthmus of Panama in the territory of the State of Panama. Length - 81.6 km, including 65.2 km on land and 16.4 km along the bottom of the Panama and Limon bays (for the passage of ships to deep water).
The construction of the Panama Canal has become one of the largest and most complex construction projects carried out by mankind. The Panama Canal had an invaluable impact on the development of shipping and the economy as a whole in the Western Hemisphere and throughout the Earth, which led to its extremely high geopolitical significance. Thanks to the Panama Canal, the sea route from New York to San Francisco was reduced from 22.5 thousand km to 9.5 thousand km.
The canal passes through the vessels of various types - from private yachts to huge tankers and container ships. The maximum size of a ship that can pass through the Panama Canal has become a de facto standard in shipbuilding, called Panamax.
Vessels are escorted through the Panama Canal by the Pilot Service of the Panama Canal. The average time for a ship to pass through the channel is 9 hours, the minimum time is 4 hours 10 minutes. The maximum throughput is 48 vessels per day. Every year, about 17.5 thousand ships carrying more than 203 million tons of cargo pass through the canal facilities. By 2002, more than 800,000 ships used the canal's services.
The original plan to build a canal connecting the two oceans dates back to the 16th century, but King Philip II of Spain imposed a ban on the consideration of such projects, because "what God has connected, man cannot separate." In the 1790s the canal project was designed by Alessandro Malaspina, his team even surveyed the canal construction route.
However, the first attempt to build a navigable route on the Isthmus of Panama dates back only to 1879. Ferdinand Lesseps, under whose leadership the Suez Canal was dug, created the General Company of the Inter-Ocean Canal in France, the shares of which were acquired by more than 800 thousand people. By 1888, 300 million dollars were spent on the construction of the canal (almost 2 times more than expected), and only a third of the work was completed. The reason was also the wrong design (Ferdinand Lesseps insisted that the canal be dug at sea level) and, mainly, the inability to cope with diseases - malaria and yellow fever - that mowed down the workers. There is evidence that at least 20 thousand people died. The construction site gained notoriety - to the point that some groups of workers brought their own coffins with them from France. The state of affairs became no longer possible to hide - just because Lesseps needed new capital. The company went bankrupt, which led to the ruin of thousands of small shareholders. Further investigation revealed facts of mass corruption, bribery by the company of officials, newspaper editors. This adventure was called Panama, and the word "Panama" has become synonymous with scam, fraud on a grandiose scale.
The Spanish-American War of 1898 strengthened the US intention to build a canal on the Isthmus of Panama in order to increase influence in the Western Hemisphere. In 1901, the United States entered into the Hay-Pownsfot Treaty with Great Britain, according to which the States received the exclusive right to build this canal. In 1903, the United States supported Panama's demand for secession from Colombia and, as compensation for this, received from Panama a zone for the construction of a canal.
In addition, in 1900 in Havana, Walter Reid and James Carroll found that yellow fever was transmitted by mosquitoes and developed a method to eradicate yellow fever by killing mosquitoes. Remembering the failure of the first attempt to dig a canal, the Americans sent a whole army led by William Crawford Gorgas - 1,500 people - to fight mosquitoes. The published data speak eloquently of the scale of this unprecedented operation: it was necessary to cut down and burn 30 square kilometers of shrubs and small trees, mow and burn grass in the same area, drain a million square yards (83.6 hectares) of swamps, dig 250 thousand feet (76, 2 km) of drainage ditches and restore 2 million feet (609.6 km) of old ditches, spray 150 thousand gallons (567.8 thousand liters) of oils that destroy mosquito larvae in breeding areas. As in Havana shortly before, this paid off: yellow fever disappeared, cases of malaria were reduced, and the main obstacle was removed.
The US War Department began construction of the canal in 1904. The canal's chief engineer was John Frank Stevens. This time the right project was chosen: locks and lakes. The construction took 10 years, $400 million and 70,000 workers, of whom 5,600 people died during construction. The first ship along the canal passed on August 15, 1914. The official opening of the channel took place only on June 12, 1920.
The Panama Canal was controlled by the United States until December 31, 1999, after which it was transferred to the government of Panama.
