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Panama
Panama
is a strategically important country in Central America,
including the part of the Isthmus where the land is the narrowest,
and hence a good place for a canal between the Atlantic Ocean and
the Pacific Ocean. As well as being famous for the Panama Canal, and for
Panama hats (which are usually made in Ecuador), Panama is also a
famous tax haven, and a
flag of convenience for ships.
Panama is also
becoming increasingly popular as a tourist destination. It's
always looked like a tourist destination, with palm trees wafting
in the tropical breeze, but the tourist potential was previously
overlooked. There are similarities with Costa Rica, but there is
no "Costa Rica Canal"!
The primary language is Spanish, often spoken in a dialect which is interestingly abbreviated. English is also spoken, especially in business. The mains electricity voltage is 110 volts, with sockets in the American style. Driving is on the right of the road, mostly. The style of driving is like on a racetrack, where driving in the middle of the road or on any spare lanes is also quite usual.
In
addition to good business from the Canal, and tourism, Panama Real Estate is also a
profitable business,
especially
as so many people would like to move to Panama to avoid paying so
much tax. There are
other reasons to move to Panama, as many expats say there is more
freedom in Panama than in countries such as the USA, UK, and
Canada, where the authorities are too restrictive on personal
freedom.
When
you look at a map of the world, you'll notice that Panama is
quite close to the Equator, so you might guess that it's very hot.
Yes, it's true it can be very hot, and wet! It's very hot and
humid in the lowlands, and it rains a lot. However, you needn't
be put off by that. Many expats move to the highlands of Panama,
where it's much cooler. In Panama City it's like being in a
greenhouse, and hot-house plants grow enormously big in the
streets.
This is a
modern city with a highrise skyline like Miami, but built in a
place that would be jungle. However, in Boquete the high altitude
means the climate is more like the warmest bit of the British
summer. Boquete has a distinctly "Alpine" feel to it,
and if you look at the pine trees and Swiss style architecture
you might wonder if there's any ski slopes further uphill. There
are not. However the deliberate planting of coniferous trees and
the creation of Alpine lodges helps to emphasise the coolness of
the climate. Boquete picture
It's
a key feature of Panama that it is a country of contrasts. There
are many things which are different in one part of the country to
another. You can see this would make sense with it being
connected to the continent of South America as well as the
continent of North America, and with having a Pacific coastline
and an Atlantic/Caribbean coastline. However the differences
between places go further than that. Also, because of the
differences in different places, Panama is often misunderstood,
even in guide books and on some websites.
For
example, you might read that there is kidnapping, and so it might
seem a legitimate fear that if you go to Panama you might get
kidnapped. What these information sources fail to mention is that
almost all of the kidnappings occur in Darien where Panama joins
on to Colombia, and not near Panama City in the middle or at the
other end where Panama joins on to Costa Rica! This theme of
misunderstanding based on lumping things together is repeated on
a local scale, for example with the question of Is it dangerous in
Casco Viejo?. On a country-wide
scale, Panama is easily big enough to have modern infrastructure
and lifestyle, and yet also have regions with some aspects of the
Third World.
If
you're looking to see about bad things that have happened in
Panama, you may notice most of them happened a while ago, at
around the time when Panama was ruled by Manuel Noriega. Although
that's true, it has to be considered alongside fact that various
other countries have gone through a bad patch at some time in
their history. Spain under Franco, Germany in the Second World
War, and various other modern-day nations whose history has
included a problematical period.
It seems an increasing number of
people are saying that the United States is going though a bad
patch under the rule of the Neocons. History moves on. The
current regime in Panama (2008) is a moderate democracy with
right-of-centre politics, and there are non-violent public
displays of other political persuasions. Political stability of
Panama is in the interests of the other countries in the world,
who would like to still be able to get their ships through. There
is now an international treaty on this.
The currency in Panama is the Balboa, which is in effect the United States Dollar. The banknotes are actual US dollars, and the coins are Panamanian versions of US dimes, nickels, quarters, etc. All US currency is legal tender in the Republic of Panama. Having the same currency as the United States means Panama has less of an inflation problem than some of the other countries of Central America, where the local currency has remarkably big denomination notes in use for buying small items in the shops.
The culture is cosmopolitan and diversity-friendly, partly as a consequence of Panama being well connected with the world. Having a canal with one of the world's busiest shipping lanes going right through the middle of the country may have something to do with that.
Also see: where to get Maps, knowing your way around using a Lonely Planet guide, and a few other Geographical references.
Creative commons free MAPS copied with permission from Free World Maps.net, whose link is also featured at the page of MAPS