Climate of Panama

Weather
Temperatures are high across the whole country throughout the year, though cooler at high altitudes.

The rainy season lasts from May to November. Rainfall is twice as heavy on the Pacific coast as it is on the lowlands of the Caribbean coast.

Required clothing
Lightweight cottons and linens are worn, with rainwear advisable, particularly in the rainy season. Warmer clothes are needed in the highlands.

Activities in Panama

Ecotourism
The Gamboa Tropical Rainforest Reserve and the Soberania National Park offer good opportunities for learning about tropical fauna and flora. Birdwatching enthusiasts will not be disappointed in Panama: there are about 950 registered species and the country is considered one of the world’s best birdwatching spots.

The Anton Valley (El Valle de Anton), 120km/70 miles west of Panama City, is famous for its orchids and the El Nispero Botanical Gardens; one activity on offer here is the tree canopy adventure, where participants are fastened into a harness, pulled up to the tree tops and swung from one platform to another in order to enjoy particularly ‘green’ views. Trips to the famous Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute on Barro Colorado Island (which houses a renowned tropical research laboratory) are also possible, although appointments need to be made at least one month in advance.

Boat trips
Boat trips on the Panama Canal are one of Panama’s major tourist attractions and there are various types of tours available. Crocodiles, frigate birds and other animals living along the banks and in the surrounding jungle can be observed. Canal tours often aim to provide visitors with a chance to observe one of the many large vessels moving through the canal locks. For further details, contact the Panamanian Institute of Tourism or the Panamanian Embassy (see General Info section).

Watersports
There are some excellent locations for diving and snorkeling in Panama, the best of which include Isla Grande near Portobelo, where there are a number of dive centers offering excursions to the best reefs; the Bocas del Toro archipelago; Taboga Island (20km/12 miles south of Panama City); and the San Blas Islands (off the northeast coast). Whitewater rafting is becoming increasingly popular on the Chiriqui and Chiriqui Viejo rivers (not possible during the rainy season, from April to mid-December). For further details on some of these destinations, see the Where to Go section.

Tourist Attractions in Panama

Panama offers a wide variety of tourist attractions, including excellent shopping. Its position as a crossing point between the Atlantic and the Pacific has naturally made it a major commercial route. Panama City’s Central Avenue, Colon’s Front Street and the newer shopping sectors around the hotels, and Tocumen’s duty free stores have grown because of this trade.

Note
The Fiestas in the various cities are all worth attending, particularly the one at Panama City during the Carnival. This is held on the four days before Ash Wednesday. Others are held

to celebrate local patron saints. Las Balserias, a Ngöbe-Bugle Indian celebration held in Chiriqui Province every February, includes feasts and a contest in which the young men toss Balsa logs at one another; those who emerge unscathed may choose their partners.

Panama City
The capital is a curious blend of old Spain, modern America and the bazaar atmosphere of the East. In the old part of the city with its narrow, cobble-stoned streets and colonial buildings, most of the interesting sights are to be found. These include the Plaza de Francia, the Court of Justice Building, the Paseo de las Bovedas along the massive stone wall, San Jose Church with its magnificent golden Baroque altar and the Santo Domingo Church, next to which is the Museum of Colonial Religious Art. The old historic city with the Salon Bolivar is listed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site.

Overlooking the bay is the President’s Palace, the most impressive building in the city; further along the waterfront is the colorful public market. The most interesting museum in town is the Museum of the Panamanian Man north of the market and near the shopping centers.

A worthwhile excursion from the city is a visit to Panama Viejo and its ruins including the square tower of the old cathedral, 6km (4 miles) away. This is the original Panama City which - like Fort San Lorenzo - was sacked and looted in 1671 by Henry Morgan, the celebrated Welsh buccaneer who helped to undermine Spanish control of their colonies.

Excursions
An interesting excursion can be made to an easily accessible strip of rainforest within nearby Soberania National Park (40km/25 miles north of the city), particularly renowned for its many bird species.

Nightlife in Panama

Panama City, in particular, has a wide range of nightlife from nightclubs and casinos to folk, ballet, belly dancing and classical theater.

Dancing and entertainment are available in all the big hotels, as well as many clubs. Other large towns and resorts have music, dancing, casinos and cinemas. Further details can be found in local papers.

Food and Dining in Panama

American, French and Spanish food is available in all restaurants and hotels in Panama City and Colon. There is a huge selection of excellent restaurants in Panama City, as well as other main cities. There are also several Oriental restaurants.