Channel configuration
Due to the S-shape of the Isthmus of Panama, the Panama Canal is directed from the southeast (Pacific Ocean side) to the northwest (Atlantic Ocean). The channel consists of two artificial lakes connected by canals and deepened riverbeds, as well as two groups of locks. From the side of the Atlantic Ocean, the three-chamber gateway "Gatun" connects Limon Bay with Lake Gatun. On the Pacific side, the two-chamber Miraflores lock and the single-chamber Pedro Miguel lock connect Panama Bay to the canal bed. The difference between the level of the World Ocean and the level of the Panama Canal is 25.9 meters. Additional water supply is provided by another reservoir - Lake Alajuela
All canal locks are two-line, which provides the possibility of simultaneous oncoming movement of ships along the canal. In practice, however, usually both strings of locks operate to allow ships to pass in the same direction. Dimensions of lock chambers: width 33.53 m, length 304.8 m, minimum depth 12.55 m. Each chamber holds 101 thousand m³ of water. The passage of large ships through the locks is provided by special small electric railway locomotives called mules (after the mules that previously served as the main draft force for moving baroques along the rivers).
The canal is crossed by three bridges along its length. Along the route of the canal between the cities of Panama and Colon, a road and a railway were laid.
Canal Passage Fees
Canal tolls are officially collected by the Panama Canal Authority, a government agency in Panama. Fee rates are set depending on the type of vessel.
The amount of the fee for container ships is calculated depending on their capacity, expressed in TEU (the volume of a standard 20-foot container). From May 1, 2006, the rate is $49 per TEU.
The amount of payment from other vessels is determined depending on their displacement. For 2006, the fee rate was $2.96 per ton up to 10,000 tons, $2.90 for each of the next 10,000 tons, and $2.85 for each subsequent ton.
The fee for small craft is calculated based on their length:
The future of the channel
On October 23, 2006, the results of the referendum on the expansion of the Panama Canal were summed up in Panama, which was supported by 79% of the population. The adoption of this plan was facilitated by the Chinese business structures that manage the channel. By 2014, it will be modernized and will be able to handle oil tankers with a displacement of more than 130,000 tons, which will significantly reduce the delivery time for Venezuelan oil to China. Just by this time, Venezuela promises to increase oil supplies to China to 1 million barrels per day.
During the reconstruction, it is planned to carry out dredging and build new, wider locks. As a result, by 2014-2015, supertankers with a displacement of up to 170 thousand tons will be able to pass through the Panama Canal. The maximum throughput of the channel will increase to 18.8 thousand ships per year, cargo turnover - up to 600 million PCUMS. The reconstruction will cost $5.25 billion and is expected to generate $2.5 billion in annual revenue from the canal by 2015, and by 2025 revenues will rise to $4.3 billion.
Start of works on the construction of the third group of locks is scheduled for August 25, 2009. The Panama Canal Authority entrusted this work to the GUPC (Grupo Unidos por el Canal) consortium, which won the construction tender on July 15, 2008, offering to carry out the necessary work for 3 billion 118 million dollars and complete the construction by mid-2014. The main member of this consortium is the Spanish firm Sacyr Vallehermoso.
Interesting Facts
Prior to canal construction, about 2 million gallons of kerosene were used to spray swamps in the area of the future construction to kill Aedes aegypti mosquitoes and malaria-carrying yellow fever and malaria mosquitoes, respectively.
On the morning of October 13, 1913, US President Thomas Woodrow Wilson, in the presence of numerous high-ranking guests gathered in the White House, went to a special table and pressed the golden button with a majestic gesture. And at the same moment, a powerful explosion shook the humid tropical air four thousand kilometers from Washington, on the Isthmus of Panama. Twenty thousand kilograms of dynamite destroyed the last barrier separating the waters of the Atlantic and Pacific oceans near the city of Gamboa. The 4,000-kilometer cable, specially laid from the jumper at Gamboa to the White House, obediently carried out the President's will. (
— section of the Corte Culebra with the Bridge of the Americas above it
Along the route of the canal between the cities of Panama and Colon are roads and railways. Lake Gatun with a whole system of islands and deepened waterways serves the canal. Its waters are used to lift, wire and lower ships, to fill the reservoirs of the entire system of locks, from which water flows to their chambers. Spare tanks in the form of giant round containers are also filled with water, and at the right time, through a complex system of transitions, it enters the locks. All additional tanks are located at some distance from the lock system. If you go by bus to the north of the country, then all this engineering design can be contemplated from the window. Auxiliary water supply is provided by another reservoir - Lake Alajuela. Such volumes, such power, and the very ingenious idea amazes everyone who visits the Panama Canal for the first time.
