Panama
The Republic of Panama, with Panama City as its capital, is on the isthmus that links
Central and South America. Christopher Columbus landed in Panama in 1502. He was a precursor to larger Spanish interests, which carried troops to the region
and European diseases to the Indigenous population.
Panama became the Province of Columbia in 1821, and thereafter the United States impressed
itself and its interests upon the region; arguably, the Panama Canal is evidence of
the desire for the United States to control Panama, as it was built by them between
1904 to 1914. The United States relinquished control of the canal, politically, to Panama in 1999.
- 1. Panama, Oxford Reference Online.
- 2. Ibid.
- 3. Ibid.