Panama

Panama, also known as the Republic of Panama, is a transcontinental republic that occupies the central region of North America as well as the northern region of South America. It is bounded on the west by Costa Rica, on the southeast by Colombia, on the southeast by the Caribbean Sea, on the north by the Pacific Ocean, and on the south by the Caribbean Sea. Panama City is the country's capital as well as its biggest city, and its metropolitan region is home to about half of the country's total population of 4 million people.

Before the arrival of Spanish colonists in the 16th century, Panama was inhabited by a variety of native peoples and tribes. In 1821, it declared its independence from Spain and merged into the Republic of Gran Colombia, which was already a union of Nueva Granada, Ecuador, and Venezuela. Panama and Nueva Granada subsequently merged into what is now known as the Republic of Colombia with the dissolution of Gran Colombia in 1831. Panama broke away from Colombia in 1903 with support from the United States. The canal was officially opened in 1914. The United States of America and Panama reached an agreement in the Torrijos–Carter Treaties of 1977 to hand over control of the canal to Panama by December 31, 1999. 1979 marked the beginning of the process of returning the surrounding area.

Even though trade, finance, and tourism are big and expanding industries in Panama, revenue from canal tolls continues to constitute a considerable amount of the country's gross domestic product (GDP). It is considered to be a high-income economy by most standards. According to the Human Development Index for the year 2019, Panama came in at position 57 in the globe. According to the Global Competitiveness Index published by the World Economic Forum in 2018, Panama's economy came in at number seven on the list of the most competitive economies in Latin America. The jungles of Panama, which account for around 40 percent of the country's land area, are home to a rich diversity of tropical plants and animals, some of which can be found nowhere else on the planet. The United Nations, the Organization of American States, the Latin American and Caribbean Association, the World Health Organization, and the New American Movement all count Panama as one of its founder members.