In the morning, ships are ferried from the Pacific Ocean to the Caribbean Sea, and in the afternoon ships are pulled from the Atlantic to the Pacific. It is interesting that every day in the evening the water on the Panama City embankment arrived when the locks were opened and ships were lowered into the Pacific Ocean, and in the morning the bottom was almost bare. This is how the canal creates artificial tides in Panama Bay. Just imagine what the water potential of this facility is!
Having descended from the Miraflores observation deck to the first floor, I watched with interest a film about the construction of the canal and its heroes, and everyone was a hero. The film made a strong impression on me. What I admired today from above has become a grand test, a difficult period and a deadly project for many thousands of people who came into contact with the construction of the canal at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries.
The first attempt to build a shipping route was made by the French at the end of the 19th century (1879), while the US authorities advocated a Nicaraguan version of the canal. The idea for France turned into an almost economic disaster. The funds allocated for the construction were not enough, only a third of the work was spent twice as much as expected. Huge sums went to the Panamanian bureaucrats and to pay for all sorts of permits and concessions, the project itself turned out to be wrong and was underestimated in its value. But the most terrible for the workers were tropical diseases - malaria and yellow fever. People were mowed down by death. In nine years, 20,000 workers died. The construction fell into disrepute, newspapers of that time wrote that some groups of workers brought their own coffins with them from France. For all these reasons, wage payments stopped and work was stopped. France was overwhelmed for two years by a scandal and all sorts of trials over the organizers of the project. Lesseps was one of the outstanding engineers of his time (he owned the Suez Canal project), as a result of the bankruptcy of the Panama project, as well as the famous creator of the Eiffel Tower, Alexander Eiffel, were accused of large-scale fraud, mediocre campaign management and misappropriation of funds and sentenced to various prison terms. conclusions. Ferdinand Lesseps did not survive the stress and died.
Sixteen years of silence, if you can call it that, the period of abandonment of a grandiose construction site. But all this time, the United States, by hook or by crook, sought to continue construction, now by the forces of the Americans. Agreements were signed again, all kinds of permits were bought up, lands and islands were bought out, which in the future could serve as a channel in terms of protection, security, maintenance and management. The French had bought the work already done and the necessary equipment. Under the 1903 treaty, the United States received in perpetual possession "a zone of land and land under water for the construction of ... a canal." As a result, the Americans became the owners of a huge package of permits and the US War Department began the construction of the canal in 1904. Panama effectively became a US protectorate.
Workers were needed to resume the grandiose construction. A call was thrown. People came from all over the world. By that time, the sources of the deadly diseases of yellow fever and malaria had become known. The Americans have made every effort for another project to destroy harmful insects. Forests were cut down, swamps were drained and grass was burned in the area of the proposed work. The territory was watered with special oil against mosquito larvae, and they, imagine, succeeded. Illnesses are no longer a hindrance.
It took ten years of hard work to complete the project. People dug canals, drilled rocks, blasted hills and rebuilt the railroad, which carried the soil.
The canal's chief engineer was John Frank Stevens. This time the right project was chosen. The construction took 10 years, $400 million and 70 thousand workers, of which, according to American data, only about 5,600 people died, which, in comparison with the French losses, turned out to be almost four times less. Their mistakes served the Americans as a good lesson.
The canal was officially opened on June 12, 1920, although the first ship passed through it in August 1914. The Panama Canal was controlled by the United States until December 31, 1999, after which it was transferred to the government of Panama.
This is a brief history of the grandiose object that connected the two oceans. The Panama Canal was the greatest engineering feat in human history.
On Miraflores, I also visited the museum, where I controlled a container ship from the virtual captain's cabin and led it through the locks.
The length of the Panama Canal from deep to deep water is 81.6 km, the minimum width is 150 m, the guaranteed depth is 12 m, the size of the chambers of the paired locks is 305 by 33.5 m. m above sea level Entering from the Atlantic Ocean, ships rise through the three stages of the Gatun locks into the artificial Gatun Lake, which is formed by the Gatun Dam across the Chagres River and lies at an altitude of 25.9 m above sea level. In 1935, the volume of the reservoir was increased by the construction of the Madden Dam in the upper reaches of the Chagres, which led to the appearance of Lake Madden. From Lake Gatun, vessels pass the 12-kilometer Culebra notch, descend through the Pedro Miguel locks into Lake Miraflores (16 m above sea level), pass the two-stage Miraflores locks and exit into the Gulf of Panama. The average time for vessels to pass through the canal is 7–8 hours. Two-way traffic is not possible only for large-tonnage vessels in the area of the Culebrskaya excavation.