Native cooking is reminiscent of creole cuisine, hot and spicy. Dishes include ceviche (fish marinated in lime juice, onions and peppers), patacones de platano (fried plantain), sancocho (Panamanian stew with chicken, meat and vegetables), tamales (seasoned pie wrapped in banana leaves), carimanolas and empanadas (turnovers filled with meat, chicken or cheese). Waiter service is the norm. The choice and availability of wines, spirits and beers in hotels, restaurants and bars is unlimited.

Shopping in Panama

Panama is a duty free haven and luxury goods from all over the world can be bought at a saving of at least one-third. Local items include leatherware, patterned, beaded necklaces made by Guaymi Indians, native costumes, handicrafts of carved wood, ceramics, papier mâche artifacts, macrame and mahogany bowls.

Shopping hours
Mon-Sat 0800-1900, Sun 1000-1900.

Currency Information:

Currency
Balboa (B) = 100 centavos. There is no Panamanian paper currency; coins exist in denominations

of B10 and 1, and 50, 25, 10, 5 and 1 centavos. US currency was adopted in 1904 and exists alongside the Balboa coinage: B1 = USUSD 1.

Currency exchange
Banks and cambios are available for changing currency. There is no need to exchange US Dollars.

Credit cards
MasterCard and Visa are the most commonly used, but American Express and Diners Club are also accepted. Check with your credit or debit card company for details of merchant acceptability and other services which may be available.

Travelers cheques
To avoid additional exchange rate charges, visitors are advised to take travelers cheques in US Dollars.

Currency restrictions
There are no restrictions on the import and export of either foreign or local currency. However, amounts of over USUSD 10,000 must be declared to immigration upon arrival.

Exchange rate indicators
The following figures are included as a guide to the movements of the Balboa against Sterling

Banking hours
Mon-Fri 0800-1500, Sat 0830-1200.

Panama City

Panama City (Spanish: Ciudad de Panama), population 708,738, is the capital of Panama, located at the Pacific entrance of the Panama Canal, at 8°58′N 79°32′W. Panama City is the political, administrative and cultural center of the country. Juan Carlos Navarro is the current mayor of the city.

Brief history
The city was founded on August 15, 1519, by Pedro Arias de Avila, also known as Pedrarias Davila. A recurring theme in the history of the city has been the ebb and flow world commerce through the isthmus. Within a few years of its founding, the city became a launching point for the exploration and conquest of Peru and a transit point for gold and silver headed back to Spain through the Isthmus.

In 1671 Henry Morgan with a band of 1400 men attacked and looted the city, which was subsequently destroyed by fire. The ruins of the old city still remain and are a popular tourist attraction known as Panama la Vieja. It was rebuilt in 1673 in a new location about 5 miles west-southwest of the original city. This location is now known as the Casco Viejo or Old Hull of the city.

Discovery of gold in California in 1848 led to an upsurge in travellers crossing the isthmus en route to the west coast of North America. The year before the discovery of gold, the Panama Railroad Company [1] was formed, but the railroad did not begin operation until 1855. Between 1848 and 1869, the year the first transcontinental railroad was completed in the United States, about 375,000 persons crossed the isthmus from the Atlantic to the Pacific, and 225,000 in the opposite direction. That traffic greatly increased the prosperity of the city during that period.

Not surprisingly, construction of the Panama Canal was of great benefit to the infrastructure of the city. Of particular note are the improvements in health and sanitation brought about by the American presence in the Canal Zone.

These include the eradication of yellow fever and malaria and the introduction of a first-rate water supply system. However, most of the laborers for the construction of the canal were brought in from the Caribbean, which created unprecedented racial and social tensions in the fledgling city.

During World War II, construction of military bases and the presence of larger numbers of U.S. military and civilian personnel brought about unprecedented levels of prosperity to the city. Throughout the years, however, the benefits of American presence in the canal area, had a price.

From the perspective of Panamanians, this massive presence was viewed as an affront to their nationalism and also as an irritation to life in and around the city. In fact until the late 1960s, Panamanians had limited access, or no access at all, to many areas in the Canal Zone neighboring the Panama City metropolitan area. Some of these areas were military bases accessible only to United States personnel.

In the late 1970s and through the 1980s Panama City became an international banking center bringing along with it a lot of undesirable attention as an international money-laundering center. In 1989 after nearly a year of tension between the United States and Panama, President Bush ordered an invasion to depose the leader of Panama, General Manuel Noriega.

As a result of the action, dubbed Operation Just Cause, a portion of the El Chorrillo neighborhood, which consisted mostly of old wood-framed buildings dating back to the 1900s, was destroyed by fire. Eventually, the U. S. helped finance the construction of large cinderblock apartment buildings to replace the destroyed structures.

