Panama: landmarks, animals & facts for kids

Panama is a country in Central America, on the narrow strip of land, called an isthmus, that joins North and South America. It lies between Costa Rica and Colombia, with the Caribbean Sea to the north and the Pacific Ocean to the south. The capital, Panama City, is a modern city of skyscrapers on the Pacific coast.

Panama is best known for the Panama Canal, which lets ships cross between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans without sailing around South America. On the globe you can find the canal, the ruins of Panamá Viejo, the old city burned in 1671, and rainforest animals such as the harpy eagle and the kinkajou.

Geography and nature

Panama curves like an S, so in places the sun seems to rise over the Pacific. A chain of mountains runs down the middle; the highest point is Volcán Barú, about 3,475 metres tall. Thick rainforests cover much of the country, especially the wild Darién region near Colombia, where the Pan-American Highway stops. Panama has hundreds of islands, including the San Blas islands on the Caribbean side. Its forests are home to sloths, toucans, jaguars and the harpy eagle, the national bird, one of the most powerful eagles in the world.

People, languages and culture

Spanish is the official language. Most Panamanians have mixed Indigenous, European and African roots, and seven Indigenous peoples live here, including the Guna, Emberá and Ngäbe. Guna women sew molas, colourful cloth panels made of layers cut into patterns. Panama uses the US dollar alongside its own coins, the balboa. Favourite foods include sancocho, a chicken soup, and patacones, fried green plantains. Baseball, football and boxing are popular sports.

History in a nutshell

Indigenous peoples lived here for thousands of years before the Spanish arrived around 1501. In 1519 the Spanish founded Panama City, now called Panamá Viejo, the first European city on the Pacific coast of the Americas. Gold and silver from Peru crossed the isthmus here on their way to Spain. Panama broke away from Spain in 1821 as part of Colombia, and became a separate country in 1903. The canal opened in 1914 under United States control, and Panama took it over completely at the end of 1999.