The Spanish conquistador Vasco Nunez de Balboa was the first European to cross the Isthmus of Panama in 1513. During the colonial era, plans for the construction of a transoceanic canal repeatedly arose and were not realized. The interest of the United States in the idea of building a canal was indicated during the California gold rush of 1848. In 1850, the United States and Great Britain entered into the Clayton-Bulwer Treaty, according to which the parties refused to acquire exclusive rights to the future canal and pledged to guarantee its neutrality.
In 1878, France received from Colombia, which until 1903 included Panama, a concession for 99 years for the construction of a canal. In 1879, a company was established under the leadership of Ferdinand Lesseps, the builder of the Suez Canal, and work began two years later. However, in 1887 the company went bankrupt due to high prices, financial scams and high mortality of workers. At that time, the United States was probing the possibility of laying a transoceanic canal through the territory of Nicaragua, and a specially created commission in 1899 came to the conclusion three years later that this option was more rational. The United States gained freedom of action in 1901 when it concluded the Hay-Pouncefort treaty with Great Britain, which annulled the previous treaty. The French company was afraid of losing all its capital investments in the event of building a canal through Nicaragua and offered the US all rights and its property in Panama for $40 million. The North American Commission recommended that these conditions be accepted, and in 1902 Congress approved the project and began negotiations with Columbia.
In 1903, under President Roosevelt, the Hay-Erran Treaty on the construction of a canal was signed between the United States and Colombia. However, the Colombian Senate refused to ratify the treaty. Then the United States began to support the Panamanian separatists and did not allow Colombian troops to land on the isthmus in order to crush the uprising. As a result, on November 3, 1903, Panama proclaimed its secession from Colombia and its independence as a separate state.
Already on November 18, 1903, the United States and the government of the newly formed republic signed the Hay-Buno-Varilli treaty, according to which the North Americans received full control over a zone 10 miles wide, running in a strip across the entire isthmus. The US paid Panama $10 million and pledged to pay another $250,000 annually. At the same time, Panama actually became a protectorate of the United States. In 1914, the United States signed the Thompson-Urrutia Treaty with Colombia, which ensured Colombia's recognition of Panama's independence for a certain amount of compensation. The US Senate postponed the ratification of the treaty, and only in 1921 did Columbia receive the promised $25 million.
In 1905, an expert council appointed by President Roosevelt recommended the construction of a lockless canal, but Congress accepted the project of a lock canal. At first, the work was carried out under the guidance of civil engineers, but since 1907 the construction was taken over by the military ministry. He was also in charge of medical control over sanitary conditions and the treatment of tropical diseases. The French, who started construction, excavated 23 million cubic meters. m of land along the canal route; North Americans had to take out another 208 million cubic meters. m. The first ship passed through the Isthmus of Panama on August 15, 1914, but in fact the canal went into operation after the official opening on June 12, 1920. According to government sources, the construction of the canal cost 380 million dollars.
Panama Canal Zone.
The Hay-Buno-Varilli Treaty of 1903 gave the United States a total of 1,432 sq. km of Panamanian territory, including lakes Gatun and Alajuela, later renamed Lake Madden. Up until 1979, the management of the canal zone was closely linked to the administration of the canal itself. The zone's governor was a general of the US Army Corps of Engineers, and the zone operated its own police and fire departments, courthouse, post office, medical facilities, and English-language schools.
Panama Canal in international relations.
In diplomatic relations between Panama and the United States, the problems associated with the canal zone have always come to the fore. Panama sought to expand its participation in the management of the canal, increase its share of the profits, and protested against discrimination against the Panamanians who worked in the zone. Under the Hull-Alfaro Treaty of 1936, some of the enslaving provisions of the 1903 Treaty were canceled and revised. In particular, the United States renounced the right of military intervention in the internal affairs of Panama and the monopoly on communications across the isthmus, granted Panamanians the right to trade in the canal zone and increased annual payments to 430 thousand dollars.