Panama City remains a banking center, although with very visible controls in the flow of cash. Shipping is handled through port facilities in the neighboring municipality of Balboa operated by the Hutchison Whampoa Company of Hong Kong and through several ports on the Caribbean side of the isthmus. Balboa, which is located within the greater Panama City metropolitan area was formerly part of the Panama Canal Zone, and in fact the administration of the former Panama Canal Zone was headquartered there.

Foreign relations of Panama

Panama is a member of the UN General Assembly and most major UN agencies and has served three terms as a member of the UN Security Council. It maintains membership in several international financial institutions, including the World Bank, the Inter-American Development Bank, and the International Monetary Fund.

Panama is a member of the Organization of American States and was a founding member of the Rio Group. Although it was suspended from the Latin American Economic System–known informally both as the Group of Eight and the Rio Group–in 1988 due to its internal political system under Manuel Noriega, Panama was readmitted in September 1994 as an acknowledgment of its present democratic credentials.

Panama also is one of the founding members of the Union of Banana Exporting Countries and belongs to the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission. Panama is a member of the Central American Parliament (PARLACEN) as well as the Central American Integration System (SICA).

Panama joined its six Central American neighbors at the 1994 Summit of the Americas in signing the Alliance for Sustainable Development known as the Conjunta Centroamerica-USA or CONCAUSA to promote sustainable economic development in the region.

Music of Panama

Panama is a Central American country, inhabited mostly by mestizos (persons of mixed African, European and indigenous ancestry), with a small minority of Africans. Only independent from southern neighbor Colombia since 1903, Panama’s national identity has been quick to assert itself. The culture of the Azuero region has come to dominate the country.

With salsa, vallenato and other imported genres often dominating the charts, Panama’s own popular music has had to struggle to survive. A distinctive vocal style dominates the music, which is said to derive from Sevillians of African descent who arrived in the early 16th century.

The most important native instruments are the mejoranera, a five-stringed guitar used to play songs called mejoranas, as well astorrentes, and the rabel, a violin with three strings, used to play cumbias, puntos and pasillos in the central provinces of Cocle, Herrera, Los Santos and Veraguas.

However, popular Panama music is generally called musica tipica, which includes instruments such as the guiro, conga and the accordion, among others. Musica tipica is also called pindin in Panama. Some famous Panamanian artists in this genre are Ulpiano Vergara, Dorindo Cardenas, Victorio Vergara, Nenito Vargas, Yin Carrizo, Nina Campines, Abdiel Nunez, Manuel de Jesus Abrego, and Samy y Sandra Sandoval, just to name a few.

The word tipico is different from musica tipica, in that the former is the general name of the native dance styles of the central provinces.

Demographics of Panama

The culture, customs, and language of the Panamanians are predominantly Caribbean Spanish. Ethnically, the majority of the population is mestizo or mixed Spanish, Indian, Chinese, and African descent. Spanish is the official and dominant language; English is a common second language spoken by the West Indians and by many in business and the professions. More than half the population lives in the Panama City-Colon metropolitan corridor.

The majority of Panamanians are Roman Catholic, accounting for over 80% of the population. Although the Constitution recognises Catholicism as the religion of the majority, Panama has no official religion. Evangelical Christians are now estimated to be around 10% of the population. Other Protestant churches make up about 4% of the population. Other major religions in Panama are Islam (1.5%), the Baha’i Faith (1%), Judaism (0.4%), and Hinduism (0.3%).

The Jewish community, with over 10,000 members, is by far the biggest community in the region (including Central America, Colombia and the Caribbean). Jewish immigration began in the late 19th Century, and at present there are three synagogues in Panama City, as well as two Jewish schools. Within Latin America, Panama has one of the largest Jewish communities in proportion to its population, surpassed by Uruguay and Argentina.

Also in regards to the Baha’i Faith, Panama hosts one of only seven Baha’i Houses of Worship in the world. Completed in 1972 in Panama City, it is perched on a high cliff overlooking the canal, and is constructed of local stone laid in a pattern reminiscent of Native American fabric designs.

Panama, because of its historical reliance on commerce, is above all a melting pot. This is shown, for instance, by its considerable population of Chinese origin, who number around 150,000, or about 5% of the population. (See main article at Chinatowns in Latin America-Panama). Many Chinese immigrated to Panama to help build the Panama Railroad. A term for “corner store” in Panamanian Spanish is el chino, reflecting the fact that many corner stores are owned and run by Chinese immigrants. (Other countries have similar social patterns, for instance, the “Arab” corner store of France.)

The country is also the smallest in Latin America in terms of population, with Uruguay as the second-smallest (by almost 400,000). However, since Panama has a faster birth rate, it is likely that in the coming years its population will surpass Uruguay’s.