The Eisenhower-Remona Treaty of 1955 transferred to Panama US property outside the canal zone worth $24 million, increased the annual rent to $1,930,000, obligated the US to build a bridge across the canal (completed in 1962) and establish water supply to the cities of Colón and Panama , deprived a number of benefits of North American entrepreneurs, limited discrimination against Panamanians employed in the canal zone, gave the government of Panama the right to levy taxes on its citizens working in the zone, and on foreigners (except Americans) working outside the zone.
In 1959, skirmishes between Panamanians and US police took place in the canal zone. After negotiations in 1960, the United States agreed to fly the flags of two states, the United States and Panama, on the border of the zone. Under further agreements in 1962, the US allowed the Panamanian flag to be flown through the zone and agreed to continue discussions on other issues, including equal pay in the Canal Zone for Americans and Panamanians. In January 1964, after American students refused to fly the Panamanian flag along with their flag, further riots broke out which led to the severing of diplomatic relations. Panama again demanded a revision of the terms of the 1903 treaty. In April 1964, diplomatic relations were restored.
In 1967, a draft treaty was developed on the sovereignty of Panama over the canal zone and the creation of a unified canal management, but in 1970 Panama rejected this project. Negotiations, resumed in 1971, led to the signing in 1977 of two agreements, according to which, on October 1, 1979, the canal zone passed under the jurisdiction of Panama, and by 2000, the United States pledged to transfer the canal itself to Panama. However, the North Americans reserved the right to intervene militarily if necessary to protect the canal and maintain its neutrality. According to the agreements, the Panama Canal Commission was established to operate the canal. Until 1990, the Commission was headed by a US citizen, appointed by the US President, after 1990 and until the transmission of the channel in December 1999, it was headed by a Panamanian, also appointed by the US President.
The world is full of amazing buildings and structures built by the best engineers in history. Among some of the most important structures in human history is the Panama Canal. This shipping channel acts as a bridge between the Pacific and Atlantic zones, which greatly facilitated trade by sea. For example, a ship on a route between San Francisco and New York had to cover 14,000 miles, but the Panama Canal cut that distance down to 6,000 miles. Construction was started by the French in the 19th century, but they were never able to complete the project due to various problems. The American government took over the project in 1904 and completed it a decade later, making history. Now the canal is managed by the government of Panama.
The Panama Canal not only benefits merchants by facilitating the transit of goods, but is also important in terms of tourism. Canal cruises are very popular and if you are planning to visit this area then don't miss the chance to cruise the canal. During such a trip, you will be able to see the many exotic sights of Panama. Travel agencies will offer you hundreds of different cruise packages, including a number of popular ports such as New York, Miami, Los Angeles, New Orleans, etc. This tour will allow you to see some of the most beautiful beaches in the world and visit exotic Panama City. 
Channel History
In fact, the history of the canal goes back much deeper - to the 16th century. In 1513, the Spanish explorer Vasco Nunez de Balboa became the first European to notice the extremely thin Isthmus of Panama separating the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. Balboa's discovery sparked the search for a natural waterway linking the two oceans. In 1534, after no natural route had been found, the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V ordered an investigation into the possibility of building a canal. The inspectors ultimately decided that the construction of a shipping channel in these places was impossible. 
Start of construction
An interesting fact in the history of the Panama Canal is another construction attempt made by the designer of the Suez Canal. No serious construction attempts were made until the 1880s. In 1881 the French company of Ferdinand de Lessep, the designer of the Suez Canal in Egypt, began to dig a canal through Panama. The project was plagued by poor planning, technical problems and tropical diseases that killed thousands of workers. De Lessep intended to build a canal at sea level, in the style of the Suez, without any locks. But the excavation process turned out to be much more difficult than expected. Gustave Eiffel, who designed the famous tower in Paris, was hired to build the locks, but De Lessep's company went bankrupt in 1889. At the time, the French unprofitably invested more than $260 million in construction, excavating more than 70 million cubic meters of earth. 
The collapse of the enterprise caused a big scandal in France. De Lessep and his son Charles, along with Eiffel and several other company executives, were charged with embezzlement, mismanagement and fraud. In 1893 they were found guilty, sentenced to prison and fined. After the scandal, Eiffel retired from business and devoted himself to scientific research. A new French company was formed to take over the bankrupt business and continue the canal, but it soon followed the same path. 
During the 1800s, the United States was also interested in building a canal linking the Atlantic and the Pacific. For both economic and military reasons, they considered Nicaragua to be a better location than Panama. However, this plan was abandoned thanks to the efforts of Philippe-Jean Bounod-Varille, a French engineer who was involved in both French canal projects. In the late 1890s, Buno-Varilla began lobbying American legislators for the purchase of French canal assets in Panama, and eventually convinced many that Nicaragua had dangerous volcanoes and Panama was the less dangerous option. 
In 1902 Congress authorized the purchase of the French assets of the Panama Canal. But Colombia, of which Panama was at the time, refused to ratify the agreement. With the support of Buno-Varilla and the tacit approval of President Theodore Roosevelt, Panama rebelled against Colombia and declared independence. After that, US Secretary of State John Hay and Buno-Varilla, as representative of the provisional government of Panama, agreed on the Hay-Buno-Varilla Agreement, which gave America the right to an area of more than 500 square miles in which to build a canal. The channel, by agreement, was completely transferred to the control of the Americans. It was agreed that the United States would contribute approximately $375 million for construction, including a $10 million payment to Panama, and $40 million to buy French assets. 
A century after the United States completed the Panama Canal, a shipping link through Nicaragua still remains possible: In 2013, a Chinese company announced a $40 billion deal with the Nicaraguan government for the right to build such a waterway. 
Death of workers
More than 25,000 workers officially died during the construction of the Panama Canal. The canal builders faced many obstacles, including difficult terrain, hot, humid weather, heavy rain, and rampant tropical diseases. Earlier French attempts resulted in the death of more than 20,000 workers, and American efforts fared slightly better - between 1904 and 1913 about 5,600 workers died due to disease or accidents. 
Many of these earlier deaths were due to yellow fever and malaria. According to the doctors of that time, these diseases were caused by polluted air and poor conditions. By the early 20th century, however, medical experts had uncovered the key role of mosquitoes as carriers of these diseases, allowing them to greatly reduce the number of deaths among workers. Special sanitary measures were carried out, which included draining swamps and reservoirs, removing possible insect breeding grounds, and installing protective screens on windows in buildings. 
Capacity of the Panama Canal
Between 13,000 and 14,000 ships use the canal each year.
American ships use the channel most often, pursued by China, Chile, Japan, Colombia and South Korea. Each vessel transiting the canal must pay a toll based on its size and cargo volume. The toll for the largest ships can be up to around $450,000. The smallest toll ever paid was 36 cents, paid in 1928 by the American adventurer Richard Halliburton, who conquered the canal. Today, approximately $1.8 billion in tolls are collected annually. 
On average, it takes a ship 8 to 10 hours to pass through the canal. Moving through it, the lock system raises each ship 85 feet above sea level. Vessel captains are not allowed to take control during transit; instead, specially trained personnel take control. In 2010, the one millionth ship crossed the canal since it opened. 
Who controls the Panama Canal?
The United States transferred control of the canal to Panama in 1999. In the years following the opening of the canal, relations between America and Panama became tense. Questions arose about control over the canal itself and the area adjacent to it. In 1964, the Panamanians rioted because they were not allowed to fly the national flag of Panama next to the US flag in the canal zone. After the uprising, Panama temporarily broke off diplomatic relations with the United States. In 1977, President Jimmy Carter and General Omar Torrijos signed agreements transferring control of the canal to Panama from 1999, but giving the United States the right to use a military force to protect the waterway from any threat to its neutrality. Despite the discontent of many politicians who did not want their country to lose its power over the canal, the US Senate ratified the Torrijos-Carter Accords in 1978. Control was transferred to Panama peacefully in December 1999. 
Panama Canal expansion
The channel is currently being expanded to accommodate modern mega-ships. Work on the expansion began in 2007 at a cost of $5.25 billion to allow the canal to receive post-Panamax class vessels. These vessels are larger than the so-called Panamax, built to match the size of the canal. The expanded channel will be able to handle cargo ships carrying 14,000 20-foot containers, nearly three times the current capacity. The expansion project will be completed at the end of 2015, but the canal will still not be able to handle some of the largest container ships.
Approximately 236.4 million liters of fresh water are used for the passage of one ship through the Panama Canal. The water comes from Lake Gatun, formed during the construction of the canal by blocking the Chagres River. With an area of 262 square kilometers, Gatun was once the largest artificial lake in the world.
